Limbo land: When a simple service becomes complicated

[Klostrophobic]

So, having recently acquired a well looked after Speed auto (well, almost 12 months ago now), I decided to give it a treat and take it to my watchmaker for a service. I’ve used his services plenty of times and he is a straight shooter and has always delivered a good service in the past.

The work was estimated to take 3-4 weeks – he tested the watch in front of me and said it was not losing time in the range of positions and inferred that it was not exhibiting any deviant behaviour; a straight forward job.

That was in September.

About a month after I took it in, I called up and enquired about it, as one does. He explained that in servicing the chrono, he found some parts that were nearing the end of their lifespan and had ordered them from Omega in Switzerland at no extra cost to me. Ok, no worries.

In December I enquired again – no word on the parts. They had been ordered, but not delivered.

In January, again, waiting on parts.

I phoned again now, and he explained that having re-ordered the components in December, Omega were not being able to confirm if they were going to furnish him with the order or not, and were in the midst of a restructure of some sort, so was giving him ambiguous messages.

Still no watch. I feel sympathy for him as he mentioned he has a few watches in this predicament. Obviously, it is not like I am watchless at the moment, but it is frustrating nevertheless and certainly has tinged my ‘grail’ purchase considerably. I am significantly more dubious in my appreciation for ‘bespoke’ movements, over more workhorsey ones (like a V7750).

So, who knows when I’ll get it back, but I am certainly not enjoying Omega ownership tremendously at the moment.

[Sodiac]

This is the sort of untold story we don't read much about on WUS. Plenty of mechanical watches, but what happens when they need servicing? Flip 'em before that I guess! I'm starting to worry about my collection lately, some day it will cost me plenty to get everything serviced. That has re-ignited an interest in quartz again for me...

[Drop of a Hat]

At least it will be well worth it when u get it back. And will stay with you for years.

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[novedl]

This is why there are 0 in-house movements in my collection.

[92gli]

Recently had a similar issue. Brought a watch to a local guy for a simple repair, he did nothing for almost a month except put a new scratch to the case. Thought going local was beneficial for both of us. Wrong.

Then I sent it to stoll & co. Their communication along the way was fantastic and I'm getting it back today. Total turnaound with shipping time was only 2 weeks.

[92gli]

This is why there are 0 in-house movements in my collection.

Omega movments are hardly a problem for most watchmakers. It sounds to me like this guy is the type that sends jobs to the rock bottom of the queue every time something gets in the way. Or he really doesn't have the means to order the parts himself and he's going through a third party.

[aston.db4]

Omega is cutting back on selling service parts to 3rd party watchmakers, thus your watchmaker is having problems sourcing the parts needed for your watch. They are going the Rolex route in controlling the parts and service. You might have a better chance of going to a watch repair guy who already has an account with Omega for parts.

[Klostrophobic]

Update folks!

So on monday I drew a line in the sand and called the watchmaker and asked him to return the watch to its previous functioning state and I would make alternate arrangements to get the part sourcing done. He seemed quite chipper to do this...

Then on Tuesday he called me back and said "oh yes, he had been discussing this frustration with a colleague of his in the industry and it turns out this colleague has the spare part in his inventory, so when I collect it, it will be fully attended too!". I'm happy, but would have been happier had he had this brainwave 5 months ago.

Anyway, looks like after exactly 6 months, I'll have my speedy back soon