Breguet

hello every one.I have had very very bad time dealing with breguet.

The watch was purchased from a breguet store and it was sold in a defective condition.The ref is 5157 in white gold.I cannot belive how a company can do this.The watch would not start after winding it or moving it in a circular motion.I have learnt that they only test the watch for 48 hours in each factory (where it is cased up and then where it is packed) so only 96 hours in total.

The store manager sold said that its ok if the balance wheel does not move the watch will still work,can you belive that.I wrote a letter to the CEO of swatch group and did inform via fax about the matter.At first it was taken very lightly.The brand manger gave me many stories about various customers but when I questioned him what I had to do with all this he had not answer.He had passed a few rude comments as well.This happend 3 weeks after purchasing the watch.I hardly wore the watch and that how I found out the fault.When I called the brand manager he once in a rude harsh tone told me that bring the watch back and take you money.I told him I ma not interested in the money but I only want a non defective watch.I have not spoken to any person that is so rude.The complete blame was on me.They are so commercial that I think belong to the bottom of the chain.If they say they make 15,000 ors so watches cant they make them right.

When in contact with breguet in switzerland they did hear my story.I was promised a test result on the watch atleast twice but they did not send any details to me, just shows that is company is a total rip off and is just a revived brand.Its a alsmost closed sown company that is try to come up buy swatch group pumping money in it.Breguet was great a long time ago now it looks like they are gold cased up swatches

Finally when the watch reached the store where it was purchased(middle east breguet store) the VP of finance in switzerland called me mentioned to me that the watch is faulty and needs to go to switzerland.When it reached switzerland I was informed in a few hours that the watch is defective.Then the brand manager called me and gave me the following options to repair the watch or the replace it with the same modle or any model priced higher and I have to pay the difference.I asked for my money back and then he said he would call me back and inform me.When he did he said he wants me to fax him a letter saying that I will not buy a breguet watch ever again and said that comes from the CEO Mr.Hayek.Well I would any ways never buy one any ways.Switzerland was to send me the test results of the defective watch but have not done so.They have played it very smart.


Also I was informed by the brand manager and the store manger that the movement in the 5157 is a Breguet movement but switzerland did confirm its a FP 71 base and also mentioned that some parts a not made in house but are only made for Breguet.

Money was never the issue here, but when you buy a high end watch you want a watch free of defects and prombles and you want to deal with people of a high calibre and not some cheap brand manager who passes rude remarks.

I have had 4 weeks of dealing with breguet finally they refunded my amount.

I  will never buy any swatch product ever again.Trust me its all roses when you buy it but the real thing come only when there is a problem and that was the worst I have ever dealt with.

There ego was still up there went I went to the store to hand over the bill for the watch.The worst brand I have ever come across.

Bad quality and the worst service possible.Insulting and make you feel low.


This message has been edited by PeterCDE on 2007-03-06 21:52:54

You've made some sweeping generalizations about Breguet and even Swatch just from a single incident.  I don't know the entire story here cause we haven't heard Breguet's side, but it seems as if you must have reallllllly pissed them off if Hayek even requested you to write a letter that you will not buy another Breguet ever again. 

Just reading what you wrote from an outsider's point of view, it makes me feel as if you haven't been civil yourself in your remarks to the store manager, hence the rude remarks you received.  People working in the luxury goods sector frankly do not just insult you.  There's got to be some type of instigation on your part for him to make snide remarks toward you.

You also need to remember that there's a slight chance brand new goods break for some reason and u were unlucky in receiving a watch which failed after 3 weeks of ownership.  Even brand new cars break after few days or so, and this is why brands have warranty plans. 

- Anthony 

Well fine I do understand that there can be a chance of products being defective.Want to hear more.The brand manager told be that watches are like cars and after you buy them you may need to bring them in for a service like car.That is totally crazy.I have never heard of this.Plus if you were in my place and got a new story everyday from them you would know.Also this is what the brand manager said about faxing a letter to which I agreed but later he called and said no need to do that.I would any ways never buy their brand as they do not know how to treat customers.
I did not want a refund from Breguet but I as they started to blame me first and the remarks that were passed when the brand manager was called was crazy.

They did admit in the end that things were not taken care of in the right way from the start.Well I dont really care much now its a matter that is over.But I just want to tell you that its only after I asked for my money back that I was told that never to buy a Breguet watch again.

