The Breitling Watch Source Forums

im from bergen county NJ i went to the diamond exchange on rt 4 in hackensack i believe..
now i went there like any of us to find a deal or something different for me to buy.. i asked the person selling watches that i would like a super avenger white dial without numbers.
he said yes he can get it.. also mentioned i wanted it brand new untouched or tried on. again he reassured me it would be just that brand new..

now i left a $1000 deposit to get the ball rolling.. hes getting it for me $4200 no tax brand new.

i have purchased watches off the "grey market" before. so im no too concerned about authenticity as it is a reputable jeweler.
now here comes the problem


he calls me and tells me the watch has arrived blah blah.. so i go check it out ready to purchase and pay the full amount owed..

looking at the watch thoroughly as we all know us breitling enthusiasts look and pay attention to ALL detail..
the watch looks great brand new still wrapped.. perfect

the problem is the warranty booklet has the last page missing where the watch orginated from "tourneau" "spain" usa"
that page has been cut out...
im not sure if i should be concerned.. the jeweler said it was to protect the dealer as they could lose their lisence blah blah..
im not sure if i should pull the trigger on this watch.. what do u guys suggest

pls help...

That's the grey market!

AD is breaching his contract with Breitling by selling the watch to a grey market retailer and protects themselves by removing the identification page of the warranty effectively meaning that you are paying for a watch with zero warranty.

i shouldnt purchase?
i have purchased before fro, grey market... but damn the last page missing is a bit off...

It's up to you, but there's no warranty.

Might be worth contacting the two US AD sponsors of this site to see what they can do for you - PM jnelson3097 for contact details of Govbergs in PA and member FEAR for Provident in FL.

Yeap, did a quick AD search in Paramus, NJ on the breitling site and the only AD there is Tourneu.

Grey market, sir.

yea..im going back for my deposit. not worth the trouble or headache of a watch or "new" watch with no warranty.

Will Breitling service a grey market watch? I don't mean under warranty, it seems clear that they won't do that. But will they touch the watch at all? My understanding is that some companies won't service their own products if they were sold grey market.

_________________
David
Je suis désole pour mon mauvais français.

Zenith Pilot Big Date; IWC Vintage Collection Aquatimer; IWC Portuguese 7-day

These days it's not usually a problem. It used to be an issue because the grey market would remove serial numbers and that's likely to prevent servicing, but that practice has pretty much stopped now.

You still have a potential problem if you use the grey market 'warranty' that they promote with the watch - their tame watchmaker uses generic parts which will result in either additional Breitling service costs or potentially a refusal to service the watch.

I might be mistaken here, but don't think so. Unless you buy it from an AD and they fill out the info you don't get the Breitling warranty. If you bought gray market watches, in the past, you did not have a warranty then. The page missing does not really matter when not buying from an AD. Not saying you should or should not buy this...but I don't see any difference from what you have done in the past. Also $4200 does not seem like all that great of a deal, again just my opinion. Assuming on bracelet the MSRP is 5490, right? Pretty easy to get 20% off making it around a $200 dollar difference. I follow Roff's advice and check with Justin or Fear. I know I would easily pay $500 more for a $5k watch to have it come from an AD. I have a brand new Planet Ocean back to the factory after less than a month on my wrist. I am sure whatever they are doing under warranty is more then I could have saved buyin gray market an being on the hook for the fix myself.

I agree with the other posts that you could get a similar price directly from an AD that would come with a warranty.

I have obtained a Breitling in the grey market but it was 50% off the retail of +/- $10k so I figured I saved $2-3k instead of going with an AD. To me it made sense to forgo the warranty as service is $500-700 so if it broke down I would still be better off. But I think that if you are going grey market to save $200 you are undervaluing the warranty.

Not sure what the discussion was with the store but they may not take it back since they did deliver you a brand new Super Avenger as you requested.

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i didnt pick it up i just left a small deposit

purchasing from george from philly.
will do my best to get the refund on my deposit

SIGH

Very smart move!



Surely they have to give you the deposit back - even if you have to kick up a stink first, I don't see what grounds they have to claim a non refundable deposit - it's not like a custom piece of jewellery or anything.

Congrats, you will be very happy. Tell him Rich said hello

I suppose it depends on how the store wants to argue it. They could claim there is a verbal contract in place, which they have upheld, and which the OP is breaching; therefore, they are entitled to enforce the sale, and keep the deposit to that end. Conversely, the OP could claim the terms of the contract were not sufficiently specified, insofar as the store did not tell him in advance about the fact that the watch didn't come with a factory warranty, so it's an invalid contract, and keeping the deposit would be unjust enrichment for the store, especially if they end up selling the watch to another customer. (This is basic contract law; if there are consumer protection statutes on the books, they would likely trump.) Hopefully it wouldn't come to this, as it would be a pretty dickish move for the store to refuse to return the deposit. That said, technically the store didn't do anything wrong, provided the salespeople didn't misrepresent anything about the watch or their authorization to sell it.