Omega Seamaster Losing Time

[Ganglandboss]

I have had a Seamaster Professional 1120 calibre for just over five years. After 3 years, I noticed it had stopped one day. I thought this was odd and I wound it. The second hand started moving erratically and it stopped again. I had to take it in for a service and a few weeks and £200 later, it came back looking like brand new with a new 2 year warranty. I noticed last week that it was losing a lot of time and on Saturday it had stopped altogether. I checked the service note and it is dated January 2009 so it is just out of warranty.

I took it to ******* ** *********** in Manchester (who took it for the last service) and they said they would have a look at it, saying it could be something as simple as it needs to be demagnetised. They rang me today to say they cannot fix it and it needs to go away for a service.

When I took it to ***, they seemed to feel it shouldn't fail so soon and said they would see if Omega would still cover it under warranty. Unfortunately they say they won't.

They have told a service will cost £305. I have also had a price from the 'Omega Boutique' in the Trafford Centre - they have quoted £285 and also claim to be able to jump the queue.

As it is going to be serviced by the same people, it is a no-brainer where I take it. Before I cough up, is it normal for it to break down two years after a service? I have been told by several retailers that it should need a service every 4-5 years. Is a snot-mail to Omega likely to make them reconsider repairing it under warranty?

Thanks!

Edited by Ganglandboss on Tuesday 26th April 11:12

[LukeBird]

I'd contact Omega UK before sending it.
Speak to them ASAP and tell them you're not happy with the service.
Given it was serviced by Omega the first time, I wouldn't expect it to fail just outside two years of service.

[RemainAllHoof]

I am surprised they are being that specific about the warranty date given it's a "luxury" watch. Customer service and all that. Yes, it is normal for a £1k+ Swiss made watch to require servicing every 3-5 years. If it were a cheap Seiko, I'd not expect it to require a service in 25 years (my £30 Seiko is within 25s a day and has never been serviced but been much abused) but you get what you pa... wait, a fking sec...

Anyway, if they refuse to budge, try Ryte Time. He serviced my Omega SMP and it is to within COSC specs now.

[nikaiyo2]

Shame on you lot expecting a luxury swiss watch maker to treat you in anyway better than if you had bought a Rotary for £20 from Argos... I doubt a snot mail will do any good at all. All the mid range swiss watch co's are the same, very good at taking money little else. IWC, Rolex, Omega Cartier all have pretty poor customer services.

For what its wortyh my Seamaster Chrono is 13 years old, has never been serviced and keeps to +3 seconds last time I timed it.


These guys are great, but would be similar price to your other quotes
http://www.swisstimeservices.co.uk/servicing.html are very very good

Or
http://www.robinmartin.co.uk/rolex.htm
£130 for a standard service

[Ganglandboss]

I have had no reply from Omega Yet but there has been a development. I have edited the OP to remove the name of the place I took it.

Since getting it back, it is still stopping intermittently but not as often.

I have dived with the watch quite recently without any problems, as one would expect with a diver's watch rated at 300m. This weekend I went to my mate's house for a barbecue. He has one of those inflatable pools in his back garden and I ended up in it. The watch now looks like this:



The watch has never been taken for a repair anywhere other than the place that looked at it the other week. Naturally I want it putting right. Would I be wrong to insist that they send it to Omega for a full service at their expense. Obviously this will rectify the original fault but I cannot see any other way of putting right the water damage. I appreciate I would have to shell out for a repair if Omega won't sort it, however, I may not have needed a full service as would be undertaken by Omega.

[tubbystu]

Because you have tidied up your OP it is difficult to tell where the service may have been done, and to what spec.

So when it was serviced was it a genuine Omega service ? If not, was returning it to full waterproof rating an option ?

If the service was to include returning the watch to a waterproof condition, then it is for the company who serviced it to correct, it as it has not been done - but you cannot force them to send it away to Omega now if you were happy with their original service specification, can you ?

If it was done by Omega then the service (and timekeeping) is guaranteed for 24 months as part of the service cost.

[Ganglandboss]

tubbystu said:

Because you have tidied up your OP it is difficult to tell where the service may have been done, and to what spec.

So when it was serviced was it a genuine Omega service ? If not, was returning it to full waterproof rating an option ?

If the service was to include returning the watch to a waterproof condition, then it is for the company who serviced it to correct, it as it has not been done - but you cannot force them to send it away to Omega now if you were happy with their original service specification, can you ?

If it was done by Omega then the service (and timekeeping) is guaranteed for 24 months as part of the service cost.

I tidied up the OP because it may be considered naming and shaming. I do not wish to do that, not just because of PH rules, but because it is only reasonable I allow them the opportunity to remedy the problem (if they are responsible).

The repairer in question is a specialist shop belonging to a large chain of jewellers and only deal in high end watches. I took it to them 2 years ago because they were on Omega's website as authorised repairers. They told me it would be sent to Omega, stripped down, rebuilt (with any faulty components replaced), case polished, tested and returned with the same warranty as it had when brand new.

When it developed problems just after the warranty had expired, I took it to the same place. They said they would look at it in-house as it may be a minor problem they can fix without the expense of a full service. After having it a few days they said they could not do anything other than send it to Omega and returned the watch to me.

I did not request it be returned to waterproof condition but I would not have expected I would have to when entrusting my watch to an authorised repairer. I would certainly have expected them to tell me if they could no longer guarantee its water resistance.

[tubbystu]

Ganglandboss said:

I tidied up the OP because it may be considered naming and shaming. I do not wish to do that, not just because of PH rules, but because it is only reasonable I allow them the opportunity to remedy the problem (if they are responsible).

Fine - I was just ensuring that my point might have been lost with the tidying.

Ganglandboss said:

The repairer in question is a specialist shop belonging to a large chain of jewellers and only deal in high end watches. I took it to them 2 years ago because they were on Omega's website as authorised repairers. They told me it would be sent to Omega, stripped down, rebuilt (with any faulty components replaced), case polished, tested and returned with the same warranty as it had when brand new.

Ganglandboss said:

When it developed problems just after the warranty had expired, I took it to the same place. They said they would look at it in-house as it may be a minor problem they can fix without the expense of a full service. After having it a few days they said they could not do anything other than send it to Omega and returned the watch to me.

I did not request it be returned to waterproof condition but I would not have expected I would have to when entrusting my watch to an authorised repairer. I would certainly have expected them to tell me if they could no longer guarantee its water resistance.

So it sounds as if they have opened the watch for evaluation purposes and not told you it should no longer be considered water-proof. They should either reseal it themselves (assuming they have the ability and hardware) and give you something to confirm it or send it to Omega at their cost for resealing - you might be able to get this element of the service or even a few more £ as compensation for the grief knocked off by the dealer.