Shootist Posted January 24, 2007 Share #1 Posted January 24, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi all I just ordered a M8, yesterday will be in my hands tomorrow, and as I could not get a M8 before the supposed 12/31/06 date for the discount, as there were NONE available, I'm hoping Leica will extend the discount on a lens. Does anyone know if they will? Has anyone that has bought a M8 recently contacted Leica about this? And if so what was their reply. I do have a call into Leica USA to ask this very question but they have not return my call yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 24, 2007 Posted January 24, 2007 Hi Shootist, Take a look here Lens discount for new purchase???. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest guy_mancuso Posted January 24, 2007 Share #2 Posted January 24, 2007 Ed I would kind of doubt it because the discount was given for folks that had a streaking issue that was caused by a hardware connection and had to send there camera's in to Solms for the repair . After November 26th they were shipping with the hardware fix and they most likely extended to the end of Decemeber in case there was any stock left that needed the hardware fix. Any camera you buy after the November 26th date of shipping had this repair done, so now those issues were solved and now it is just firmware updates which is really a normally occurance for digital camera's to have updates for them. This is my assumption of that and may not be fact. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted January 24, 2007 Share #3 Posted January 24, 2007 Yeah, it is not quite the same thing ordering an M8, and getting the fixed version after two or three days, as it is to order it, use it for two or three days, and then live without for six weeks, with very few updates... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share #4 Posted January 24, 2007 I'm really not sure the lens discount deal was because OF and only for owners of the original shipment. Since the original END date of this discount deal was 12/31/06 that would mean that any camera bought after Nov 26 and up to Dec 31 would still be eligible. The problem comes with there was NO M8's in the USA, at least none that I could find, in the month of December. Now Leica also said that the camera had to by PAID for, in full, before 12/31/06 and I called all kinds of dealer and most were not taking orders and those that were you could only put a deposit down, and to top it off, for me at least, I'm not the type/kind of person that would give someone or a company $5000 for something, or a deposit on a $5000 piece of equipment, without knowing exactly when it would arrive. Everyone that I talked to said I might get one in 3 week or 3 months. It was up in the air. I did hear back from Leica USA and all they said was to contact Leica support-Germany through email. So I will pose this question to the M8 support team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted January 24, 2007 Share #5 Posted January 24, 2007 It would interesting to hear what they have to say on it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJL Posted January 24, 2007 Share #6 Posted January 24, 2007 I agree, Guy. After seeing some of the discounts on lenses for the US market, I was thinking about springing for another M8, especially while mine is in Solms for the next month. If I could get my hands on an M8 today, AND get the lens discount (come on Noctilux!), I would do it in a heartbeat. (Leica, are you listening?) LJ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share #7 Posted January 24, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) It would interesting to hear what they have to say on it. I have fired off a email to M8 support and I also have the web address for registration. I will be registering mine tomorrow as soon as I get it. We'll have to wait and see. I really think they should extend the lens deal for a long time. That would promote the sales of the M8. Did they ever offer this type of deal on any film M? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 24, 2007 Share #8 Posted January 24, 2007 I assumed that the idea behind getting the discount if you paid for the camera before the end of December (even if you hadn't received it) was to help the dealers' cashflow towards the end of the year when they would normally have been selling lots of M8s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted January 24, 2007 Share #9 Posted January 24, 2007 >> Shootist No, so far they didn´t have to. The teethings problems with the M8 are just too embarassing. Best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share #10 Posted January 25, 2007 I received a email back from M8 support. Thank you for your interest. The offer was valid also for those who had ordered and paid a M8 until the 31.12.2006. The camera had not to be delivered within this period. Best regards Leica Camera AG C. Basseng So it seems I'm SOL on that deal but that doesn't mean I won't stop trying to mkae them see the light. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venkman Posted January 25, 2007 Share #11 Posted January 25, 2007 [...]and as I could not get a M8 before the supposed 12/31/06 date for the discount, as there were NONE available, [...] Surely, you could have ordered and fully downpaid by that date to be eligible for the discount. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share #12 Posted January 25, 2007 Surely, you could have ordered and fully downpaid by that date to be eligible for the discount. Yes I sure could have BUT in doing so I would of been locked into that dealer and I would have to wait whatever time it took to get the body. All dealers I talked to about this had NO idea when I would have a camera. They said it could be anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. I will have my M8 today, which is about 5 weeks from when I was trying to buy one in December before the end date of the 30% off deal. With my luck I would not of seen a M8 until a week before the expiration date of the lens deal. It would be nice for Leica to extend this offer to at least 1/31/07 or 2/28/07 seeing as there was NO M8's available in the latter part of Nov and all of Dec. But yes we are talking about Leica here and if there was ever a SNOB camera company it sure is Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eoin Posted January 25, 2007 Share #13 Posted January 25, 2007 But yes we are talking about Leica here and if there was ever a SNOB camera company it sure is Leica. Well not to put too fine a point on it, you made your choices in the full knowledge of the terms of the deal. Name calling will do little, other than to annoy members here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
