Dead SMP Pro

[NoVaSubowner]

Had not worn my Seamaster in a while. Took it out this morning. Wound it around 40 times. Looked at my watch a little later and found that it had stopped about an hour earlier. Not much past the same time after I put it on my wrist.

Gave it another few winds... Nothing. This is the first time I have encountered something like this with an 8800 movement. Any ideas out there on what might have happened? What am I looking at for service time?

[Rochester585]

i have no idea and wouldnt even dare to venture a guess, but i will be following this thread closely, im very curious what could be causing this

[NoVaSubowner]

Well. I'm going to take it back to the AD in MD tomorrow. I called the Omega Boutique in Tysons just on the off chance they did in store service.

They informed be that warranty repairs are shipped to Seattle. Diagnosis time is 2-3 weeks after receipt of the watch. Then 12-13 weeks for repair??? That's 3-4 months for a watch that I just purchased in August???

I'm completely aware that Covid is a factor in the wait time for service. But 3 months??? I'm tempted to let my AD open it up and fix it themselves if it is a simple repair.

[Rochester585]

how long would you say it had been sitting since you last wore it and it was running well?

[trippinjimmy]

Originally Posted by NoVaSubowner

Well. I'm going to take it back to the AD in MD tomorrow. I called the Omega Boutique in Tysons just on the off chance they did in store service.

They informed be that warranty repairs are shipped to Seattle. Diagnosis time is 2-3 weeks after receipt of the watch. Then 12-13 weeks for repair??? That's 3-4 months for a watch that I just purchased in August???

I'm completely aware that Covid is a factor in the wait time for service. But 3 months??? I'm tempted to let my AD open it up and fix it themselves if it is a simple repair.

I recently just sent my aqua terra in because the hour hands misaligned. My AD shipped it out middle to end of February, and they just got it back this week. So I'd say 6-8 weeks total.

Sorry about the watch, but I don't think it'll take 3-4 months.

[Mystro]

I would guess the mainspring broke.

[flyboyyy]

I just got mine back from Swatch Group Service - for the same problem. It just quit working, at almost exactly 1 year. Nothing obviously wrong, just went from working to not working. They didn't really say what was wrong, their "Technical Diagnosis" on the estimate says "- The watch is not running".

The solution/repair on all the paperwork simply says "COMPLETE MAINTENANCE SERVICE". The watch is running very well now (about +3 spd), but I'm still a little bit disappointed that it just gave up the go at around the one year mark.

Luckily they fixed it under warranty and it's been working well for the past 24 hrs, but I'd have rather not used the warranty to begin with....

BTW - I sent the watch directly to the Service Center (Swatch Group US) in NJ myself with a letter and copy of the warranty card (after phoning them directly, because the AD wasn't particularly helpful). Total turnaround time was 3 weeks.

[AEC]

Originally Posted by NoVaSubowner

Well. I'm going to take it back to the AD in MD tomorrow. I called the Omega Boutique in Tysons just on the off chance they did in store service.

They informed be that warranty repairs are shipped to Seattle. Diagnosis time is 2-3 weeks after receipt of the watch. Then 12-13 weeks for repair??? That's 3-4 months for a watch that I just purchased in August???

I'm completely aware that Covid is a factor in the wait time for service. But 3 months??? I'm tempted to let my AD open it up and fix it themselves if it is a simple repair.

Phone the Customer Service number posted on Omega's web site and request their help sending your watch for service. If they don't offer to send a shipping label, then ask them for one.

Seattle isn't all it's cracked up to be, and if you do as I describe then Omega Service will communicate directly with you using their slick Customer Information System on line.

[NoVaSubowner]

Originally Posted by Rochester585

how long would you say it had been sitting since you last wore it and it was running well?

About 5 days.

[RW16610]

Hopefully you're able to get this resolved soon.

