zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: I have spent over $500 on factory service and
: been without my primary watch (mid-size
: seamaster automatic) for about 6 of the last
: 6 months.

: It seemed not to self-wind effectively, and
: kept running out, so I sent it in. They also
: replaced the dial and hands, because the
: luminous markings were damaged by water that
: entered when snorkeling (some diving watch,
: whether or not the crown was - which it
: probably wasn't). Did maintenance service.
: All for the bargain price of $527. They
: managed to screw up the promised express
: shipping.

: Months later, I get it back. It works. For a
: day. Then, dead. Whether manually wound or
: otherwise, nothing. I am now very impressed
: with the quality of their post service
: calibration.

: Send it back (at my expense). Months more of
: broken schedule promises and laughable
: claims to have expedited the service (they
: somehow couldn't start work on the problem
: until they got a back ordered replacement
: back that was needed for cosmetic reasons.)
: It STILL has the same failure to
: autiomatically wind as it did 6 months and
: $500 ago.

: Here is what it does. When dead, it will start
: ticking after a few wiggles. However, every
: day wearing doesn't keep it would like it
: always used to. (No lifestyle changes in the
: meantime.)

: And it sounds noisy and bad. When I wiggle my
: wrist right, it makes a noticable audible
: spinning sound, like a loose rotor. It can
: go for about 4 seconds of spinning. In a
: quiet room it can be heard spinning across
: the room. Like a cheap toy. I hear it making
: noises all the time when I make normal
: motions.

: I recently compared it to a friend's identical
: model, and his doesn't do this.

: Any advice? Is there competent service
: anywhere?

If you haven't done so already, e-mail Switzerland at aftersales@omega.ch with the details of your problem. I have a watch in NJ right now that is being repaired from the damage they did to it while trying to repair it. As soon as I e-mailed Switzerland, they personally contacted NJ and my servicing is now being overseen by the customer care manager personally (or so I'm told). I was also promised an expedited turn-around time of 7-10 days, when it took them 10 weeks to mess it up the first time.

I don't think Switzerland wants any unhappy customers, so they should go to bat for you with NJ. If not, just tell NJ you want the watch back and send it directly to Switzerland for repair. You have a 2 year warranty on any factory service, so you won't have to pay for Switzerland to fix the problems if NJ can't. I'll never use NJ again for anything.