Ronan Posted September 29, 2011 Share #1 Posted September 29, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm creating this little thread because I'd like to get a better idea of Leica's business practices. Situation: You buy a brand new Leica (body, accessory, lens, etc) and it's defective out of the box. What did YOU do, and what did LEICA do. Any compensation offered (apology letter, gift, full out replacement, extras, etc)? Feel free to express yourself of the satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the interaction you had, and of course, if your dealer helped or didn't help. The goal of this thread is to get a 'feel' of Leica's business practice when interacting with customer that have issues. Are they a B&W company? Is their some lean-ways, or even a feel of them going beyond the regular C2B/B2C interaction? Thank You. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 Hi Ronan, Take a look here Leica Compensations. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted September 29, 2011 Share #2 Posted September 29, 2011 It is not Leica interacting with you, it is your dealer... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonheim Posted September 29, 2011 Share #3 Posted September 29, 2011 Situation: You buy a brand new Leica (body, accessory, lens, etc) and it's defective out of the box. The goal of this thread is to get a 'feel' of Leica's business practice when interacting with customer that have issues. First of all I think it is important to know that in most European countries the consumer rights are protected by law and not indirectly through customer service for competitive reasons. Being a European company, Leica probably holds this in its culture, but as a "luxury goods" manufacturer. (I think of M here, I guess). Also, in most European countries, the law requires you give the seller (usually manufacturer or retailer) a reasonable opportunity to rectify the issue. Instant satisfaction is rarely considered. Further, a defect product may have been in perfect condition when leaving the manufacturer. Shipping, in-store handling, returned product, etc. may make a product defective. Hence, reasonable time to investigate must be allowed. However, many retailers and manufacturers will take it back and give you another item of the same product to keep the customer happy, then investigate who is responsible and should pay afterwards. The above are customary practices, as far as I know. When I last sent camera and lenses in for CLA and focus adjustments I received everything back as promised - in both time and cost. What was within warranty was not charged anything while items not within warranty was charged for repair/service and S&H. success/satisfaction = delivery - expectations Expectations by consumers vary a lot among countries/cultures so asking if someone was happy will vary. I was very happy that everything was as promised. Had this taken place when I lived in Manhattan during the 90s I would probably not have been happy:-) In order to go the extra mile for the customer, which many retailers and manufacturers will do, often requires a surplus of product just to have the opportunity to do so. That is not the case with the M-system. In my opinion, this is often the root cause for "unhappy with service at such prices":-) I am happy, and thanked both Leica Germany and my retailer in Norway after the last service. Hope this helps with the study here! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted September 29, 2011 Share #4 Posted September 29, 2011 The problem with this, as has already been pointed out, consumer rights vary from country to country. It will be hard to compare like for like. In the UK, for instance, your contract is with the vendor not the manufacturer. Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted September 29, 2011 Share #5 Posted September 29, 2011 Indeed. One may have a contract with the reseller, and the credit card company if you paid by card. Ultimately there is the factory warranty too and Leica passport in some countries. Buy something faulty in the UK and it's the dealer who has to replace it or refund you ( if you don't want to wait for a repair). I've not had any issues with any new Leica stuff I've bought, but from what I've read here they generally do as much as they can to put matters right when things do go wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted September 29, 2011 Share #6 Posted September 29, 2011 The only time I bought a brand new item that was defective (a lens - 4 years ago) they exchanged it rather quickly (3 weeks) and the dealer (well equipped with used Leica gear) offered to lend to me a similar focal (not the same - was a Summarit 75...) in the meantime: I didn't receive any apology letter, neither I expected it... , but the hood wasn't included, and the dealer made to me a good discount onto it. Imho, so is when you deal with a good dealer with whom you have a personal relation... and nothing to say about Leica : item was of course warranted, and warranty worked like it had to do Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted September 30, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Interesting. I always dealt with Leica directly. With Nikon we never, ever, went through a shop but Nikon directly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted September 30, 2011 Share #8 Posted September 30, 2011 Interesting. I always dealt with Leica directly. With a brand new body or lens? Didn't you buy from a dealer? Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted September 30, 2011 With a brand new body or lens? Didn't you buy from a dealer? Jeff I'v only owned 2 brand new lens, everything else was second hand (BP M3 and M6 Classic, and a couple lenses). 1 of those new lenses were defective out of the box, i contacted Leica and they fixed it, took 5 weeks. I then sold the lens since i had lost faith in it (it was never as smooth as the other one's i used and by the time it came back, i had replaced it with something else). 1 of the used lenses had some dust in it and again, dealt with Leica since it still had a warranty on it. They took care of it in 3 weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IkarusJohn Posted September 30, 2011 Share #10 Posted September 30, 2011 To date, I have not bought new Leica equipment locally, as there is an unreasonable price premium for that. I am on the waiting list for a 35 Lux locally (not holding my breath it will turn up any time soon) - if it is defective, my sense is that the dealer can sort it out. He will carry more weight with Leica than me, and I have the protection of the local legislation (I can insist on a replacement if repair in unrealistic etc). For repairs and the like (a lens needed coding, and I damaged another), I dealt directly with Leica in Solms - no point in dealing with the local agent as they charge a premium on everything, including shipping. I priced the coding at the time, and dealing direct was considerably cheaper. Apology, gift? No. I would not expect that. I would simply want swift repair and good service. So far, I have had that in spades. No complaints from me. Cheers John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted September 30, 2011 Share #11 Posted September 30, 2011 The goal of this thread is to get a 'feel' of Leica's business practice when interacting with customer that have issues. What do you mean: issues like paranoia, excessive 'fanboyism' or perhaps an obsessive compulsive disorder? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stateowned Posted September 30, 2011 Share #12 Posted September 30, 2011 well take into account the lens shortage.. if you get a defect product its not likely they have a backup standing.. the shop i work at doesnt sell leica yet but stuff like a canon 50mm f1.4 is always 5-10 in stock.. if it is defective out of the box it will just replaced Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share #13 Posted October 1, 2011 What do you mean: issues like paranoia, excessive 'fanboyism' or perhaps an obsessive compulsive disorder? Haha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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