de dirk Posted January 25, 2007 Share #14 Posted January 25, 2007 well, i paid for the camera in full in the last week of december, and i am still waiting for it. i am in belgium at roughly 300 km from solms..;after registering on the factory's website i received the lens discount letter, but that's about it. questioning the importer for belgium, he remarked that they where much faster, back in 1940, to get here! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted January 25, 2007 Share #15 Posted January 25, 2007 Ed - I see you joined the forum on 6 November, in time to follow the theatre of the M8 release. If you did indeed follow the M8 release closely in this forum you will recall that leading up to the December 31st. purchase deadline that Leica were very reticent, even coy, about the exact nature of a [mostly speculated] lens discount deal. Many of us followed the release and concomitant fallout to determine whether to commit to the M8 or not, and to a certain extent I gambled that paying in advance for an M8 before Dec. 31 might eventually gain me an offer of a discounted lens; which it did. For the record, my M8 has not yet been delivered - but I am OK with that. You, like everyone else, had the choice of paying in advance for an M8 [and hope that the 'discount whispers' were true], or waiting until supplies filled dealers shelves so you could buy one over the counter. You chose the latter, which was OK for you, I chose the former which was OK for me. I have the offer of a lens discount but you don't; why would you expect otherwise? Regarding your spikey SNOB remark, many of us in this forum use cameras as a means to make photographs, and photography is my passion, not jewellery. The passion, and immense generosity of serious photographers in this forum has pushed Leica to the M8 improvements that will aid me when my M8 arrives, and yours too. By all means criticise the sloppy, even arrogant culture that Leica had lapsed into prior to the M8 launch, but the snob remark was poorly aimed amongst big hearted photographers who daily help others in getting the most out of their M8 cameras. This is not a forum for wretched jewellery wearers. .....................Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 25, 2007 Share #16 Posted January 25, 2007 I was following the discussion of the "30%" lens discount. It was based on material released to dealers, and which dealers released to their customers. I couldn't understand where the persistent claims of "doubt" and "rumor" were coming from, since I saw it in writing (albeit second-hand and not posted on a website). I paid my money in December and received a silver M8 (a choice that speeded things up, but I prefer it) in early January. Companies don't do things for a single reason -- Leica seemed to want to make amends for the messed-up launch and uncertainty that resulted, to ensure cash flow to the dealers in the fourth quarter, and to make sure that customers didn't postpone their decisions and perhaps end up walking away. None of those reasons applies any more. scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share #17 Posted January 25, 2007 Well not to put too fine a point on it, you made your choices in the full knowledge of the terms of the deal. Name calling will do little, other than to annoy members here. It not name calling. I used a M3 back in the 1970'ds and I own 3 of them now and a R4s (and of course a M8). Leica has always been "It is a Leica, end of story, take it or leave it", with good reason. It is a fact that is the way they are. Which is OK with me because there is NOTHING like a Leica M and Leitz lenses. Supposedly most of the testers of the M8 saw the problem and yet Leica did nothing about it before the camera was released. That's not to say that they didn't plan on fixing it before there was the great Internet uproar about those problem. And in the end the M8 will be the best it can be, just like all other M's. As to the deal I was hoping they would extended it because of the shortage of units in the country. My most used dealer, B&H, would not even think of taking a Pre-order and others that I talked to were taking deposits, that is NOT paying in full. If there were any dealers in the US that were taking the full amount as a Pre-order I didn't find any, although I really didn't search that hard for one as that is something I wouldn't like doing, for reason stated previously. In the post just above someone Pre-order and they are still waiting. I will have my M8 today. I have responded to the email from M8 support voicing my reasons for extending this offer. We'll see what their next response will be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammam Posted January 25, 2007 Share #18 Posted January 25, 2007 No matter how much devotees worship Leica, Leica are first and foremost a commercial outfit, whose main goal is to make profits. Paying in full before Dec. 31st without getting the camera before, say, two, three or four months, would have meant commiting oneself without the possibility of a refund before delivery, should one become scared by all the reports of problems (my case.) The simple thing at the time could have been to just publish a list of the serial numbers of early M8s suffering from streaking, banding, blobbing and what not and needing to be returned to Solms. Especially seeing as all shipments were halted at the end of November. So, this could easily be interpreted as a clever (?) commercial plot from Leica: ensure cash flow and sales. It could also have been what some people (not me) interpret as a gallant gesture towards buyers of first generation M8s. But what about buyers of second generation? What about the new electrical problems? Freezing cameras, dead batteries, etc...? What if this new generation needs to be returned to Solms as well? Wouldn't it be fair that its buyers also benefit from a discount on a lens? So why dont't Leica just use serial numbers? That's how product recalls usually work, right? Now, anybody can tell me if there is a possibility of a full refund policy of a Leica camera - say within 30 days - in case of customer dissatisfaction? As for me, it's been almost three months since I've placed my order for an M8. Three months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
canlogic Posted January 25, 2007 Share #19 Posted January 25, 2007 As for me, it's been almost three months since I've placed my order for an M8. Three months. I see you are in Montreal, where did you order from? I went to the M8 demo at Camtec back at the end of Oct or beggining of Nov and decided to get one. I ordered it then and got it within a couple of weeks. I don't know if they have been getting more in but I haven't had a problem getting extra battery, grip or lenses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicabug Posted January 25, 2007 Share #20 Posted January 25, 2007 I ordered and paid for a M8 on Sunday, December 31 from a dealer in the east coast. At the time, the pricing situation of the lens for U.S. buyers was not clear. But I bought M8 by faith. I am glad that I did it because of the free filters and the attractive lens price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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