ralph1464 Posted June 13, 2012 Share #1 Posted June 13, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I always wanted to see the birthplace of my analogue and digital (M9P) cameras. Alas, an email from Solms a few weeks ago informed me that during my current stay in Germany a factory tour wouldn’t be available. Anyway, since I needed an older Summicron coded and inspected I still got into the car for the three hour drive to Northern Hesse. The main factory campus is a surprisingly modest affair, one large corrugated metal container, the place is more dominated by the car parking lot than the actual buildings. The entrance lobby is a renovated reception area which features some exhibition items such as a humongous box with the new Hermes version of the M9 (Euro 20,000. Ha!), among others, and the Leica family tree of cameras. A rather grim looking receptionist informed me without a smile that I am in the wrong building and handed me a map to the service department across town where I could drop off my lens. The receptionist there is equally unfriendly. Overall I got the impression that I, a decades-long customer, wasn’t welcome here. Sad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 13, 2012 Posted June 13, 2012 Hi ralph1464, Take a look here Visit at Solms. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted June 13, 2012 Share #2 Posted June 13, 2012 Well, if the tour is not available at the moment, as you were informed correctly, it is not surprising you were not welcome and directed to the service department... Leica is in the process of preparing confidential products for Photokina and preparing for moving to Wetzlar, so I can imagine factory tours are suspended. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
01af Posted June 13, 2012 Share #3 Posted June 13, 2012 My Leica dealer frequently arranges 2-day workshops at Leica in Solms. The last two were in March and in May; the next is scheduled in November. So this indeed seems to indicate that no visitors are welcome at Solms between now and Photokina ... which I guess is comprehensible. Still no reason to be unfriendly to a customer who traveled half the world for a flying visit at Solms. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulrik Posted June 13, 2012 Share #4 Posted June 13, 2012 Given my recent experience with their repair service the staff appears to be a bit strained. A combination of the factors already mentioned + significantly increased sales and therefore for sure also demand for service. Hiring and training people to cope with the increased demand puts also stress on the system. Ulrik Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 13, 2012 Share #5 Posted June 13, 2012 My last telephone contact with CS a few days ago was as always very friendly. So were my telephone contacts the week before with Headquarters. However hiccups happen. I have learned over the years not to judge perceptions in situations like this, where one side will be disappointed and maybe a bit upset and the other side possibly overtaxed (urgent phonecalls waiting on the line?). Staff training will help, but is not a cureall for perfectly normal human interaction. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted June 13, 2012 Share #6 Posted June 13, 2012 ... grim looking receptionist informed me without a smile that I am in the wrong building and handed me a map to the service department across town where I could drop off my lens. The receptionist there is equally unfriendly. Overall I got the impression that I, a decades-long customer, wasn’t welcome here. Sad. Welcome to the forum Ralph. Sorry to hear about your LEICA-experience. Perhaps, the first thing you told her, was you didn´t like the 20,000-EUR-LEICA. This could have made things complicated. The CS usually has a very friendly acting personal. Your story is contradictory to my experience which reaches back a pretty long time as well. In my M4-days the repairstation in Wetzlar was called HAUSERTORWERK and also seperated from the place of production. So this setup has a long history. Try again next time. Best GEORG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramesh Posted June 13, 2012 Share #7 Posted June 13, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) This is what I would do if I were you. Plan a visit to Photokina 2012 if you have the time. A season ticket for EUR76 (online) is well worth it. I will be able to see all the latest products and I am sure everyone at the Leica booth will be pumped up to tell me all about it. In the event I don't see what I like, I could always wander to the other booths and make an informed decision. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aperture 2 Posted June 13, 2012 Share #8 Posted June 13, 2012 I visited the Plant last february, we were a total of 9 people coming from Belgium, France, Germany and China. All of us have asked some weeks before to visit the plant and the selected date was provided by Leica. The present building will soon be abandoned with all activities to be transferred to their new facilities, it is thus not surprising if the aspect is not spectacular. None less the entrance exhibition is nice with all the historical models of the cameras and the shop with all lenses visible and available. The receptionist were extremely friendly with us and the tour was personally done by a Leica directive in person ! It was a very nice visit for every one. The sad experience of the OP is probably due to an unexpected visit and unprepared receptionist. I also think that visits might not be welcome at all during the next few months before fotokina. Indeed during our visit we saw in the production the top plate of what was looking like the Ti edition but that was not - now I know that it was for the Hermes special edition... This accidental exposure created great embarrassment in our guide but I have seen that none of the people that visited the plant mentioned it in any forum I know :-) good people ! For sure they do not wish visits now, even less unannounced ones.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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