Bill W Posted July 23, 2015 Share #21 Posted July 23, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I would be curious if a franchised Leica dealer can actually charge a premium for any Leica product. I know they cannot discount them unless the mother ship does so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 Hi Bill W, Take a look here Terrible reception at Leica store in Beijing. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
AlanG Posted July 23, 2015 Share #22 Posted July 23, 2015 Why not support a great local Chinese company instead and buy a DJI Phantom 3 or Inspire? It's way more fun to use than a typical camera too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
microview Posted July 23, 2015 Share #23 Posted July 23, 2015 My understanding was that the retailer could squeeze his profit margin rather than lose a sale, if he chose to do this – my experience with London premier dealers anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdog Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share #24 Posted July 23, 2015 Check the Leica website store locator map though. It does say beijing, oriental plaza. I presume this is a legitimate store. Anyway, we will see what they say. As said by Iduna, the Leica Q was the perfect camera for me to mAke the a switch to Leica. Expensive for me but cheap for Leica. And turned away at that point Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Livingston Posted July 23, 2015 Share #25 Posted July 23, 2015 This is such a sad story... If I was in charge of Leica sales I would be furious. Years of work developing cameras to be used by genuine photographers and to allow new customers to experience what it means to use Leica and then to be let down by the retailers sales staff and cheap and offensive sales tactics. They have let down everyone at Wetzlar, the history of Leica as a company and all of us who encourage new users... whilst showing absolutely no respect for both the brand and the customers of the future. Utterly disgraceful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiver Posted July 24, 2015 Share #26 Posted July 24, 2015 It sounds unfortunately typical of the luxury goods sales mentality. It's reminiscent of people paying a premium for a Rolex Daytona, and only being able to get one if they have spent a significant amount on other watches already. What is worse in the case of that store is that they are practically holding a customer to ransom by saying they can't purchase a singular product without buying its accessories. OP, please update us if you get a response from the mothership. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel Posted July 24, 2015 Share #27 Posted July 24, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) It sounds unfortunately typical of the luxury goods sales mentality. It's reminiscent of people paying a premium for a Rolex Daytona, and only being able to get one if they have spent a significant amount on other watches already. What is worse in the case of that store is that they are practically holding a customer to ransom by saying they can't purchase a singular product without buying its accessories. OP, please update us if you get a response from the mothership. Its 1970s mentality. Its the same tactic as the bait and switch US camera shops which try and convince you on the phone to buy extra batteries and things. I would also have asked to speak to the manager of the shop (unless of course that was the manager) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns_ng Posted July 25, 2015 Share #28 Posted July 25, 2015 When the M240 was first launched in Singapore, in order to buy the body you have to buy it together with a lens as a package from the Leica store. Well, I didn't bite. A few months later I bought mine from Leica Mayfair in London. On top of that with the VAT refund, I saved closed to USD1K. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpopaz Posted July 25, 2015 Share #29 Posted July 25, 2015 I purchased my Q at the Leica store in Shanghai. I was not asked to buy any accessories with my purchase. The sales person was really helpful and pleasant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdog Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share #30 Posted August 18, 2015 This is the end result after I sent the email to Germany. It got forwarded along the line to China. Anyway, here it is: Dear Mr. Murray, We are sincerely sorry for the bad experience you had in the Leica Store Oriental Plaza in Beijing, we are so sorry that you sold out your other cameras but haven’t bought the Leica Q up to now, we did investigate the Leica Store and noted that the guy who provided the unprofessional selling service to you is a new staff, we have required all Leica store and dealer to provide the good selling and service to all customers all the time to match the Leica Brand, thank you so much for you kind feedback to Leica. Now we are still waiting for the new stock for Leica Q, if you are still willing to purchase the camera, we will reserve one set of Leica Q for you directly from our company, and you can purchase only one set of Leica Q or you can purchase the other accessories according to your willing, we will contact with you and then arrange the first set of camera to you once we receive the Leica Q in the next soonest shipment, we will follow up your purchase from Beijing, regarding to the purchase and the warranty service for Leica Q if you have any query pls. feel free to let us know. At last, thank you again for your kind feedback, we’d like to send you one Leica T-Shirt as gift, enclosed is the detailed pictures for your kindly reference, if you are interested, can you pls. kindly confirm which color you’d like and also advise us the size and your detailed address and the phone number, we will send the gift out to you to Changchun ASAP. Thanks & best regards, Emma Liu Schmidt Marketing (Beijing) Trading Ltd. Rm 706, Prime Tower, 22 Chaoyangmenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District,Beijing,China (100020) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted August 18, 2015 Share #31 Posted August 18, 2015 Lucky you, a free T shirt!! Seriously, why would a new member of staff think to tell a customer he can't have a camera unless he buys a load of other stuff too? I would imagine that a new member of staff would be keen to sell anything they could, to show some results. That sounds like an instruction from the manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 18, 2015 Share #32 Posted August 18, 2015 Lucky you, a free T shirt!! Seriously, why would a new member of staff think to tell a customer he can't have a camera unless he buys a load of other stuff too? I would imagine that a new member of staff would be keen to sell anything they could, to show some results. (...) I would presume that the new clerk thought he could sell more stuff if he forced customers to buy bundles; I could even imagine that this works some of the time or for some kinds of goods. