A Letter To Dr. Kaufmann

[offshore]

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I'm not an individual that takes their problems to forums for solutions, I normally handle my problems and concerns personally. The following letter that I have written, to the owner of the business I work for, however, is being posted here in the hopes that Dr. Kaufmann will read it and understand the problem that exists in the company he now runs. I have omitted names because it is not the people in the house that need to be changed, it is the house that needs to be rebuilt.

 

September 16, 2008

Dear ****,

As you are aware I have been an avid supporter and user of Leica products for 40+ years, have contributed my photography and time in support of LFI and Leica Camera Company without compensation. My work with the M8 has been published in LFI magazine and appears in the M8 Masters Program. Examples of my M8 photography have been used in **** as a sales tool to encourage customers to purchase Leica products.

For several months I have been reading about poor customer service from the Leica repair department in New Jersey on several Leica forums, especially the Leica User Forum. I have, for the most part, discounted the reports as random problems. I have recently had to reevaluate my position due to the following.

I sent my 21 mm f2.8 Elmarit lens to the repair facility in New Jersey in July of this year for six bit coding and a CLA and it was received by them on July 25th. I requested that a due date for completion be faxed to me and indicated that the lens would have to be back to me by 9/19/08 as I needed it for a trip to Mexico.

I did not hear back from Leica and called our Leica representative to ask if he could intercede. I received a call from **** in NJ the first week of August and he assured me that the lens would be returned to me on 9/19/08 completed.

On 9/11/08 and 9/12/08 I placed a call to ****, at the repair facility in NJ, to check on progress and left a message on his voice mail. Neither call was returned. On Monday 9/15/08 I was able to contact **** who transferred me to **** who checked on my repair. Nothing had been done to the lens and I advised **** that if repair to the lens could not be completed and returned to me by the 19th that it needed to be returned un-repaired. She agreed to talk to the repair technicians on 9/16/08 and call me back. On the 16th she left a message that the lens was being returned to me un-repaired and would be shipped to ****.

This is not poor service; it is shameful service and has prompted me to reevaluate my relationship with Leica Camera and LFI both as a user of their products and as a salesman of Leica products. I will not, in good conscience, sell high end expensive products to customers knowing that if repair is needed that such deplorable service exists. As a photographer I now realize that I cannot rely on Leica to service my equipment in a timely manner and will most certainly purchase equipment from more reliable manufacturers in the future.

**** relies on knowledge and service to bridge the gap between our prices and the stiff competition that exists in the retail photography business of today. I’m sure you will agree that this incident combined with the **** travesty, that left an M8 purchaser without a lens for three months waiting for Leica to deliver, gives pause for concern over being a dealer of equipment that has an almost non-existent support system behind their products.

Sincerely,

[rob_x2004]

Why not send it to Kaufmann directly, along with a synopsis so can understand what it means?

I am not being flippant. I mean send him a straightforward, if commercial letter, without all the padding. It should only take a couple of lines to cover everything you write.

 

Actually, having re read the "letter", what is it that you actually require, or want Dr Kaufman to do?

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[rsolomon]

Most European companies are "shut down" during the high summer months, i think it would have been reasonalbe to give them 6 weeks outside of the summer shutdown. i realize that you sent this to Leica in Allendale NJ but aren't parts (as needed) ordered from Germany.

 

I also agree, you should feel comfortable in writing more directly about your concerns and expactations and directly to Dr. Kaufman

[like_no_other]

 

Actually, having re read the "letter", what is it that you actually require, or want Dr Kaufman to do?

 

I think that's obvious. He want's to help Mr. Kaufmann to improve his company.

How exactly is Kaufmann's task to find out, may it be process problems, people related problems or whatever.

[glenerrolrd]

Why not send it to Kaufmann directly, along with a synopsis so can understand what it means?

I am not being flippant. I mean send him a straightforward, if commercial letter, without all the padding. It should only take a couple of lines to cover everything you write.