Any ways no more products from swatch group.

nt

I'm sorry to hear that but I think it happens in the real world

Having bad experience in watch shops is not that uncommon... I believe that it is mainly because:

1. The shop manager / sales don't know their stuffs
2. The shop manager / sales believe that they know their stuffs and their customers are newbie
3. It is "Seller's market" now. i.e. The shop manager / sales would take on the manner that "if you don't like our stuffs, don't come here!" and they *believe* that there are thousands (or tens of thousand) customers out there want to buy *their* stuffs
4. Well... last but not the least.... we (as customers) know more and more everyday and expect more

Ok, back to your case, I think the shop you got your watch "play a major role" here. Personally, I don't believe the CEO of Swatch group would ask you to write to them that you will never buy any Breguet again.... In fact I think he would love to see you write to them you will ONLY buy breguet instead

So, I would not trust those shop owner/manager/sales regarding this unless I see letter signed by Mr Hayek with Breguet  / Swatch letterhead saying that he wants my letter.

All I can say is that it is another case to show how one shop (and probably one person in the shop) could destory a reputable / famous brand in a night (at least to the customers involved).

I know how you feel now. Actually, I did experience something similar  (if  you are in this watch collecting hobby long enough, you would experience this sooner or later). 

I would suggest you to relax and probably go to other country to have a good holiday. Go to more watch shops in different parts of the world and experience. I believe that there are more good watch shops than the bad ones.

p.s.: For mechanical watch, you need to take it back for service after a few years. Basically, they will disassemble the watch, clean the parts, oil them, and re-assemble the watch.

I know that a watch needs to be serviced after a couple of years but the way the brand manger put it is like having to tune a brand new watch.

He said that at times watches need to be bought in and fine tuned and a coupe of days of wearing.

That is totaly crazy.So it like you buy a watch use it for 3 weeks and the send it for service/tuning for 6 to 8 weeks or even more.

Well I dont think so, not after paying the price you pay for one.

We buy high end watch cause of many reason the way they are made with care and time and various other things, I can be dealing with or getting insults from a brand/store manager for no fault of mine

it would not run right. It was such a problem the company replaced it under warranty. I believe that shipping can be tough on some watches. Also mechanical watches need service no matter who makes it. A very large watch dealer told me that the only watch company they ever had that never needed warranty work was Parmagani. Every other company has needed some watch serviced at some time. It sounds like the watch needed some repair, and you need to be a little more patient, or get a quartz watch. I once bought what was considered the finest boat made and the engine blew up and needed replacing the first month. Things happen, as inconvenient and disappointing as it is, you have to get over it and enjoy the watch.

JMHO,

Jay

Well I have got my refund and opted for the the head of the tables brand.I know you all can guess the brand.

I am really pissed of with Swatch Group for the way that they have delt with this matter.It truely shows that its all a make over and the company does not have true class but operates like a legal mobster

it is just that the period between services are much longer.

im sorry but ur being naive if you think swatch group actually cares about that kind of things,,,they just answer because they have to, the luxury watch industry has never been as good as this so they just dont care because they are selling their watches no matter what....

sorry for being rude, i understand that u're angry and disappointed (u have very good reasons for) but u got your money back so just buy your patek and pray...these are HAND MADE(assembled) products there will always be a chance for your watch to be totally messed up even if you payed it a million $..

yes there are hundreds of ppl ready to buy their watches trust me.....china, japan, india, russia (already begun) and more........

Why do you hide your name I guess you must work for them ? Ha ha well If there are many people ready to buy their watches good for them and too bad for the people who do.

I was talking to a top manufacturer today and he clearly said that breguet is not what it used to be, to which I totally agree.

I know one will point out the bad points of another but still.

And if you read my post clearly you will notice that I am complaining more about the service I recived from them that the watch being defective.They just dont know how to handle customers its sorry to say.

If they use low grade low end products defects will take place and if they do not take care of customers after that well its sad.

Bye a breguet and you will see.They are only tested for 96 hours.And also if they say they make few watch cant they make them free of defect.I would agree if you made millions of pcs and them being defective but then the store said we make only 10,000 pcs or so (which was a lie) well they better make them right.

and i wont buy a breguet..lol..(or maybe a "tradition" but still..).but yea i've read ur post again and the service is something they should improve (like lot of other brands actually)....im just saying u shouldnt get all mad like that because the watch industry has nothing to worry about right now and since breguet does not care about their customers then just change brand...and btw..even if ur breguet worked perfectly i'd still think buying a patek (if that's what u've planned) would be a good choice because one thing i agree is that swatch group is about numbers when others are more focused on tradition, quality etc...

