Omega service repair experience

[bcacncnc]

Just wanted to share some of my experience.

My wife has a fairly new Aqua Terra with the new 8520 movement. Its very rarely worn. The winding mechanism seemed to fail whereby manual winding would catch on the rotor making it difficult to wind. I guess it shouldn't.

Anyway, we gave it to the Omega boutique here in Hong Kong. It went through a local check with the watch master in Hong Kong, and then later it went to headquarters for a full repair. The whole time we did not receive a telephone call to update us of the status until it was ready for pickup. It took a full two months.

When we picked up the watch, the sales gave very little input as to what was wrong or what was done to the watch. There was a little report, which I asked to keep but was not allowed to. It showed that the gasket was replaced, but surprisingly much of the comments were written in Chinese - so I wonder if this was the "master" report from Switzerland. Being COSC certified, it kind of irks me a little knowing it broke down so soon and with the case having been opened, it "loses" its COSC certification.

All up, I must say as a consumer, I was not too satisfied with the overall experience - although the watch now seems in perfect order.

[brkanand]

Is there a contact address on Omega website where you can lodge a protest or seek clarification?

[mitchy]

Originally Posted by bcacncnc

Just wanted to share some of my experience.

My wife has a fairly new Aqua Terra with the new 8520 movement. Its very rarely worn. The winding mechanism seemed to fail whereby manual winding would catch on the rotor making it difficult to wind. I guess it shouldn't.

Anyway, we gave it to the Omega boutique here in Hong Kong. It went through a local check with the watch master in Hong Kong, and then later it went to headquarters for a full repair. The whole time we did not receive a telephone call to update us of the status until it was ready for pickup. It took a full two months.

When we picked up the watch, the sales gave very little input as to what was wrong or what was done to the watch. There was a little report, which I asked to keep but was not allowed to. It showed that the gasket was replaced, but surprisingly much of the comments were written in Chinese - so I wonder if this was the "master" report from Switzerland. Being COSC certified, it kind of irks me a little knowing it broke down so soon and with the case having been opened, it "loses" its COSC certification.

All up, I must say as a consumer, I was not too satisfied with the overall experience - although the watch now seems in perfect order.

Hi, sorry to hear you ha a problem soo soon with the 8500 series movement. n
As a general rule omega service times (for warranty) are always 1-2 months or 4-8weeks which is a bummer but has to be done.
Glad it all got repaired though. Just like Rolex omega rarely tells you what the problem is if its under warranty, they think it might get leaked out to the public and they have a brand image to protect.
As for the 'cosc' issue , I'm not sure where your information came from but opening a case does not loose it's COSC certification, as omega and most manufactures actually send the uncased (bare movements) without the rotors to the COSC for testing. Once the test is complete that's when they case up the watch and send it out to you. If the watch has been completely disassembled I'd jump up and down but as it was only a winding issue , could be a broken castle or a shorn gear, the amount of disassembled movement should not be too much of a worry, should still keep the COSC rates I hope that's the only issue you have with the watch

[bcacncnc]

Thanks for that guys. And I was not aware of how the COSC thingy works. You learn something new every day!

[Kringkily]

Actually doesn't sound too bad. I've heard much worse stories about Omega Service Centers...

[Perdu]

They will have regulated the watch to within COSC as part of the repair.

[siewmaiwatch]

Originally Posted by mitchy

Hi, sorry to hear you ha a problem soo soon with the 8500 series movement. n
As a general rule omega service times (for warranty) are always 1-2 months or 4-8weeks which is a bummer but has to be done.
Glad it all got repaired though. Just like Rolex omega rarely tells you what the problem is if its under warranty, they think it might get leaked out to the public and they have a brand image to protect.
As for the 'cosc' issue , I'm not sure where your information came from but opening a case does not loose it's COSC certification, as omega and most manufactures actually send the uncased (bare movements) without the rotors to the COSC for testing. Once the test is complete that's when they case up the watch and send it out to you. If the watch has been completely disassembled I'd jump up and down but as it was only a winding issue , could be a broken castle or a shorn gear, the amount of disassembled movement should not be too much of a worry, should still keep the COSC rates I hope that's the only issue you have with the watch

Thanks also for these info. Very helpful.