The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi Guys,

Bought my first Breitling, Navi 01. Took the watch to the Breitling Boutique in NYC to be sized yesterday morning, and wore it for the afternoon and evening. During dinner, I was running the chrono to see how long it would take for dinner to come, and when I pressed the pusher to stop the chrono, instead of stopping, the second hand reset to zero, but not the hour or minute counter. I pressed start, the second hand started, pressed stop, and exact same thing. I then pressed reset, and it did not reset. Then I pressed start, the chrono would not start, the pusher will not operate at all. I shook the watch a bit, the second hand started, it it has been running ever since, cannot be stopped, the top pusher does not function at all.

I'm pretty disappointed, this is my first Breitling and it broke in less than a day. I hope this is a unique experience because I love the Navi 01 but I'm concerned with Breitling's build quality. It's going to the Breitling boutique tomorrow for service, I have half a mind to demand a new watch.

Send it back for warranty repair


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi guys,

I'm sure anyone reading this has read my previous post about the Navi 01 dying after 8 hours. Well, I just brought the watch into the Breitling boutique on Madison Ave in NYC about an hour ago, hopefully the watch will be fixed and there will be no problems going forward.

I must say, however, that the guy that helped me was one of the rudest people I've ever met in a customer service position. I told him that the chronograph broke after only 8 hours, his response, "these things happen, you have a warranty and are protected as the consumer, what more do you want?" I was taken back by that. I then asked him how often he sees brand new watches fail, he responded "do you think I have the exact statistics?" I told himI was only asking him if this was common with the B01 movements. Then he asked me where I bought the watch, which was given to me as a gift. I had the electronic warranty card with me, and he had it in his hand, and he was literally interrogating me about where the watch came from. He told me he was keeping my warranty card (that doesn't seem normal to me, but who knows), and never apologized for the problem, never thanked me for coming in, literally handed me a receipt for my watch and walked away.

I didn't catch his name, but he was the rudest, most condescending person I could imagine to be working for a high end retailer. I've had watches serviced by Omega and Rolex, and while I've had some issues with the finished product from each of those brands, the customer service has been second to none.

Needless to say, after a brand new watch not making it a full day, and terrible customer service at their flagship boutique, I don't know that Breitling will see any business from me in the future, but I suppose I will wait to judge them after this experience is over.

I am sending Breitling an email about the service experience, we'll see what they have to say, I'll keep you guys posted.

Just out of curiosity -- you say the Navi was a gift. Was it in someone else's possession before you got it?

_________________
Cheers,
Jim

Well yes, since it was a gift, naturally it was not in my possession until I received it. Seems an odd question to me...

Sorry to read this. You won't believe my story and I won't bore you with the details but the short of it is. Bought my first brand new Breitling Chronospace automatic from my Ad. It had to get replaced 3 times. After the 3 time and 6 months later I gave up on a New Working Chronospace and upgraded (almost against my will) to a Navi 01 46mm.

On the second day after ownership a similar thing happened to me. I started the stopwatch. Stopped it and pressed reset. It didn't reset to 0. Did it again and then strange things happened. Needless to say the mechanism broke. Back to Breitling. Again. 4 watches in a row. After another 2 months of fighting with them they replaced the Navi. It's working 100% today. I am also the proud owner of another 6 Breitling watches since then. Never had an issue with any of the others.

Not sure if any of that helps. But perhaps I had all the bad luck I could ever have with Breitling and now it's smooth sailing from here.

Absolutely love the Brand. Even after the first 4 watches where all faulty.


[WATCH]️

I think the reason Jim was asking who had it before you was that the possibility that the watch could have been accidentally mishandled!

Exactly

_________________
Cheers,
Jim

It definitely was not mishandled. And it worked like a charm for the first 8 hours, I played with the chrono all day, operated flawlessly until dinner time. All registers counted properly, would start, stop, restart, stop, reset back to zero....

I had issue with my b01. Unfortunately it's not uncommon, I think that's why there's a 5 year warranty (to keep customers who have just shelled out $x 000 happy when it breaks)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
- SUM -

That's a bummer, and I know it must feel lousy to have that experience with a brand new Breitling. But -- based on my own experience, you can count on the watch coming back to you from BUSA in perfect condition. Hope all goes well!

_________________
Cheers,
Jim

I must say that I am shocked by your experience, I have purchased Breitling watches from the NYC Boutique and have had only positive interactions with anyone associated with the Boutique. On the rare occasion when there was an issue with a watch it was handled quickly and efficiently, often while I waited and looked at other watches. I have had my watches adjusted, bands changed and various other services performed on numerous occasions without any issues. Sorry that your experience did not live up to your expectations!

Why would you put up with that treatment? You should have asked for a manager and if one was not available, for their contact info.

You should also have kept the watch until you spoke to a manager, or taken it elsewhere.

How you were treated was unsat. But in the end, you let him get by with treating you that way.

_________________
Breitling Montbrillant Olympus
Breitling Navitimer World
Breitling Chronomat
Breitling Colt GMT
Omega Seamaster GMT "Great White"
Omega Speedmaster X-33
Rolex GMT Master IIc
Bremont ALT1-ZT

My apologies if i'm misreading this.


The first line of your first post you stated that you "Bought your first Breitling".





Maybe it's just me, but "bought" and "gift" are 2 different things.


Do you mean you "gifted" it to yourself?


Was this the Nav 01 you bought or was given as a gift? Was it from an AD? Private seller?

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=57485&p=406712#p406712

I had not received a reply from Breitling's customer service since I emailed on Morning. Last night around midnight I sent the same email to Breitling's CEO, Jean-Paul Girardin, regarding everything up to this point. Needless to say, that prompted a response.

I received a phone call this morning from a Breitling representative named Margaret out of Connecticut. She mentioned that the email had made its way to Switzerland, so clearly the email to Mr. Girardin got the point across. Margaret was quite lovely to talk to, she updated me about my watch and what was broken, and she apologized profusely about the treatment at the Madison Ave store. I asked her if the guy that I dealt with was generally not a customer facing employee, and she said he was not, that he was a watchmaker (or watch tech, I'm not sure). That does explain a lot, the guy definitely lacked people skills, but I don't hold that against Breitling.

My watch will be repaired and sent back to me within roughly three weeks, I will post pictures of it upon its return. I sincerely hope that my experience was a one off, I'm sure Breitling does strive for excellence, but it goes to show that one employee can really tarnish a brand's reputation.