The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi everyone,
I Have a Wings auto winding watch and a rivet in my bracelet failed. I returned it to the dealer and was initially informed that Breitling would send the replacement rivet to the dealer for them to repair and I would have my watch back in a couple of weeks. Cost estimated to be £25 - no problem, or so I thought.
Several days later the dealer called to say that the rivet was unavailable and that I would need a new clasp at a cost of £300+, or a new strap at £900+
I dont mind paying for things, but £300+ for a rivet is a bit much! I did offer to pay for a service if the bracelet was fixed as part of the deal, at least I thought I would be getting some value for money. Unfortunately Breitling turned my offer down and refuse to budge.
(Frankly I am amazed that a stainless bracelet rivet failed in the first place, it may be 8 years old but thats still young in my book)
I have spoken to a couple or really nice people at Breitling HO (0207 6365200) but no change......
Is it me, am I expecting too much for a stainless bracelet rivet to last longer than 8 years?
Where else would you suggest I go to either get it repaired or for Breitling to change their stance?
Thanks
Ian

BUK is usually pretty decent, but if the piece isn't available anymore then I guess they can't repair it. It might be worth taking to an independent jeweller - it's only the bracelet so not compromising the watch in anyway.

Hi Ian,

Have a chat with Andrew Michaels (Link at top of the page) he/his guys can generally sort these things out.

Nice guys n gals

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Al

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"

Well, I had just about given up on Breitling standing up for the quality of their product, and understanding customer service, so I did as suggested on this forum, declined their services and asked for my watch and bracelet to be returned. Also as suggested, I intended to contact this site sponsors, at the top, and have it repaired by one of them.

To return my watch Breiling wanted £45 for carriage and insurance, and have also charged me for the repair estimate, but as i had asked for this service I knew I had to pay to get the watch and bracelet back, after all it was cheaper than a £300 rivet!

I was notified that it was ready for collection at the dealers so I went on saturday to collect it.

Unfortunately Breitling had dismantled some of the bracelet and sent it back with several parts missing, including the safety clip, meaning it would have been impossible to get it repaired, even with a new rivet! I would point out that no dismantling was required to diagnose the fault, it was simply a failed rivet holding the links to the clasp........and this was pointed out to me by the retailer when I originally took it in to them!

Now, I have previously worked for a company who I beleived to be the ultimate in corporate arrogance, but I was wrong, Breitling have surpassed them. From this experience I would also add "customer contempt" to their qualities.

Seems as though these traits are not unique in the world of watches from many comments I have had when friends have enquired how I was getting on with my watch repairs.....

Jeez, that's appalling. BUK are usually excellent in all my dealings with them, but then I've always paid for whatever they've said needed doing which to date has just been servicing : I've never asked for a watch not to be worked on once they've diagnosed the problem. Even so they should NEVER be sending a watch back in a worse sate of repair than when they received it. That's tantamount to vandalism IMO.

Try Andrew Michaels as suggested, or failing that if I was you I'd be sending a VERY strongly but politely worded letter to Breitling SA. In my experience if you kick up enough of a fuss at enough of a senior level all big companies play ball eventually. Ultimately you will always reach someone who is senior enough in the company to realise that the few hundred pounds involved is INFINITELY outweighed by the bad press they will get as a result of not fixing the problem.

As an aside it never ceases to amaze me how short-sighted some companies are in that respect. I had a vaguely similar problem with BMW a few years ago whereby the deadlership wouldn't fix something free of charge even though I had only owned the car a few days and they undoubtedly would've fixed it if I'd noticed it before signing on the dotted line. After a little to-ing and fro-ing with the dealership, I sent a strongly worded letter to the manager of the dealership, plus a copy to the dealership franchise group's MD, and a further copy to the MD of BMW UK, and lo and beyond, the problem was solved in quick smart time. Obviously if a company doesn't care about their reputation, then this approach won't work, but in most cases with big blue-chip companies if it's obvious that a customer clearly isn't about to just shut up and take it, then a senior person will soon realise that bad press can be WAY more costly than just fixing a problem.

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Driver8

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