Leica Poor Customer Service

[O Driver]

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7 weeks ago I returned my TriElmar to Leica UK for coding. I had spoken to Leica UK and was informed that this would take 4-6 weeks, so knowing I had a project in 8 weeks that I wanted to use my M8 on ( and in any-case needed it back to use with my M7 ) I sent it to Leica. So on hearing nothing for 6 weeks I called last week to enquire the status of the lens - to be told that they knew not when it may be back but rest assured 'we'll let you know'. Not satisfied with this response I spoke to someone else in service and they seemed surprised that I was unimpressed with their lack of knowledge, but they would call or e-mail Leica Germany and get back to me - so I heard nothing for a week, no return phone call. So yesterday I called again to be met with 'you know we just act as a courier service to Germany - it's nothing to do with us' and the chap promised to call back, I impressed upon him the fact that I needed the lens back with me by the 25th May for a job (which I suspect he didn't believe). He informed me that they are now quoting 10 weeks for coding so I shouldn't be concerned or expect a response before this tome. He called back to confirm that the lens would be another 2 weeks minimum as they had a lot of work on, so the upshot is that I have been without my lens for 7 weeks and now it's coming back to me uncoded. There was no option of a loan lens, no sorry, in fact no care at all, and I'm angry and disappointed.

 

I own a fair amount of Leica kit ( M7, M8, Tri-Elmar, Nocti, Digilux 2, D-Lux 3 ) and quite frankly I expect much better from Leica, their service is beyond poor. They seem arrogant and uncaring and have lost my respect and probably my future business.

 

A very very disappointed Leica owner.

[tashley]

7 weeks ago I returned my TriElmar to Leica UK for coding. I had spoken to Leica UK and was informed that this would take 4-6 weeks, so knowing I had a project in 8 weeks that I wanted to use my M8 on ( and in any-case needed it back to use with my M7 ) I sent it to Leica. So on hearing nothing for 6 weeks I called last week to enquire the status of the lens - to be told that they knew not when it may be back but rest assured 'we'll let you know'. Not satisfied with this response I spoke to someone else in service and they seemed surprised that I was unimpressed with their lack of knowledge, but they would call or e-mail Leica Germany and get back to me - so I heard nothing for a week, no return phone call. So yesterday I called again to be met with 'you know we just act as a courier service to Germany - it's nothing to do with us' and the chap promised to call back, I impressed upon him the fact that I needed the lens back with me by the 25th May for a job (which I suspect he didn't believe). He informed me that they are now quoting 10 weeks for coding so I shouldn't be concerned or expect a response before this tome. He called back to confirm that the lens would be another 2 weeks minimum as they had a lot of work on, so the upshot is that I have been without my lens for 7 weeks and now it's coming back to me uncoded. There was no option of a loan lens, no sorry, in fact no care at all, and I'm angry and disappointed.

 

I own a fair amount of Leica kit ( M7, M8, Tri-Elmar, Nocti, Digilux 2, D-Lux 3 ) and quite frankly I expect much better from Leica, their service is beyond poor. They seem arrogant and uncaring and have lost my respect and probably my future business.

 

A very very disappointed Leica owner.

 

I hate to see a venerable company managing simultaneous success and transition so badly: if you're going to F-up, you should at least manage expectations correctly.

 

You are right to be teed off. Leica needs to hear this and not assume that because they are back-ordered, they can afford to to perpetuate a cottage-industry level of response.

 

Tim

[dugby]

7 weeks ago I returned my TriElmar to Leica UK for coding. I had spoken to Leica UK and was informed that this would take 4-6 weeks, so knowing I had a project in 8 weeks that I wanted to use my M8 on ( and in any-case needed it back to use with my M7 ) I sent it to Leica. So on hearing nothing for 6 weeks I called last week to enquire the status of the lens - to be told that they knew not when it may be back but rest assured 'we'll let you know'. Not satisfied with this response I spoke to someone else in service and they seemed surprised that I was unimpressed with their lack of knowledge, but they would call or e-mail Leica Germany and get back to me - so I heard nothing for a week, no return phone call. So yesterday I called again to be met with 'you know we just act as a courier service to Germany - it's nothing to do with us' and the chap promised to call back, I impressed upon him the fact that I needed the lens back with me by the 25th May for a job (which I suspect he didn't believe). He informed me that they are now quoting 10 weeks for coding so I shouldn't be concerned or expect a response before this tome. He called back to confirm that the lens would be another 2 weeks minimum as they had a lot of work on, so the upshot is that I have been without my lens for 7 weeks and now it's coming back to me uncoded. There was no option of a loan lens, no sorry, in fact no care at all, and I'm angry and disappointed.

 

I own a fair amount of Leica kit ( M7, M8, Tri-Elmar, Nocti, Digilux 2, D-Lux 3 ) and quite frankly I expect much better from Leica, their service is beyond poor. They seem arrogant and uncaring and have lost my respect and probably my future business.

 

A very very disappointed Leica owner.

