Originally Posted by
Gyp
The biggest frustration for me wasn't the holder and the effort to get the back off, it was the statement from the jeweller that Breitling had told them that there was a problem with the watch and a simple battery change would not be sufficient to get the watch going again; the watch needed a service.
I assumed from that that if there was a fault with the movement, the movement would need to be replaced, hence the £500.
When I went to collect the watch (paying the £40 or £45 fee for the inspection) I queried the movement replacement and was advised by the chap that dealt with me that a movement replacement would be far more than £500, so that charge would have only been to strip and clean the cogs, polish the case and bracelet and replace the battery and the seals... At least I came away with a Breitling travel case.
I suspect Breitling won't offer a 12 month warranty on the watch if it isn't serviced on alternate battery changes, but that's rather different from there being a problem that required a service. I'd have liked to have known that before handing it over.
Of course, if there is a fault logged that indicated that actual attention was necessary, then I'd expect that to be in a report that I get for my inspection fee, but there was nothing other than the bill.
To add insult to injury, the suggestion that I shell out a further £500 as the bracelet was approaching end of life was laughable. This hadn't been mentioned last time they had it and the watch has been hardly worn since the last time; when I have worn it it has been on Pro II rubber so the bracelet has likely been worn for less than 10 days in that period.
I was keen to pop a battery in myself just to confirm that the battery change wouldn't be se sufficient as advised, but as the watch is working perfectly on my wrist, I'm somewhat underwhelmed by both Breitling and my local jeweller