Leica UK press release re Customer Care

[andybarton]

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Leica confirms new UK Client Care arrangements

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3 August 2010: Following the recent announcement regarding the review and restructuring of Leica Camera’s service and warehouse operations in the UK, the company is pleased to confirm the following details with regard to its new Client Care function.

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All major repairs will now be sent to the company’s head office in Solms, Germany. In recent years, a large proportion of UK repairs have been carried out in Solms, and a review of this activity has shown a compelling case for switching all major repairs to Germany.

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With more than 50 specialist technicians and support staff, the widest access to spare parts and the increasing diversity of the company product range, the Leica service operation in Solms is considered increasingly the best and most efficient place for repairs to take place, for customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

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Leica owners in the UK and Ireland requiring a repair will be advised and assisted by a new Client Care team based at 25 Bruton Place, Mayfair, who will be on hand to book repairs, and also track progress and communicate the status of repairs. The new team will be able to receive visitors on site or by telephone. Timings will vary according to the type of repair required, but the average repair time is likely to decrease, due to reduced transit times and improved access to spare parts.

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Owners will be assisted by a named Leica Camera Client Care Technician for each repair, and the technician will provide personal mobile and email details enabling the owner to stay ‘connected’ to the progress of their product throughout the duration of their repair. In addition, the Technicians will be able to provide sensor cleaning, some light repairs and adjustments in a brand new lab on site at 25 Bruton Place.

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Leica is committed to providing its customers with first class care at all times. Locating the Client Care function next to the Leica Store Mayfair is a major decision in light of the UK economic outlook, however this investment and the changes to the company’s customer care operation have been designed to ensure the highest possible service levels for Leica customers in the future.

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Transition period

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During August and September, Leica Camera Ltd will transition from the current Milton Keynes-based service process to the new Client Care operation, with completion scheduled by 1 October 2010. During the transition period, customers requiring repairs should contact Leica by telephone on 01908 256400. Please note that during this time, products should not be brought or sent to the Leica Milton Keynes office, the Bruton Place site or to Solms directly. Customers will be advised of the appropriate process by telephone.

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Leica Milton Keynes office

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As previously announced, the Finance, Sales Desk and Administration departments currently based at Leica’s Davy Avenue, Milton Keynes, office, will be moving to a new location in Milton Keynes in the near future. The registered office address of Leica Camera Ltd will switch to 34 Bruton Place,London.

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ENDS

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Jenny Hodge

Marketing Manager

Leica Camera Ltd

34 Bruton Place,London W1J

Leica Store Mayfair (LeicaStoreMayfr) on Twitter

Leica Camera AG

Leica Cameras - Leica Store Mayfair London

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[wda]

Thanks Andy; much as expected apart from the telephone contact. I wonder if registered owners will get a letter from Leica UK because not all owners will be connected to read Press Releases? Remember the good old days when we got interesting marketing material direct from Leica MK?

[andybarton]

We had an interesting discussion with them this lunchtime. There are some other good ideas that they are working on that will hopefully come to fruition sooner rather than later.

 

Also some interesting ideas for working with the Forum.

 

All good stuff.

 

But they wouldn't let me take the S2 away without paying for it

[microview]

So how will passport documentation be undertaken, for lens purchases etc?

[andybarton]

No idea.

 

Send the card back to the address on it? I'm sure it will become clear.

[spylaw4]

No idea.

 

Send the card back to the address on it? I'm sure it will become clear.

 

That's correct - Passport documentation would appear to have been "sub-contracted".

 

I remain to be convinced that the repair "service" will be quicker as they are claiming.

[andybarton]

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With regards to Passport, I have asked Leica the question. Passport continues just as before with the same benefits.

 

As with any business move, there will be a transition period as things settle down but Leica have assured me that they will be doing their utmost to help people.

 

While on a personal level, it's sad to see Milton Keynes close with its loss of staff, I do think that there is a real opportunity for some added value for Leica and its customers in Mayfair if they grasp the nettle.