 

 

Oliver, I cannot speak for "Leica UK" as I don't know their affiliation to Leica HQ.

 

But I can say that where one uses a 'dealer' not owned by the parent manufacturer, one is at the mercy of dealing with the messenger (or courier....as they confessed).

 

I know we can go on about responsibilities....blah blah...... but I had a very recent experience, whereby I chose to by-pass my local (Australian) Leica dealer who clearly fell into the 'charging like a wounded bull - courier' category, and I personally paid extra freight charges to deal with Solms directly, and had an 8-week, but extremely positive experience with Leica Cameras.

 

So much so I have bought 8x Leica products and will continue to endorse the Leica company.

 

It's unfortunate that some of their affiliated businesses can tarnish their image. But when one understands the issues, one can see how to work around the obstacles.

[bab]

I have just purchased my first new Leica and lens 5 months ago, it has been interesting to say the least with the performance of the products. At first I thought it was me, lack of skill, but i soon realized the camera and lens strong points and shortcomings.

 

Now, when I started to investigate inventories of product and the Lecia displays in several camera stores in southern ca it became very apparent Leica does not have the support staff to conduct business as a GLOBAL CORPORATION. They have no set inventory levels that dealers must carry in order to be a reseller of their products. The sales staff in the camera stores are still in film days and have little or no knowledge of the digital M8. Leica badly needs a very strong national sales manager in the United States. They need a PR team to visit camera stores and train the staff, they need to supply digital product only to the accounts that want to be stocking dealers,,,if they have more than one store they either need to sell Leica in only one store or carry the few products that make sense for the M8 in each location.

 

As Leica didn't expect the problems before releasing the M8 we need to give them a fair chance to rectify the existing supply and repair problems.

 

Yes Lecia has maybe two chances at best to make the distribution and service plausible, after that there will either be rangefinder competition or some other camera to ease the pain of Leica equipment that does not preform.

 

The lens coding issue was a known requirement so Leica has no excuse as the offer of the coding service can not be restricted to Sloms only they need to fly the M repair man to Sloms for a short refresher class or send someone from Sloms to train the few M repair men that exist outside of Germany. If Leica is running 8-10 weeks for the coding which in my opinion is a ridiculous decision on their part anyway they should have not alluded to any time frame and said instead first come first serve. (Ridiculous I mean Hey guys here is our new camera it almost works perfect and you can use all of our old M lenses on it and shoot 10 mb digital stills you be really cool looking walking down the street with you new M8 for only 5k.) I was lucky I had the money and thought wow a small camera with a great lens and 10mb files great dude I'm good to go. So I waited for some to ship and bought one with new firmware and coded lens little did I know the camera would not focus correctly. I thought focus was the basic of all cameras I was wrong this one I bought was for special effects. I was really cool when my clients asked why everything but their face ins in focus? Oh, I said I'm trying a new way of photography blurred vision.

 

My feeling is better put this way "YOU ARE NOT DEALING WITH FEDX SO DONT EXPECT FAST, RESPONSIVE, REASONABLE AND RELIABLE. Treat you shinny new Leica M8 as a experimental toy that is unique to only a few select photographers world wide. Be assured buying the first edition of the M8 you are the fool if you think it will be worry free.

 

cheers

[cocker]

"Leica does not have the support staff to conduct business as a GLOBAL CORPORATION."

 

That's because they are NOT a Global Corporation - thank goodness:)

[wattsy]

Oliver, I cannot speak for "Leica UK" as I don't know their affiliation to Leica HQ.

 

Leica UK are a wholly owned subsidiary of Leica Camera AG.

 

My own experience dealing with Leica UK is that a lot depends upon who you end up speaking to. There are one or two individuals there who seem quite switched on and are capable of getting things done but if you draw a shorter straw it can be an unbelievably frustrating experience. I suspect that if you are a fairly well known member of Magnum that the service is exemplary, but for more humdrum professional users it is clear that the support is far from adequate. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from a small company like Leica? If so, Leica needs to come clean and stop marketing it's M and R systems as professional level tools because, for me, a professional level tool is not just about top quality performance - it's also about top quality support. Until Leica can routinely offer loaner equipment and/or 48 hour turnaround times, adopting Leica products as primary professional tools is a risky proposition.

[guywalder]

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I dont know about Leica UK, but I turned up unannounced at Solms and got exemplary service (albeit not 48 hour turnaround), I find a lot of things about the 'Leica experience' very frustrating, but service (from Leica themselves) has not been amoung them. strangely Magnum havnt seen fit to take me into their fold yet.....

[earleygallery]

Leica UK could have been more 'customer focussed' in their responses to you however the turnaround time is evident that Leica are a victim of their own success with the M8.

 

Demand has been higher than expected, as has the number of people wanting lenses coded. If they only have one or two technicians doing the coding and a heap of lenses turn up what are they to do? The timescale may well have been quoted to you correctly when you dropped the lenses off but by the time they got to Solms maybe not.

 

I think you need to cut Leica some slack.

