zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: OMEGA watches do not break easily. But any
: watch, if dropped and hits at just the right
: angle, can be damaged. In your case, a
: detachable part was knocked loose by the
: impact.

: While I understand that it is annoying that
: such a seemingly simple incedent requires a
: repair person to reseat the part.

: Quite possibly, OMEGA will repair this under
: warranty at no cost -- just on the odd
: chance that the hand may not have been
: seated perfectly when it left the factory.

: But it is not reasonable to demand a refund or
: exchange -- or threaten legal action -- over
: something that clearly was partially if not
: totally caused by a mishap at your own hand.

I would have to say that I disagree.

Under the '74 Sale Of Good Act you are right that items sold must be fit for the purpose. By this the legislation means 'fit for the purpose for which the goods were intended'. So for example you couldn't sell a casio memorybank watch as a diver watch because it's not water resistant and no fit for the purpose. Clearly I'd agree that Seamaster Pro, as a diving watch, ought to be fit for that purpose. Particularly as should the equipment be used for it's professional purpose in calculating diving times, that your life is in it's hands.

On a personal note I had a quartz SMP for the better part of four years and it took one hell of a beating from me. It got hit, shaken, battered, bumped, knocked, scratched, scraped and it kept ticking just fine.

I'd suggest that the merchandise is faulty because let's face it, if assuming all is as you say and you only dropped it two feet by accident then you would expect a £1100 diver's watch to withstand this and keep working. In this case you are entitled to a REFUND only. It is the seller's option to offer to exchange it.

In practice if they're not going to play the game and replace it then you're pretty much going to have to either take one for the team, so to speak, or take action.

It depends how bothered you are about the wait for a repair under guarantee. I'd say it's a fairly bad turn on the part of the seller because it's not like it'd be a huge problem to return to supplier as faulty.

In law you'd probably be right. In practice it's another matter.

I realise now this is an old message but as I've written all this before noicing I'm gonna post anyway!!!

All the best,

Pete J