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Hong Kong Leica Distributor Schmidt Marketing Underwhelming Customer Experience


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It's no secret on this forum that I have been less than impressed with Leica's choice of Schmidt Marketing as their distributor in Hong Kong. There are numerous reports here and elsewhere on the internet detailing delays, poor customer service, sloppy repair work (on the few occasions where they didn't simply return the item to Germany) and overcharging or charging for things that should have been covered by Leica. Often it takes correspondence with Solms to sort these types of issues out. Unfortunately if you are a Leica customer with a Hong Kong address then Solms insist that you go through Schmidt Marketing for all warranty and non-warranty work.

 

A friend of mine in the city sent me a message a few days ago saying that his M240 had been returned to Schmidt, and on to Germany for the lug recall. He was excited that the camera was expected back any day now. "Great", I told him, "enjoy your book".

 

So today I got a message saying that the camera was back and he was very excited to start taking photos. "How's the book?" I asked.

 

"Yeah, I asked about that and the people at Schmidt said there wasn't any book in the shipment. It's kind of strange, because when I got home and looked at the letter from Leica Germany it mentions a book".

 

Now I realize that this isn't proof that Schmidt kept the book for themselves. Leica AG could have left the book out of the shipment. Or the book could have been misplaced at Schmidt Marketing and become separated from the camera. But what I do find interesting is that if you visit Schmidt Marketing, or any of their Leica boutique shops, you will see dozens of copies of Leica Ninety Nine Years and Leica Myself for sale. Did anyone offer to give my friend a copy of the book and then sort out the missing copy on his behalf with Solms?

 

Nope.

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It's no secret on this forum that I have been less than impressed with Leica's choice of Schmidt Marketing as their distributor in Hong Kong. There are numerous reports here and elsewhere on the internet detailing delays, poor customer service, sloppy repair work (on the few occasions where they didn't simply return the item to Germany) and overcharging or charging for things that should have been covered by Leica. Often it takes correspondence with Solms to sort these types of issues out. Unfortunately if you are a Leica customer with a Hong Kong address then Solms insist that you go through Schmidt Marketing for all warranty and non-warranty work.

 

A friend of mine in the city sent me a message a few days ago saying that his M240 had been returned to Schmidt, and on to Germany for the lug recall. He was excited that the camera was expected back any day now. "Great", I told him, "enjoy your book".

 

So today I got a message saying that the camera was back and he was very excited to start taking photos. "How's the book?" I asked.

 

"Yeah, I asked about that and the people at Schmidt said there wasn't any book in the shipment. It's kind of strange, because when I got home and looked at the letter from Leica Germany it mentions a book".

 

Now I realize that this isn't proof that Schmidt kept the book for themselves. Leica AG could have left the book out of the shipment. Or the book could have been misplaced at Schmidt Marketing and become separated from the camera. But what I do find interesting is that if you visit Schmidt Marketing, or any of their Leica boutique shops, you will see dozens of copies of Leica Ninety Nine Years and Leica Myself for sale. Did anyone offer to give my friend a copy of the book and then sort out the missing copy on his behalf with Solms?

 

Nope.

Indeed It does seem a bit smelly, but it may be an honest mistake. Your friend should contact Solms. Edited by jaapv
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TBH, I would rather have 30% off a lens...

 

My camera has been fixed and the UPS shipping tracking says it has been delivered which would be surprising as there has been nobody there to sign for it - the location it was left in is "other". I specifically asked Leica to contact me before returning it which of course they did not. I will not be happy if it has gone astray.

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Does Schmidt Marketing run the Leica branded stores in HK? I wasn't impressed with them on a recent trip. In the TST Store they wouldn't let me try a monochrom which was on display. Maybe I looked a little scruffy in my shorts and t-shirt, but I still had my M8 and 35 cron over my shoulder!

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I've had dealings with Schmidt Marketing and their services in the past (not related to Leica - except waiting for my M240 still) And the experience was painful. They like to talk about customer care, but most of their personel just don't give a crap. They rather pawn you off to someone else to become someone elses problem --> in their defense that is standard practice in Hong Kong.

 

I get the similar run around with I first ordered my M240 back in september - and battery in March.

 

Does this mean that all the Leica Dealers in Hong Kong have to deal through Schmidt Marketing?

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All the Leica dealers in Hong Kong have to go through Schmidt, unless they sell grey market cameras and lenses purchased through overseas dealers. Actually with Schmidt's poor customer service and Leica's international warranty I don't see any reason to go through these guys. Several authorized dealers, like Tin Cheung, offer both HK and grey market versions of the same cameras. Want a Monochrom? OK, the price is 71,000 HKD for one that comes through Schmidt, or 53,000 if you want a brand new grey market one.