[cme4brain]

Leica UK could have been more 'customer focussed' in their responses to you however the turnaround time is evident that Leica are a victim of their own success with the M8.

 

Demand has been higher than expected, as has the number of people wanting lenses coded. If they only have one or two technicians doing the coding and a heap of lenses turn up what are they to do? The timescale may well have been quoted to you correctly when you dropped the lenses off but by the time they got to Solms maybe not.

 

I think you need to cut Leica some slack.

 

 

I am not the professional photog you people are, and I fortunately have had no difficulty with my M8. I use CV lenses (and 3/4th of you will stop reading right now- I can't possibly know what I am doing if I don't own Leica glass) and have to hand code my lenses that need it, so I am not involved in long turn arounds for coding lenses. I may buy a non-coded Leica lens someday, so it will be an issue. I would cut Leica some slack if the camera they have done such a good job on did not cost $5,000 USD- you could buy many a professional level digital camera PLUS lenses for that! Coding a lens is not rocket science- if we users can bypass it with a sharpie, it can't take weeks to do one lens at the factory. I cut Leica (or any expensive product) as much slack as the reciprocal of the purchase price- you buy a Benz, you expect non-Kia service! Solms can certainly train out-of-Germany technicians to code lenses! Sorry, this is a blunder they cannot afford to screw up. They released the M8 too soon without fully testing it, but survived the ire of the professionals willing to plop down $5,000 because the product is so good. They cannot stay afloat if they then further add insult to injury in crummy customer service. They refust to allow user-coding of lenses- for the mere profit of it BTW- so they should make up for that by coding lenses a QUICKLY. Nope, I cut them no slack.

[O Driver]

Leica UK could have been more 'customer focussed' in their responses to you however the turnaround time is evident that Leica are a victim of their own success with the M8.

 

Demand has been higher than expected, as has the number of people wanting lenses coded. If they only have one or two technicians doing the coding and a heap of lenses turn up what are they to do? The timescale may well have been quoted to you correctly when you dropped the lenses off but by the time they got to Solms maybe not.

 

I think you need to cut Leica some slack.

 

 

I think Leica have had enough slack to be honest - I agree they are a small company and have had phenomenal success with the M8, and deservedly so. I've spent a lot of money on Leica kit ( £11.5K approx. in 18 months ), and their service is poor, they need to manage expectations better, I would not have been upset if they had told me it would be 8-10 weeks for coding as I wouldn't have sent the lens. Or even if they had bothered to call to say it would be longer than I was told and asked me if that was OK.

 

When I had Nikon kit they repaired my kit in 1-2 weeks and generally at no cost ( even out of warranty ), now I'm not expecting that from Leica as they are a much smaller company but just keep me informed - it's the flow of information that is important.

It's unforgivable not to return phone calls, and not to own responsibility for the service they provide.

 

So it's off to the shops to buy a Sharpie for a lesson in self coding!

 

Regards

 

Oliver.

[O Driver]

I've just had a call from Leica to inform me that the uncoded lens would be back with me next week - so at least they called.

 

Regards

 

Oliver.

[archi4]

I have experienced really excellent and helpful service from Solms. Replies to my e-mails were fast and friendly and the service work was excellent and fast on my M6 right around the Christmas holidays when they had plenty to do with M8's! I am sorry you had a bad experience but I felt it necessary to report the excellent service I received in Solms.

 

regards, Maurice

[fotografr]

Email your statement above to Eberhard.Jakob@leica-camera.com and cc to Steven.Lee@leica-camera.com. Mr. Jakob is head of Customer Relations and I'm sure you know who Mr. Lee is. They both need to be made aware of this problem.

[xjr]

"Leica does not have the support staff to conduct business as a GLOBAL CORPORATION."

 

That's because they are NOT a Global Corporation - thank goodness:)

 

Thank goodness indeed !

[chmoss]

... If they only have one or two technicians doing the coding and a heap of lenses turn up what are they to do? ...

They could have an admin worker answer the phone and reply to emails just like any other company is expected to do. They charge luxury goods prices and provide customer service worse that mass market retailers. This is not the way to build or even sustain a business.

[earleygallery]

They could have an admin worker answer the phone and reply to emails just like any other company is expected to do. They charge luxury goods prices and provide customer service worse that mass market retailers. This is not the way to build or even sustain a business.

 

Are you tired of paying a celebrity price?

 

I'm sure that Leica have never used the term 'luxury' themselves, they produce 'hand made' goods of technically high quality, withing the EU, which is why the prices are what they are. I'm not saying that they couldn't have done better here, but maybe a phone call to Solms would have helped. I've only had to deal with Leica UK - as opposed to the dealers - a couple of times and both times they've been excellent.

 

Just to even the balance.

[O Driver]

Leica seem to have sorted my issue out now, thanks fotografr for the e-mail addresses.

 

Many thanks

 

Oliver.

[woodda]

Leica UK is normally OK but you do need to speak to the right person (hard to know) I have had great service from Germany recently