The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Is it common for BUSA to not have crystals there considering they do endless warranty work and servicings

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NAVITIMER WORLD (SILVER)
PATEK PHILIPPE 5980 (BLACK)

On one occasion I had to wait 6 weeks for a replacement crystal and on another 5 weeks for a replacement dial to come to a certain service centre in Asia from Switzerland.
So not unusual if the local service centre does not have the part in stock.
In both instances these were pre 2000 watches so despite the wait I was glad that Breitling HQ still carried the parts.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Crystals are not regular replacement parts so wouldn't surprise me if they weren't maintained at service centres - numerous versions, numerous service locations, etc would result in expensive inventory.

Still strange that in this day and age it should take so many weeks to 'ship' from Switzerland to wherever though, unless they really are using that mode of transport...

I think they do batch orders from local service centers to Switzerland. For example once a month place an order for various parts they need rather then individually to save on shipment costs. Hence the typical 5-6 week lead times. In the end considering the size and weight of a typical watch part it makes little difference in shipping cost whether it is one one hundred parts. As such it makes perfect sense from cost control perspective that they place orders in batches.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Should I expect my watch to come back in one of those soft travle cases with a breitling cloth? Is that just when you get it serviced?

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NAVITIMER WORLD (SILVER)
PATEK PHILIPPE 5980 (BLACK)

The last few times I got a service, it had the case and cloth.

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An ever changing collection.....

Because we're used to communications and entertainment at broadband Internet speeds doesn't mean that planes suddenly travel at the speed of light. Some things still take time.

To everyone facing service delays -- I can tell you after having my old Ling serviced twice it can take a little time. Don't press them and make them rush things just to get it back to you. It will be worth the wait.

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Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.

Well, yes. I think most of us are content to wait for the servicing as the price you pay for the expertise; my point concerned instances of having to wait 6 weeks just for a part to get from Switzerland to a regional service centre. I don't think a plane would have to travel at the speed of light to beat that. It seemed/seems strange to me, when for example it's standard for any auto garage to get pretty much any car part within Europe within 24 hrs: ie you'd think that if you could get a (large, heavy) Volvo throttle body in 24 hrs that you could get a (small, light) crystal in fewer than six weeks. Though as wessa observed, it's the system of batch-ordering rather than the speed of planes which is the factor here.

I agree that it doesn't pay to be impatient about the service itself. Gives one an excuse to have more than one watch of course.

One of the quirks of the industry is the multi-month wait for basic stuff. I expect - sadly - nothing less. True with many brands.

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Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.

These are small tiny little parts that cost next to nothing in terms of cost of materials. The longggg waiting time is meant to add/create artificial value implying "quality takes time" and/or rarity so we'll happily fork a couple of hundred for a tiny piece of sapphire crystal -- whereas for the same $$ you can buy a whole watch (crytal included) for normal, non-high-branded watch!

Heck, I can get a nice multi-element aspherical quadruple AR-coated camera lens or even an entire digital camera for that money!

I guess that's why there's an "idiot" in WIS...

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a few Pams...

I could see waiting that long for service, but I'm having to send out a watch that was not even 6mon old.
I told them I was not happy about being without for that long. They also were aware of the situation for several weeks prior to me sending. God forbid they be proactive and get the parts they know they will need to make things right!!!!????

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NAVITIMER WORLD (SILVER)
PATEK PHILIPPE 5980 (BLACK)

Can't argue with that. However, big companies have a hard time justifying prioritizing one person's problem over another's, despite how illogical that seems as a consumer.

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Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.