[1William]

See what the AD says and if it has to be sent in ask the AD when it will be shipped. My experience is that you can add days or weeks to a service by going through the AD and the Service Center will only communicate with them, not you. The AD's typically have a person or persons that handle this and it may take a time to get the watch shipped. All of the service returns for my AD are done out of another store in another city and the watch is shipped there and then entered and shipped out to the Service facility. Same thing on the return. I now ship all of my returns myself and it appears that I have cut the time down significantly for the whole process. Plus I get updates on what is going on and I can call and they will give me the information. Something to consider.

[MTdweller]

Originally Posted by Mystro

I would guess the mainspring broke.

x2

[NoVaSubowner]

Update:

Dropped it off at the Omega Boutique in Tysons Corner (NoVa for those of you not familiar with the area).

SA could not have been more helpful. They had me sit at a table to the side. Immediately put the paperwork into the system, copied my warranty card and readied the watch for shipping.

SA told me Seattle was where they were sending warranty repairs, but anything in need of warranty service is prioritized. Depending on availability of parts, turnaround time should be somewhere between 6-8 weeks, or less.


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[DJ2020]

That's good to hear. Please keep us posted.

[NoVaSubowner]

UPDATE:

Talked to the service center in Seattle. The watch is still waiting to be assigned to a service technician. Estimated return date is 5/20. So 6 weeks? Not thrilled but not exactly PO'ed either.

Will keep this group posted when they find out cause of movement death....

[JohnGingerwood]

Mainspring.

[Zuger]

The folks at the Omega Boutique at Tyson’s from the store manager to the security guard by the door are all professionals. I almost always stop by to chat whenever I am at Tyson’s and they still give me the time of day even though I’ve never bought anything. Very tempted to pick up the new speedmaster with the 3861 movement there as a token of appreciation. We shall see.

[NoVaSubowner]

Just heard from Tysons. Watch is back and will be ready for pickup on Sunday. No explanation provided as to what happened to cause the movement failure.

[NoVaSubowner]

UPDATE 2. And please feel free to chime in here.
Alexandra at the Omega Boutique did some further digging with the service center about what killed my watch.

She was told, and I was mildly shocked to hear this, that it was “premature wear on the escapement?”

On a watch that was BNIB in. August? Worn pretty gently in rotation?



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[mmalek1]

Well hopefully it runs fine for you. I can understand the frustration of sending in a watch that was so recently purchased. I actually had to send in my silver snoopy one year after purchase. It took about 7 months to get it back. By the way, Alexandra is the best!

[NoVaSubowner]

I’m sure it will. And you are right about Alexandra.

I’m wondering if the dealer didn’t sell me a watch that was dropped and put back in the case?


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[Beo3]

My AT stop running at just the two year mark. Called service, got the prepaid packaging and sent it in. The said it needs a complete service due to lack of oil (?) and will completed it. Estimated return sometime in JUNE!!!!!

Not happy that a fairly new watch stopped working.

[train-time]

Originally Posted by Zuger

The folks at the Omega Boutique at Tyson’s from the store manager to the security guard by the door are all professionals. I almost always stop by to chat whenever I am at Tyson’s and they still give me the time of day even though I’ve never bought anything. Very tempted to pick up the new speedmaster with the 3861 movement there as a token of appreciation. We shall see.

My thoughts exactly! I was about to do the same thing -- buy the new Speedmaster with the 3861 movement until I started to read the threads on the Forum about the issues with the new movement. I contacted my AD today and they have the exact configuration with the 3861 in stock, however I asked them to contact Omega on Monday to see if they can get the one I wanted with the 1861 movement. Omega is showing them still available to buy directly from Omega on the website. I will stick with the tried and true for now!

[TimeAZ]

Originally Posted by NoVaSubowner

UPDATE 2. And please feel free to chime in here.
Alexandra at the Omega Boutique did some further digging with the service center about what killed my watch.

She was told, and I was mildly shocked to hear this, that it was “premature wear on the escapement?”

On a watch that was BNIB in. August? Worn pretty gently in rotation?



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wow! I thought the fabled coaxial escapement was supposed to reduce wear & friction, good to go for 10 years w/o service, etc.