 

Actually, having re read the "letter", what is it that you actually require, or want Dr Kaufman to do?

 

Rob

 

I personally find it helpful to see this type of post. It seems to layout exactly how his order was mishandled by the service department in NJ. I personally had this type of problem....which I would call "lost in the system" a half a dozen times last year. I know exactly why it happens and put it in writing to the company several times.

 

I was however quite pleased to see the number of positive responses being posted about excellent service turn around thru NJ. I know that NJ was undertaking a number of changes and it was good to see the results. My POV is that this is incredibly important as Leica takes on upgrading the existing M8s. Its important to them ..if nothing more than a new significant source of revenue. Its important to owners..because we have a choice to upgrade , to buy a new M8.2 or to just do without.

 

This news is quite disturbing as I was planning on upgrading 3 M8s ...now I am less certain.

 

Maybe its just me ..but I think what is expected should be obvious. Have someone call and apologize . After checking to insure that both the parts and the technician time is available , have the lens picked up by FedEx ..turn it around the day it comes in and overnight it. Report back that the customer is satisfied and ask the customer to post his new found happiness with Leica.

 

Roger

[rob_x2004]

..but I think what is expected should be obvious.

Roger

 

No, it isnt. What you want should be stated directly, not left to interpretation.

In any case you have not sent it to the person it is aimed at.

[glenerrolrd]

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Most European companies are "shut down" during the high summer months, i think it would have been reasonalbe to give them 6 weeks outside of the summer shutdown. i realize that you sent this to Leica in Allendale NJ but aren't parts (as needed) ordered from Germany.

 

I also agree, you should feel comfortable in writing more directly about your concerns and expactations and directly to Dr. Kaufman

 

Almost all 6bit coding is done by exchanging the mount ..so a part shortage is a good guess. But look at the run around he was given. He was clear up front that the lens was needed in 6 weeks and followed up several times to insure it would be completed. If he was told that the part was out of stock and he some options......he might not have been happy but he would probably lived with it.

 

We can only guess what actually happened ..did the lens really sit in NJ for almost 6 weeks waiting for 6 bit coding? Or was the part shortage identified and nobody was notified. None of this matters when repairs are completed in a few weeks..but if there are delays ..then its frustrating to not have a clue if and when you might get your lens back.

 

I think he is completely justified in posting this.

[glenerrolrd]

No, it isnt. What you want should be stated directly, not left to interpretation.

In any case you have not sent it to the person it is aimed at.

 

Rob

 

Didn t you sort of take my POV out of context.....I indicated that" maybe it was just me" . I think that means if you asked me I would know how to handle it. You could be very well be correct and without spelling it out ..maybe he wouldn t know what to do. Sorry if you read that differently ..it was not intended.

 

I think he sent his message to exactly the people he intended it for. I don t think he was asking for a resolution ..he just wanted "everybody" to know that his service experience was dreadful. I saw the post as more of a letter to the editor ..his audience being the forum which I understand includes Leica employees and dr kaufmann.

 

To be fair he should of course send Dr Kaufmann a copy directly...but I don t believe he was attempting to get him to intercede on the 6bit coding of his lens.

[antistatic]

Having read this letter, I was struck by the similar experiences others had reported from another European based company and ther NJ repair facility, namely Omega watches. I also know that many letters to CEOs, forum posts and gnashing of teeth had been generated by Omegas's problems at their US repair facility without resulting (as far as I am aware) in significant change for the better.

 

David

[leicanewbie]

Sorry but I have had good experiences with their service department. I've had my R8 overhauled ( dropped in lake ),

lenses cleaned ( same reason ) and also had my 16mm fisheye converted over to ROM. Not to mention a

warranty replacement of my D-LUX2.

 

I've found the staff to be helpful and they've delivered within the timeframes promised to me. So I am a satisfied Leica customer.