[scsambrook]

I'm not really sure what Andy Barton is thinking in the he says " ... I do think that there is a real opportunity for some added value for Leica and its customers in Mayfair if they grasp the nettle. . . "

 

If he means those Leica customers who have easy access to the Mayfair premises, then I suppose that those so geographically fortunate might indeed benefit from being to handle Leica products outside any 'selling environment' and without the delivery difficulties that seem to attend many Leica items. However, many - probably the vast majority - of UK Leica owners, or prospective owners, won't fall into that category.

 

Most of us outside the greater London area are relatively poorly served by the existing distribution of Leica stockists, and will see little potential benefit in this relocation exercise. "Addded value" for us is hardly to be found in a new showcase in the metropolis, especially when this is even further away than Milton Keynes.Perhaps Andy would like to set out what benefits he envisages for the greater Leica community in the UK?

[wlaidlaw]

I was never convinced what MK brought to the party anyway. The two repairs I had done there (Digilux 1 and 2), had to be re-done in Solms. All repairs and servicing since then, I have sent direct to or taken in to Solms.

 

Wilson

[andybarton]

Clearly there are some who see a negative in anything.

 

"Don't shoot the messenger"

 

Where would people rather Leica base their UK customer facing facilities? On the edge of an industrial estate in Milton Keynes, or 5 minutes walk from a tube station in the centre of the capital? I know which is easier and cheaper to get to, and it's not out in the sticks. And I live 250 miles away from London. I do know something - if Leica had a London based HQ and then proposed to move it out to a tin shed in MK, there'd be plenty of complaints...

 

Added value? Could be anything from new product launches to workshops and demonstrations. Could be that they might consider how to relate more directly with their customers than they have been doing in the past. It could be that they see a venue with restaurants, bars and coffee shops in the locality a better place to meet than the wrong side of the railway track in the South Midlands. Certainly a much better place to run workshops and training sessions. Time will tell.

 

Anyway, I am not Leica. I don't speak for Leica. I posted the press release because I thought it would be of interest to members in the UK.

 

But yesterday I did speak WITH Leica and I was encouraged with the opportunities that this move to and expansion in Bruton Place offers them and us, their customers.

 

They have some ideas that were spoken of in initial terms yesterday so it's not right to pass them on here until there is a formal press release, but I do think that improved customer service is definitely part of the way forward.

[wlaidlaw]

I agree with Andy. If the move to Bruton Street brings a more active Leica UK, then it can only be a good thing. My local Leica dealer used to hold regular Leica evenings run by Stuart Bean (ex Leica UK), usually at the White Hart in Lewes. They must have been good evenings, as I ended up buying a Digilux 1 at one (the only camera I was ever pleased to have stolen).

 

Wilson

[scsambrook]

Clearly there are some who see a negative in anything.

 

"Don't shoot the messenger" . . .

 

. . . I do know something - if Leica had a London based HQ and then proposed to move it out to a tin shed in MK, there'd be plenty of complaints...

 

Hold on, I'm neither shooting messengers nor being negative, rather examining the message, pointing out some simple facts and posing the not unreasonable question about what you see as possible benefits.

 

And as for the move 'to a tin shed', some of us will remember the exodus from Mortimer Street and the justifications from the firm that were broadcast at the time. The stance then was that costs outside London were lower, more suitable premises for a showroom, training sessions and a repair department were to be had, and that service to both trade and retail customers would be improved as a result. The only complaints that surfaced then were from the staff for whom relocation was either unwelcome or impossible.

 

Whether the firm's service did subsequently improve overall remains open to debate by those with long enough memories. What is beyond argument is that repairs were already slow and hideously expensive when equipment had to go back to the factory, and nothing there changed after the removal from Mortimer Street. Nor, predictably, did deliveries improve. What is undeniable is that the dealer network then was far more extensive than now, and the consequences of losing a public showroom in London were hardly significant.

 

Today, with a drastically reduced number of retail outlets, the idea of easily accessible premises showcasing the range of Leica products actually makes some sense, but it might be better located in Birmingham or even Manchester - both of which are easily accessed from London (and Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle et al).

 

Those of us who have learned to imbibe a little caution will perhaps be slightly reluctant to get excited over oblique references to opportunities for benefits which are still, seemingly, being thought through. Indeed, 'Time will tell'.