1)Its clear to me that Omega really doesnt care
about service. The facilities are there
because they have to be for appearance sake.
I sent my BA to Bienne for repair when it
was brand new. I got it back in worse shape
then I sent it. It was inexcusable that I
got it back with the timers not reset, and
not being able to reset right out of the
box!
2)I will never use Omega when I am out of
warranty.
1)Sorry to hear your troubles but it confirms the fact that when a firm is mismanaged and has n00bs instead of qualified personnel it leads to these catastrophic results. Omega did far better when it was alongwith tissot and lemania and when it was the ssih. Omega has a far better reputation when it was a manufacture than when it became an assembleur.
It is not without reason many ads dropped Omega in the USA, Norman Morris was the most respected dealer of Omega in the USA from 1946 till 1977, after that all went bad. Omega USA today is very far to offer the same level of quality than the Norman Morris Corporation.
2) Effectively an independant is always a far better option than dealing with people who can't repair the watches of their own brand professionnaly.