Unpleasant experience with Leica Store Nuernberg

[Olaf_ZG]

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Leica Store Nuernberg has its secondhand store on eBay, listing many items. Though one should always take care with eBay, buying from a Leica Store would be trustworthy. At least I expected so.

They offered a m8 panda. Showed some images, stated OVP was included, and that camera had been in their vitrine and was in good condition.

I made an offer, and we came to a deal. Based on the fact that OVP was included, I assumed that the camera was complete. My mistake, but then I was dealing with a Leica Store, so I was in good faith.

After I paid, the store contacted me: the OVP is only the grey outerbox. The nice black inner boxes are missing. No charger is included and no strap. I then assume the battery is missing which seemed to be true. 

Maybe here I should have cancelled the sale, but we came to an agreement with replacement battery (funny enough a non-leica one) and another strap. They send off the camera.

Upon receipt, I want to mount a lens, but it doesn’t “click” in. Tried another lens, the same. I tried to focus, and the RF shows double: left to right aligns, up to down remains double. I check the first image and notice a coffee stain on the LCD.

I notify the store, they said its strange, that they checked it when a customer traded it in (huh? In the ad they said it came from their vitrine…), but what kind of check it is if they don’t see what I just noticed immediately?

 I now lost faith in the deal and want to return the camera. They agree, but did not offer to cover postage. Sadly, DHL from Croatia is significantly more expensive than to Croatia, so I had to pay 250euros for return.

Thank you Leica Nuernberg. Great service. You showed that one always should take care on eBay, whomever the seller is.

Meanwhile, money is refunded by eBay (not my postage).

So, if anyone asks me for opinion: don’t go to Leica Store Nuernberg.

[pedaes]

25 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

but did not offer to cover postage.

Have you told us this saga before?

 

Edited February 22 by pedaes

[Olaf_ZG]

8 minutes ago, pedaes said:

Have you told us this saga before?

Ebay rules are clear on returning items, so before buying from a foreign land need to check all possibilities and costs and then there will be no nasty surprises.

I told this in the bar, yes. But here is the complete story. 
And eBay might be clear, I expect a LEICA store to give a fair and trustworthy description of what it is selling. They didn’t. 
 

and to add: it is not me changing my mind, it is about the store selling a faulty item. 

Edited February 22 by Olaf_ZG
Last sentence

[Ecar]

According to eBay rules, if the item was not as described, they should refund return shipping.

[Olaf_ZG]

43 minutes ago, Ecar said:

According to eBay rules, if the item was not as described, they should refund return shipping.

Sadly they didn’t, and that’s why I am so disappointed and rather bothered. Leica Store Nuernberg is solely Leica, not just a reseller. 
 

But then, reading the many many customer stories here, we - atleast I - can conclude that they don’t care at all about their customers. 
 

The problem is tough, that slowly this will result in bad word of mouth, which will hurt them in the long term.

 

Do they really expect me to send a potential customer to a Leica store? I would rather send them to a small independent dealer who cares about his customers.

[Pelu2010]

There is one thing I don’t understand. 
leica has a different contract with DHL and Ups. They ship cameras in large quantities. If they charge you the shipping it would have been no affordable to give you their conditions and they could have handled the shipping and you could have paid the lower price for the courier. 
I don’t get why they didn’t come up with this option for you. 
 

[Olaf_ZG]

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12 minutes ago, Pelu2010 said:

There is one thing I don’t understand. 
leica has a different contract with DHL and Ups. They ship cameras in large quantities. If they charge you the shipping it would have been no affordable to give you their conditions and they could have handled the shipping and you could have paid the lower price for the courier. 
I don’t get why they didn’t come up with this option for you. 
 

I can’t answer that, but I feel that they simply didn’t care.

[Ecar]

If the item was not as described AND you selected this as the reason for the return, eBay can force them to refund the return shipping costs. For EUR 250 I'd definitely look into it.

[Olaf_ZG]

Thanks @Ecar. Before forcing I will write an email to the store to express my feelings. Maybe they are willing to act still.

[Olaf_ZG]

An update: right after my previous mail I wrote a nice letter to Leica Store Nuernberg. Though Saturday afternoon, the reacted quickly: a vague apology, transport most probably guilty, coffee stain ignored.

The offered a courtesy discount on my next purchase. When I asked how much and more details they went silent.