Alternative shops for re-leathering an M3?

[EthanFrank]

It seems as though Aki Asahi and Camera Leather have the market cornered. Are there any other options for a non-standard coating (Asahi only has standard vulcanite) with decent delivery times (Camera Leather's reputation for speed seems less than stellar.)

Thanks.

 

[Mister E]

Camera leather levant black is luxury.

 

[Bill58]

Unless you start up your own business, they're the only 2 options I know of.

 

[sepiareverb]

I'd not hesitate to use Cameraleather again. Morgan has recovered several of my cameras for me and his work has always been timely and impeccable.

 

[EthanFrank]

I've emailed Morgan and asked him what is in stock - we can go from there. 🙂

 

[sepiareverb]

He often has special leathers available in small quantities as well that aren't in the sample swatches- I have some wonderful black snakeskin on my M5, but the Rollei type Black Beauty is perhaps my favorite.

 

[JeffL]

Camera leather levant black is luxury.

I put this Levant Black on my Rolleiflex. It is really nice.

 

[EthanFrank]

He often has special leathers available in small quantities as well that aren't in the sample swatches- I have some wonderful black snakeskin on my M5, but the Rollei type Black Beauty is perhaps my favorite.

That's exactly what I asked him about 😉

 

[dave lackey]

This may be a dumb question, but Morgan's customer service is so spotty that it basically sucks. I love the verdigris cover on my M3 but if I had ordered it and waited for months, I would have sent the damned thing back to him because I don't do business that way.😡

So, he has a great product. He is a nice guy. His business sucks. What to do?

Can we get him to become a member on RFF? Is he already? Does he spend too much time doing other things? Does he need help? Does he need a boycott? Do we need to send him mass letters/email? What to do to help him?😕

 

[Bill58]

He does have a day job and I think your boycott idea would consist of one customer.

 

[dave lackey]

He does have a day job and I think your boycott idea would consist of one customer.

It wasn't an idea. It was a question among others to help Morgan. Face it, his customer service sucks. The post was to find a way to help him. Another job, fulltime or other, is no excuse because his problem can be fixed.

Again, my questions remain. Is there anything we can do to help him?:angel:

 

[EthanFrank]

I feel kinda-sorta the same way, so I made this thread. Having attempted to read every review/complaint/praise about Cameraleather that I could find, it seems the issue is his lack of notification when an item is out of stock. This leads to the monstrous wait times without any communication. That is to say, if you go on his site, order something that he is out of (for example, grey lizard skin - it's available on the site but he has none) you won't have any idea whether it's in stock or not until he emails you, which might take some time.

Alternatively, you can email him before and ask - I did and received a response the same evening. I'll be making an order in the next few weeks of something he has told me he has in stock, so I'll let you guys know how it goes.

I'm not saying it's a perfect way to run a business, but since he seems to have the market cornered, it seems as though I need to find a way to make it work.

 

[dogberryjr]

I put this Levant Black on my Rolleiflex. It is really nice.

I put this on my F3. It's beautiful and has a great feel.

 

[johannielscom]

I'll be sending an M3 to CCR Luton to have it re-covered with real vulcanite next month. Most likely will be back before any leather from Morgan would arrive.

More costly I admit but since I will be having more work done on the camera its economical.

 

[Mister E]

Morgan has only been slow with me occasionally, but he's always taken good care of me. His prices are great and if no one mentioned it yet, this is just a side business for him. He's a small business owner, give him a break!

 

[LChanyungco]

hi Johan, how much is this going to cost ? could you either post or pm me ? thanks ! 🙂

I'll be sending an M3 to CCR Luton to have it re-covered with real vulcanite next month. Most likely will be back before any leather from Morgan would arrive.

More costly I admit but since I will be having more work done on the camera its economical.

 

[dave lackey]

Give him a break? I am a small business owner but no one gives me a break. Or anyone else I know, they just go under.

Again, reread my post! I am trying to help the guy. What the hell is so hard to figure out about that? His customer service sucks. There are many small business and management folks on RFF. Can anyone help him? Any volunteers?

I have a lot of free time and would be glad to notify and communicate with his customers for free for a month or so. Maybe someone closer to him could offer to help. I don't have a clue but the guy needs help.

So, stop your whining about my pointing out the obvious and let's see if we can help the man.😡

 

[Mister E]

The dude basically does enough to get by which is far more than my experience with DAG.

None of the other leather offerings come even close. His covers are top notch. Asahi Aki is just as flaky. Do I think it's a great business practice? No, but then you've got no where else to go. Anyone else could start up a business and do a better job. Help him for free? Wow, you're far more generous than I. As for whining, no I'm just realistic.

 

[dave lackey]

The dude basically does enough to get by which is far more than my experience with DAG.

None of the other leather offerings come even close. His covers are top notch. Asahi Aki is just as flaky. Do I think it's a great business practice? No, but then you've got no where else to go. Anyone else could start up a business and do a better job. Help him for free? Wow, you're far more generous than I. As for whining, no I'm just realistic.

Fine, if you accept his lousy customer service, knock yourself out. Read Frank's thread. He can't even get a response from an email.

I don't care, personally, I am not in the market for buying another cover for awhile. and if no one here other than Frank cares, then all is well with the world right? Like you, I had a problem with Precision Camera, but they fixed it and that is all that can be expected. They communicated very well and acted professionally. That is customer service. NOT answering emails is ridiculous.

I said Morgan was a nice guy and has a nice product. He just needs to tweak his responses to his customers. How hard is that?🙄 Hopefully, he will catch on to the easy fix and actually fix it.🙂

With that, I am done with this thread. Carry on.

 

[newspaperguy]

Funny how quickly we are prepared to label someone as doing a ****ty job based on a few exceptions. Maybe someone should take a poll and ask how many satisfied customers Morgan has as opposed to how many whiners.

Yes, you can count me in the first group. I've ordered from Camera Leather for over 10 years and never - not even once - have I been disappointed.

Before judging anyone's service from the comments of the disgruntled, perhaps it would be beneficial to ask yourself if the writer's expectations were realistic.