Loetscher brilliant service story

Ok so you probably dont want me to sell you the values of Loetscher but this is worth hearing if your thinking of buying a cuckoo clock new or even used (avoid used clocks – they are normally sold when they start to fail due to lack of servicing).

A customer came in with a two weight Loetscher he bought 3 years ago in Switzerland. Mots cuckoo clocks need a good clean and service every three to five years or so because they act like little air purifiers. The door flapping open 24 times a day wafts air and particles into the clocks which sticks to the oil.

This forms a glue type paste and power is lost on the top elements of the gearing. Cleaning the clock solves this and a good movement should give you 25 years service if regularly maintained. Half that if you dont, because the oil dust mix acts as an abrasive and wears the pinion holes to oval.

This pivot bush oval wear means the gears dont connect as designed and all the maths for force goes out of the window. At this point the clock needs rebushing or the movement replaced. So get your clock serviced is the obvious subtext here.

By the way this is particularly relevant to 8 day clocks because they use larger weights and wear happens faster. If you’ve spent £1500 – £2000 on an 8 day multi-automata 3 weight for goodness sake get it serviced every three. If its a two weight you can probably leave it for five.

Anyway, this is about Loetscher service.

You see the clock that came it was out of warranty. Repairs were therefore chargeable. But there was a problem. The movement looked a little too worn for a 3 year old clock. The pinions were rattling a bit and it looked like the aforementioned re-bush was necessary.

This made no sense. A three year old clock should not show any visible signs or wear. Something was wrong.

When the customer returned I told him this and asked him if he had bought the clock as a used item. No such thing – he showed me the receipt from the retailer  confirming the date of purchase.

So, I contacted Loetscher on the customers behalf. We looked at photos of the wear and came to the same conclusion that this was not a new clock when purchased. The retailer had sold the customer an ex-demo clock as a new item in all probability. Not good!. So we took on the problem and sorted it out.

Loetscher paid for a new movement and I fitted it for free. This was without any customer intervention. We did this because both Braintree Clock Repairs and Loetscher have high quality standards and the situation offended those standards.

The customer has just picked up his essentially new clock and is delighted. We are delighted. Loetscher are delighted.

Thats the way to do it.

If you buy a cuckoo clock buy a Loetscher. They look great with a fine detail model village type style as opposed to a dolls house style, and the service backing up your clock is brilliant. Specially in the UK because we do it.