hoppyman Posted May 16, 2013 Share #41 Posted May 16, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) I think that there are some flawed assumptions in these discussions. Supply of production is unlikely to be perfectly evenly distributed at the same time and steadily world wide with each new batch release. Logistics on world wide distribution alone would preclude that. I've mentioned elsewhere too but to take Australia's example, our stock comes via Singapore and in fact the very first handful of deliveries at all are only reaching customers this last week. So less sympathy for people whose dealers have had at least some stock and are waiting on next shipments ;-) Anyone that has seen the hand assembly and testing facilities in Solms understands too that volume can not be rapidly increased without limits. We are only a sub-set of Leica Camera's customers of course, just the most visible to ourselves. I don't expect that anyone outside of the company and its subsidiaries knows how many have been made and delivered or are still unfulfilled pre-orders. My understanding of the distributors' policies (mine at least) is that they do not have visibility of individual customers orders from their dealers nor control on who gets supplied when by them from their dealers' lists. Solms would apportion production to the national distributors who apportion to dealers who apportion to their customers. Individual dealers would have placed orders on anticipated demand or not but are unlikely to get what they want immediately in any case. When the M9 was announced in September 2009 there was some stock at least with the distributors and initially at least some orders were filled quickly. Most of us had to wait for the pre-orders to be satisfied then and it was quite some time before demand was largely caught up. More than a year or so I think. Longer term members will remember that the forum had a thread then which actually tracked waiting times reported by members. I recall a Leica Camera comment that the anticipated life of model production for the M9 was exceeded after 6 months. I would be surprised if the M typ 240 is not at least as successful (and slow to get out to every customer's hands). This time dealers did not have the pre-positioned stock close immediately after the announcement so we had a lag of several months before anyone got stock, exacerbating the demand and frustration. I'm not immune and am waiting too, of course. Taking a glass half full approach has everyone noticed that for the first time that I remember dealers seem to have good availability on almost every lens. Now I will wait for the usual derogatory "fan boy" remarks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 16, 2013 Posted May 16, 2013 Hi hoppyman, Take a look here Request for comment from Leica re M(240) delivery (or lack thereof). I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest tanks Posted May 16, 2013 Share #42 Posted May 16, 2013 Not sure if there has been any halt in deliveries, in Europe at least. Got one body and two batteries in France three weeks after my order. Was a firm order though and i've put a deposit. I have paid for mine in full, can't be any firmer than that. It has been months. So, I guess it is a matter of finding a small dealer that doesn't have any pre-orders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanJW Posted May 16, 2013 Share #43 Posted May 16, 2013 Waitresses? Regards, Bill Sent from another Galaxy Hey, you're making fun of a serious situation. Forget about the economic crisis or Syria or Afghanistan or North Korea. Many nerves are frazzled. Headaches are reported. Spouses are being snapped at. Teeth are being gnashed. Hair is being pulled. Feet are being stamped. All over a piece of metal (and maybe some plastic). (And I'm right there in the WWW crowd (Waiting Wishing Whiners)) as a foot stamper second class. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalfx Posted May 16, 2013 Share #44 Posted May 16, 2013 I have paid for mine in full, can't be any firmer than that. It has been months. So, I guess it is a matter of finding a small dealer that doesn't have any pre-orders. tanks, I suggest you start calling small dealers across the US. Ask how many pre-orders they have. I guarantee you will find several that have none or just a few. This is how I found my M9 and M. I have a pre-order from a large dealer placed the day before the announcement that still hasnt been filled. He probably has 100 pre-orders so no telling when that order will ship. But a few phone calls and mine arrived on April 5th. The day after this one arrived I received calls from 3 other dealers that had a camera in stock. if I was greedy I could have bought all 4 and made a fortune on Ebay. I sent the leads to friends who also now have a camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirekti Posted May 16, 2013 Share #45 Posted May 16, 2013 tanks,But a few phone calls and mine arrived on April 5th. The day after this one arrived I received calls from 3 other dealers that had a camera in stock. I can imagine dealers' confusion today as they might have received unusually many calls. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 16, 2013 Share #46 Posted May 16, 2013 Ok, Geoff, you're a fanboy! Now we have got that out of the way we can get on with the regular business of bemoaning our fate.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted May 17, 2013 Share #47 Posted May 17, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Significant milestone locally today Jaap. I actually SAW an M typ 240 for the very first time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirekti Posted May 17, 2013 Share #48 Posted May 17, 2013 I actually SAW an M typ 240 for the very first time. How close are you to get one? