The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Suggestions please... My wife bought me a Cosmonaute approximately 4 years ago. While I love the watch, it never really was worn during the first year of ownership. After that year of storage, I noticed it would not keep accurate time. I sent it to a Breitling repair shop on the west coast. After about 90 days it was returned stating repair involve just lubrication. Well it was DOA at delivery. It did not run at all. It was returned to Breiting the same day. 90 days later it was returned stating repair involved a basic service. Great it works ! A month later it was not accurate again. Frustrated I sent it to the CT service center. They indicated I needed a complete rebuild. 4 months later I get my watch. Great it works ! Just for safety I stored the watch in a automatic watch winder. After 2 uses and about 13 months in the winder it is dead again. Breitling has it in at the CT service center. The work order they sent to me says rebuild is required. COME ON ! Breitling offers no reason for why this is happening and will no replace the watch. Any Ideas why this is happening ?

It sounds as though there is something fundamentally wrong with the movement that a disassembly / clean / reassembly is not fixing. It could be any number of things from depthing of the wheels to a problem with the mainspring barrel and the only sure way to sort it would be a movement replacement.

I would make sure that BUSA knows the full history of the watch from all of the different services.

Welcome to BreitlingSource.

Sorry to hear it, mate. I think I recall people reporting good experiences with BUSA after getting on the phone to them. Getting hold of an actual person and expressing your frustration seems to have brought good results.

Thanks for the suggestions... I do believe that the servicing being doing is not solving the problem. My biggest complaint is that I sent a 1 page letter with the watch outlining the history and problem. Their initial reply was I needed a full service and please submit a payment to begin work. After 2 phone calls Breitling has agreed to pay for the service and agreed to provide a free leather band as compensation for my problems. I own a number of nice watches and certainly intend on purchasing more, I would think Breitling would offer to replace the watch seeing it is their best interest to keep me a loyal customer.

I like how the reaction to recieving something that doesn't work isn't "how can I get this fixed", but "how much can I get for this"

Well the reaction after Breitling failed to fix the problem the first three times that they tried. Doesn't seem unreasonable to expect a different approach to the problem this time!

Glad to hear they're fixing it. Cossie is a beautiful watch, hope it back on your wrist working again soon!

Thank you Dr J. I am looking forward wearing it again. Breitling does make beautiful watches. My rant is not so much against the watch, its a precision device and they can and do fail. My issue is with the lack of service support I feel all of us deserve as owners of a Breitling. Had the tech working on my watch called and said "I read your letter and here is what I found"... Man, I would have been over the top satisfied that I have been heard and the problem will be resolved.

I've spent many years working on my own vehicles and know one end of a spanner from the other. Because of this, when I have to go to the garage to get things sorted (as now I struggle for time) I get really frustrated when I have to talk to service reception rather than the mechanic.

Almost every time, the fault doesn't get fixed and it costs me more money than it should. Reception never accurately pass on the description of the problem nor are able to articulate what they've done to fix it.

Because of this, I've started using small garages where the the mechanic is the owner is the receptionist is the complaints department.

Not only is it significantly less expensive, the job gets done right first time more of the time.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to improve efficiency and provide a slicker, more professional service to the customer, business often fails to deliver what the customer actually needs. Good service.

I hope the Cossie gets a fitting fix so you can start wearing it. Your rant is warranted as this type of service (or lack of) is all too common I'm afraid.

If you are not satisfied with the end result, I would get in touch with the highest person in the business I could get my hands on. No MD wants to listen to complaints and they will find a very quick way of getting your problem sorted. It’s often good for the head of a company to hear the rubbish you having to put up with, as to a certain extent they are insulated from this on a daily basis. If they are good at their role in the business, they will be asking as many questions as you. That can only be a good thing.

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Jim

"You have Control".

Where was the watch purchased? If it was a USA AD, did you go through the AD for the service work? You mentioned it originally went to a Breitling repairman on the West Coast. Was this an authorized Breitling repairman? The three service centers in the USA are Wilton, CT; Miami, FL; and Chicago.

The reason I ask this is I would go to the AD and have them get their regional sales rep involved... With the watch having so many issues, the rep can sometimes get in the middle of the situation and determine alternative resolutions. If you don't have any luck with the AD,let me know and I will email the regional for your area and see if they can help...

Barry

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BC

JD Watchworks in San Francisco is an authorised service centre. And there is no one listed in Chicago.

The suburban Chicago Service Center is located at the following address:

Breitling USA
101 W 22nd Street
Suite 203
Lombard, IL 60148

Phone 630 495 2419
Fax 630 495 3534

Breitling owns three service centers in the USA... Wilton, CT; Miami, FL; and Lombard, IL. These are Breitling owned facilities with Breitling employees. AD's in the USA will send their respective repairs to one of these three service centers based on their region.

The other Service centers located in the USA are individually owned business's that have a watch repairman that has been trained at Breitling USA's Wilton facility and passed the required tests for certification. If a Breitling watch owner wants to send their watch in for service the only Breitling owned service center listed on the website is Wilton...

Good Luck sir and let me know if I can help.
Barry

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BC

I'm aware that you are with an AD Barry, but Lombard is categorically not listed on Breitling's website (and hasn't been for a long time). No idea why they differentiate that one, but they do.

Yes I'm not sure why they're not listed either... Only thing I can figure is they want customers to ship to Wilton. I don't think the Miami service center is listed either...

Just trying to help the fella out if I can. I know it can be frustrating with repairs sometimes, and it's amazing how things can get rectified when I contact my rep.

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BC