The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I have to say that I find myself very unhappy with Breitling as a company and my watch in particular makes me incredibly upset. I have a Superocean that I bought a few years back. When I bought it I was actually looking for Tag Heuers, but I was convinced that Breitling was a far superior company and that the Superocean was far superior to anything that Tag produces. For a while I thought this was true...at least until it stopped on my wrist.
I was well out of the warrantee period so I had to deal with it, but the fact is that after paying that much for a watch I was not expecting it to stop working so quickly if ever. I know that price is relative, but the fact is that this was probably the most expensive pure luxury I ever bought for myself. When I got the repair estimate from Breitling I was equally shocked with an $800+ repair bill which mainly consisted of parts and "service kit".
The bottom line is that I paid the bill and went on my way. I was again happy with my Superocean...until it stopped again after 6 months. I took it off of my wrist and unfortunately forgot all about it for a time despite how angry I was. Well, I just sent to back to Breitling again, and lo and behold I got an almost identical estimate to the last one! I asked what the initial problem is (why it stopped working), and didn't get a real answer, just the fact that it is a precision instrument and needs occasional maintenance. I really don't accept this answer, and I wonder if you all think it's acceptable that a watch costing over $4000 should stop functioning twice?
Further it seems like more than a coincidence that the solution is the "service kit" as opposed to a specific part. It's as if the timing is expected and the repair (again about 20% of the purchase price) is basically routine. I have Timex and Citizen watches that are far more durable and the company stands behind them. Despite my questions and my appeals for help I was told that they were sorry, but the estimate stands. I now have my watch back in non working condition and I am very upset and disappointed.
Anyone else have any opinions or similar issues?
Mods, if this is in the wrong area please feel free to move it and accept my apology.

Breitling has a 12 month guarantee on all warranty work. Since your watch stopped working after only 6 months of the repair, why are you being charged again? Did something else go wrong with the watch?

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

I'm wondering:

How long after purchase did you have the first problem?

How long was it after the first service that you had the second problem?

Well, like every other mechanical device a watch needs servicing - 5 - 7 years is the recommended interval, although those estimates seem a little high for 'just' a service so I assume that there were other items as well.

You don't state how long before it stopped, but I am assuming that it was less than that interval. The original service came with a one year warranty so the second service could have been covered by that. Without knowing specifically what Breitling said the problem was it's tough to say more.

Welcome to BreitlingSource.

edit, looks like a couple of posts beat me to it so some of this is redundant.

Yeah, something went wrong...I'm an idiot and forgot to deal with it until far later! I know it's mybad, but I still expected much more from Breitling. It was an out of sight out of mind thing, and once I put on another watch I put it on the back burner...the way back burner to my detriment!

To answer your questions, the first repair was 2 years after the initial purchase, and the second FAILURE was 6 months later. The problem is that I didn't send it at that time. I just think it's unacceptable for a Breitling! Realistically I would have expected more from them at BUSA. I asked them to refer it up the chain in Wilton and they said they did so with the same result...pay the bill or don't. There is a great value in customer service and customer satisfaction and they don't seem to care about it.
I know I sound disgruntled, and quite frankly...I AM
It wouldn't take much to give a bit back seeing that they supposedly had the watch open and apart. I would have expected some company loyalty and at least a discounted cost being that it was the 2nd identical problem and repair

Your watch broke and you just put it away and forgot about it for awhile until it was no longer in warranty, then you complain about Breitling as a company for charging you to fix your watch? That really stinks.

You had the chance to send it back for a warranty coverage but you missed your window, that's not their fault that you put it on the back burner. If they make the exception for you, then they have to make that exception for the millions of people who own a Breitling. Sorry that's not the compasion that you were looking for but it's hard to side with you when you just put the broken watch away and forgot about it then complain about Breitling's service practices.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

If anyone has an email for Breitling corp. I would really appreciate it. I'd really like to let them in on my dissatisfaction.

Sounds like you were within the warranty period for the service, at 6 months, and all you had to do was send it back. Since they didn't want to work with you on the service cost, I'm wondering how long you waited to send it back. Was it a matter of years? If so, I can understand their position.

As to the first problem, within 2 years, the initial warranty should have been in play, and I'd think they could have worked with you, even if it was a couple days past.

