Smiths Classic Clocks

Posted by Packard Newbie On 2017/12/21 18:38:20

It is with some compunction that I post this as I am not in the habit of bad-mouthing companies, but my experience with the subject business has left me much less than happy and I thought I should make public my experience to see if anyone else has had dealings with them and to warn those who may be considering their services.

When I bought my car early in 2016, the glass face on the clock was broken and the clock did not work. After considerable investigation online, I found that a replacement glass was not that easy to come by, as the clock numbers are 'painted' on the inside of the glass. I was able to track down an identical unit on Ebay (non functioning, but with a good glass) and, after emailing back and forth with Jim at Smiths Classic Clocks, I was assured that he would be able to make one whole clock out of mine and the donor piece I had rounded up online. I did send them in, paid for 'a repair' and 'a shipping' through his online order page and soon received the clock(s) back. I was doing a lot of rewiring and other work on the car and it ended up being several months before I actually reinstalled the clock and when I twisted the fuse holder together, the clock started ticking and I thought I was in business. Unfortunately, that only lasted a few seconds and then nothing. I of course checked all the obvious things, power, ground, wires etc., and everything checked out.

I then emailed Smiths and was told to return the unit(s) back to them and I went through the whole process over again. Because it was past the 90 day warranty, I was billed a second time. When I got the clock back I decided to check it out right away, on a 6 volt battery I had in my shop: identical result; it ticked for a few seconds and then nothing. On top of this, the hands were way out of sync; when the minute hand was on 12, the hour hand was halfway between two numbers.

I emailed them back almost 2 weeks ago and have not even received a reply. Frustrated, I started checking with other repair facilities and landed on Clock Works in Wisconsin. I mailed the clock(s) to them and once received, they called and informed me that virtually nothing had been done to the internal workings of the clock. The guy said it looked like Smiths might have sprayed a bit of lubricant into the movement, but nothing else. Apparently, the unit had been reassembled incorrectly too. He also said that, like me, he didn't want to badmouth any of his competition, but that Smiths Classic Clocks was very well known to him, and not in a good way. He advised me that they will be able to repair my clock and Clock Works guarantees their work for a year (vs. 90 days) and while their fee is a bit more, it is still, very reasonable. (certainly less than the two bills combined from Smiths AND the double shipping!)

Don't know if anybody else out there has had dealings with Smiths, but hope this will be a red flag that at least one customer of theirs is utterly dissatisfied.