 

 

Service departments are not a profit center for any company. So this means that they are always staffed to the minimum. Backlog is

essential to running a cost-effective service department. For someone like Canon or Nikon, it's probably cheaper for them to just give you a

replacement ( or a refurbished one ) than to fix your lens in the first place. But this is not feasible for a small company with limited stock and resources.

 

So this is really a manual effort to deal with, and from a technician's perspective you never know what you're up against until you crack open the box.

And you can't disassemble a lens without being sure you have the parts to repair it to working condition. Sometimes the right answer IS to do nothing, unfortunately.

 

 

 

Posting letters to discussion forums is great for moral support but doesn't fix anything.

 

Speak to ( or write ) the person responsible for the department and have them investigate your problem. There could be a reasonable explanation or

they could come back and say "look, we screwed up and we're sorry".

 

As for letters to the CEO, maybe he reads them or maybe not. Any effective CEO has an equally effective administrator that makes sure the priority stuff

gets onto his desk and the rest goes to the appropriate department.

 

On the other hand, if you went that route and didn't get satisfaction then yes he would be more than interested to know why.

[AlanG]

.. Backlog is

essential to running a cost-effective service department. For someone like Canon or Nikon, it's probably cheaper for them to just give you a

replacement ( or a refurbished one ) than to fix your lens in the first place. But this is not feasible for a small company with limited stock and resources....

 

I can't comment on your other points, but Nikon and Canon have technicians that repair and adjust the gear. I can speak of Sigma also. My 12-24 lens's focusing seemed to be getting slightly out of whack so I sent it to them. The repair technician called me personally to make sure he understood the issue. He said he was very familiar with the lens as he had one himself. He adjusted it and now it is much better. Total turn around time was one week. The lens has a three year warranty I believe. It made me think very highly about the company.

[razerx]

At least with the company I work for (also German), letters to the CEO do get passed to the proper department at least the ones relevant to my work end up in my inbox.

[christer]

Just a few weeks ago Solms repaired my 50 mm Cron in less than a week. The cost estimate was emailed to me as requested and my acceptance per email was acted upon immediately.

[stuny]

My Leica-NJ experience for several services over the years, and most recently early this year (R8 and DMR), match "christer's" -- Reasonably fast trun-around that beats their estimated time, and complete satisfaction with the service and service process.

[Arbo68]

The entire process in NJ seemed to be screwed up, as you wrote in your letter. Having extremly GOOD and FAST service experianced in the collaboration with Solms, this seems to be a local problem - still to be inquired and solved.

Just a remark - August is a common month for vacation, but still Germany is not shut down during summer (France, Italy and Spain are:-) Warm Regards, Arndt-Alexander

[glenerrolrd]

The entire process in NJ seemed to be screwed up, as you wrote in your letter. Having extremly GOOD and FAST service experianced in the collaboration with Solms, this seems to be a local problem - still to be inquired and solved.

Just a remark - August is a common month for vacation, but still Germany is not shut down during summer (France, Italy and Spain are:-) Warm Regards, Arndt-Alexander

 

No question that the worst problems involve NJ/Solms collaboration. There are four parts to the process. First if you start the process with NJ ,work directly with NJ customer service getting your equipment, authorizing payment and getting the equipment back to you. Second, the actual service department evaluates your service request and will perform many of the requests. If your item requires service that can not be provided in NJ , its shipped to Solms. In Solms they seem to treat it as if they just got it from you in the mail . Solms customer services records it into SAP and you can track its progress thru the website. When completed Solms ships it back to NJ, in a bulk container load, NJ then ships it back to the customer.

 

If NJ can do the repair, has the parts and availability of technicians, then you should expect reasonable turnaround 4-6 weeks and limited contact with customer service.

 

If you can send your equipment to Solms or if your dealer/importer can ship it for you, you are working directly with Solms. They clearly have the systems in place to track the status of your service request as well as the greater capacity to handle them.

 

The reason I am pointing out these facts is that they highlight the issues that the original poster is making.

