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Leica Quality?

Jsalvador74

By Jsalvador74
in Leica M Lenses

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dereken

dereken

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Posted

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Indeed, a few of the Leica products I bought developed problems. (50mm Summicron started wobbling, M9 had to be sent back for the sensor for 6 months.) My other 50mm focus ring is starting to feel a tad loose too... Maybe their reputation for QC came from their older products and is no longer the case?

I've had a far better track record with much cheaper products from Fuji, Sony and Olympus (only one small problem).

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pico

pico

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In a better world, our spending for a Leica would be backed by proportional service when their product fails. It does not.
It is that simple from the customer's view. Is it too much to ask Leica to more closely scrutinize their manufacturing?

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stephan54

stephan54

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I tripped  and fell with my M10 and the Summilux 50asph on a concrete floor, the 50 hit the ground first under an angle.

Contacted Leica which send me a return label, after two days I had an estimate and last Tuesday (10 days after the accident) I could pick up the camera, the 50 and the summarit 90 which need readjustment. Good opportunity to visit Wetzlar. Very much impressed with the speed of the repair. Fortunately my insurance covered the cost.

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Ronazle

Ronazle

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 10/15/2018 at 8:34 PM, Hello said:

He's perhaps the worst member on here. Surprised he's allowed to be involved.

Ahh....the spirit of the age.  Where is Voltaire when you need him?  Obviously, Pico should be attached to a vertical post of some sort and ignited. We must not have dissent!  The age of "correctness".  regards, ron

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pico

pico

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Ronazle said:

Ahh....the spirit of the age.  Where is Voltaire when you need him?  Obviously, Pico should be attached to a vertical post of some sort and ignited.

Ach, I've been on a network of some kind (UUCP, DECnet. Internet) since the Seventies and experienced enough flames to become fireproof.

 

Edited by pico
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Patrick1955

Patrick1955

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While not related to optical items, I have just had my nearly new M10 returned from repairs after a month, to be told in a Customer Care certificate that there was nothing wrong with the camera, and that they had done a "comprehensive inspection" - yet under Leica Store Rome staff supervision, I demonstrated within 3 minutes the exact same "dead-camera" syndrome that it was originally returned under warranty to be fixed.  So I now have to wait for another, presumably month-long cycle of repair.   There is clearly something very very wrong with the QC system when a problem is so apparent but not addressed by Leica during a return under warranty.    (BTW - the problem relates to the camera crashing / freezing after a few minutes due to maybe to an incompatibility with / conflict with the SD card - we (Leica Rome staff and me) have tried 7 new SD cards all with the same effect - the camera turns into an expensive paperweight.)

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Patrick1955

Patrick1955

Posted
Posted
On 10/26/2018 at 2:13 PM, schattenundlicht said:

In my experience, technical customer service is more reliable than primary quality control in manufacturing/ pre shipping.

My experience with technical customer service is anything but a happy one - I hope I will be pleasantly surprised when (if) the 2nd repair cycle I have just embarked upon for my M10 results in an actual repair, rather than the return to me of my dead camera (paperweight).

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schattenundlicht

schattenundlicht

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Patrick1955 said:

My experience with technical customer service is anything but a happy one - I hope I will be pleasantly surprised when (if) the 2nd repair cycle I have just embarked upon for my M10 results in an actual repair, rather than the return to me of my dead camera (paperweight).

Sorry to hear about that. Should not happen that way. Hope the best for a speedy and successful return.

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epand56

epand56

Posted
Posted

I'm sure that even Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Tesla, Ferrari and Bugatti customers had problems at least once in a while. 
That's life when misfortune's got your number. Probably Leica customers number has increased a lot in the last 30 years and maybe the assistance & repair guys are always the same 5.
 

