Malcolm Taylor and delays.....

[IWC Doppel]

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I am after a bit of advice. I have used Malcolm for a number of adjustments, coding and servicing on my lenses and have always had good service, usually turned around in one or two months. Probably 5-6 lenses or more over the last few years

 

Malcolm has always been pleasant and I enjoy our conversations, but I have a problem...... I sent my f1 Noctilux to Malcom for a service and coding in September 2013, I spoke to Malcolm on a number of occasions in the later part of the year and was promised the lens several times and finally definitely by Christmas, this didn't materialise then it was in the new year, then Jan, then Feb, then I was promised for a wedding that I wanted the lens for in March, then April, then May, you get he picture, my last two conversations I have remained good natured. Considerably more so than I would be with pretty much any other business. Two weeks ago I had a conversation and it would definitely be with me by that weekend, today I was promised it next week.

 

I am totally fed up and will be writing a letter to Malcolm and I have no confidence to use Malcolm again as I simply cannot take any credence about if and when he might complete the work. I really don't know exactly what to do, I have seen a similar thread before and simply want my Noctilux back, I will happily pay 2 X the price or more and send to Leica as I miss it. Indeed Malcom has now had the lens in his possession more than I have.....

[DigitalHeMan]

Can't really offer you any advice on the current situation, other than suggesting you ask him to return the lens I repaired, but I would have no hesitation in recommending Wil van Manen in the Netherlands for your future repairs.

 

He is always very clear in his communications, and the turn around times are good (longest I have had to wait is two weeks for a CLA, and that was due to a short holiday in between)

[MarkP]

Here we go again...

[jcraf]

As you point out, use Wetzlar. Is Malcolm significantly cheaper? A low price clearly matters not if the service is not delivered.

 

At least you've got more comeback, and I guess protection, using Leica.

[pedaes]

If he can't honour a promise for a specific and important event (wedding) he has blown any goodwill. Have no hesitation in getting lens back immediately. We Leica users are very tolerant, like the guy in the States who thinks that Leica were wonderful for fixing his brand new faulty M in 6 weeks! Mr. Taylor may be good with bodies but seems to struggle with Nocti's (other Forum members please note so we do not read another sad tale).

[philipus]

So far I have not used any of the UK-based technicians. The only non-Leica technician I used was (with good results) the now more or less retired Ton Scherpenborg in Nijmegen. On all other occasions I have used Leica Customer service.

 

There's quite some bashing in this forum, I have noticed, about Leica CS, that they would charge more etc etc. However, I feel complete and utter confidence each time I use them that they will be quick and conscientious in their handling of my request. It may occasionally - and I phrase it that way because I cannot with any degree of certainty say that it always does - cost a little bit more, but then again it may not. Swings and roundabouts. What is important is that I will be happy with the work they carry out and I always am. In fact, I once had my M4 repaired after a rather serious bicycle crash. The rangefinder became badly misaligned and even the lens mount and my 35 Summilux FLE were damaged. Having received the camera after a few weeks the rangefinder quite soon became misaligned again. CS repaired it a second time entirely for free; I only had to pay the shipping costs to send it to Solms.

 

It seems to me that each time I check Taylor's or CRR's websites there's a message that orders are not accepted due to work volume etc. As good as they are - and I have no doubt that they are; barring the frequent incidences reported in the forum of very lengthy service times, it seems most people are happy with the quality of the job they do - I wouldn't pay for the services, even if less expensive than Leica's, of someone whom I can't trust will return my property in a reasonable time. That's the kind of lottery I won't play.

 

If I were you I would ask Taylor to send back the lens unrepaired and send it to Leica CS.

 

Good luck

Philip

[efreed2754]

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Sorry IWC. Recall similar complaints as you mentioned. Taking the high road consider calling him to thank him for his good intentions and understand for whatever reason doesn't seem to be working.

 

Is there a way you can drive to collect the lens? Alternatively offer to send him a prepaid overnight label?

 

Fact is this is so outrageous it's not rational. You have tried all reasonable polite efforts so time to cut losses, and retreat with lens in hand.

 

Urghhh!!!

 

Ed

[thighslapper]

All the usual and predicatable issues of a single handed specialised technician with more work than they can cope with and in inherent reluctance to say NO.

 

It's only human nature to do the quick easy stuff first and leave the complex low profit jobs till last...... and he is getting on a bit after all.... and there may be any number of factors that may be contributing to this..... including more pressure from other customers ....

 

Unfortunately these sort of people tend to clam up and get difficult if you get argumentative with them ....... so a polite request for the lens back by return of post is the best option.

 

No doubt MT would be glad to have the responsibility removed from him and regrets saying yes in the first place.

 

Had the same issue with a leather worker who was making a camera case for me ....... after 18 months of promises I gave up. Clearly everybody else was shouting at him louder than I was .....

