zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

I enjoy creating pages where brand diversity is explored and celebrated...

and get amused when people start in with blanket statements on why they think a brand is "better" than another,

People are entitled [in a free society] to post their personal opinions. At least as they are obeying laws and any guidelines of the forum they are in.

Everyone else is entitled to feel however they wish to about those opinions [humor, anger, disbelief, agreement, irritation, etc.] and express their opinions in reply as they see fit. Again, at least as they are obeying laws and any guidelines of the forum they are in.

It's just typically, it's usually most effective to express one's retorts in the same location as the original commentary in a timely fashion.

or why another brand isn't worth it.

Watches, like most things in life, are value judgments. Value judgments are best made by each individual for themselves.

Some brands aren't worth the price of admission to some people. Those brands aren't limited to Rolex [or AP, A. Lange & Sohne, Bruguet, Blancpain, GP, VC,UN,Zenith or Omega].

So, what I was trying to do is to make an imprint in folks' minds (and your service story confirms this as well)

Um, I didn't post a service story.

In fact, my single Omega/Swatch group service story [which happened in 1999] and I can't remember if I've posted it in this forum at all in the years since. But, I have posted about it in great detail over on TZ. Suffice it to say it was not a stellar experience for anyone involved.

that there is more to a watch's price than justit'sfeatures.

I'm not sure where anyone here has ever contended otherwise, Peter. At least not here.

One factor is service excellence, and my experience with Rolex was night and day better than it was withOmega.

I don't know how many service experiences with Omega have been posted here on ZOWIE/Chronocentric, probably no where near the breadth or depth of posts, responses [threads Maddox!] or threads which have been posted on TimeZone, and possibly Watch-U-Seek. Likewise, I have even less idea as to the number of Rolex repair experiences posted here on ZOWIE/Chronocentric, but I would imagine it'd be even fewer numbers.

Suffice it to say that often times the Service experiences posted on TZ [for sure] and probably WUS as well are often not especially flattering to Omega and Swatch Group. Omega has had a serious and notable problem with Quality Control, not only on service repairs but also with their new products for the past several years. And frankly Omega owners have no qualms about posting about their experiences good and bad and displaying their thoughts, bugs on the windscreen and all.

I believe my experience isn't the exception, so I was curious to see if others had similar positive experiences (or negative) with Rolex service (watchescomingback scratched, etc.).

I'm not sure that ZΩWIE, an Omega discussion forum, is necessarily the best venue to get feedback about Rolex service experiences. I don't know how many of the regulars here own Rolex. I don't [I own two Tudor Oysterdate Chronographs which have not required service thus far]. I don't believe Steve does. Jeff Stein [who is the owner of this site as well as OnTheDash since the death of Derek Ziglar] just bought an Explorer [I think it was an Explorer] and he loves it. But I don't know how many others here own Rolex, much less have used Rolex's Service Channels.

The service I got was actually a "routine" servicing, i.e., mechanical watch that had never been cleaned, lubed, re-calibrated, etc. It cost me around $500 and took 4 weeks. As I said, it came back looking STRICKINGLY new, kept good time, etc. Noissueswhatsoever.

That's good to hear, and frankly... That's the way it should be. And frankly far FAR too often Omega's are returned from service with issues they shouldn't have. I have posted about Omega's Quality Control Issues at length [and ad nauseam to many people] elsewhere [other Omega discussion forums] in context with the discussions taking place at those locations.

As far as dials go, this was actually an issue for me, but I WANTED them to replace a tritium dial on the Sub with a Superluminova one. They left the old dial / hands as I had originally specified, but replaced the bezel insert which I also specified. The bezel marker now glows 10x brighter than the other markers on the watch, and I was having trouble even seeing the tritium markers at night at all, so I sent it back to them to get the dial /handsreplaced.

Which is why I have long encouraged either talking directly to the people who will be doing the work on watches sent for repair, or if that isn't possible or practical, including a short note or letter spelling out what work one wishes to have done on the watch, which substitutions are not acceptable, and which substitutions one is requesting. One sure way to be an enabler on the road to a satisfactory repair experience is acknowledging that watch repair people as talented as they are, aren't psychic and a short note to them helps assure a better end result.

I learned my lesson when sending in my Omega Seamaster Quartz Chronograph in for a battery change and hand reset and it taking three times for them to get the job done right.

I do not plan on giving up this watch or selling it as it is extremely sentimental to me. So, there is an example where they left the dial alone. What they do is give you a list of thing they would like to do to the watch, and offer you the option of declining or accepting which things you want done.

Did you not check the box that said "please replace my dial and hands" or something with your Rolex? That's a good way to handle a service situation, express what the repairer feels needs [or could] be done to the watch and let the customer select ala carté which items to proceed on.

Again, I was [and remain] at a loss to understand the need to post such a lecture here implying rampant fanboi-ism [my term, not yours whichwas"Rolex Bashing Bandwagon"] whennonehas occurred here, at least not recently on this forum or any other forum under the Chronocentric/OTD tent that Iam aware of.

It was, remains, and will continue to be my opinion the best place to post such ,,retorts,, is in the forums, and threads where they are occurring, not in unrelated forums where they are not occurring.

Not that we couldn't use the posts, or the traffic.

Good Hunting and may your Chronometre[s] run Superlatively...