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laowai_

laowai_

Posted
Posted
On 11/3/2018 at 6:54 AM, Patrick1955 said:

While not related to optical items, I have just had my nearly new M10 returned from repairs after a month, to be told in a Customer Care certificate that there was nothing wrong with the camera, and that they had done a "comprehensive inspection" - yet under Leica Store Rome staff supervision, I demonstrated within 3 minutes the exact same "dead-camera" syndrome that it was originally returned under warranty to be fixed.  So I now have to wait for another, presumably month-long cycle of repair.   There is clearly something very very wrong with the QC system when a problem is so apparent but not addressed by Leica during a return under warranty.    (BTW - the problem relates to the camera crashing / freezing after a few minutes due to maybe to an incompatibility with / conflict with the SD card - we (Leica Rome staff and me) have tried 7 new SD cards all with the same effect - the camera turns into an expensive paperweight.)

To me that sounds more like a problem with procedure than with quality.

Based on the information you provided it sounds like Leica receives the camera, runs the usual tests that guarantee the camera meets all the specifications. It appears the tests did not show any issues and as a result they returned the camera. QC did their job, no QC problem. If you or your reseller presented that as a QC problem it might have gone into the wrong bucket.

What might have happened is that your specific issue is not part of the standard test. If procedures need to be changed, you’ll see a lot of pushback from various organizations. Procedural changes cost real money for someone. 

You’ll probably have to find someone in customer support who is willing to drive the issue. You need to get to soemeone’s desk who can and is willing to make a decision. In theory that’s why you buy from a Leica store or an authorized distributor who is supposed to be the voice of the customer.

Curious to hear how long it takes until this gets resolved. Keep us posted.

 

 

 

 

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melanger

melanger

Posted
Posted

I just saw this topic.  My Summicron-M 28 mm f/2 ASPH, purchased new in 2015, rendered consistently off-focus images.  According to the retailer who sold me the lens, Leica told him that the lens was sold without one or more parts.  (Rubber gaskets, maybe?)  In any event, Leica resolved the issue in about 30 days.  The lens has performed very well ever since.  All's well that ends well.   

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Patrick1955

Patrick1955

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, laowai_ said:

To me that sounds more like a problem with procedure than with quality.

Based on the information you provided it sounds like Leica receives the camera, runs the usual tests that guarantee the camera meets all the specifications. It appears the tests did not show any issues and as a result they returned the camera. QC did their job, no QC problem. If you or your reseller presented that as a QC problem it might have gone into the wrong bucket.

What might have happened is that your specific issue is not part of the standard test. If procedures need to be changed, you’ll see a lot of pushback from various organizations. Procedural changes cost real money for someone. 

You’ll probably have to find someone in customer support who is willing to drive the issue. You need to get to soemeone’s desk who can and is willing to make a decision. In theory that’s why you buy from a Leica store or an authorized distributor who is supposed to be the voice of the customer.

Curious to hear how long it takes until this gets resolved. Keep us posted.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your contribution - Yes - I believe finding the right ear that will listen is key. I will let you know how it progresses.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
Patrick1955

Patrick1955

Posted
Posted
On 10/26/2018 at 2:13 PM, schattenundlicht said:

In my experience, technical customer service is more reliable than primary quality control in manufacturing/ pre shipping.

I have now had the problem of my M10 correctly assessed by Leica as a broken / defective circuit board. That is being replaced, under warranty along with all the other adjustments etc associated with the dismantling of the camera.  I expect to be reunited successfully with the M10 in the next week or two, making the entire exercise about 7 weeks long (the entire duration of my European holiday, sadly).  I suspect that given the problem some owners have had with SD cards, the Leica techs initially assessed my complaint as GEN (user-generated-nonesense) despite my email to them detailing the problem.  

As Iaowai_ noted, getting the attention of someone in CC was critical - I had a mini-tantrum with someone in CC in Milan and that seemed to help (once I had apologised for my hysteria-caused excesses).   Anyway - thanks to those who gave support.  Hope knowledge of my experience/ defect proves useful to someone else .

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