Let the manufacturer repair my brand new watch or get a replacement?

I think I'd get a refund and get a new one

If you are like me, you will never trust it again and won't 'bond' properly with it, if I had that choice, I'd get a refund and then purchase another.......

It’s your call I guess, my friend bought a Breitling from an AD in vegas on his return to the uk he found it was gaining loads so he sent it off to the uk service centre, it took 3 attempts to sort, I suppose in this instance I would demand my money back and then repurchase hoping that I got a brand new watch🤞🏻.

Either way the options have issues and I suppose the new watch could have issues !

It’s a lottery really I suppose just follow your instinct 🤞🏻

Once labeled “defective”, I would get a new one. Good on Laco for making it right.

Wow! I can't imagine how loud that rotor was for them to offer a full refund, given that the Augsburg uses a modified Miyota 8000 series movement. I have never had a Laco, but I am familiar with a variety of other brands that use Miyota movements.

I would recommend letting them fix it. It is always a bit of a crsp shoot on how noisy a Miyota movement rotor is going to be. I know some consider the unidirectional winding feature of Miyota movements to be almost a design flaw, especially when compared to NH movements. I have had numerous watches with the Miyota 8215 movement, and the rotor noise varies greatly. Since they are aware of the noise issue, they will probably make sure to get the rotor relatively quiet before sending it back to you. Get a new watch, and you may find yourself right back where you are now. Just remember, a Miyota movement, no matter how well it is balanced, is going to be noisy to some degree. It is true even for the newer 9000 series movements.

The Augsburg comes with an 8000 series Miyota. It has a very loud rotor to begin with, and it is a draw with these movements, one may be slightly less noisy or you may get a very loud one. The uni-directional rotor is going to be loud no matter what and it is noticeable on the wrist as well.

If you have never handled a watch with Miyota 8000 then you would find the replacement to be noisy as well. You would be better of getting a refund and going to a Laco with the Sellita movement.

Yeah you have a point. I knew before this that the rotor would be louder than the seiko 5 sport I had before but the laco was really loud. I also noticed the light stuttering second hand but it wasn't as bad as some I had seen on the internet. The problem is that I don't want to spend more than 500€ and the flieger a-type has to have a metal bracelet. There aren't really many options let alone with flieger history and made in Germany. But if you know some watches with better movement I would be very happy.

I imagine they’ll just put a new movement in anyways as repairing a miyota isn’t cost effective.

NEW stands for never ever worked.

A repaired item has undergone more scrutiny.

If superstitious, then be illogical.

That's a great lateral thought process there! Like that!

If there are other similar models in the store give them a shake too before making the final decision.

I am not familiar with the movement talked about but to replace the part, generally a movement is essentially serviced and put back together. Since the movement is not premium, they probably will just fit a new movement to your watch. My Tudor GMT had a defective date wheel function, the service centre informed my sales professional that they would replace and repair or order a new movement whichever option was going to be cost effective for Rolex Canada.

Dekla Stuttgart makes Flieger in both A and B variants with SW-200/210. It's 130€ more but you can customise your watch in many ways. You miss out on a bracelet but it is still cheaper than a Laco or Stowa if you plan to get a customised variant.

https://deklawatches.com/en/pilot/typea42

If you can't trust a company that trades on the customer experience rather than the product being sold, why buy the watch?

I considered this option before but no bracelet is pretty much a deal breaker for me. Is there a possibility to get a third party bracelet?

I am pretty happy with the customer support so far. Another thing is that they still sell the budget options with outdated and subpar miyota 8000 movements. I would happily pay a bit more for an actually good movement.

No brainer, I'd just get a refund and get one that is in pristine working condition. Very cool they offered you both

With Flieger style watches, Laco is the only brand at the lower end that started to sell the watches with a bracelet option recently. You could always buy an aftermarket straight-end bracelet.

Am I the only person who detests bracelets on Fliegers? 😅

I would consider a repair an added form of QC and choose the repair. At least you know that there were no other flaws with the watch.

Trade it in for your peace of mind.

They're probably going to switch out the entire movement, rather than spending time figuring out what's wrong with the current one. Perhaps check if that's the plan - that could give you more peace of mind and better inform the decision.

Get a refund. Who knows what other defects it may have.

Go for a new one in my opinion

Can the place you got it from not just give you a new one? Regardless, there's zero reason outside of sentimental value you should ever not replace a defective watch for a new version, especially if there's no financial loss.

That's a neat idea, reminds me of an IWC.

Once a lemon, always a lemon. Get a new one.

Better get the new one since both of the options are free

Was on the same boat until I saw the IWC Mark XX. Does look really good and sporty on the multi-link bracelet.

But I do prefer the Flieger on IWC style straps.

Agree. Suggest getting a refund and buy a new one.

Replacement #laco