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richardgb Posted August 19, 2015 Share #33 Posted August 19, 2015 I don't know the Leica Store in BJ but have had experience of buying (or not) Leica in China, and trying to get it serviced. Leica attracts import duty and is more expensive than in some other countries. Thus it is tempting to buy abroad, but the only practical way to reasonably bring it into the country is in your luggage; don't try to import it otherwise, e.g. by courier, or it's a customs nightmare, even if you can find a way to do it. Be aware, too, that official import (i.e. purchase from an authorised dealer in China) is the only way to have any warranty claim for repair / replacement handled in the country. Schmidt Marketing in BJ (as well as their counterparts in HK) are the importers. Both were invariably courteous and helpful whenever I had a problem, although I never got a T-shirt. Nevertheless, although it is possible to send items out of the country for repair - which applies to practically every job apart from minor maintenance such as sensor cleaning - they cannot be re-imported unless they were officially imported in the first place (i.e. they have the correct paperwork). If you are likely to be staying in China, then it is worthwhile (for peace of mind), buying in China (Leica do have a store in Shanghai, too.) If you are going in and out of the country a lot, you have more options. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilfredo Posted August 19, 2015 Share #34 Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks for the encouragement guys. I have sent an email to Leica in detail. I will keep you updated with the response. Of course I still want the camera but at a loss of where to purchase it. I would back it up with a signed snail mail letter. I agree with the rest of you, this is horrid sales etiquette. I would also mention the hardship of travelled involved. Perhaps they only want to sell to their super rich who are looking for a status symbol they can flaunt? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter L Posted August 19, 2015 Share #35 Posted August 19, 2015 The Camera store in Calgary is an example of customer service, one can purchase a camera , lens or some equipment, take it home, try it out for 2 weeks and if not happy with the equipment for any reason at all, return it for a full refund, no questions asked. At times I phone them and have them send a lens or camera as I live 5 hrs driving from Calgary and it arrives within 3 days with the same return policy, now, I did spend a few dollars there over the years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sls Posted August 20, 2015 Share #36 Posted August 20, 2015 I was in AV Camera in Bangkok the other day. A very unassuming shop in a side street. Bought my 18-year old son a Voightlander Bessa and 35mm/f2.5 to get him going in 35mm film photography. I'm not sure if they are a Leica main dealer, but their service was as good as London and they were extremely knowledgable. A lot of Leica stock. They even had a Leica qualified technician on site who could hand service and recalibrate Leica lenses, a service we don't have in London. The shop had a cabinet with about 200 to-die-for film cameras from the 30's onwards. I was told none for sale - the owner's private collection. Hope you get a result with Beijing - disgraceful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel Posted August 20, 2015 Share #37 Posted August 20, 2015 I was in AV Camera in Bangkok the other day. A very unassuming shop in a side street. Bought my 18-year old son a Voightlander Bessa and 35mm/f2.5 to get him going in 35mm film photography. I'm not sure if they are a Leica main dealer, but their service was as good as London and they were extremely knowledgable. A lot of Leica stock. They even had a Leica qualified technician on site who could hand service and recalibrate Leica lenses, a service we don't have in London. The shop had a cabinet with about 200 to-die-for film cameras from the 30's onwards. I was told none for sale - the owner's private collection. Hope you get a result with Beijing - disgraceful. I love it when these shops have private collections. Interesting to look at and shows the owner is really into his product and knows what he/she is talking about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reynoldsyoung Posted August 21, 2015 Share #38 Posted August 21, 2015 Probably not useful at this point, but I live in Virginia and received extraordinary customer service from Samy's Camera in LA when I phoned them about the availability of the Q. At the time, they had 2 and the delightful guy on the phone arranged for the one in Santa Barbara to be overnighted to me. We enjoyed a great chat about the Q, did our business and he did exactly what he said he would do...get a Q across the country in no time! Highly recommend them for the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukuda Posted August 24, 2015 Share #39 Posted August 24, 2015 It's true.. you can see the price very different in China Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/248121-terrible-reception-at-leica-store-in-beijing/?do=findComment&comment=2876440'>More sharing options...
sls Posted August 25, 2015 Share #40 Posted August 25, 2015 I love it when these shops have private collections. Interesting to look at and shows the owner is really into his product and knows what he/she is talking about. Very good prices on second hand Leica kit as well - a spotless MM for about £2,500. AV Camera are 2 minutes from Saphan Taksin station on the Skytrain, near some of the big hotels and a good street market. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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