The Breitling Watch Source Forums

My awesome wife went to a local AD to purchase my birthday gift, an Airwolf, a model which I had been eyeing for years. When the initial shock of getting the watch of my dreams subsided a bit, I noticed a few minor scratches on the bracelet and the watch itself. When I showed my wife she had told me that the box the watch came looked like someone had stomped on it several times and she insisted that they give her a new box as it was a gift, at the time when she picked up the watch from the AD she had not noticed the scratches. Posting the situation on this forum last month it was suggested that I take the watch back to the AD which we did.

My wife and I met with the salesperson who then referred the matter to the store manager. We told him we wanted the watch exchanged because of the scratches. The store manager then asked what else is wrong I told him that the digital and analog times had gone out of synch after i initial set the time, his reply was that I had not wound the watch fully, to which I replied it's a quartz watch, to which he replied yeah you still have to wind it, I was like what?! We also told him how the watch originally came in a box that was less than new looking.

The manager said he wasn't worried about the scratches that he could polish them out for us, my wife then said to him that was unacceptable and wanted the watch exchanged for a new one, at which point he became less than friendly and it got a little heated. The manager said I'll be back in a minute and walked into the back room, when he finally came back, he said without any further agrument I'll order you a new watch straight from the factory.

Fast forward three weeks my new watch arrived! My wife and I go to the AD to pick the watch up and it was in pristine condition, packaged correctly, right from Breitling. It had a plastic guard on the bezel, plastic tape on the crystal and watch back, plastic tape on the bracelet and clasp, the manual and warranty material in it's own box inside the watch box which even had plastic tape on it to protect the Breitling name and logo. There was no question that this watch came straight from Breitling and was in pristine condition. I mention all of this because the first watch we received had none of this and along with the scratches and the fact that after some initial resistance from the manager about an exchange and then a complete about face when he does some checking on the watch to order a new one, leads me to believe that the initial watch had a questionable origin.

Sure the manager maybe realized he had been a jerk and didn't want to piss off a new customer too bad in hopes of future sales and give us good customer service who knows, but it just seemed a bit strange from being dead set on putting a band aide on the situation to giving us what we wanted a completely new watch without hesitation after he did some checking on the watch.

I hope I wasn't being too picky, but I'll admit I do have high expectations when spending that much money. Sorry for the long winded post I had some free time!

And oh yeah I love the watch!

Hey, another happy ending story.

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[Witty signature here]

Most store managers are going to be hesitant to the new watch idea. But a few scratches and a beat up box don't suggest the watch was pre-owned. Most watches sit on display, are put in the safe every night, taken out every morning, placed back in display, and all the while the boxes and papers sit in storage(where they can get dinged up as boxes to go with a new sale are searched for ect...). Each time a watch is moved (in the 2 ADs I frequent, that's twice a day) the possibility of scratching exists. In fact I never picked up a new polished Breitling without noticing some fine scratches on the case and bracelet. I have the AD polish and then steam it before I take it home. But with in a couple days of normal wear, the "patina" is back.

ADs want just enough inventory to keep their display cases filled and as little reserve as possible. They usually remove all the plastic save the caseback sticker(the only time I picked up a new watch with plastic on the bracelet was the green bezel SOHC LE, but I got that within hours of it's arrival at AD).

Of course the analog and digital sync problem is all together different.

Glad you got what you wanted. Good endings are... well... good!

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SHARKMAN

I'm sure he talked to the owner or even BUSA, and they told to order a new one and BUSA would fix/replace the old one.

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UN Maxi Marine Ti
B01, BEB
SOH
Aerospace Ti
Chrono SO
Omega 300 Master Co-Axial Chro
Omega PO Chrono.
AP ROO Diver
Titan Black Rolex DSOD Honeycomb Dial

I have known some salesguys in the past who actually wear new watches right out of the case, basically "borrowing" then or taking them for a test drive. I looked at a seawolf chrono at the AD one day and noticed it was banged up pretty good. Case scratches, band rubs, dings etc. Definitely not new. The sales guy admitted he had been wearing it for a few months and traded it out for a new super avenger that had just come in.

I recently purchased my first "brand new" watch. All others had been like new or gently used. Nothing like pulling off all that plastic tape on a brand new watch. Knowing that there is not a scratch on it is an awesome feeling!

I'm glad when I went to my AD on Monday, they hadn't got mine in stock.

Breitling haven't even got one, so got to wait 2-3 weeks but at least I know it hasn't even been tried on...

Black dial avenger with silver sub dials, just means I gotta wait...I hate waiting..

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2010 Avenger (Black Face, Silver Sub Dials with battons)

I have the same one on order too. Black stencil dial super avenger.

mines just the avenger with battons...my wrist is too small for the super.

can't wait now...

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2010 Avenger (Black Face, Silver Sub Dials with battons)

Good on ya for sticking with it and getting a new watch!

Yeah, I got it now and for a lifetime, the wait killed me but it was certainly worth it! They let me hold on to the other one until the new one came in. Everyday I would drool over it knowing that mine was on the way! It all worked out.