zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

1. If you buy from an authorized dealer, then have a problem that they can not or will not solve, you can get Omega to interviene on your behalf. But Omega has no control over or influence with unauthorized dealers, so won't be there to bail you out of a problem.

2. *Some* authorized dealers are adding their own 1 or 2 year warranty extensions over Omega's factory warranty. This is a good thing to bring up *after* you have already negotiated a good price.

3. The warranty from a non-authorized dealer will only be honored by *that* specific dealer. If they go out of business, your warranty coverage goes up in smoke. But the same is also true of the warranty extensions offered by authorized dealers. Only the 1-year factory warranty will be honored by Omega or other authorized dealers. Any second or third years of warranty coverage will be honored through that specific dealer only.

4. An authorized dealer can special order unusal versions (like on optional bracelets/straps or with special purpose calibrated chronograph bezels) that non-authorized dealers usually cannot.

But beyond those things, the authorized dealer network really does need to beef up what they offer to be more enticing. Most of these advantages are not that compelling when you are looking at saving from $100-1,000 on your purchase.