Okay King, I understand your point,and I agree with it but only to a certain point. I was clear about my mistake, but I'm also a sales professional and I know the value of customer satisfaction. Not only that, but your logic breaks down because this isn't (or wasn't) a public issue until I made it so. Had BUSA offered to do the repair gratis, or even at a reduced rate of let's say labor only, they would not have to fix millions of watches. Let's also not gloss over the question of should they have so many watches in the repair queue?
I have no problem with your having a different opinion, quite the contrary. I still say when you buy a Mercedes or Lexus you expect it to perform like one. I didn't buy a Rolls to continue the analogy, but I didn't buy a Hyundai either. I expected performance and durability, was I wrong in that? I now think that maybe I was, as I don;t think that 2 identical problems are a coincidence.
I would like all opinions, good or bad!

I'm assuming that the first repair was outside the warranty period - so more than 2 years, and what did Breitling say was wrong - there must have been about $250 - $300 in repairs on top of the service costs?

As for the second breakdown, I'm sorry but I don't see any liability on Breitling's part. You say that you are disgusted by Breitling but apparently not that disgusted - when the watch broke for the second time you were so disgusted that you ignored it for at least six months - I see absolutely no reason for Breitling to do the work free of charge. It's like taking a watch in 3 years after I bought it and demanding that they honour the 2 year warranty - it's not going to happen.

First, I'm sorry to hear of your experience. I think anyone who paid what you did for any watch, and it stops like that would be PISSED. I'm not a very smart guy when it comes to the mechanical aspects, but it sounds like an obvious mechanical vice service problem. That being said, since you take responsibility for not sending it back during the warranty period, I will go out on a limb and recommend you try and find a reputable watchmaker/repairer at a local AD, hopefully a Breitling certified one, and have it fixed there. It will save $$, and give you a working Breitling back.

Best of luck.

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An ever changing collection.....

Thanks 46, and everyone else who replied too. Where I am (Upstate NY) I have found VERY few AD's, but I'll definitely check it out. I guess I come across as a lazy d*ckhead who was too dumb to send his watch back to BUSA. Well (sigh), I've been thought of as worse things In the days when I was in an office daily and had a fedex acct it might have been a different story with a happier ending. It's my fault either way, I just had higher expectations I guess. At the time I was running 2 businesses and it was a royal pain in the ass to stop at a post office/fedex office to drop it off and ship it. I figured I'd do it next week, and promptly forgot about it.
That being said, it bothers me that I still have no idea why it stopped and have not gotten an answer from BUSA. I will say that the girl I spoke to was very very nice and listened to my tale of woe, and was very "graceful" in her replies. I never expected that after paying this much for a watch that it would break twice and basically cost 1/2 the value to be repaired. I also didn't know at the time about the 2 year maintenance expectation. I wore it constantly from the day I bought it and it didn't come off. It seems that is not how it was meant to be worn, and I find that not acceptable too. Did you guys know better when you bought your first? If anyone is in the market for a non working Superocean feel free to let me know.

Couldn't you just put it in a box and arrange collection? Maybe I'm missing something here, but it sounds to me like this is all your own fault.

The initial repair was on the expensive side, sure, but since I don't know what happened to the watch or how it was used I won't comment on that price. The second repair was out of the guarantee period, so of course they're not going to do it for free. You could've got it for free but decided that couldn't be bothered to put it in a box and make a phone call to arrange collection, then you're pissed off about it?

nonsense

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GMTIIc
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Navitimer 01 LE 788/2000

I can completely sympathize with this. Mailing something expensive like this is a pain in the ass and takes time to do properly. I've been in the same boat where I have had to return a defective product (typically with electronics made in China ) and put it off because I'm busy (work, student, kids) and the next thing I know is I get around to doing it long after the return period and I'm SOL! So, I'm completely with you on that issue, and I'm sorry.

I'm still wondering about Roff's point about the first repair that seems to have been more then just a routine service. Do you still have the paperwork from that? Can you wither post a copy or just post what all the different components of the first repair were that added up to $800. I think this will give the experts on this forum an opportunity to better assess what the initial problem may have been as clearly there had to be more there than just a routine service. I guess what I am suggesting is that you can find a lot of sympathy for your plight here, but if you want some expertise about the problem, post some detail.

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Omega21