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted May 17, 2013 Share #49 Posted May 17, 2013 I actually reneged on an invitation in Melbourne to try a new M yesterday! I was worried I might commit to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted May 17, 2013 Share #50 Posted May 17, 2013 How close are you to get one? I am next one my dealers list. They got one this week, from the first national shipment. The other dealer here is a boutique and they got two, but one is not for sale (on display) and the other is waiting for its owner to collect it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirekti Posted May 17, 2013 Share #51 Posted May 17, 2013 I am next one my dealers list. Now, as the lugs problem has been solved, this might be rather soon for you. Good luck!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted May 17, 2013 Share #52 Posted May 17, 2013 Oh I don't think that the lug issue is likely to affect any future stock to be sold here. It may be weeks before any more arrive nationally (my guess) and I think that potential problem only existed in stock sent to distributors weeks ago ( by early April?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
platypus Posted May 17, 2013 Share #53 Posted May 17, 2013 There was one being demo'd at my dealers in Melbourne last night, (unfortunately I couldn't make the party) but there's some movement = delivery/ies next thing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share #54 Posted May 17, 2013 I'd still like to hear an official explanation from Leica. Don't they realise that the silence is worse than ANY explanation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted May 17, 2013 Share #55 Posted May 17, 2013 I'd still like to hear an official explanation from Leica. Don't they realise that the silence is worse than ANY explanation OTOH, the current deliver schedule may be what they envisaged. ie. nothing to explain! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted May 17, 2013 Share #56 Posted May 17, 2013 There was one being demo'd at my dealers in Melbourne last night,(unfortunately I couldn't make the party) but there's some movement = delivery/ies next thing? I think that you will find that all Aussie dealers have had their allocation from the first shipment now. Now we wait for the next shipment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HV25 Posted May 18, 2013 Share #57 Posted May 18, 2013 I think that the top management at Leica should question itself over a few things. For example what is the point of launching a new product and generating a lot of interest for it but having no stock to sell and being unable to tell people who ordered when they can get what they are excited about and waiting for ? Even more damaging for the brand is the fact that the company has been opening Leica stores around the world who are also absolutely clueless when customers ask for availability. I actually feel sorry for the people that work at these Leica stores and who should be brand ambassadors but end up looking clueless when having to answer phone calls and enquiries from people interested in buying from them. Its not difficult to estimate approximate delivery timings if you take orders and know your average production output - unless you have no control over your business or hit major unforeseen issues you can't manage. So what is wrong Leica ? Some time ago the company announced their ambition to grow the business which is great because that means they may survive and continue to make great products in the future. But I doubt this is going to happen when reflecting on the M issues - and the poor track record from previous launches. I don't want to be misunderstood - I'm a big fan of Leica and I'm on the M waiting list myself since September. Get your act together Leica and speak to your customers - they deserve it ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirekti Posted May 18, 2013 Share #58 Posted May 18, 2013 Its not difficult to estimate approximate delivery timings if you take orders and know your average production output - unless you have no control over your business or hit major unforeseen issues you can't manage. So what is wrong Leica ? Get your act together Leica and speak to your customers - they deserve it ! +1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted May 18, 2013 Share #59 Posted May 18, 2013 HV25 and mirekti, emotions like yours are understandable but for whatever reason do not figure in the Leica business plan, apparently. Your only choice is, 'get used to it'. Whilst you clearly are not happy, the experience is not exclusive to Leica. The company is notorious for poor communication to customers in such circumstances. I don't see it changing. Offering advice as above is not really productive. They are working to their business model and are not likely to take advice from a 'disgruntled few'. A small production operation like Leica is very easily disrupted by problems such as the lug disaster. I don't know if that has impacted on production line work but it would not have helped. There may be other issues that we know nothing of. That would be normal in production scenarios. Patience is all you can exert, so meanwhile go shoot your current camera. The same subjects are there whatever your gear in hand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirekti Posted May 18, 2013 Share #60 Posted May 18, 2013 Patience is all you can exert, so meanwhile go shoot your current camera. The same subjects are there whatever your gear in hand. I sold all my Canon gear to switch to Leica, and don't have any other camera at the moment, (I know, I know, this was the risk I was aware of), but I got your point and I must admit you were right. I'm an amateur, so no business loss, however, it's greates hobby (as for many others) so I guess I'm pushing it a bit too hard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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