The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I worked at sam's club for over six years and while I was trying to get with the jewelry girls (they were so fine) my affinity for watches started. They had an omega in the case and I would try that thing on at least once a week. One day it was gone and the guy who bought it went to get it insured and it wound up being a fake. That was a big deal within the club and the entire buying process changed after that one incident, so I was told as a part of management at the time.

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Super Avenger White Steel

Wow, a fake eh

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Ive read a few stories, including one about Fendi suing Walmart for selling fake Fendi bags.

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-RJ

The old adage applies, "buy the seller and not the price". I have even heard of at least one Costco selling Pateks some years ago. Would you buy a Patek from a discount merchandiser? It's nice to try and save a buck, or piaster, pound, dmark, franc, yen, € or whatever, but, buyer beware.

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I only do that which I choose to do, when I choose to do it.

oops, BoneDoc, you are correct, just went to Costco, and it is the non chrono, but it is in fact the rose gold on leather, and it seems price went up since last, may have been on sale, now it is $17,000

The Flying B "red" gold on leather is still a $26,930 watch. Unless it was the Flying B No 3... which is a $22400 watch on "red" gold.

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So either 35 or 25% off. About Grey market, give or take eh? Plus you get that legendary Costco service!

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Chronomat, Steel/Gold, MOP Dial, 2-tone band (2008)
Super Avenger Black Baton Dial (2009)
Bentley B04 GMT Silver Dial (2013)
Avenger Blacksteel Baton Dial (2014)

I have sighted several Breitlings in Seattle area Costcos. A model that has appeared in two of them is the Avenger Skyland blue dial SS for $3399.99. We were at one such Costco last night, and the gentlemen who was working the jewelry counter happened to be person who does the watch ordering for the store. He claims that the stores have a lot of control over which watches they get, and that the watches come from the manufacturer directly. When I said that I didn't think that Breitling sold to anyone other than ADs, he seemed quite shocked at this. He asserted that he thought the AS they had did indeed come direct from Breitling. Note that he personally does not order direct from the manufacturer...everything he stocks comes from Costco corporate which, according to him, acquires direct from manufacturers.

I tried on the AS and looked it over. It had a serial number, but I did not try to memorize it (if somebody wants to do the "report this to Breitling" thing, I would be willing to go back and look).

Once strange thing about the watch was when I wound it up, I noticed that I really felt quite a bit of resistance. You could really tell that you were winding up a watch. The ratcheting/clicking feeling as you wound was quite pronounced. On my Colt GMT, winding is so smooth you can barely even tell you are winding it (except for a slight resistance and an almost-inaudible ratcheting noise). The other watches I have tried on in the AD's in my limited experience have also felt very smooth similar to my Colt. This was very strange. I had not felt anything close to this resistance and ratcheting in any luxury watch brand I have wound (again, in my limited experience). Is this normal for a SA??

He said that Costco's policy is that you could return the watch for any reason for 1 year, then after that you could send it to them for service and they would service it for free or replace/refund if they could not fix it for the entire lifetime of the watch.

Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

Just ask to see the box and look through the paperwork. See if Costco is listed as the retailer in the warranty book.

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The best ADs, no matter the industry, have one singular goal. That is that every time you look at the product you purchased from them, it reminds you of the experience you had while purchasing. This means that, properly executed, the "commodity" you purchased from them is in fact marketing material for them.

Retailers that forget this don't (or shouldn't) last long.

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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.

He said that Costco's policy is that you could return the watch for any reason for 1 year, then after that you could send it to them for service and they would service it for free or replace/refund if they could not fix it for the entire lifetime of the watch.

Trust me... The dude is full of crap is he is telling you this!

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BC

I have shopped at Costco for 15 years and have never had any problems whatsoever with returns. While I do not trust the person working at the jewelry counter to know where their watches actually come from, I do trust them on their return policies. In fact, I trust them more than I trust any other retailer. I bought my computer monitor from them because, unlike almost every other retail store, I can return it if it has just one stuck pixel (and I did do this once on an $800 monitor, and they happily refunded my money). Ditto for LCD TVs. You can take your watch to any of their warehouses and they will send it free of charge to their watch repair center in Issaquah, WA. That is their written policy.

I trust them to replace or refund the watch if they cannot fix it. What I do not understand is how they possibly could fix it, since they would have to buy Breitling parts, and Breitling does not sell their parts to just anybody. My guess is that if they decide to fix rather than refund, they actually send it to Breitling and pay the cost. Obviously, most of us on this forum would not wait until our Breitling failed before servicing it, so this "perk" is of limited use in practice.

The only practical difference I see between Costco vs. an AD is that if the watch fails during what would normally be the warranty period, Costco refunds your purchase vs. Breitling fixes it. And if it fails outside the warranty period, Costco still refunds your purchase. Breitling tells you to take a hike.

Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

While im with you on the whole hearted trust of Costco, if they do need to perform a repair, it is possible that they go the route of many gray market dealers and have it fixed with aftermarket parts. This can lead to decreased performance, as well as a hefty bill should you ever need to send it to B for a repair as they will make you pay to have all the aftermarket parts replaced.

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-RJ

Do you really think they can service a watch for "Free" for the lifetime of the watch (Especially when the watch is grey market, no parts are avaialable for repair, and Breitling USA will not touch it with a 10 foot pole)? Also since the watch is grey market and if they couldn't repair it, there is no guarantee they could get another like grey market piece.

I believe the salesman statements were simply statements made by a salesman. I shop at Sams and Costco and while they are very liberal with their return policy, a lifetime warranty for "Free" on something like a Breitling, with no means to back it up with repair, would be just plain goofy...

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BC

They probably have an AD who repairs or send the watches to Breitling for them.