When a problem occurs ( and I have 12 service requests thru NJ in the last year) , you generally will not hear about it until you call in. Then it becomes a series of calls to try to get resolution and it is not unusual to encounter the issues outlined in his post.

 

If you can work directly with Solms , then you can, of course , avoid the coordination,shipping and communication issues between NJ and Solms. Your experience either good or bad in working directly with Solms is not relevant to a discussion of NJ...unless your suggestion is to avoid NJ and go direct.

 

If you had great luck and NJ could complete the entire service request, then customer service wasn t really tested in any meaningful way? My experience was that maybe half of the request I had went thru in a normal fashion. Repair completed as promised in 4-6 including shipping. Its the other 50% of my requests that required, in some cases, multiple trips to Solms. These were a nightmare .

 

I hope that not much of any of my experience is relevant. The surge in demand cause by the M8 overwhelmed the service department taxing the entire organization. That was then ...but this is now ..this week . Its not just the missed commitments(remember he called and they assured him the lens would be ready). Its the nonsense about calls not returned and the generally lack of follow thru .

 

In the context of offering significant new service options,this should be a concern to Leica and to its customers.

 

WHY POST A COMPLAINT HERE

 

I made this bold ..not to imply shouting but to separate it from the discussion of customer service. The reason is straightforward....he wants to be heard by the broad Leica community. He is not seeking help in getting his lens 6 bit coded. He is rather indicating that based on his experience , he can no longer recommend the companies products or services. This coming from someone that has obviously had a long term commitment to Leica photography, gives him some credibility.

 

He probably believes, as I do, that sending a "private " letter to the President will have little to no impact. Writing a letter and publishing it in a open forum influences the opinions of others and can have significantly more weight(influence) .

 

Roger

[derek_stanton]

..so a part shortage is a good guess. But look at the run around he was given.....None of this matters when repairs are completed in a few weeks..but if there are delays ..then its frustrating to not have a clue if and when you might get your lens back.

 

I think he is completely justified in posting this.

 

 

Having experienced much the same, but three times as bad, with a new 50-Lux-ASPH, i can't attribute the problem to parts shortage. It seems institutional. It was two years ago for me, and i still harbor resentment. I bought a new lens for $2k, and for the first six months, it was unusable. Between Jersey and Germany, most everyone i dealt with was either incompetent, unsympathetic, or both.

 

I hope the relevant people do read these forums, but i have to believe that if they cannot or are unwilling to devote sufficient resources toward providing adequate customer service, they're not going to be interested in reading a few negative comments on a web forum.

[charlesphoto99]

Having read this letter, I was struck by the similar experiences others had reported from another European based company and ther NJ repair facility, namely Omega watches. I also know that many letters to CEOs, forum posts and gnashing of teeth had been generated by Omegas's problems at their US repair facility without resulting (as far as I am aware) in significant change for the better.

 

David

 

Interesting as I've had nothing but poor service from Leica over the past couple of years. My wife bought me an Omega last year and it went back to the dealer for repair which took FOREVER. Great watch, great camera, but for sheer reliability I go with the Japanese.

[leicar888]

Here in Los Angeles, there is a Nikon repair center two blocks from (within walking distance of) our house. I wish it were a Leica repair center because I only use Leica equipment!

 

I bought a new 180mm f/2.8 APO lens from Jim Kuehl before he retired and when it arrived I discovered the focusing ring was not lubcricated and was scratching the lens barrel surface. I called him about it and he kindly told me to send it to Don Goldberg. I did, and Don lubricated it and sent it back to me within one week! That was under warranty, of course, so there was no charge to correct Solms' flaw. Jim agreed with me that Leica/Germany's attention to assembly and completion details had been slipping because he'd experienced numerous quality assurance flaws in new lenses he'd been selling.

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[Saloti]

send the letter to Kaufmann and he will answer. he has not the time

to surf in this forum...