Leica customer service & repairs - what has been your personal experience?

[username]

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..browsing the net one gets the impression that Leica's service has become more and more underwhelming in recent years, in regards to QC, repair times, and overall handling of customers' issues with their cameras.

It's quite common though (in real life, and especially on the internet) that negative experiences are shared way more often, and probably in a louder voice, than positive ones; it happens everywhere, and surely in this case as well - you do hear a lot of horror stories, but only few where things actually were resolved quickly / nicely.

Hence the purpose of this thread is not to add to the drama or bash the company, but rather to collect real life experiences of people who did have a problem and needed Leica's help.

Please do state what camera was involved, what the actual issue was, how long it took to be resolved, how much it cost, and what your overall experience was with the customer service taking care of you.

Thanks in advance for your feedback, and happy shooting!

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[charlesphoto99]

"... in recent years..." 🤣🤣🤣

I'm assuming you're relatively new to Leica by that statement. Their repair culture has been underwhelming for decades. 

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, username said:

..browsing the net one gets the impression that Leica's service has become more and more underwhelming in recent years, in regards to QC, repair times, and overall handling of customers' issues with their cameras.

It's quite common though (in real life, and especially on the internet) that negative experiences are shared way more often, and probably in a louder voice, than positive ones; it happens everywhere, and surely in this case as well - you do hear a lot of horror stories, but only few where things actually were resolved quickly / nicely.

Hence the purpose of this thread is not to add to the drama or bash the company, but rather to collect real life experiences of people who did have a problem and needed Leica's help.

Please do state what camera was involved, what the actual issue was, how long it took to be resolved, how much it cost, and what your overall experience was with the customer service taking care of you.

Thanks in advance for your feedback, and happy shooting!

What is the purpose of this thread, and what do you intend to do with the output?

[pedaes]

29 minutes ago, username said:

Thanks in advance for your feedback

What is your obsession with this topic? It is taking 'due diligence' before  you purchase your first Leica to the nth degree.

[username]

@Al Brown thanks for editing your comment into something remotely helpful 👍

I saw a few thread like the ones you linked to, however they are usually accusatory from the get go, or a couple years old already, or both.

What I would love to have is just a bit stating-of-facts kinda thing, with recent real life experiences.

[username]

4 minutes ago, Corius said:

What is the purpose of this thread

I think it'd be nice to have an unagitated thread that just collects people's experiences on the subject.

[username]

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14 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

Their repair culture has been underwhelming for decades. 

Probably true, yet this is exactly the broad-stroke statement that we have enough of already 🙂

[pedaes]

Well, @charlesphoto99 that has told you!

 

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, username said:

Probably true, ......

So you've already made your mind up about this?

 

[JoshuaR]

I dropped my M10 and 35 FLE on the kitchen floor. Afterward the rear LCD only showed a green color and the camera wouldn't record photos. I sent it to Leica NJ. They sent me a notice that they'd received the camera, and promptly responded to an e-mail I sent about timelines, saying it would be 4-6 weeks. They contacted me 4 weeks later saying they were ready to send it back. It arrived good as new. They charged me $1,500. It was a big bill, but overall I was very happy with the outcome and with how they handled it.

[charlesphoto99]

1 hour ago, username said:

Probably true, yet this is exactly the broad-stroke statement that we have enough of already 🙂

So you want people who have already described their experiences elsewhere, to also describe them here? Because doing so here, under your thread, will make them more valid than where you read them elsewhere. Ok....

[Photoworks]

it is propaganda!

the more you repeat it, the more it becomes reality!

Good Luck!

[darlesch]

Happy to contribute to the question:

In total, I’ve sent to Leica NJ 5 lenses and 2 digital bodies, 1 film body in the past 2 years.

- All items completed in time frame as stated (1 month for products covered under warranty, 2 months for out of coverage repairs). 

- All items were repaired to satisfaction, but 1 item (a lens) required a second look.

- 1 film body was completed in 2 weeks by Leica NJ.

- 1 item was forwarded to Wetzlar, repaired in under 1 month (a miracle, thank you again). Wetzlar covered the repair under warranty out of good will (thank you). Lens was a new grey market purchase.

- 1 body was out of warranty by a couple weeks, Leica NJ still covered it under warranty and completed it in 1 month (thank you again).

- 1 lens was another grey market item purchased new from Hong Kong, covered under warranty out of good will by Leica NJ (thank you again).

If Leica Customer Care is reading this, thank you. Yes, I have made them all very aware of my appreciation. I am having a positive experience overall with one lens pending at Leica NJ.

Hope this helps.

Edit: If you want further details on each repair, send me a PM. Too much to detail here. 

Edited December 16, 2024 by darlesch

[username]

2 hours ago, charlesphoto99 said:

So you want people who have already described their experiences elsewhere, to also describe them here? Because doing so here, under your thread, will make them more valid than where you read them elsewhere. Ok....

