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19 hours ago, Olaf_ZG said:

The only thing that comforts me, but will not comfort you ofcourse, is that moderators are not being privileged

Moderators are definitely not privileged. Leica won’t even know who I am, so how could I be?

I’m not even a very good customer. I don’t change my cameras every year (decade) or chase after the latest shiny thing that they sell. The last new camera I bought was the one that is lost and I only bought that because we had a decent bonus at work  

I have no personal connections in Wetzlar. 

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On 2/22/2025 at 3:42 PM, UliWer said:

Oh please don‘t let sentiments of envy or „injustice“ destroy a reasonable relationship between Leica and their customers.

 

My experience, and that of a good many people on this forum, is that the relationship between Leica and its customers for repair work is already poor.

Most of us have experience of other products needing repairs. Some perform well, others do not. Leica is pretty near the bottom when it comes to repair times and communication with the customer (about progress, and the nature of the defect and repairs required). They don't always get the repair right (Leica UK chose to send a lens back to Wetzlar after servicing, rather than return it to me, because Wetzlar obviously hadn't serviced it properly). On the credit side, I find their charges acceptable, and they will occasionally (and apparently randomly) not charge for some non-warranty items.

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From Leica UK this afternoon. Significant delays due to customs issues sounds like an excuse to me. 
 

We shipped the camera on 13th December and informed Leica Manchester at the time. [I wasn’t informed]. Please see the attached email for confirmation. Unfortunately, Leica Germany has experienced significant delays due to customs issues, which have affected processing times. They have only recently opened the parcel and are now working through creating the repair estimates for our customers. We will follow up with them and update you as soon as we receive further information.

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vor 28 Minuten schrieb andybarton:

Significant delays due to customs issues sounds like an excuse to me

Yes. They should be able to track the arrival at customs and then the arrival at Customer Care in Wetzlar and inform you about the dates so you can see where the delay was. 

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The plurals (customers/estimates) suggest a batch delivery.

We all make choices of how we do things, but personally I have always sent direct to Customer Care as asked by Leica, as mentioned earlier by @UliWer. They have all the forms set up on the website to do this. I don't  know if it is still the case, but Leica  e-mailed a pre-paid shipping label for DHL to collected package, which you can track yourself..

I have  always received quote quickly.

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vor 23 Stunden schrieb pedaes:

but personally I have always sent direct to Customer Care as asked by Leica

How is the customs problem solved? As I understand it, you don't pay import duties if the item is only sent for repair and is to be resent afterwards. Though it seems you need some sort of certification to avoid the duties. Perhaps this is the reason they send it via Leica U.K. 

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1 minute ago, UliWer said:

How is the customs problem solved? As I understand it, you don't pay import duties if the item is only sent for repair and is to be resent afterwards. Though it seems you need some sort of certification to avoid the duties. Perhaps this is the reason they send it via Leica U.K. 

Luckily I haven't had to use them since Brexit, but I suspect they have something set up through DHL for Customs clearance both ways. 

I say this because I ordered one of the  new Summilux lenses on Friday last week, it was dispatched by Leica Germany on Monday, and was delivered by DHL this morning. It is clear some paperwork has been removed from a polythene envelope stuck to box that I assume was a Customs form. So, no "Customs delay". 

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A day after they confirmed that they have received the camera, I have received a report and a quote. 

Apparently there is nothing wrong with it. Which is a surprise. All down to me using the “half press” function… we will see when it comes back  

Anyway, I approved the quote, which was for about £185, which I thought was very reasonable for a CLA, such as that is for an M240. 

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Sounds good.

vor 34 Minuten schrieb andybarton:

… we will see when it comes back  

I hope it will also look good - and work.

Perhaps you can identify the time it actually stayed at Customer Care to put this in relation to the overall shipping time.

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They did notice that it had been dropped… but I’m sure they won’t do anything about the surface nicks that ensued. 

When they says it’s ready to come home, I’ll let you know. 

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1 hour ago, pedaes said:

Luckily I haven't had to use them since Brexit, but I suspect they have something set up through DHL for Customs clearance both ways. 

I say this because I ordered one of the  new Summilux lenses on Friday last week, it was dispatched by Leica Germany on Monday, and was delivered by DHL this morning. It is clear some paperwork has been removed from a polythene envelope stuck to box that I assume was a Customs form. So, no "Customs delay". 

Ordering a new item for one way delivery is one thing. You will have to pay the VAT and any duties on import, but that's not a surprise nor unreasonable (other than the whole Brexit thing......). It's sending a camera to the EU for repair and getting it back again without incurring tax/duty either way which takes the extra documentation.

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23 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

which takes the extra documentation.

Correct - but I was suggesting maybe Leica and their carrier have this streamlined with an agreement with Customs. Someone must know. This from Website

 

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!

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37 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

You will have to pay the VAT and any duties on import

This is paid direct by Leica under some arrangement with UK Customs. The customer just pays full list price incl. VAT to Leica.

I remember this was a 'thing' at time of dreaded Brexit, when small companies were saying they couldn't be assed with all the paperwork. We in UK 'lost' an excellent Leica service agent in Netherlands on back of the onerous paperwork.

Edited by pedaes
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As I said above it's not hard, you just print off the customs documentation and explain (in triplicate obviously) that it's for repair and you'll pay VAT on the return postage and repair not item value. 

My story is that the company I bought from second hand have chased up Leica, it was sent from the UK by the company mid December, Leica said on Tuesday (circa 10 weeks later) they have just looked at the lens and parts are needed. At least 8 weeks for repair. Then no doubt another 6-10 weeks getting back to me! I'd only owned it for 2-3 months and its about 4-6 months for repair!

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8 hours ago, Derbyshire Man said:

As I said above it's not hard, you just print off the customs documentation and explain (in triplicate obviously) that it's for repair and you'll pay VAT on the return postage and repair not item value. 

My story is that the company I bought from second hand have chased up Leica, it was sent from the UK by the company mid December, Leica said on Tuesday (circa 10 weeks later) they have just looked at the lens and parts are needed. At least 8 weeks for repair. Then no doubt another 6-10 weeks getting back to me! I'd only owned it for 2-3 months and its about 4-6 months for repair!

"Waiting for parts" has been a common response reported here (and used to me). It smacks either of an excuse for other failings, or a parts system that is poorly managed (and cannot be attributed to lack of skilled technicians).

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