I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, but it's not a surprise that they chose to repair your watch rather than exchange a year old watch with a brand new one.

Unfortunately faults happen, but it sounds like incredibly bad luck that faults have happened three times on your same watch. It was working each time they sent it back to you, so it sounds like they thought it was fixed each time.

The dents on the lugs aren't acceptable though - but I don't know how you would pursue them for this.

 

conversely I think it's surprising to see that they haven't replaced the watch. It was gaining 80 seconds when it was brand new? Been stopping while on my wrist not once but twice for the exact same reason? They should have accepted that they've made a faulty mechanical watch but they decided to go cheap and get it "fixed" every time. I was shocked when they replied me that "your watch will be repaired" when I sent them the watch with the same problem - high amplitude.

As for the dents, I can't claim anything since I haven't sent them the photos of the watch before servicing. Now it's just my word vs. their word and they do not accept this. I only wrote it for everyone to know that they do this kind of cheap moves. I swear I haven't removed the straps of the watch even once before it went to servicing and came back with 4 symmetrical dents 2 for each side.

Anyway, thanks for your support and reply.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, but it's not a surprise that they chose to repair your watch rather than exchange a year old watch with a brand new one.

Unfortunately faults happen, but it sounds like incredibly bad luck that faults have happened three times on your same watch. It was working each time they sent it back to you, so it sounds like they thought it was fixed each time.

The dents on the lugs aren't acceptable though - but I don't know how you would pursue them for this.

 

Photos?


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Iphone cannot catch the dents clearly so I need to take my DSLR to picture them but I'll do that next weekend. I'll let you know when I post pics.

thanks.

Photos?

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While it is unfortunate that these issues have occurred, it sounds like Breitling has done the right thing aside from the dented lugs. If the watch leaves their service facility in working condition, then the repair was successful. With that said, it seems odd that after the same time period you have now had the watch stop running twice.

 

I'm trying to be objective even though I have a 3k watch which went back and forth to the service since it was brand new.

I understand your logic. They are testing it as if it was freshly produced after each complete overhaul. Therefore the watch works perfectly when they sent it to customer (in this case its me). What I can't understand is that I bought a brand new watch, it wasn't even working properly when I opened its box. Then it stopped on my wrist. Then it stopped on my wrist again after complete service. All of these happened in 1 year and I think that's a very short period for a mechanical COSC certificated watch which can be used for maybe 30 years.

I'm not upset about your comment actually appreciate it but: even if I leave the dents on the lugs aside, would you be OK in the same situation? They couldn't even explained what the problem is, they just said "repaired" every time it had stopped working. Now I'm not sure if it will repeat the same problem since it did in the past.

P.S.: 4 months between 2 stoppages is not exact 4 months. Period between them could be 115 days or 130 days I'm not sure about that because finding out that power reserve drops and it finally stops on the wrist takes like 2 weeks or so.

 

You are located in Turkey. Was the Watch serviced by Breitling in Turkey or through a 3rd party authorized service agent?


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You are located in Turkey. Was the Watch serviced by Breitling in Turkey or through a 3rd party authorized service agent?

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At first Turkish Distributor with qualified watchmakers "de-magnetized" it.

Second, Turkish Distributor carried out complete overhaul.

Third, sent watch to Breitling Switzerland and they've carried out another complete overhaul.

Thanks.

 

If your situation had occurred to me I would not be happy either. I have yet to have to send any of my watches in for service or repair yet, but from the stories that I have read about here on the forums, this appears to be business as usual for most brands. That give you as little information as possible. It is very unfortunate and I think the entire Swiss watch service procedure needs to be revamped and brought into the 21st century. It's stuck in the 19th. I would try to contact breitling customer relations, if that department even exists and explain your situation.

 

I think the opposite couldn't be more true. I've sent lots of Breitlings in to Breitling for services and a couple of "picky" warranty issues. Every time bar none, they have done what they said they would do in the time they said they would do it in.
What you have to realise is that if something goes wrong, one is much more likely to report it. However, how many posts do you see when everything goes smoothly?
Also, this is just the tip of the iceberg. How many Breitlings are serviced by Breitling service centres? Thousands upon thousands. How many unhappy customers? A handful. And it's this handful that post.
Cheers,
Andy

 

Over the last couple of decades I've had a couple of "sticky" service issues with the brand as well but each time the final disposition/resolution was handled satisfactorily for me in the end and I can personally vouch for the backing the company has provided including professional courtesy and timeliness. That said, I have had issues in the past with other consumer items and they were sometimes "replaced" but only early after purchase and only when they were much less "complicated" items than a wristwatch. I can't imagine an automobile manufacturer "replacing" a car one year (or even one to three months) after purchase even if said car was repaired under warranty for the very same issue (quite rare) a half dozen times. Doesn't make economic sense for a car maker and doesn't make sense for a watch manufacturer either. Obviously a disgruntled customer may complain vehemently but most often that helps little in disposition of the problem. A point is reached where a customer will decide never to purchase that brand car, watch, appliance, etc., again and suggest the same to one and all. Economics and business considerations are unfortunately not always to the favor of the consumer (or manufacturer) and it seems you have sadly come to recognize the fact. Hang in there, try to be patient and courteous and I'm sure the brand will support you and make every reasonable effort to satisfy your issues. They know as all of us know that any other disposition will result in you not being a Breitling customer again.
Best,
Ron

 

That's why I purchased my Breitling at Costco, they will fix or refund me for as long as I want.

