Advice regarding botched Speedmaster service

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Never said it was the fault of anyone here.

Every point you make is valid.

The problem with being abstract is as soon as specifics are mentioned that is all that get heard. It is all about perception.

It was actually an email to Omega that lead me to this these forums. I did create an inquiry account with them. Perhaps I should think it over and ask what the requirements are.

Yes OFrie was and is expensive. Even snooty. I always looked at them as the last resort. They did not help themselves restricting walk in counter sales. Even in the 1980s one had to walk in through barred cages. Their days are numbered as it is. Had the A's waterfront ballpark gone forward they are in the cross hairs of redevelopment. The neighborhood 'hood' they are in is pretty much a war zone. If this is Karma, then it is a lot darker than most people are willing to accept. Most likely that they like me are frustrated. Making snarky comments on the website. Telling people to contact swatch and form class action lawsuits. As you correctly mentioned, the only ones who win this are the lawyers.

The older I get, the more I believe in pre destination. Why did the part fly down the side of the staking tool. I could ask that in the watchmaking section. Or the screwdriver slip on the OPs watch. There is the physical laws of gravitation and inertia which do no behave the same at the microscopic level as the masses are not the same. I once worked for piano movers. Pianos have the center of gravity on the top. People expect masses to react like those in a can of beer or other foodstuff. Are arms are designed for drawing food into the mouth.

Had the screwdriver not slipped, or the part jumped off the staking tool, Then I would not have posted here. And 100s of lives gone a different direction. Some call this the butterfly effect, and it is completely incomprehensible. Non linear mathematics is why I failed arithmetic.

I do not see much engagement in the watchmaking sections. Like everything else it is I want posts. There is little recent stuff of a truly technical nature. Which as stated really can not be learned from books.

I had little formal schooling. I was smarter than the teachers. Which is a difficult thing to be. Never learned the social graces. I also first logged onto the internet, and hung out with some really nerdy people. Do not really think I am on the spectrum. Many of my friends are as it is the diagnosis du jour in this day of drug culture. Probably should put this in the "we need to talk about thread."

What we really want is instant gratification, and this sort of thing gives it to us in spades.

This is getting quite off topic 🤦 in advance. And I should be combing the room for the missing pallet fork ...
 
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Thank you all for your input. I met with the service manager today. She apologized profusely and said of course they would send it off to Omega for repair at their expense.
 
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Never said it was the fault of anyone here.

Every point you make is valid.

The problem with being abstract is as soon as specifics are mentioned that is all that get heard. It is all about perception.

It was actually an email to Omega that lead me to this these forums. I did create an inquiry account with them. Perhaps I should think it over and ask what the requirements are.

Yes OFrie was and is expensive. Even snooty. I always looked at them as the last resort. They did not help themselves restricting walk in counter sales. Even in the 1980s one had to walk in through barred cages. Their days are numbered as it is. Had the A's waterfront ballpark gone forward they are in the cross hairs of redevelopment. The neighborhood 'hood' they are in is pretty much a war zone. If this is Karma, then it is a lot darker than most people are willing to accept. Most likely that they like me are frustrated. Making snarky comments on the website. Telling people to contact swatch and form class action lawsuits. As you correctly mentioned, the only ones who win this are the lawyers.

The older I get, the more I believe in pre destination. Why did the part fly down the side of the staking tool. I could ask that in the watchmaking section. Or the screwdriver slip on the OPs watch. There is the physical laws of gravitation and inertia which do no behave the same at the microscopic level as the masses are not the same. I once worked for piano movers. Pianos have the center of gravity on the top. People expect masses to react like those in a can of beer or other foodstuff. Are arms are designed for drawing food into the mouth.

Had the screwdriver not slipped, or the part jumped off the staking tool, Then I would not have posted here. And 100s of lives gone a different direction. Some call this the butterfly effect, and it is completely incomprehensible. Non linear mathematics is why I failed arithmetic.

I do not see much engagement in the watchmaking sections. Like everything else it is I want posts. There is little recent stuff of a truly technical nature. Which as stated really can not be learned from books.

I had little formal schooling. I was smarter than the teachers. Which is a difficult thing to be. Never learned the social graces. I also first logged onto the internet, and hung out with some really nerdy people. Do not really think I am on the spectrum. Many of my friends are as it is the diagnosis du jour in this day of drug culture. Probably should put this in the "we need to talk about thread."

What we really want is instant gratification, and this sort of thing gives it to us in spades.

This is getting quite off topic 🤦 in advance. And I should be combing the room for the missing pallet fork ...

