zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

My GMT has been at Omega PA for 12 weeks, now, with the infamous "hour hand problem". So far, my authorized dealer has admitted that Omega service in PA was "backed up", and could do no more to expedite. Three weeks ago, I called direct, and the customer service person said she'd "watch it" for me, whatever that means, and that she'd put a "target date", whatever that means, on it, of 9/26. I called again on the 27th, and she didn't know, but said that it was "in for testing", and she estimated about another week(!). I told her she'd hear from me again in 2 weeks.
By comparison, I sent a Revue Thommen Airspeed Chronograph to RGM in PA, with a broken minute indicator. They replaced it with a new hand, regulated and tested it, and had it out in less than a week including finding the part. Billed me $50.
So all this stuff about Authorized Dealers -vs- Grey Market seems like marketing hype to me, today. The $300-400 I spent at an Authorized dealer over what I could have picked it up Grey seems pretty wasted.