     At face value, this man has been given the run around.  True, the AD may have been the cause of all the problems but the AD is the "face" of the company.  Newbie or not (I do not know the extent of this man's collection) the AD should have done EVERYTHING possible to make things right.  Why should we have to beg for something that should be a given?  One component of a watch's price IS the customer service.  Otherwise we would just purchase our watches on the grey market.
     We all have a certain level of excitement when we make such a purchase and it is not unreasonable to feel let down when our expectations do not come to fruition.  If the AD is unresponsive- or worse- we feel suckered  and angry.  Why then is everyone assuming that this man did something wrong?  Indeed, if the AD was unresponsive, he had every right to complain.
      Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Breguet and have had excellent dealings with my local AD.  But if my experiences had not been satisfactory and a broken watch was ignored, I too would have felt betrayed.

Best,
West

Hi West,

Feeling let down when one buys an expensive timepiece and it has a problem is completely understandable.  These are complicated, hand assembled devices and will always have a greater than 0% failure rate.  That's why a warranty period exists.  Going from there to, "It's defecitve, how can a company do this? I'm sending a letter to the CEO!" is a bit of a leap already, but somehow the communication devolved quite rapidly to where the customer was being insulted by the brand manager and asked by the CEO to sign a letter vowing to never buy a Breguet product again. 

If I really thought a customer acting in good faith and without unreasonable expectations could generate that kind of response, I'd be turned off to Breguet and Swatch Group forever myself.  We're only hearing one side of the story however, and I detect ample evidence in the story as reported that the customer created at least half of the situation he found himself in (imagine that).   Does that mean that Breguet dealt with him in the most courteous, professional manner possible?  Well, it doesn't sound like it, but what do I know?  I've only heard half the story.

_john

Hi every one.

I would like to inform all of you that I have atleast 20 watches which of which 9 of them are the top brands and others include some omega's, rolex's etc

Also I would like to mention to all of you that its not about the defective watch as much as it is about customer service.

The reason why I went to CEo's of the company is cause the store manager informed me when I went to purchase the watch that the CEO's looks after the day to day affair of Breguet and I any ways did not belive him.

I wish I had every detail on tape i guess I would just play it at basel this year to prove what really happend

quote ** I wish I had every detail on tape i guess I would just play it at basel this year to prove what really happend **

I have to admit that it would be fun....basel and sihh should have a "complaining day" and we would see the amount of free champagne, cigars and food drop veeeeeeery low...

Mustu, so what is your next purchase?? (was my guess right?)

Is the best one I have ever read!  SIHH COMPLAINING DAY!!!!  I'd pay money for a seat to listen to people whine and complain....the best comedy in the world!!!!

Not to cause trouble, but I recently purcahsed a watch which some would argue as being from the finest maker in the world and it had a problem....the previous watch I bought from this same maker...i had a problem with the deployant clasp....shit happens...life happens.

I can't believe the extent of the complaining!!!!

Watch collecting is just like gambling!!!  If your can't afford it...or if the amount of money you are spending is too much for you to feel comfortable with if your watch needs service for 1, 6, 18 months....don't buy watches. 

Also, cars....I bought myself my dreamcar.....the second day I had it, the driver's side seatbelt wouldnt retract any longer....yeah it sucked but c'est la vie!  You got three weeks out of your watch! 

(side note, all watches and car repaired and working fine )  Most companies are generally honest and willing to go above and beyond to accomodate...I know I do with my customers!

Good luck! 

Asg

PS - I really want to petition for COMPLAINING DAY JUST TO HEAR THE THINGS PEOPLE WOULD SAY!!!!  Pay per view purists.com feature?? Hey, its a way to comercialize the site ;-)

If one can afford or not it not the point.

Its about after sales service.When they can treat a customer like crap and blame the customer with out looking at the problem then they have major issue's which they need to deal with.

If i was told that please arrange to bring in the watch and we would look at it then the matter is different.But when they tell you that if the balance wheel not moving is no problem and that the watch will still work that is a issue.

Also they person who was talking to me says he does not know anything about the watch.he is a watch maker.he asked me to call another person and that person did not come on the phone after calling him a couple of times.I wanted to know what the problem with the watch was.

belive me i am a person willing to spend 3 time the amount just to prove that I am right and that they were wrong.Its not about a defect that really pissed me off its about the service I recieved whenI went with a problem.

its crazy.any ways now that matter is sorted.

