While at Jayson’s my friend Dave pointed out that my watch looked messed up. It turned out he was right. The second hand was jumping 5 seconds all the time. From what I read that meant that it needed a new battery. I had gotten over 2 years out of the current battery so since they usually go 18 months to 2 years I was due for a change. Since I bought my watch at Tourneau, and since they are an authorized Omega dealer I took the watch back their to get a new battery. The lady I spoke to charged me $61 to change a battery. I was a bit annoyed that it cost so much but just wanted the work done so I agreed. 15 minutes later the work was done, or so I thought.
Upon inspecting the watch’s functions I noticed that the second hand was still skipping 5 seconds at a time. I pointed this out to the clerk who was helping me and she took it back to the repair people. 30+ minutes later she finally returned with my watch and yet again the second hand was not functioning properly. At this time I was getting a bit ticked off. The sales lady just looked at me and with broken english said “not battery, must send to Omega”. She didn’t wait for me to say anything and just walked off to get forms to return the watch to the manufacturer for service. At this point I was not happy. I know it was the battery since I read the manual about what the second skipping was for. I was also mad that the so called experts at a watch store that advertised themselves as the biggest in the world couldn’t change a simple battery.
When the lady returned I told her I just wanted my money returned for the failed battery replacement and I would take care of the issue myself since I didn’t believe them. She took my credit card back for a refund and told the guy doing the credit “not battery, does not want us to fix”.
At this point I remembered this wasn’t the first time that I had problems at this store. A few months ago I went in and wanted to buy a leather band for another watch my dad had given me. The sales clerk then also was very rude and not knowledgeable. She originally refused to help me since she could not identify where the serial number was on the watch and Omega wouldn’t let them order anything without one. I tried to explain that the watch was so old that it didn’t have a visible serial number on the outside. It was actually on the inside of the watch. She wouldn’t listen or didn’t understand me. She took my information down and said she would try to do something for me and would call. She never did. I should have taken that as a sign, but I forgot about the incident.
This all happened on Friday. I went home and searched online for other dealers in Manhattan that sold and serviced Omega watches. Dave mentioned a really good dealer on the island but I didn’t want to drive all the way out there for something if I could avoid it. I thankfully found two dealers within a few blocks from Tourneau. I ended up going to Wempe Jewelers.
The service gentleman I spoke to was very nice. He said it would take about an hour to change the battery since they would have to test the pressure seals, etc. I was surprised since Tourneau didn’t mention anything like that. This gentleman also said the charge would be $35. The price was almost half of what Tourneau charged and sounded more reasonable. I took my receipt and walked around the area window shopping while they worked on my watch.
About an hour later I returned to be pleasantly surprised to find my watch to be back to perfect working order. I was so happy with the service I sought out a sales person to discuss ordering the leather band for my other watch. The sales person I spoke with was fantastic. He found the right type of band I wanted along with the right clasp. He said it wouldn’t be any problem that I didn’t have a serial number. He noted the age of the watch and said that my issue wasn’t uncommon with older models. He also answered several questions about servicing the older watch. He also said I was smart by changing bands since the one I had was an original one and not to get rid of it since it was rare. I knew this already but it was nice to get a sales clerk who was honest and knowledgeable about what he was selling. He took down my information and I hope to have my new band in 1-2 weeks.
From this experience I will be returning to Wempe for any future watch work or purchases. Sorry Tourneau, I don’t care how big you are you need to understand what you are selling and treat your repeat customers right. That means good service! I walked off the street for help, and Wempe was helpful and curious from the second I walked in the door.