Leica Repair

x-ray

x-ray

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A month ago I discovered my MP A La Carte that I purchased last year had a shutter problem. It wasn't cappint totally on the final frame of a roll and when I rewound the film it would leave stripes along the short axis of the film at each point where the film stopped during rewind. It's under pasport so I packed it and included a couple of strips of film showing the problem. I received confirmation of the repair order about three weeks ago stating that it would be 4-5 weeks. I called yesterday and was told they have no idea of when it will be done. The lady that answered the phone stated they have a very heavy load at the moment with more than a normal number of repairs. She also idicated ther is only one tech that repairs the M's.

For a company billing itself as making the worlds fines professional cameras this isn't very good. I'm just speculating but from our discussion the film M's are repaired by a different tech then the digital. This seems to indicate what I've felt for some time that the new generation of film M's are not made as well as the earlier ones, M2, 3 and 4's. Also the concept this camera is a professional quality camera flew out the window long ago. High rate of failure and no professional support for a pro camera is unacceptable.
 
Ouch that hurts to have that happen. It seems as if a lot of high end goods today are trading on a reputation, honestly earned, gained in the past. You just don't know what to believe.

Bob
 
Eek - 1 tech working on the repairs? Sounds scary. God I'd love an MP though....
Hope it works out for you!
 
I think Leica NJ is overwhelmed by the volume of business generated by the M8 fiasco. Leica runs a "streamed" service program where registered professional photographers go to the top of the queue. I read about this just recently on the German Leica site where there is a current thread complaining about service in general. You may want to consider getting on to this "preferred" list. I had a similar experince earlier this year when I sent in an M7 for a VF upgrade. It took a very long time to come back but to be fair to Leica they did a terrific job.
 
A couple years ago when I bought an MP demo the shutter also had a problem and I had to send it to Leica-USA. It took two weeks door-to-door. Maybe now that fewer people are using film cameras (or using their film cameras less often), Leica-USA cut their repair staff down? Or else maybe because summer and vacations are over a bunch of people have sent in their cameras for preventative overhauls? Also possible that they've got most of their staff working on problems with the M8, like rangefinder adjustments and other things that anyone with M experience can handle. I believe that major internal repairs on the M8 are sent to the factory. I honestly think Leica's biggest failing isn't the product itself, which when it's working works great, but the consistency of their after-sale service. It's just all over the place in terms of quality and time and responsiveness, and has been for quite some time.

I understand and empathize with professionals who need their cameras for a living, but for Leica to give 0.01% of their customers preferential treatment above the 99.99% who keep them in business isn't fair. And pros should and do have multiples of their needed equipment for backup, while it isn't fair to expect amateurs to.
 
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peter_n said:
I think Leica NJ is overwhelmed by the volume of business generated by the M8 fiasco. Leica runs a "streamed" service program where registered professional photographers go to the top of the queue. I read about this just recently on the German Leica site where there is a current thread complaining about service in general. You may want to consider getting on to this "preferred" list. I had a similar experince earlier this year when I sent in an M7 for a VF upgrade. It took a very long time to come back but to be fair to Leica they did a terrific job.
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I wasn't aware that leica had a pro program. I indicated in my letter with the camera that I am a professional and use the camera in my work. I also indictated the same to the lady I spoke with yesterday but received no response. I'll call them back today and ask.

Ben Z I certainly understand the concept of taking care of the 99.99% majority but if they ever want to regain any professional presence then they better step up with a more professional approach and attitude. Untill the late 70's Leica was centered around a 90% professsional market. Although they never had a true pro repair program they atleast had a professional attitude about their repairs and equipment. Unfortunately now the term Pro is only a word in their advertising and not a way of doing business. I don't htink I would be nearly as upset if I didn't have my asph 50 summilux in the shop due to a failed focusing mount and hadn't had three other recent lenses develope major mechanical problems in the past few months.
 
peter_n said:
Here is the URL of page 2 of the thread on the German Leica forum where pro service is discussed. See post #22 on this page:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/33459-i-wish-leica-returned-calls-2.html


There is advice there that the pro service is not a published program - it is about "relationships". Better get schmoozing with your local Leica dealer...
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Thanks for the information. I called NJ earlier and asked about this. The secretary I spoke to said she thinks there is such a progeam but the lady in charge (PR department) is in Germany untill next week. I stated again that I make my living 100% as a photographer and have been one of their dedicated customers for nearly 40 years. I also said the camera had been in their hands for almost 6 weeks. She was polite and said she would send a note down to Ernst the tech and explain that it is used professionally and ask him to move it up. She also said to call back tomorrow morning and she would have a delivery date.

