Guest Posted September 15, 2009 Share #21 Posted September 15, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have been dealing with Leica at Milton Keynes for about 25 years and have always found the staff I have dealt with very good and a pleasure to deal with.I am sure that from time to time things do go wrong ,hence this particular complaint.I have not experianced any problems other than the odd delay on delivery times which will happen with any company.With the demand for the M9 I am sure they wish they had a warehouse full,so do I, as I resisted the temptation to place an order a month ago so now I am in a long line. Brian:( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 15, 2009 Posted September 15, 2009 Hi Guest, Take a look here Milton Keynes stuns with its efficiency - again!. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wlaidlaw Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share #22 Posted September 15, 2009 I have been dealing with Leica at Milton Keynes for about 25 years and have always found the staff I have dealt with very good and a pleasure to deal with.I am sure that from time to time things do go wrong ,hence this particular complaint.I have not experianced any problems other than the odd delay on delivery times which will happen with any company.With the demand for the M9 I am sure they wish they had a warehouse full,so do I, as I resisted the temptation to place an order a month ago so now I am in a long line.Brian:( Brian, Maybe I was just unlucky Elmarit-M 90, M4, D2 (twice) and my wife's C-Lux. Had it not been for the good offices of Stuart Bean at H.A.Baker in Lewes, the dealer I still use, I don't think the D2 and C-Lux would ever have been sorted. In the end he arranged new replacements from Germany of both. I have now got a very good relationship with the service team at Solms, so I am happy to stick with that arrangement. I even offered to go and work for them as a sensor cleaner, so that when you got your M8 back from Solms, it would have a pristine sensor, rather than one that looked like someone had been frying bacon next to it. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
poklade Posted September 16, 2009 Share #23 Posted September 16, 2009 Leica should offer a dedicated M9 paintstripper & repaint kit to allow rapid modification of the body color. And how about a solution in a new firmware? You upload it, go to the menu, press the set button and the colour changes! My site: http://www.ivanlozica.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted September 16, 2009 Share #24 Posted September 16, 2009 I rather suspect that MK did not anticipate how popular the grey version would be. I did hear that they ordered roughly a 2/3:1/3 black/grey split and the orders seem to be nearer to 50:50. I hope they adjust this for future batches. The M9 seems to have unleashed a pent-up demand for a FF DRF and production will have a hard time keeping up. Patience will be rewarded .... eventually. As has been said above one can always order on a "first colour to arrive" basis. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsambrook Posted September 16, 2009 Share #25 Posted September 16, 2009 " ... Seems a bit hard to so publicly criticise Leica UK." Why ever not? Leica Camera works at the very top end of the photo equipment market and (as I recall from many years of experience) buyers expect efficiency not just from Leica but from all businesses which occupy simlar niches. Customers may indeed sometimes enjoy a diet of 'grouse and wine' but if they've been let down that's entirely to be expected. It's good that a supplier's shortcomings are aired, it's the best (and sometimes the only) way to ginger them up. But, on the other side of the fence, it really can be wearing when an unhappy customer over-indulges the diet. A snack is often better than a three course dinner, as I've sometimes cheefully told clients in the past. Ah, how I miss the joys of retailing ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share #26 Posted September 16, 2009 I rather suspect that MK did not anticipate how popular the grey version would be. I did hear that they ordered roughly a 2/3:1/3 black/grey split and the orders seem to be nearer to 50:50. I hope they adjust this for future batches. The M9 seems to have unleashed a pent-up demand for a FF DRF and production will have a hard time keeping up. Patience will be rewarded .... eventually. As has been said above one can always order on a "first colour to arrive" basis. The information as of this morning is that MK have now run out of grey ones and don't know when the next delivery will be. Bit of a waste of time and money my getting an order in at the beginning of August and paying a deposit. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted September 16, 2009 Share #27 Posted September 16, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) It depends on the shop. Kameraexpress reserved one of their own accord for me last week, without me even preordering and I released it. Sold ten minutes later... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 16, 2009 Share #28 Posted September 16, 2009 The information as of this morning is that MK have now run out of grey ones and don't know when the next delivery will be. Bit of a waste of time and money my getting an order in at the beginning of August and paying a deposit I'm sure you aren't the only person who ordered a grey M9 prior to the camera being announced and is having to wait. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtZ Posted September 16, 2009 Share #29 Posted September 16, 2009 Wilson, Sorry to hear that my friend but... you should wait a few months and Leica UK will offer you a M9 "Safari" or "White" for the same price Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 16, 2009 Share #30 Posted September 16, 2009 Brian, Maybe I was just unlucky Elmarit-M 90, M4, D2 (twice) and my wife's C-Lux. Had it not been for the good offices of Stuart Bean at H.A.Baker in Lewes, the dealer I still use, I don't think the D2 and C-Lux would ever have been sorted. In the end he arranged new replacements from Germany of both. I have now got a very good relationship with the service team at Solms, so I am happy to stick with that arrangement. I even offered to go and work for them as a sensor cleaner, so that when you got your M8 back from Solms, it would have a pristine sensor, rather than one that looked like someone had been frying bacon next to it. Wilson