 

Schmidt also own and operate all four Leica Stores in Hong Kong, and my experience in dealing with them mirrors peshwengi, although I think I might have been dressed in a polo shirt!

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Being a Hong Kong people, I feel shame for such a dealer with greedy policy, consistently mark up over the already expensive Leica list prices, taking advantages of short supply and ripping off Leica's long time loyal customers. They even ship all M240 to china for huge profit margin, I heard 10 units were shipped to Schmidt on March, none are being sold in Hong Kong, I will never buy brand new product from such distributor, and Leica seems don't care about it, if not, I would suggest Leica stop shipping hot products to Schmidt and let the rest of the world enjoy their products at the cost what Leica originate thinks they worth. Being a customer, we are only forced to buy from either grey market or wait for used in order not to be ripped off.

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Hmm, I wonder of anything has changed in Schmidt in the last 18 months or so?

 

In September 2011 I sent my M9 and SF24 in for repair under warranty and received prompt and courteous service. Note that I had not bought the camera or the flash from Schmidt either but in a country far away from Hong Kong, and to which they could not easily be returned, so the service was all the more welcome.

 

Schmidt replaced the sensor in the M9 and replaced the faulty SF24 with a new unit. The flash, by the way was giving inconsistent exposure; Schmidt tested it and found erratic electronics and sent the unit to Solms, who couldn't find anything wrong...

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  • 1 month later...

Experienced first hand today why Schmidt Marketing in HK has such a horrible reputation.

 

Instead of trying to give some after sales service, they instead spent all their energy on coming up with bureaucratic reasoning why they can not.

 

Am surprised they did not argue that my middle name was spelled wrong on the guarantee certificate.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was going to try these guys out.

 

Its $1500 HKD for the Service included focus adjustment (both of rangefinder & sensor balancing) & sensor cleaning plus mechanical test.

 

I'm not sure if my warranty covers it as i bought a grey import new. But hey I can give another opinion soon!

 

Thanks

Rich

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Interesting that Schmidt charge 1500 HKD for a sensor clean and focus adjustment (not sure if I would trust them with this based on past experiences of friends) while in the UK members are reporting that Leica Mayfair happily clean their sensors for free while they wait.

 

Typical Hong Kong.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another example of underwhelming customer service today by Schmidt Marketing in Hong Kong. A friend of mine with a new M240 has noticed that his vertical alignment is off in the rangefinder patch. I told him that this is a simple adjustment but requires a special tool which he could purchase on ebay or perhaps even from a vendor in HK. I'm not in the city now so could not help him. He decided to visit Schmidt, and here is his report on the visit:

 

"I went to the Schmidt service center. their first response (same as what they told the guys in the IFC store yesterday): we will ship to factory, will be four to five weeks. second response: our technician will evaluate, if he can not adjust then ship to factory, time for evaluation will be two weeks. third response: ok he will do it but it will be two weeks before he gets to it. fourth response: come on monday at 845 and he will adjust it while you wait. mission accomplished (hopefully) and i didnt even need to rant like a flaming fart stain."

 

Why on earth was Schmidt's first response to send the camera half way around the world to simply adjust the vertical alignment on the rangefinder? I feel certain that if someone walked into Leica Mayfair or Leica LA the response would have been most different. Let's see what happens next Monday. FYI, I told my friend that I wouldn't trust Schmidt to wash my dog, but he's impatient so let's see how they do with his rangefinder...

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I was going to try these guys out.

 

Its $1500 HKD for the Service included focus adjustment (both of rangefinder & sensor balancing) & sensor cleaning plus mechanical test.

 

I'm not sure if my warranty covers it as i bought a grey import new. But hey I can give another opinion soon!

 

Thanks

Rich

 

You may contact a 3rd party repairman who retired from Schmidt, I sent all my Ms and Rs and lens to hiim, send me a pm if you want the contact info, hope this is not too late though.

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Thanks Richard, and if you could send a PM I would appreciate it.

 

My friend went to Schmidt with his M240 only to be told that they couldn't calibrate the rangefinder while he waited, as the top cover had to be removed. When my friend questioned why this was necessary (texting me in the process) he was finally told the tech would take a look and see what he could do. One hour later the camera was returned to the front counter, and the back focus and vertical alignment gap seems to have been properly corrected.

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