While I realize some may have shared feedback on this topic already, as mentioned before I feel those threads usually start off in a accusatory tone, and / or are a couple years old already.
I though it would be nice to have to have an unagitated collection of somewhat recent experiences people had, so it's less of a "bashing" and more of a "just sharing one's personal experience" kinda thing 👍

 

2 hours ago, Photoworks said:

it is propaganda!

the more you repeat it, the more it becomes reality!

Good Luck!

Quite the opposite, actually! 🙂
The very point of this thread, as detailled above, is not to contribute to the drama, but have a grown up conversation.
If you have any experiences to share regarding Leica's customer service / repair, please do!

Edited December 16, 2024 by username

[username]

2 hours ago, JoshuaRothman said:

I dropped my M10 and 35 FLE on the kitchen floor. Afterward the rear LCD only showed a green color and the camera wouldn't record photos. I sent it to Leica NJ. They sent me a notice that they'd received the camera, and promptly responded to an e-mail I sent about timelines, saying it would be 4-6 weeks. They contacted me 4 weeks later saying they were ready to send it back. It arrived good as new. They charged me $1,500. It was a big bill, but overall I was very happy with the outcome and with how they handled it.

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it! ✌️

[username]

42 minutes ago, darlesch said:

Happy to contribute to the question:

In total, I’ve sent to Leica NJ 5 lenses and 2 digital bodies, 1 film body in the past 2 years.

- All items completed in time frame as stated (1 month for products covered under warranty, 2 months for out of coverage repairs). 

- All items were repaired to satisfaction, but 1 item (a lens) required a second look.

- 1 film body was completed in 2 weeks by Leica NJ.

- 1 item was forwarded to Wetzlar, repaired in under 1 month (a miracle, thank you again). Wetzlar covered the repair under warranty out of good will (thank you). Lens was a new grey market purchase.

- 1 body was out of warranty by a couple weeks, Leica NJ still covered it under warranty and completed it in 1 month (thank you again).

- 1 lens was another grey market item purchased new from Hong Kong, covered under warranty out of good will by Leica NJ (thank you again).

If Leica Customer Care is reading this, thank you. Yes, I have made them all very aware of my appreciation. I am having a positive experience overall with one lens pending at Leica NJ.

Thank you very much for the detailled elaboration!

Thats awesome, that it all went so smoothly (and swiftly) - haven't heard too many good things about Leica NJ yet to be frank -
and while I'm not in the states so will likely never deal with them positive feedback is great to hear, and partly what this thread is about 👍
Very happy they took care of your issues that well.

Thanks again for your feedback, and have a great week!

[darlesch]

6 minutes ago, username said:

Thank you very much for the detailled elaboration!

Thats awesome, that it all went so smoothly (and swiftly) - haven't heard too many good things about Leica NJ yet to be frank -
and while I'm not in the states so will likely never deal with them positive feedback is great to hear, and partly what this thread is about 👍
Very happy they took care of your issues that well.

Thanks again for your feedback, and have a great week!

Yes, and I agree with your overall sentiment. It’s good to hear back from users getting positive experiences as the negative experiences may be the only ones who are outspoken. Again, I have made them personally aware of positive feedback but it’s good to let others users know this as well.

You have a great week as well and happy holidays.

Edited December 16, 2024 by darlesch

[jaapv]

Not only cameras - my Trinovid 10x42 Jagd (special green edition) of more than 40 years old decided to go blind in my left eye. Sent it directly to CS Portugal. I got a reply within two days, stating that unfortunately the guaranty expired after 30 years and please send it in. Got it back as new, new rubber and decals in two weeks time. 290 Euro.

Utterly amazing that they still have the parts to repair binoculars of this age.

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[username]

26 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Not only cameras - my Trinovid 10x42 Jagd (special green edition) of more than 40 years old decided to go blind in my left eye. Sent it directly to CS Portugal. I got a reply within two days, stating that unfortunately the guaranty expired after 30 years and please send it in. Got it back as new, new rubber and decals in two weeks time. 290 Euro.

Utterly amazing that they still have the parts to repair binoculars of this age.

..nice! That there's been a 30 year warranty in the first place is great, and that they sorted you out quickly like that is pretty nice as well I think 👍

Thanks for sharing!

[TomB_tx]

My only recent experience with Leica service was the replacement of my M9 sensor/circuit board after 7 years of use - and although long after the warranty expired was done for free (near then end of the "free" period). Took a while, but the M9 came back perfect, in new condition. An amazing and unexpected experience.

I had used Leica service about 40 years ago for my Leicaflex SL with a meter problem. That was an unsatisfactory experience (meter was still way off in dimmer light), so I just used other cameras  for a couple decades and wrote-off Leica service. Eventually sent the SL to DAG, who replaced the meter cell and did a CLA, and it's been fine since. I've since just used non-Leica techs for film cameras, and haven't needed anything more on my M9 & M10.