Broken tape on the outer box?

[ewan0304]

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Guys, I posted the same thread under the Lens session.

 

I ordered my brand new Leica M from B&H the other day and just received it today morning. When I opened the shipping packing I found that the tape on the outer gray box had broken, and it was not sealed. Someone said it might be the situation that the dealers opened the outer box and put the warranty in. I just wonder if this is a normal case for Leica products? I got the same issue for my summicron 50 f2 lens ordered from Amazon.

 

Thank you so much for all your help!

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[Guest redge]

B&H ships from a warehouse in Brooklyn, not from the store in Manhattan. The New Jersey warranty card is already in the box.

 

That said:

 

(a) I bought my M 240 from a dealer in person and have no recollection of what sealing tape was, or was not, on the box;

( I do not believe that B&H would sell a demo as new and I'm close to 100% certain that they don't have an M 240 as a demo anyway;

© I suppose it is possible that the camera had been returned by someone or was in the Manhattan store and was shown to a customer or customers.

 

New, the LCD screen is covered with thin plastic film. If that was in place, I wouldn't worry about it.

[ewan0304]

B&H ships from a warehouse in Brooklyn, not from the store in Manhattan. The New Jersey warranty card is already in the box.

 

That said:

 

(a) I bought my M 240 from a dealer in person and have no recollection of what sealing tape was, or was not, on the box;

( I do not believe that B&H would sell a demo as new and I'm close to 100% certain that they don't have an M 240 as a demo anyway;

© I suppose it is possible that the camera had been returned by someone or was in the Manhattan store and was shown to a customer or customers.

 

New, the LCD screen is covered with thin plastic film. If that was in place, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Thank you very much for your reply! Yes the LCF is covered with a protector.

[Bill W]

I seldom worry about the outer box being sealed. The last new item (Silver M) I bought was from Dale in Miami and the outer bow was not sealed but they had only opened it to put the receipt in. The inner box had not been opened.

[farnz]

It's an import so it's very important for Customs to break the seal to be able to extract and quarantine the German air and replace it with American air. God bless their little white cotton socks.

 

Pete.

[Rick]

Broken tape... Horror!!! Check the shutter count.

 

Kidding, and welcome you will love the camera.

 

Rick

[wlaidlaw]

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I am always irritated when I see an unbroken tape, as it means the dealer has not stamped the warranty card.

 

Wilson

[dfe]

Same thing happened to me: I just bought a new M from B&H, and it arrived with the seal on the outer box broken. The plastic covering was still on the rear LCD and bottom plate, so I wasn't too concerned about it until I noticed just now that the white paint is missing from some of the shutter speed indicators. This makes me think that the camera was returned to B&H, and they resold it.

 

Anybody else have the white paint issue? I wonder what kind of impact it has on the resale value of the camera?

[algrove]

Same thing happened to me: I just bought a new M from B&H, and it arrived with the seal on the outer box broken. The plastic covering was still on the rear LCD and bottom plate, so I wasn't too concerned about it until I noticed just now that the white paint is missing from some of the shutter speed indicators. This makes me think that the camera was returned to B&H, and they resold it.

 

Anybody else have the white paint issue? I wonder what kind of impact it has on the resale value of the camera?

 

I would return it to them pronto explaining your concern about the paint issue. If they do not make it right, just buy from someone else like a Leica store.

[Carbon111]

This makes me think that the camera was returned to B&H, and they resold it.

 

I've bought a number of items from B&H that were listed as "new" that had obviously been handled/used before, mainly lenses. Pretty annoying actually...

[Gerard]

Camera stores make money from their customers. It's a business. If they are good at their business (as opposed to just pushing boxes), they will open, inspect and test all items to ensure customer satisfaction. What would you prefer, an opened box with perfect camera or sealed box with possible defective camera. I know what I'd choose. Hats off to B&H for caring.

[Carbon111]

Camera stores make money from their customers. It's a business. If they are good at their business (as opposed to just pushing boxes), they will open, inspect and test all items to ensure customer satisfaction. What would you prefer, an opened box with perfect camera or sealed box with possible defective camera. I know what I'd choose. Hats off to B&H for caring.

