Community Stories

Scratch on the inside of a new No Time to Die Seamaster crystal - always bring a LOUPE!

perks713
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tyrantlizardrex tyrantlizardrex
Or perhaps just more likely to jump on the internet to complain about it with/to people who can't fix it, rather than just deal with the people who can? 😉

Millennials are clearly known for purchasing $10,000 watches and not for crippling student dept 🙄. Spending $10,000 on a watch you then have to send away for 3-6 months seems like a perfectly reasonable reason to be disappointed. I reread each of the OPs posts before hitting reply to this, they’ve been nothing but reasonable when it comes to what they expect the outcome to be. A new crystal, an apology, and not much more from the posts.

I also find it reasonable to come to a forum where others may have had similar experiences to find out if there’s anything they can do to have a better outcome.
 
perks713
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I’m not sure the winking smiley face changes the tone of your post the way you think it does 😉
 
tyrantlizardrex
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Yeah, check me out being mean to all the Millennials. Of which I am one. 🙄

Now excuse me, I must go and eat some avocado, whilst drinking a $15 coffee.
 
perks713
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Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m a self hating millennial lol. I like to tell myself that I’m only barely a millennial, by like 18 months 😀
 
vadimo
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Sambation Sambation
Hi all.

Three weeks ago I bought a brand new Omega Seamaster 007 NTTD from an Omega AD. Didn't take long until noticing something on the crystal, from a certain angle. Upon closer inspection I found this:

pCFGzFX.png

With a macro lense:

dF9PXSh.png

So after attempting to wipe I quickly discovered, TO MY GREAT HORROR, that this was something from the inside of the crystal, and the macro tells me that it's some kind of scratch. I hurried to the Omega service center in my country (Roltime, Israel) and now I'm waiting on their answer about what's next.

I know these things are rare yet they do happen, but still personally disappointed that this watch made it to a customer, especially on a new $9k watch. From now on I'm going to take a loupe for each and every purchase of a watch, even if it's brand new from the factory.

This isn't something one could notice without a loupe or taking a very, very very close look at the watch (as it mainly appears in certain angles).

Conclusion is that nothing is perfect even if it costs over $9k and - always bring a loupe even to an AD!

I'll keep updating this thread as I get more answers from Omega, in case anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading, cheers.

My Seamaster 300, first ever luxury watch I bought failed 3 times before Omega replaced it. I was shocked but accepted that manufacturing is not a perfect process.
 
Stripey
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SpikiSpikester SpikiSpikester
... and it used to be that "faulty" was a tough barrier to get through, along the lines of "the item cannot fulfil its intended purpose". I assume its still the same. So a scratched crystal has always resulted in a free repair - and never a legal option of a refund.
A crystal scratched on the inside would always have been considered faulty. The difficulty under the Sale of Goods Act was what was a “reasonable” time to notice it and demand and get a refund. Now it’s 30 days.

edit: under the 1979 Act, the concept wasn’t “faulty” either, it was “satisfactory quality”, and a crystal scratched on the inside wouldn’t meet that standard.
 
Sambation
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perks713 perks713
Millennials are clearly known for purchasing $10,000 watches and not for crippling student dept 🙄. Spending $10,000 on a watch you then have to send away for 3-6 months seems like a perfectly reasonable reason to be disappointed. I reread each of the OPs posts before hitting reply to this, they’ve been nothing but reasonable when it comes to what they expect the outcome to be. A new crystal, an apology, and not much more from the posts.

I also find it reasonable to come to a forum where others may have had similar experiences to find out if there’s anything they can do to have a better outcome.

Thank you. No idea why the saltiness in some of the replies, some who it seems did not even bother to read the entire OP. As a big Omega fan I'm just sharing my experience, even if it isn't so positive (at this very moment).
 
STANDY
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I went out with a girl with a appendix scar once……

Back to the thread.

What amazes me is the thinking that a $10k anything should not have a fault. Try buying a 500k newly built house. And you have a Check sheet of issues.

