What are my rights if a repair is repeatedly delayed?

BigTezza

I inherited an Omega watch from a dear friend who passed away in August. It wasn't working so I sent it away for repair to an online firm that had very good reviews.

I was initially told that I would have it back in 6-8 weeks. I was then told that "We are experiencing continued delays due to Supplier parts, and import delays." and that I wouldn't get the repaired watch back until 19th December. I have now been quoted the same excuse and another estimated return date of late February or early March. I am getting concerned and rather suspicious.

When I got the 19th December estimate I asked for a refund of the nearly £600 I had paid and for the watch to be returned to me in the same condition as when I sent it. I was told bluntly that "We don't offer refunds". The website is equally blunt in answering the 'Do you offer refunds?' question by simply stating "No. Where law permits, we do not issue refunds for services or watch repair orders."

Where do I stand legally in this situation? Can I quote some consumer law at them to force a refund & return of my watch or am I simply at their mercy?

Alderbank

Because of the delays you can insist that they put the watch back together and return it, if that is what you really want.
They are entitled to charge for the work they have carried out and any parts they have replaced.
They will have taken the watch apart, carried out ultrasonic cleaning and examined all the components for wear. They have probably replaced any parts they had in stock. Their claim about delays in getting parts sounds very reasonable.
By the time they have reassembled the watch you should expect the final bill to be the £600 less the trade price of any parts they are still waiting for, so not very much different.

I think your best course is to wait until the parts arrive so you get back a fully working watch. They might be willing to give a goodwill discount because of the delay.

BigTezza

Alderbank said:

Because of the delays you can insist that they put the watch back together and return it, if that is what you really want.
They are entitled to charge for the work they have carried out and any parts they have replaced.
They will have taken the watch apart, carried out ultrasonic cleaning and examined all the components for wear. They have probably replaced any parts they had in stock. Their claim about delays in getting parts sounds very reasonable.
By the time they have reassembled the watch you should expect the final bill to be the £600 less the trade price of any parts they are still waiting for, so not very much different.

I think your best course is to wait until the parts arrive so you get back a fully working watch. They might be willing to give a goodwill discount because of the delay.

Since posting, I have emailed Omega directly to ask about parts supply problems i.e. if they exist. If they do actually exist then fair enough. If they say "What supply problems?" then I will want answers from the firm who have my watch. My suspicions about what they tell me are based on another 'repair' they did for me on a different watch (quartz) which was also left to me by the same friend but it wasn't working correctly. I paid nearly £300 for that job and it came back with a new movement but problems with the day & date operation. I explained the issues and returned it. Some weeks later it came back with neither issue fixed and I was told that I needed a whole new case because the stalk was "wobbly and not engaging properly".

I took it to a local independent watch repair shop and they said that some tiny parts of the movement were "degraded" and I needed a new one. Both day & date problems were fixed for a shade over £100. 

I will try for a discount - which I think is fair, given it will have been with them over 7 months if I do actually get it back in Feb/Mar. They don't seem particularly benevolent though.

I still don't know how I stand legally........ 

MattMattMattUK

BigTezza said:

Alderbank said:

Because of the delays you can insist that they put the watch back together and return it, if that is what you really want.
They are entitled to charge for the work they have carried out and any parts they have replaced.
They will have taken the watch apart, carried out ultrasonic cleaning and examined all the components for wear. They have probably replaced any parts they had in stock. Their claim about delays in getting parts sounds very reasonable.
By the time they have reassembled the watch you should expect the final bill to be the £600 less the trade price of any parts they are still waiting for, so not very much different.

I think your best course is to wait until the parts arrive so you get back a fully working watch. They might be willing to give a goodwill discount because of the delay.

Since posting, I have emailed Omega directly to ask about parts supply problems i.e. if they exist. If they do actually exist then fair enough. If they say "What supply problems?" then I will want answers from the firm who have my watch. My suspicions about what they tell me are based on another 'repair' they did for me on a different watch (quartz) which was also left to me by the same friend but it wasn't working correctly. I paid nearly £300 for that job and it came back with a new movement but problems with the day & date operation. I explained the issues and returned it. Some weeks later it came back with neither issue fixed and I was told that I needed a whole new case because the stalk was "wobbly and not engaging properly".

I took it to a local independent watch repair shop and they said that some tiny parts of the movement were "degraded" and I needed a new one. Both day & date problems were fixed for a shade over £100. 

I will try for a discount - which I think is fair, given it will have been with them over 7 months if I do actually get it back in Feb/Mar. They don't seem particularly benevolent though.

I still don't know how I stand legally........ 

If you had a bad experience with them last time why did you go back to them?

BigTezza

Both watches were sent to them prior to any work being done.

DullGreyGuy

BigTezza said:
I will try for a discount - which I think is fair, given it will have been with them over 7 months if I do actually get it back in Feb/Mar. They don't seem particularly benevolent though.

I still don't know how I stand legally........ 

What do the T&Cs say about timescales and/or delays?

You bought a service and they are proceeding with the service as quickly as is practical for them to do so. I am sure you wouldnt want them to use non-genuine parts which would be the only realistic way of them completing at present since you confirmed with the only supplier of official parts that there are issues.

BigTezza

DullGreyGuy said:

BigTezza said:
I will try for a discount - which I think is fair, given it will have been with them over 7 months if I do actually get it back in Feb/Mar. They don't seem particularly benevolent though.

I still don't know how I stand legally........ 

What do the T&Cs say about timescales and/or delays?

You bought a service and they are proceeding with the service as quickly as is practical for them to do so. I am sure you wouldnt want them to use non-genuine parts which would be the only realistic way of them completing at present since you confirmed with the only supplier of official parts that there are issues.

I haven't heard back from Omega yet as to whether there is actually a supply issue with their watch parts. and I can find no mention of timescales/delays in the T&Cs - but I'm still looking.

born_again

I know this was back in April

https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/delays-at-omega-service-center.5398669/

But given this maybe a old (no mention of how old the watch is) so it is possible that they no longer have stock & will have to make.

BigTezza

born_again said:

I know this was back in April

https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/delays-at-omega-service-center.5398669/

But given this maybe a old (no mention of how old the watch is) so it is possible that they no longer have stock & will have to make.

Thanks for that. I will try and go down the 'goodwill discount' route and see what happens..........

BigTezza

Nope - seems there is no goodwill on offer, not even at Xmas.

One thing that puzzles me, given that such problems seem to have existed way before my watch was accepted for repair and I was given the initial estimate of 6-8 weeks, wasn't that misleading on their part?

diystarter7

BigTezza said:

Nope - seems there is no goodwill on offer, not even at Xmas.

One thing that puzzles me, given that such problems seem to have existed way before my watch was accepted for repair and I was given the initial estimate of 6-8 weeks, wasn't that misleading on their part?

Hi OP

Parts for almost anyhting are hard to get hold of at times. I know this does not help you but I've had to wait for a door lock to be repaired for 12 weeks - very frustrating.
Good luck