The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Advice please on where to get my Navitmer serviced. My last service cost over £400. It was away with Breitling for 3 months and came back losing 5 minutes a week. Severely discombobulated with this experience and the length of time I was without my watch I decided to live with the problem until the time keeping deteriorated further.

I contacted customer services who sent me a very reassuring note and I sent my watch back. After examining it they decided I had dropped it, (not true), and would charge me half price for another service. They have refused to acknowledge that the last service didn't correct the accuracy. If I send it back I will be without it for another lengthy spell, even at half price spending a lot of money for no increase in accuracy of the timepiece.

This is dreadful customer service, can anyone recommend an alternative for service?

Thank You, BC

Only authorised service centres will have access to parts and training. Losing 5 minutes could easily have happened by a drop of the parcel after it left the service centre the first time - it wouldn't have been the first time, and the service did come with a 12 month warranty ( presumably now expired).

Rather than go to unapproved service which could damage the watch further I would contact BUK in Tunbridge Wells to discuss with them.

Welcome to BreitlingSource.

Sham they have not given you the benefit of the doubt, regardless. If its only been 12 months perhaps they should have put the rules to one side & make a solid customer of you. Pity.

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Jim

"You have Control".

But just to answer your original question, Swiss Tec in Essex (affiliated to Swiss Time, official omega service centre) are proven, fair and reliable. If you're not content with the official route.

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Oyster Date '78, Blackbird chrono DLC '10, Blackbird chrono' 02, Navitimer Fighters '02, Aerospace Evo , Seamaster Chrono Diver 300' 02, Carrera cbm2110

Thanks for your reply. I agree but it's after my contact with them I've decided to look elsewhere. Fine words but the follow up action was wanting.

Many thanks

This has been the consensus on just about every luxury item I've ever owned. Not saying its wrong but I disagree. I beleive its just a way for manufactures and dealers to reign you in to overpriced service. My rule of thumb is for under warranty service it goes back to the dealer/manufacturer. After the warranty is up i generally look for other options.

Your choice, I just hope that you declare that to any potential buyer should you sell. Most Breitlings use modified ETA movements and you pay a lot for that modification. Unauthorised servicing will use generic parts which potentially lower the performance of the watch and are not worth the premium charged for Breitling products (even in resale).

For your own use, go right ahead, but resale value is destroyed and if the watch ever has to go to Breitling for another problem the service bill will be horrendous as they will insist on replacing all unapproved parts.

Anyone interested in Breitling watches would be far better served to follow your advice over mine. Still I disagree.

I know i've mentioned this on here before, but i sent a vintage time piece to breitling to service , i mentioned in a note and at the AD who were sending it that could they be REALLY carefully with the practically irreplaceable dial, it came back with a number of deep grab marks on the dial where they'd removed the hands. It turns out they'd assumed i'd want the dial replaced and assumed they'd have one in stock, neither was true, they roughly removed the old one then couldn't find one in stock, which i'd mentioned at the start. Also the watch was 15 mins out a day, sometimes up and down a bit, but by the end of the week it was out by hours. It was a manual wind so these are fickle but i'd assumed they could sort their own.

It went back three times in all, in the end i sold it, all the service work came free and they gave me a raft of freebies. However i was not chuffed. To damage a dial like that was sacrilege. I have had super work done on modern stuff, but i'll never send anything a bit unusual to them again.

Vintage pieces should never be sent to Breitling, advice that is repeated in the vintage section over and over again. They have absolutely no connection to the Breitling of 1978 and earlier other than the name, they charge far too much and have no understanding or appreciation for what needs to be done.

Yep i agree, although i find that tragic. A dedicated vintage service dept. would suit the brands image, every chronolog refers to tradition and delves in history etc.. over and over again, however they can't fix their own vintage watches.

They aren't "their own". They were made by a completely different company that just so happened to have the same name.

it would be fair to note that this "never let any vintage Breitling go near water or Breitling for service or restoration" is true thoughout the world, but not in the US.

There they have been smart enough to outsource it to the Heists of horologicalservices.com - neither the cheapest, nor the quickest, but excellent quality and sometimes your only source in the world when specific dials, bezels or hands are needed.

Agreed. I see Heists as separate as they are independent, but BUSA does outsource he work to them.