No more Leica Passport Warranty after Dec 31 '07

[Bob Ross]

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Simon, another point about the Passport warranty is that it's an insurance policy. Everyone who doesn't use it is paying for the person who does. That's neither good nor bad, but you may recall that prices took a big jump when Leica US went to the Passport plan.

 

And the new policy means uniformity across markets, as pointed out above. No more of "Well if you bought it in the US, it's covered, but if you didn't, this won't be under warranty."

 

Glad to know that Hasselblad's 300/4.5 uses my initials, by the way!

 

--HC

Hi Howard,

You brought up the point that I was going to add. Somewhere in my archives I have a clipped article explaining that the Passport plan was an insurance policy and the buyer paid the premium in the "Leica price". The Passport plan was an "all risk" type of coverage and the new "limited" warrantee is more like the usual industry coverage form for parts & labor on defective material or assembly. Cost cutting? Tradition trimming? Mystique busting? Maybe the insuance company increased the premium beyond what Leica could realistically pass on to the buyer..........would an insurance company do that? The M8 might have been the Hurricaine Katrina of the warrantee insurance line. Electronic thingies are not good insurance risks, nor are new unproven designs.

Bob

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[vanhulsenbeek]

 

The memo reads as follows:

 

With effect from January 1, 2008, all Leica M and R cameras and lenses will no longer have a passport warranty. Leica Camera Inc. will implement a new warranty which will be consistent worldwide.

 

Wow! The Anglo-Saxon world is becoming a mere part of 'Worldwide'! Welcome!

 

Wake up guys: continental EU has been living - and survived - without a passport warranty and with the ' new' scheme for a long time.