 

While they were busy "caring", they managed to damage the lens cap gasket and get fingerprints on my supposedly "new" Voigtlander 50mm Nokton lens.

 

...like I said, they've resold obvious retuns to me before. As long as they're in good shape, it usually doesn't bother me too much.

[erl]

If the functionality and integrity of the equipment is right, then what is there to worry about? I assume you don't wear white gloves when you are using it.

 

You have a warrantee to cover any real issues.

[marknorton]

I don't understand how people - especially in the US - expect to be able to buy a product, use it and then return it for no reason on a whim. If the product cannot be resold as new, who do these timewasters expect should pay for the consequent loss of revenue?

[marknorton]

Camera stores make money from their customers. It's a business. If they are good at their business (as opposed to just pushing boxes), they will open, inspect and test all items to ensure customer satisfaction. What would you prefer, an opened box with perfect camera or sealed box with possible defective camera. I know what I'd choose. Hats off to B&H for caring.

 

My dealer understands that when I buy something from them, I want to be the first person to use it so that precludes demos, "taking a look" and all the rest.

[CalArts 99]

I don't understand how people - especially in the US - expect to be able to buy a product, use it and then return it for no reason on a whim. If the product cannot be resold as new, who do these timewasters expect should pay for the consequent loss of revenue?

 

Yeah, I don't get it either. In the US it seems to be some sort of hobby to purchase things and then return them. What do they think the retailers are supposed to do? The vendor can't return the products back to the manufacturer. Are they supposed to sell items at a loss because they've been opened already? If an item is defective, the vendor can return it. But not just because you had second thoughts about your purchase.

 

If you don't want opened goods, then you should never be part of the problem. I think it's hypocritical otherwise. Buy wisely and conscientiously, and don't use vendors as a way to play with things you probably shouldn't be buying anyway.

 

Practice being an ethical consumer and maybe just rent first before you buy (and another reason why having a relationship with a local vendor is a good thing; you can borrow true demos to test out.)

[CalArts 99]

Camera stores make money from their customers. It's a business. If they are good at their business (as opposed to just pushing boxes), they will open, inspect and test all items to ensure customer satisfaction. What would you prefer, an opened box with perfect camera or sealed box with possible defective camera. I know what I'd choose. Hats off to B&H for caring.

 

Do you think that B+H opens and tests all goods in the name of customer satisfaction? Think of the volume that B+H does worldwide. Indeed, they are good at their business, but they are also "pushing boxes" out the door.

[marknorton]

I think it's a question of not doing enough research to understand what you are buying.

 

I recently bought an Omega watch online, not because it was cheaper but because it was available where it was nowhere to be found in London. As soon as I got it, it was obviously not right for me. My fault, I had not seen through the marketing hype, my research was incomplete and I should have waited until I had seen one for real.

 

Fortunately, I was able to return it, completely unworn and the retailer was able to resell it as new.

 

In the world of cameras, some retailers might let you borrow an item for a little while from demo stock, or a secondhand item, but that depends on the relationship you have with the dealer amongst other things. It's difficult to imagine building such a relationship with the likes of a box-shifter like B+H.

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[jdlaing]

I think it's a question of not doing enough research to understand what you are buying.

 

I recently bought an Omega watch online, not because it was cheaper but because it was available where it was nowhere to be found in London. As soon as I got it, it was obviously not right for me. My fault, I had not seen through the marketing hype, my research was incomplete and I should have waited until I had seen one for real.

 

Fortunately, I was able to return it, completely unworn and the retailer was able to resell it as new.

 

In the world of cameras, some retailers might let you borrow an item for a little while from demo stock, or a secondhand item, but that depends on the relationship you have with the dealer amongst other things. It's difficult to imagine building such a relationship with the likes of a box-shifter like B+H.

 

That's not quite fair to B&H.

I have an excellent relationship with them even over a long distance.

They sell a lot of goods. They sell a lot of used goods as well. Box shifter is very derogatory.

They have an excellent staff at the store.