I agree: the victim here is the gentleman that purchased the Breguet watch, although I do suspect his AD shares most of the blame.  Last year I purchased a Royal Oak from an AD.  The first night I wore it out on a date I was enamored with its beauty.  I put on the bureau when I went to sleep, but when I woke up the next morning I noticed it had the wrong time.  Further examination showed that the second hand was not moving, regardless of whether I would wind manually or automatically on my wrist.  Since I live in the New York metro area, my AD recommended the best course of action is to take the watch directly to the Audemar Piguet boutique in the city.  When I arrived at the boutique and went upstairs to the service area, AP verified that the watch was sold through an AD.  A couple of minutes later, the service manager came by to see me and apologized for the watch not working.  I was asked if I wanted to fix the watch, or exchange it for another watch.  I opted to fix it, and 3 weeks later a messenger dropped the fixed watch back at my house with another apology and a gift.  That is the level of service Mutsu (sic) should have received from Breguet.

As this is the Breguet forum, i also purchased a Breguet watch in the last 18 months.  I went to the Breguet website, and left the company a comment on how beautiful my Breguet watch is.  Two days later I was pleasantly suprised to receive an email directly from Nick Hayek, telling me how pleased he was that I was enjoying my Breguet and thanking me for my patronage.  That is why I find it difficult to believe that Hayek would not be upset about your experience; he has spent the last few years revitializing and rebuilding the Breguet brand.

Good to hear from you.  Hope all is well.  I agree that we are only hearing one side of the story, but what a story!  Anyway, all's well that ends well.  Truth be told,  I always tend to champion the underdog.
Best to all,
West

before anyone decides to file a law suit or ask Congress to enact some new legislation to protect the underdog, I'd like to hear the other side of the story.  I doubt we'll get that opportunity because it is unlikely Breguet is going to debate this in public. 

However, no one knows if the watch was abused or whether what we've been told is the truth or what was actually said in the heat of conversation.

I withhold judgement and am not siding with Breguet or "the underdog" until I hear  "the rest of the story."

Hello If the watch was abused why would they refund my amount.

Guy you are not getting my point here.The level of service I recived is what I am troubled about.I did not care about the watch not working cause I know they would fix it or so.

The watch was not bused by any standards at all.I take great care of all my time pieces and also put them all back in the presentation box when I am not wearing them.

If you read my post you will find that I went the next day and complained about the watch acting funny but the store manager told me all is good as he not really interested in what I was trying to point out.

Any ways all is ok now and I just will not purchase a breguet ever again.

for more details about the problem of your returned Breguet?

Is it like this:

 - The watch was running fine until all its power was used up.
 - Then you wound the watch manually but the watch was still not working (as you can see the balance was not moving from the back of the watch)
 - Then you had to "shake" the watch to start it.

Well if the watch would start working it would keep perfect time.

Once the power was used up then and after winding the watch it would not start.It would also not start unless you moved the hours hands.

Once or twice it did start when you shook the watch.It was not normal.

Any ways its over now and they do not want to tell me what th problem was.

The brand manager did tell me that I was a quality control issue though.

especially on how they treated you.

But back to the watch, I just want to let you know that it is not that bad IMO.

I do own a few vintage watches. For those vintage watches,  it is very common that you have to "start" the watches (by a shake).  It is also not that uncommon for modern watches too. Of course, it depends on how "hard" you have to "start" it.

I can let you know that I have a modern watch that have a Power Reserve Indicator. It stops moving before the indicator pointing to zero. Is it a bad watch? For me, I would not think of it that way.

"Your" breguet is an automatic watch. May I know how many turns of "winding" had you done on it before you expected it to move?

FYI, even for manual, if you did not wind it enough, it may not have enough torque to start the watch. For automatic, the winding efficiency from the crown is not that effective.... so a few turns on the crown cannot start the watch is normal in my eyes.

These are just my humble opinion. Of course, I am not saying that is the case for your watch. I just want to share all the people here about my personal experience about winding and starting a watch.

Cheers.

nt

any mechanical device that does not have an unforeseen disaster. I am sure that the company, in this case Breguet is equally unhappy. To take the jump that Hayek/Breguet/Swatch does not care about its customers at all is a bit of a leap. History has shown that hayek may have done more for horology then any person in the last century. Swatches contributions to charities and the industry are amazing. Did this event blow up. I am sure it did if they refunded the money. I am also sure by the tone of this complaint that gasoline was poured on the fire. Oh and I LOVE Breguet!

JMHO.

Jay

I'm flying there next week, and want to be sure that I don't deal with them if they are the ones who mishandled this affair.

Thanks,
George

Let's not malign someone just because one person may or may not have had a problem.  We still don't know both sides of the story.  

Anyone could post about a bad experience real or not and no one would know the difference. 

Perhaps it's time to close this thread.