Leica Customer Service

[ecliffordsmith]

Hi All,

I recently had a problem with M8. From one day to the next with no known incidents between them the LEDs in the viewfinder stopped working.

Of the 3 lenses I have (CV15, 35/2 ASPH, 75/2 ASPH) the 35 is used about 85 percent of the time but it was off focus at infinity. In fact any objects beyond 60 metres were 'beyond' infinity. Now, as I was happy with the results I was getting before the camera issue I could not justify sending the lens off to myself. I did however have a nagging feeling sometimes that some missed shots were caused by this.

Anyway, I took the camera and lens to my dealer in Brussels (PCH, very good btw) and they sent it back for me. Within 4 weeks and 3 days I had both items back in my hands and they had been fixed/adjusted perfectly and were both cleaner than they had been in a very long time!

So anyway, the only point to this was to say that I was very happy with the work done and customer service and wanted to state as much as usually we only ever hear about the bad stuff.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Great stuff ED would be nice to see them cut the repair time down some though. I would like to see that cut in half to a max time in shop 2 weeks. I know there revamping this some and hopefully they can get these repairs out a little faster.

 

[Bob]

I have seen what I think or hope is improved service from New Jersey, but only after Linda whips them :thumbup:.
One real important thing to keep in mind concerning turn around time is that right now it is very tough to tell when your package is coming back. There is no notification, no tracking number, basically no information. For folks like my wife and I who travel a fair amount, that means there are only a couple one or two month windows per year when somebody is home to receive a shipment.
Coordination and notification with the frequent traveler would be terrific.
thanks
-bob

 

[gogopix]

Whatever happened to Robert Fisk?

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Robert left Leica to pursue his career goals with another company not even related to photography.

 

[ecliffordsmith]

Bob,

You make a very good point about status tracking. I too, heard nothing until the camera and lens were back.

That would be a welcome improvement.

 

[Stuart Richardson]

Yes, I have found that you need to specifically call and ask and tell them that you will be traveling or gone in order to find out when it is going out. Like Bob, I am not always around to receive things, and there is no one else here, so I need to know when it is coming. This is more problematic given the extremely long service times. My most recent service took 11 weeks, despite the fact that the actual repair took less than a day.

The biggest improvement in my mind would be to schedule actual service windows, so that you could reserve a place in line as it were, and then just send the thing in when it is likely to be worked on. So instead of being without the camera or lens for the entire time, you can part with it only when they are actually going to work on it. They probably don't want to commit to a schedule like this, but I think it would go a very long way towards easing relations with their customers. Based on my own experience, I would guess that most repairs are not critical issues -- meaning that the camera or lens still works, but something is in less than optimal shape. For example, focus might be stiff, the shutter speeds or rangefinder might be off etc. It is better to let the customer continue to use the camera until it is time for it to go in, rather than force them to wait months while it sits in a box untouched in their service department.

Anyway, that's my pet peeve.