[TomB_tx]

I know I've read in a couple of places that Malcolm had retired. Perhaps he is too polite to refuse work, but isn't really running a business anymore. I've been retired for 5 years, but keep getting calls from my old company to consult. It is hard to say "NO" sometimes, but my heart isn't in it anymore.

[pedaes]

I , but isn't really running a business anymore.

 

 

So why is he still advertising in photographic magazines?

[microview]

My own experiences bear no relationship to the above. He's made a huge improvement with four or five lenses sent over the years. I first telephone and tell him what I see as the problem, then send the lens. He immediately phones to say parcel has arrived and after a week or two (at most) phones to say what he's found and what he's done. I pay over the phone and within about three days lens is delivered back to me. Bought a 28 f2.8 which the previous owner had had 6-bit coded but focus was off at distances over 40ft. Malcolm found it was off at all distances and returned the lens two months ago within a fortnight. Now it is the stunning lens I suspected it could be, when I bought it at Red Dot. Paid £150 for service including 'special delivery' return – and well worth it.

Edited July 26, 2014 by microview

[250swb]

 

It seems to me that each time I check Taylor's or CRR's websites there's a message that orders are not accepted due to work volume etc.

 

I didn't even know Malcolm Taylor had a web site, it seems a bit modern for him?

 

Over the years I think it's possible to sense that delays happen in cycles, perhaps when he has an increased workload with extensive commissions (he doesn't just work for individuals with a Leica body and lens that need a CLA). And like any craftsman he doesn't know what he will find when he opens a lens or body up, so if parts need making and the job becomes bigger than the customers idea that 'it just needs greasing', then jobs he thought would be done in a month take two months. Everything on the schedule gets shuffled back, which is a good thing in essence, because it means he's not rushing the work, it gets done properly and gets done well. But two or three jobs in a row like that could shuffle other work back months, especially if he does elements of his work, things like coding, in batches.

 

That was conjecture, based on how self employed craftsmen have to deal with getting work out the door and where ideas of a delivery date are dependent on all the other customers in between. So perhaps in the world of camera repair a CLA turns into a new shutter curtain as well, a lens needs a new element and not just a clean. Yes, a year is a long time, but I know from my own two year waiting list for my business a lot of things can happen in between to push it back even further, and without favouring one customer or another. Your best bet is to ask for it back and hope to find somebody who can do just as good a job.

 

Steve

[Paul J]

Really sorry to hear IWC, personally I would just demand the lens back finished or not and move on. I would call every day in the morning and then in the afternoon till he has sent it. You have politely and justly given every opportunity by doing it the right way.

 

In some respects I give allowance for the fact he is retired/semi-retired but it seems like he doesn't really care and can't be relied on. He should at least be very upfront about delivery and stop making false promises. It would save him and everyone else the frustration, annoyance etc.

 

I personally don't care for anyone's unwillingness to say no to work, or to finish work they willingly take on in good faith of delivery. If you take it on with the fee in mind, you do it or bust with the customers needs in mind. That is the professional thing to do, you don't let people down. You either don't finish till it's done or you hire help so you can get it done or hire help in other areas of your life so you can focus on the things you can only do yourself. That is the way I live and I only work with people who are the same. It's one chance and if they have a reputation I just won't go there.

 

It's a shame. I want to support the small guy, the expert, the eccentric, the niche in niche, but if they can't deliver then it's not going to work for me and this sort of attitude does nothing to help the cause of that type of person and craft/industry.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Paul J

[250swb]

I've never understood that Malcolm Taylor was fully retired or semi retired, a rumour that seems to be doing the rounds all of a sudden. As for calling in hired help to do a professional job, I don't know where he would find it to do work to his standards, and in any case it is Malcolm Taylor that Leica call in to do the difficult work Leica can't do themselves. The reason Leica CS do a regular and consistent turn around is that a) they are all paid a regular wage even if an individual job takes three times longer than anticipated, there are a lot of then, and c) despite the excellent work they do they are for most of the time 'fitters', they throw a non-coded flange into the waste bin and fit a new coded flange, they fit the lens onto a jig and twiddle it until the lights come on to say it is calibrated. And of course there is no individual to blame when a replacement sensor takes months to do, and they don't even need to make it themselves, but when it arrives they throw one away and fit the new one! So a pattern emerges.

 

So if you don't want to support "that type of person" it is fair enough. But in any business it is often worthwhile wondering from on high 'who'd piss on me if I was on fire', and many would often find they had fewer friends than people who suddenly don't need the toilet. Given the usual ratio of moans to satisfied customers on LUF Malcolm Taylor does very well on the scale of satisfying the silent majority so I don't think "the eccentric, the niche in niche", really needs to be looked down upon.