I appreciate her help but don't understand why Leica keeps pro service a secret from the pros. Publishing this would only help their standing and business with the professional community. Maybe they don't want to bother with the pros any more and feel the amateur market is all they need and want. Who knows but I think they need to move forward with a more pro friendly approach to repairs and loaner equipment just as Nikon and Canon has done. Although I don't feel Nikons pro service is a good as Canons they do have one advantage. For NPS members they offer first priority delivery on new cameras and lenses. I received one of the first D1 cameras and two of the D1X cameras before the general photo community had any in their hands. Nice move for the pro community. If Leica had done this with the M8 they might have had a larger following of pros which would have enhanced amateur sales.

One thing I should mention is there is no Leica dealer at this time in Tennessee. Our local dealer dropped the franchise a number of years ago and to my knowledge there are none in the state. I'm not even certain there's one in Atlanta which is the nearest large city 3 hours away.

I'll keep everyone posted on how this shakes out.

Thanks for the info.
 
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x-ray said:
I appreciate her help but don't understand why Leica keeps pro service a secret from the pros... If Leica had done this with the M8 they might have had a larger following of pros which would have enhanced amateur sales.
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I agree that amateurs will follow the pros. Your argument makes business sense but it may be that Leica NJ may simply not have the resources to scale to the kind of service you're envisioning. You read the whole of that thread on the German Leica site and both Leica NJ and Leica UK are struggling with the volume of service work but Solms in not is such bad shape. Maybe as you say they have given up on the pro community, but also maybe they just don't have the management to anticipate and plan for more than one contingency...

The good news is that you have Ernst working on your camera. He is good. :)
 
I agree that amateurs will follow the pros.
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Very true, and very telling...it's how we got here in the first place (here being the eclipse of RFs by SLRs and the eclipse of film by digital...) :(
 
My experience with Leica Solms, Germany has been more than excellent. I wonder if an e-mail to their department wouldn't help some.

maurice
 
peter_n said:
I agree that amateurs will follow the pros. Your argument makes business sense but it may be that Leica NJ may simply not have the resources to scale to the kind of service you're envisioning. You read the whole of that thread on the German Leica site and both Leica NJ and Leica UK are struggling with the volume of service work but Solms in not is such bad shape. Maybe as you say they have given up on the pro community, but also maybe they just don't have the management to anticipate and plan for more than one contingency...

The good news is that you have Ernst working on your camera. He is good. :)
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Is it an option for someone here in the States to send the camera/lens for repair to Leica in Germany rather than NJ?

Harry
 
A request on letterhead accompanied by a business card and a copy of your business license would go a long ways towards enrollment in any professional repair program.
 
I would like to take this moment to say sorry to hear that and also that my 3 year old 20D with the paint falling off it has yet to give me any problems at all. Really makes you wonder huh?
 
Wow, what a mess Don. Years ago I purchased a brand new Leica M4, shot a couple of rolls the first day right out of the box. I developed them that night, only to discover that the shutter curtain had a pinhole in it. This was at the time when Leitz had an office at Columbus Circle, 59th Street in NYC. I brought the camera in with the two rolls of film and the Leica rep was in total shock. He sent off the camera that afternoon and it was returned less then two weeks later, problem free. I was in college then. Those were the days....

Hope it works out for you in short order.
 
with all the problems the newer M Leicas have, I wonder why some members here seem to think the the M4-2 of 30 years ago was a problem model?
by comparison the teething problems of the M4-2 now seem very minor.
 
Finall I have some good news to report. Yesterday when i spoke with the repair secretary she said she would send a note to Ernst the rapair tech to see if he could move the schedule up and aske dme to call again today to check. I just spoke to the secretary again and she said it will be repaired and shipped today.

It's very good to see that they respond to professional needs. If they would publish and promote this it would go a long way with other professionals in making decisions on equipment. The M8 being an example of a camera with many problems and at a cost where most of us would not want to purchase 2 bodies prompt repair service and professional support is a must.

On monday I will call the PR person in NJ and thank her for the very good service and attention. I'm also going to suggest they make this service more available to the professional clients. I also will suggest support of the nature other pro camera companies have including loaner bodies during lengthy repairs and lenses for specific needs. I also feel it would be a great service if any pro is on a job and they have a major failure of equipment that a loaner would be fedexed next day for the duration of the job or untill the repair is made.

These are the kind of services that the pro community have learned to expect for the investment that we make in a system. Hopefully they will listen. I would think it would only help expand them back into the pro market which is now quite large and give leica a distinct advantage over other RF makers.
 
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