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SL sent to Germany for repair, any way to track status?


Ranma13

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Especially as this is in stark contrast to the mentality one encounters at CS Wetzlar. Leica USA appears to be somewhat independent from the main company, but I can imagine frowns at Headquarters over matters like this.

Really?

 

Isn't Leica headquarters the same group that has my M 240 registration and e-mail address, which it regularly uses to send me press releases, but failed to send me (and apparently others, if not everyone), notification of the new firmware update?

 

And isn't Leica headquarters the same group that has failed completely to communicate with its customers over El Capitan support for the handgrip that people paid US$840 for, support which people are still waiting for fully eight months after El Capitan was released?

Edited by STB
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Well, that is something different. As any Leica historian will attest, the factory records of numbers, years and types are convoluted, to put it mildly. I am not surprised that an individual inquiry was not answered satisfactory. The point in this thread, however, is that it was answered by Germany, unlike NJ.

 

Well, wouldn't you hope to get a somewhat correct and tactful answer from Wetzlar?

 

To be honest, my guess is that if I could write Wetzlar in German, the inquiry would receive the treatment that European members of the forum seem to enjoy from Wetzlar.

 

[it is dark night outside, so I can complain on line instead of better using the time to take pictures  ;) ]

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Really?

 

Isn't Leica headquarters the same group that has my M 240 registration and e-mail address, which it regularly uses to send me press releases, but failed to send me (and apparently others, if not everyone), notification of the new firmware update?

 

And isn't Leica headquarters the same group that has failed completely to communicate with its customers over El Capitan support for the handgrip that people paid US$840 for, support which people are still waiting for fully eight months after El Capitan was released?

Hmmm... Isn't El Capitan issued by the same company that took a year to implement the full DNG standard in their OS when the Monochrom came out? I rather doubt that Apple sent a minor German camera maker the specifics  of their new software in advance...

 

As I recall there was an immediate notification of the firmware update through this forum's blog and newsletter.

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As I recall there was an immediate notification of the firmware update through this forum's blog and newsletter.

This is a privately owned forum whose activities are irrelevant to the subject, which is Leica's communication, or rather lack of communication - except when it wants to send them marketing bumpf - with its registered owners.

 

I don't know whether the problem is arrogance or disorganisation, but Leica's approach to communication - in Wetzlar as well as New Jersey - is not conducive to retaining customers.

Edited by STB
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Sony never sends me e-mails about updates, Olympus doesn't, Mitsubishi does not for my car, in fact I cannot recall any company that does.

Oh yes - I do - Microsoft bombards me with annoying pop-ups to upgrade to Windows 10 on one of my laptops at work. :angry:

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Sony never sends me e-mails about updates, Olympus doesn't, Mitsubishi does not for my car, in fact I cannot recall any company that does.

From Sony's U.S. product registration page: https://productregistration.sony.com

 

"Receive Notifications - The latest firmware and software updates to get the most out of your product"

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Yes - I know - I registered and never saw anything.

This is really simple. Leica sells premium-priced products and has the e-mail address of every registered owner. It uses those addresses regularly. There is no excuse - none - for failing to use those addresses to advise owners of firmware upgrades. I mean, seriously, how complicated is it to do this?

 

What other companies do, and whether Sony delivers on its promise or not, is completely beside the point.

Edited by STB
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There are notifications of firmware updates if you have registered on the Leica owners site.   But not always and frequently after the forum has seen it.   This one was sent to me about T firmware,  so a notification system is actually in place.

 


Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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  • 1 month later...

To conclude this post, I finally received the SL back about 2 weeks ago, though not without incident. Total time it took for the repair was about 4 months. Here's a complete timeline:

 

March 2: E-mailed Leica on February 29 to start a repair, received a UPS label on March 1. Sent in the camera the next day.

 

March 14: Received no updates since I sent the camera in, so I e-mailed Leica USA. Received a reply stating that the camera was sent to Germany, and received a repair order number.

 

April 19: E-mailed Leica asking for an update. Received a reply that they're checking the status of the repair, and will let me know once they have any info. Did not receive any follow-ups.

 

May 2: E-mailed Leica asking for an update. Received an automated reply that they're currently upgrading their SAP system and that their responses will be delayed. Did not any follow-ups.

 

June 28: E-mailed Leica asking for an update. Was told that the camera was sent out, but UPS returned it to sender because I no longer resided at the address. This is correct because our business have moved, but we asked the new tenants to hold onto any packages for us. E-mailed back with my home address instead, asking for a tracking number.

 

July 1: Received tracking number.

 

July 5: Camera delivered. The box indicated that the package was returned to sender on June 24.

 

At no step along this way did I receive any communication from Leica that I didn't initiate myself. I didn't receive any repair status updates despite e-mailing them multiple times, and I wasn't even notified that the camera was getting shipped back to me. Had I not contacted them first, I also doubt that Leica would have reached out to me for my updated address. The repair bill also indicated that the camera was repaired, but listed no specifics. Given that the problem involved a stray hair trapped between the sensor and the IR filter, it would've been really good to know if they replaced the sensor or just mapped it out in firmware.

 

This would be unfathomably bad customer service for any other company, but apparently par for the course for Leica (many stories out there about how you send in your camera, and several months later it just appears at your doorstep). It's left me seriously leaning towards dumping all my Leica gear because I cannot afford to sit around waiting for a months-long repair with no status updates, no estimates, and no notifications. The cameras are also so expensive that I cannot afford a backup body for the sole lens that I own. Leica really, really needs to step up their game in the customer service and repair department. This may have been tolerable with the film bodies and the digital M's, but if they're hoping to make an impact in the modern digital 35mm camera market, they need to have the support to match.

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