 

Steve

Edited July 27, 2014 by 250swb

[Paul J]

So if you don't want to support "that type of person" it is fair enough. But in any business it is often worthwhile wondering from on high 'who'd piss on me if I was on fire', and many would often find they had fewer friends than people who suddenly don't need the toilet. Given the usual ratio of moans to satisfied customers on LUF Malcolm Taylor does very well on the scale of satisfying the silent majority so I don't think "the eccentric, the niche in niche", really needs to be looked down upon.

 

I'm in support of the single operator, I was trying to make that clear. I'm one myself. It's not a case of pissing on people if they are on fire, a little melodramatic don't you think?

 

It's not personal, it's business and in my business I work 20 hour days or more to keep my clients needs fulfilled. I expect, need and look for the same in others in a business transaction regardless of their level of operation. I turn work down if i can't deliver. I certainly don't keep people waiting months, years on end.

[TomB_tx]

I've been waiting over 3 years for a lens restoration from a US Leica restorer... But making parts for a Zunow 50 f1.1 is a bit tricky.

[farnz]

Adrian,

 

I'm very sorry to hear of your frustration over the non-arrival of your Noctilux; in your place I don't doubt that I would feel the same way and I hope it returns to you soon.

 

To others who are piling on the criticism I feel very uncomfortable because Malcolm is from an age (culture?) that does not use the internet or email so he is unable to answer or defend himself here. Let's not allow this to become a one-sided blood-letting like another thread did because we are not in receipt of all the facts. No, Malcolm's apparent inability to return the lens is unacceptable but we don't know, for example, whether he also has to care for an unwell family member or another family crisis, or other perfectly justifiable reason so perhaps it would better not to condemn him out of hand.

 

Malcolm has repaired several lenses of mine over the years and has always come through when I've needed them back so I can only speak from personal experience and say that Adrian's experience is the exception not the norm.

 

Pete.

[robert_parker]

Malcolm has repaired several lenses of mine over the years and has always come through when I've needed them back so I can only speak from personal experience and say that Adrian's experience is the exception not the norm.

 

Pete.

 

Based on recent experience, I would agree with Pete.

[plasticman]

To others who are piling on the criticism I feel very uncomfortable because Malcolm is from an age (culture?) that does not use the internet or email so he is unable to answer or defend himself here. Let's not allow this to become a one-sided blood-letting like another thread did because we are not in receipt of all the facts. No, Malcolm's apparent inability to return the lens is unacceptable but we don't know, for example, whether he also has to care for an unwell family member or another family crisis, or other perfectly justifiable reason so perhaps it would better not to condemn him out of hand.

 

Pete - the other thread I assume you're referring to is the epic one I started a few years ago, and which stretched over a couple more years before my lens was returned.

 

Now, while I was similarly reluctant to criticize someone who wasn't able to defend themselves online, my main frustration at the time - and the same problem the OP has here - is the way that Malcolm continually promised to get the work done, and then postponed it without contact or warning.

 

He does himself a disservice by operating like this - albeit only towards a small minority of his customers. As many surmised in that thread, the probability is simply that the routine tasks are Malcolm's ’bread and butter’, while anything out of the ordinary gets pushed to the back of the queue. It would be better all round if he was upfront about this, or at least less optimistic when promising deadlines which are repeatedly broken.

 

In any case, if this thread gets reported back as mine was by some anonymous member, then the lens will eventually be returned without the work done anyway.

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[Guest]

Adrian,

 

I'm very sorry to hear of your frustration over the non-arrival of your Noctilux; in your place I don't doubt that I would feel the same way and I hope it returns to you soon.

 

To others who are piling on the criticism I feel very uncomfortable because Malcolm is from an age (culture?) that does not use the internet or email so he is unable to answer or defend himself here. Let's not allow this to become a one-sided blood-letting like another thread did because we are not in receipt of all the facts. No, Malcolm's apparent inability to return the lens is unacceptable but we don't know, for example, whether he also has to care for an unwell family member or another family crisis, or other perfectly justifiable reason so perhaps it would better not to condemn him out of hand.

 

Malcolm has repaired several lenses of mine over the years and has always come through when I've needed them back so I can only speak from personal experience and say that Adrian's experience is the exception not the norm.

 

Pete.

I am considering having my Noctilux coded and was going to use Malcolm but if as it appears he could have it for a year I find that a non starter.All the man has to do is refuse the job / be honest and admit he has a problem i.e. sourcing a part etc / or organise his work flow as if he means it.Its not exactly rocket science. If he can not use the net and use email that is a poor excuse as the "silver surfers" are a very active user of this sort of technology.He may have a good "reason" for not completing the work,we have certainly seen a lot of excuses.

I am in the process of having a valuable carriage clock repaired,when I first enquired I was told he could not look at it for 3 months as he only worked 3 days a week.I received a call about three months after the first contact and was asked to send the clock.and after examining the clock was given a price and time to complete.The man is in his early 70's and works for the interest a lifetime in the industry has given him.His age does not stop him working in a professional manner and why should it.

BrianP