Hello Wilson I think that having a good dealer is important.I nearly always use David Stevens in Manchester.He has been involved with Leica all his life and knows his ways round the system at Milton Keynes. Having said that, the brand is a premium product and customers are entitled to good service ( we are paying enough for it).Sensors in cameras coming direct from Solms that are dirty is taking the mickey.Personally I think that offering a £5000 camera in black or grey paint and with the old style plastic screan is as bad.I was expecting an option of Silver chrome.Perhaps I have got too much Leica equipment? Brian:eek: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted September 16, 2009 Share #31 Posted September 16, 2009 I think that having a good dealer is important.I nearly always use David Stevens in Manchester.He has been involved with Leica all his life and knows his ways round the system at Milton Keynes. It's Stephens not Stevens. I know I'm being picky, but people might be misled if they tried to search for him. His website's here... Home I agree with you about him, a very nice chap indeed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share #32 Posted September 16, 2009 I have no beef with my dealer, H.A.Baker. They have bent over backwards to be helpful. They are a very small dealer and if they are not supported, they will give up the franchise. They have been very helpful to me in the past, when I had problems with my D2 and my wife did with her C-Lux, so I feel I owe them my support for that if nothing else. Now I know it is not like when Stuart Bean was running it, who knew where all the bodies were buried at Milton Keynes (he worked there for many years) but still, they try very hard and usually succeed. I will just have to be patient. I have a feeling there has been some sort of breakdown in the relationship between them and the Leica rep, which has worked against me. However, I did believe David Bell, when he said that my order would be delivered on Saturday or Monday - just a pity they sent the wrong colour. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_b Posted September 16, 2009 Share #33 Posted September 16, 2009 My guess is that the big London dealers continue to hoover up all the stock. If Leica choose not to support their regional dealers' network adequately we all may as well deal with an enormous pan-contintental warehouse in cyber space. Some of us like to deal with local shops, I don't "do" London these days since I retired from commuting. Local shops I have used over the years seem to keep closing so I'm keen to purchase an M9 from my nearest dealer while they still exist. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted September 16, 2009 Share #34 Posted September 16, 2009 Wilson, having had a play this afternoon in the new Mayfair shop I can reliably inform you that the grey one looks like shit. I'd keep the black one if I was you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share #35 Posted September 16, 2009 Wilson, having had a play this afternoon in the new Mayfair shop I can reliably inform you that the grey one looks like shit. I'd keep the black one if I was you. Wattsy, Thanks for the steer but I never got the black one. The dealer phoned me to say that they had been sent a black one instead of the grey one Leica UK agreed to send specifically for me. I said I would wait for a grey one. I know it is not going to be anywhere as nice as chrome and I totally fail to understand Leica's decision on paint. I am guessing it will look a bit like that M8 refinished in grey Hammerite that someone posted some time ago. The problem is that my two main lenses are chrome. I think chrome lenses on a black camera look horrible. The least bad of two choices was grey/chrome lens. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravastar Posted September 16, 2009 Share #36 Posted September 16, 2009 Wilson, having had a play this afternoon in the new Mayfair shop I can reliably inform you that the grey one looks like shit. I'd keep the black one if I was you. As Seven of Nine would say: Please define "looks like shit." Was that color, general appearance, scratched, worn through to the undercoat or what? Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted September 16, 2009 Share #37 Posted September 16, 2009 As Seven of Nine would say: Please define "looks like shit." Was that color, general appearance, scratched, worn through to the undercoat or what?. I'm exaggerating but I wasn't impressed. It looked a bit like Leica had bought a job lot of 'drainpipe grey' model paint (the kind that used to come in little tins for painting airfix kits). Combined with the M8 leatherette it looked rather unlovely to my eyes. The black M9 looked (and felt) absolutely fine. Interestingly, I was informed by the salesperson in the Mayfair shop that à la carte options for the M9 would be available from November. This apparently would include a sapphire glass option and different viewfinder magnifications. I'm not convinced his information was reliable but I thought it worth mentioning here (the shop is, after all, a Leica owned outlet). By the way, one thing I was very impressed with is the new 'soft release' mode. For me, this feature almost sells the M9 by itself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share #38 Posted September 16, 2009 Perhaps I can glue aluminium cooking foil over the grey. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtZ Posted September 16, 2009 Share #39 Posted September 16, 2009 Perhaps I can glue aluminium cooking foil over the grey. Wilson Wilson, "Louis Mathieu", the famous French art restauring company it's just in my street (literally next door). I know them pretty well (they have restaured the metal part of some of my original Russian icons from 17th century). I'm sure they could chrome the top plate for you... I think it will look always better than with alu foil on it! Regards, . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted September 16, 2009 Share #40 Posted September 16, 2009 Wilson, having had a play this afternoon in the new Mayfair shop I can reliably inform you that the grey one looks like shit. I'd keep the black one if I was you.Thanks. I found this a bit of a decision, I am glad I took black in the end. I happen to like chrome lenses on black. Probably because I have period chrome lenses on my black paint M3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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