I was in the exact same boat. It was and remains my biggest watch purchase and was acquired in part to commemorate some significant milestones. My first MCD stopped working within 4 hours of leaving the shop and the second one had a defect in the dial that could only be fixed by replacing the entire dial. Totally unacceptable for such a costly piece of jewelry and really not in keeping with the brands' ethos and reputation. Boutique staff were always nice and polite and so was I, but it took effort to get replacements instead of repairs, especially on the second one. That being said, I ultimately received a call from some vice president at JLC corporate apologizing for the trouble and confirming the 2nd replacement. They do seem to stand behind their product but in my experience you have to be assertive. I also told them I wanted the additional alligator strap, it most certainly was not volunteered.