 

Not breitling but recently sent my Tudor fast rider (only month old) to RSC for issues with chronograph function. Same problem occurred twice and on the third time they gave up repairing it and just plopped a new movement in.

Just wondering if OP could suggest this course of action to Breitling rather than a complete replacement watch?

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Yes that is plain laziness. They need to refinish your lugs or give you a new case.


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Sorry to hear about your situation hope you get it sorted out and thank you for sharing your story with us.

 

To the OP, you are correct and are not being unreasonable about your request to replace the watch. I own a Breitling but after reading these posts about outrageous service costs and not standing behind their products, I'm wondering if I made a mistake buying a Breitling. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

wow...sorry to hear it

 

Sorry to read about your misfortune and I hope that your issues get resolved. Couldn't help to notice how your title claims that Breitling will not take their faulty watches back, but yet, the watch has only been serviced by Breitling only once.

Additionally, how can you be certain that it was sent to Breitling and that they performed a complete overhaul if you did not get any documentation of service performed. I would think that to the very least, that they would provide that to you with another COSC certificate. I have a strong feeling that your local service center is performing the work themselves and that might help explain the scratches on the case. I have seen videos of Breitling's full services and polishing of the case to erase imperfections is one of the items that they perform. I don't know, I could be wrong but something don't seem right.

 

Wow. What a shame. Hope everything ends up working out.

 

Post your story to their Facebook page and Twitter feeds. Maybe that will get their attention.

 

Those dents are unacceptable. Sorry for your dilemma.

 

OK, I feel compelled to weigh in here. OP, please believe me when I say that I do not intend my comments in any kind of personal way -- they are simply my reaction to what has been presented by you repeatedly in this thread.

I should start by saying that I generally detest threads like this, which tend to serve as a way to slag a particular manufacturer based upon unfulfilled personal -- and many times, uninformed -- expectations. I will tell you right now that, with only one potential exception, nothing in your posts here reflects poorly on Breitling in my view.

Let's start with the fact that your watch has not "broken down" three times, as you claim. The first "problem" you had with the watch was that it was running fast. This is generally a sure fire sign that the watch may have become magnetized. This isn't a fault with the watch. It can happen to any watch, and that's why many of us who collect also own de-magnetizers. It is easy to inadvertently place your watch too close to your iPhone, or to place it on your iPad, or a speaker, without really thinking about it. Hospital visits can also have this result. The solution is an easy one -- simply perform a quick de-magnetization, and you're good to go. So, let's please stop using this as a particular example of your Breitling being deficient straight out of the box.

Moving on, you say that, after four months, your watch started stopping on your wrist. You sent it to your Turkish distributor, and, it appears that they did not do an adequate job of repairing the watch. That's a bummer, and I commiserate with you, but I don't attribute that to Breitling. Apparently your AD just didn't perform the repair appropriately.

So, you sent it to Breitling, they repaired it, and, apparently, it seems to be working fine ever since. Had you simply sent it to Breitling right off the bat, there would be nothing to post about here. Your watch had an issue, you sent it to Breitling, and it came back working just fine. Of course they are not going to replace it -- the whole deal is that they will repair it under warranty, and they did.

The one exception I alluded to earlier is this -- if, indeed, Breitling put the dents in your lugs, that's not good. I find this hard to believe, however, since, in my experience, Breitling does a beautiful job of polishing the case before sending it back from a service. Was your watch sent back to you directly from Breitling, or was it routed through your Turkish distributor? Hmmmm...

So, you've started a thread entitled "Breitling: We don't take back our faulty watches" based upon the rather unremarkable fact that your watch needed warranty repair, and was fixed by Breitling. An inconvenience? Definitely. But the fact that Breitling did not meet your unreasonable expectation of replacing an 8-month old watch with a new one hardly reflects poorly on Breitling, just as it would not reflect poorly on any other brand that would invoke the same policy.

I have had to send a couple of watches back to Breitling for warranty repair. Breitling has been nothing but utterly professional in addressing any issues and returning the watches to me good as new. On one occasion, I received a watch back from warranty repair, and it actually had new issues that had not been there before. I was not a happy camper, but I did not immediately head to my computer to slag Breitling on some internet watch forum. Instead, I contacted Breitling's customer service, and Breitling picked up the tab to have the watch shipped back to them. They also expedited the repair, and it has worked perfectly ever since.

At the end of the day, I certainly hope that your watch has now been repaired to your satisfaction, and that you will have the opportunity to truly enjoy your Breitling -- that Avenger II GMT is a great looking piece.

Cheers,
Jim

 

At the end of the day, I certainly hope that your watch has now been repaired to your satisfaction, and that you will have the opportunity to truly enjoy your Breitling -- that Avenger II GMT is a great looking piece.

Cheers,
Jim

I agree wholeheartedly with everything Jim noted in his post but I will only quote his last paragraph/sentence before closing this thread. Everyone has had plenty of time and opportunity to opine and many have done so. Thanks to all for your interesting and valued input. Thread closed.
Best,
Ron