TL: DR
 
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My Speedmaster is finally back after having spent 6 months at the Omega service center. Fortunately, it seems to be functioning well. Less fortunately, there are still a few superficial marks left on the movement, though they are less noticeable now:



I was curious what the service report from the Omega Service Center would say about the state of the movement after having been "serviced" by the local watchmaker. Unfortunately, the report had been misplaced and could not be found when I went to pick up the watch today – I actually do not believe this was intentional. It does seem to me, though, that a larger than expected number of parts had to be replaced:



I guess I've learned several lessons from this experience:
1. If possible, use official brand service centers.
2. Routine preventative maintenance is not benign - it's probably better to wait until a watch demonstrates poor time keeping or some other indicator that a service is required. (My Speedmaster was running a few seconds fast per day, but was over 6 years out from its most recent service when I brought it in).

Finally, while I feel like this outcome is overall acceptable and the customer service from the jeweler has been great, I will leave the name of the watchmaker here so that other forum members can make an informed decision before engaging his services:

Larry Vaks
 
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My Speedmaster is finally back after having spent 6 months at the Omega service center. Fortunately, it seems to be functioning well. Less fortunately, there are still a few superficial marks left on the movement, though they are less noticeable now:



I was curious what the service report from the Omega Service Center would say about the state of the movement after having been "serviced" by the local watchmaker. Unfortunately, the report had been misplaced and could not be found when I went to pick up the watch today – I actually do not believe this was intentional. It does seem to me, though, that a larger than expected number of parts had to be replaced:



I guess I've learned several lessons from this experience:
1. If possible, use official brand service centers.
2. Routine preventative maintenance is not benign - it's probably better to wait until a watch demonstrates poor time keeping or some other indicator that a service is required. (My Speedmaster was running a few seconds fast per day, but was over 6 years out from its most recent service when I brought it in).

Finally, while I feel like this outcome is overall acceptable and the customer service from the jeweler has been great, I will leave the name of the watchmaker here so that other forum members can make an informed decision before engaging his services:

Larry Vaks
I would have serious reservations about entrusting any of my watches tor servicing to a person who actually has a business card billing himself as a "Horological M.D.".
 
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I would have serious reservations about entrusting any of my watches tor servicing to a person who actually has a business card billing himself as a "Horological M.D.".
I would assume that “M.D.” is a protected title...using it may be illegal.
 
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It does seem to me, though, that a larger than expected number of parts had to be replaced:
Not really. Service at the brand service centre tends to be quite wasteful in some ways. So for example the barrel assembly is replaced as a unit, rather than just replacing the mainspring, which is usually all that needs replacing. In this case, they didn’t even bother taking the barrel apart to see if any of the other parts are worn...they just replace the entire thing and are likely discarding perfectly good parts.

Not sure why they replaced the bridge...possibly due to damage from the previous service. Usually the main wear spot is the hole that the barrel arbor goes through. I ream out the worn hole and install a bushing, but Omega just replaces the whole thing. In general they replace rather than repair...
 
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Newbury street in Boston. Well darn.
 
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Newbury street in Boston. Well darn.
High rent district for sure.
 
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TL;DR - local Omega-certified watchmaker damaged my Speedmaster during a routine service. The store wants me to return the watch to him for repairs. Given his crappy handiwork, I think maybe I should instead fight for a refund and send it to Omega.

Longer version (with pictures!) - I dropped my Speedmaster off at a very well-regarded luxury watch store that has an in-house watchmaker. It was running fine, but was due for a routine service (last serviced in early 2018). The watchmaker bills himself as a "master watchmaker" and "horological MD". He has a certificate on the wall showing that he completed Omega factory training and there are numerous "Authorized Omega Service Center" signs around the service department area. His prices are identical to those of Omega. As it was easier to drop the Speedmaster off with him in person rather than packaging, insuring, and mailing it to Swatch, I could see no reason not to have it serviced locally.

About 8 weeks later, I get a call saying the Speedmaster is ready. After picking it up, I noticed the crown was rather tight and difficult to wind. It is also running -40 seconds/day (it was +5 seconds/day when I dropped it off). I emailed the watchmaker, who said he would look at it. I dropped it off, and picked it up again 3 days later. When I have some time later that evening, I fully wind the watch and set the time. So far so good. I check it an hour later and see that it has stopped running. Clearly something is off. I decide to look through the caseback and was rather pissed to see new scratches on the movement, scratched up screws, debris attached to the under-surface of the caseback, and multiple excessive drops of oil. Here are some pictures after the service:




Here are some before the service (unfortunately before the advent of the macro setting on the iPhone):


I obviously tried reaching out to the watchmaker expressing my concerns. He has decided not to respond. I then contacted the service department manager at the watch store directly, who expressed great concern and said to bring it back from them to look at and repair.

So my question to the sages of OF: Would you bring the Speedmaster back to the same watch-butcher, I mean "Horological MD"? Or would you demand a refund and send it off to Omega for repair? Thoughts? I am not going to name and shame, as I hope to come to an amicable solution with the watch store (which has been great up until this point).
Well, I used Omega factory service in SoCal and when they repaired my Constellation they put the wrong date ring in it, and this was OMEGA! It’s just difficult today to find competent service people in most fields. Best of luck with your watch. Mine is back at Omega (3+ months) for a “do-over”. Very frustrating.