We have been through it but in reality a QC on a Rolex or Omega is at arms length.
There is no employee looking at every watch for 2 minutes with a 10x loupe. That’s for nutters here to do. 🤪
 
timecube
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Sambation Sambation
Yes, millennials are well known to be in dismay when their new Omega comes with a defect.
I am a non-millennial, and I expect my vintage Omegas come with defects, and will be quite alarmed if they don't.
 
Sambation
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Update: Was told Omega will replace the watch itself since they see this specific fault (inside scratch on crystal) as something that constitutes a defective watch as a whole. This is what I heard from the local service center yesterday.

Will keep updating.
 
marcn
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Should one expect perfection in every possible way (in any product)? Of course not. No one promises this, and if one does, you've found a liar or a scammer.

How a brand responds to something that fundamentally disappoints a customer is -- in my mind -- a non-trivial measure of the character of a brand. "We don't want you to be unhappy! Work with us to find a way to make you happy."

Deciding if you, personally, are okay with flaw X but not Y, is of course a personal determination. But when a customer is unhappy and shares the issue and the brand's response on a forum like this, it is a huge service to fellow customers/collectors and if handled well, another notch for the the brands' reputation and trust.

Personally, I'd have been quite unhappy if this was my watch, and shocked if Omega hadn't responded in the way the OP has stated. Bravo, Omega, and congrats @Sambation !
 
S.H.
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marcn marcn
How a brand responds to something that fundamentally disappoints a customer is -- in my mind -- a non-trivial measure of the character of a brand.

And also of the character of the customer. I hand out often in a watch brand official boutique and hear horror stories, from both sides; when you ask politely you may find that salespeople and brands may bend over backwards to keep you happy, often doing more than that they are required to. Not saying that a scratched crystal is OK, but you should hear what salespeople must put up with some days.

Brands are not here to scam people, that is bad policy so if everyone is being factual, nice and civil problems tend to get solved in a quicker and nicer way, when possible.
 
Sambation
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Happy to update that Roltime, the importer and service center of Omega here in Israel, made good on their promise.

This morning I received a factory fresh watch with cards.


photo_2021-06-22_10-22-23.jpg photo_2021-06-22_10-22-46.jpg


I am over the moon and wish to thank Roltime and Omega. I didn't even think of asking for a replacement watch, although, in retrospective, it makes sense that it was replaced given the circumstances.

I've edited the OP as well.
 
DoctorEvil
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Sambation Sambation
Happy to update that Roltime, the importer and service center of Omega here in Israel, made good on their promise.

This morning I received a factory fresh watch with cards.


photo_2021-06-22_10-22-23.jpg photo_2021-06-22_10-22-46.jpg


I am over the moon and wish to thank Roltime and Omega. I didn't even think of asking for a replacement watch, although, in retrospective, it makes sense that it was replaced given the circumstances.

I've edited the OP as well.
That's a fantastic result.
Congratulations, wear it in good health and enjoy!
 
nismo
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drhex drhex
Again, counterintuitively, the more upmarket you move, the more problems you get. Google McLaren or Ferrari and quality and see what you find. Think Patek is problem free?

How is it counterintuitive? My friend asked me the same question if I thought Ferraris should be flawless given the price (our mutual friend recently bought an F12 for low $200s and I warmed him about warm restart issues on that engine). To his surprise I told him no, not even remotely flawless. They are low production cars and handbuilt for a lot of it. If I was looking for something flawless and without issue I'd buy a Toyota where they make them by robots by the millions (Toyota Lean Six Sigma). Anyone buying a low production (partially) handmade good would expect this.
 
BlackTalon
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Yes and no, as Omegas really are not handmade. But Seikos they are not (nor Timexes or Citizens). Even worse, the manual and automatic Omegas do not keep time as well as a $10 quartz watch... The Toyota analogy is a good one -- a lot of times the non-luxury items have better QC than the luxury ones.
 
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