My M9-P has gone in for a sensor replacement

Today is the six month anniversary of the cameras arriving at Leica NJ. No word from Leica, nor anything other than a couple of out of office replies to my recent emails. I guess I have to call. The camera that was briefly home and was returned for oils spots accumulating on the new sensor was delivered to NJ 4/13, hopefully it did not return to the end of the wait list. At this point I'd rather pay something to get the damn things back, or just have them send me an M-D.
 
sepiareverb said:
Today is the six month anniversary of the cameras arriving at Leica NJ. No word from Leica, nor anything other than a couple of out of office replies to my recent emails. I guess I have to call. The camera that was briefly home and was returned for oils spots accumulating on the new sensor was delivered to NJ 4/13, hopefully it did not return to the end of the wait list. At this point I'd rather pay something to get the damn things back, or just have them send me an M-D.
Click to expand...

Email Leica directly and complain loudly !!!!
 
Email was replied to immediately with another out of office message. So I called. Waited on hold for Customer Service, to finally hear "Mailbox full, click". Called back and got the operator, she transferred me only to be disconnected. Called her back and got extensions of people who might help me. Dialed the first extension, sent to voicemail. Dialed the second extension, got a person! He took my work order numbers and put me on hold. About ten minutes later he came back on and said the cameras were done and being packed up for overnight shipping. Just home now and have a tracking number in my email. sacrebleu!
 
Worst customer service ever - what's become of Leica NJ?

Worst customer service ever - what's become of Leica NJ?

I sent my M9-P to NJ in early April, emailed them to ask if they received it, but only received an email in late June from Roxana with no text in email, only attached PDF stating the free sensor replacement along with the so called goodwill leather replacement. I have tried numerous times to email and call Roxana. In May, I received an automated reply twice, stating expected delays due to ongoing SAP training. In June, I didn't even receive email replies. Their phone extension for customer service always rolled into voicemail. In late June I finally spoke to a guy standing in for Roxana, it was his third day at Leica, and SAP training for Roxana was completed but she left early that day..... Really? So the brave soul tried to look up the status of my camera. After a long hold, he said my camera was in Germany for the repair work. Apparently they were out of the new sensors and had no news on the ETA of new stock. After this weekend it will be August, and throughout July I never received a call back from Roxana after leaving many voicemails. How is this acceptable? I also learnt that Allendale Leica has let go some staff members, but this is no excuse to treat their customers so poorly. I am another believer of the superior image color quality coming from the M9 sensor vs CMOS output from the M240, and surely don't need to shoot movies on a rangefinder (oh for heaven's sake!). For my passionate beliefs, I have to be punished with long wait times and be slapped in the face by getting shunned by the worst customer service for any brand, let alone a luxury brand. I actually forked out thousands to suffer through this ordeal, maybe that's the truth behind Leica's choice of their model names: S & M!
 
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leicaflex said:
I sent my M9-P to NJ in early April...After this weekend it will be August..
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Sorry to hear this. My experience was very similar. FYI there is no 'goodwill' in replacing the leather covering, as they have to remove the old one to do this work.
Anyway my old M-E definitely had more snap and sizzle to the images than my M240, as well as greater highlight recovery but I still sold it as I did not want to go through another 4 month ordeal again. And I would have as the sensor replacement was with the same old one that will fail again. Not the new one that is being used now - even though we have no idea as to how that one will hold up.

Upside/downside to all this is that I now shoot almost exclusively with film, and save the M240 for when I need to post cat pictures online...
 
Leica should be more like Rolex...all robotics made...and bulletproof...and fast turnaround times for service...2 weeks generally...
Rolex has a 5 year warranty..and 10 year general service interval...and comes in at at about the same prices as Leica..but Rolex has their act together...but unlike Omega..there are no special editions..just solid delivery and service...
 
photomoof said:
If I thought that way, I would never have lived in Italy, or even NYC for that matter, too ill-designed. 🙂
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However we are discussing relatively simple consumer goods... not immeasurable complex and convoluted systems such a cities or an entire nation.
 
If all goes well, I will be reunited with my sorely missed M9-P after this weekend. For some reason, I was told that it had to be sent to Germany. Time in NJ and Germany - almost 5 months. Does anyone know why mine had to be sent back to Solms, and what's bad about the old body covering that they are motivated to perform a free replacement? BTW please don't compare a Leica to a Patek or a Ferrari. These are completely different industries and have completely different management philosophies, supply chain logistics and post-market client support practices. I have designed and managed the build of swiss movement watches in my spare time - manual wind and automatic chronographs; and our Porsche dealership has fine customer support. But you see, these have nothing to do with tardy customer service by a camera manufacturer. It's all about poor management. NJ Leica has recently reshuffled their staff, and only a few of their long time employees remain. Werner and Sarah are still there, but Carmen and many of the old guard are gone. There's just no excuse for poor customer service.
 
Camera came back last Monday with old firmware v1.196, looked like all my custom settings were still intact, and I just knew something didn't seem right. Called Customer Service and Kevin picked up, I described my concern that I didn't get the new corrosion free sensor installed, he put me on a very long hold while he talked to the tech, Peter Sames, who also didn't know what was the full scoop on my M9. However, contrary to another customer service guy telling me previously that my camera was in Germany, Kevin said that the log showed no such thing. They emailed me a UPS 2DAY return label, so away went my camera, back to NJ. I called to speak with Bill Weier last Thursday, he wasn't in so I requested to speak with his supervisor, VP Operations. I told him that it was concerning a dysfunctional service department. He said that he would make sure that Bill calls me back.....which he did the next day... Friday. I told Bill about the dilemma re: the Leica NJ customer service in general and the mysterious disposition of my M9, he said that he would follow up on Monday and let me know what the evaluation results were. Monday came and went, I waited but to no avail, so I emailed Bill late Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, he emailed me back:

"Good morning, I brought your camera in to the shop. The sensor was not replaced; but needs to be replaced. Looking into the error of how your camera was shipped without being worked on. Your camera is on the technician’s bench and will be completed today. We will ship the camera tomorrow; after inspection. Best regards, Bill"

I can't believe how horrible my experience has been. I feel really let down by the NJ customer service team. Almost 5 months went by with nothing done right, and it had to come back to me to discern the incomplete service. Two work weeks elapsed thereafter from door to door, with the new sensor installation and releathering plus complete system test being accomplished in what sounds like just one day...well maybe 1.5 days at most. If it is true that firmware v1.204 can be backwards compatible with the old sensors, then I wonder if they truly installed the new corrosion free sensor this week? Guess if there's no corrosion in a few years time, I would be more assured. I truly hope that no one else has to go through the this rigmarole that I had to suffer through. Wish me luck as I shoot with it this Labor Day long weekend. I am looking forward to hearing from Bill on the post mortem analysis of their error, but I ain't holding my breath!
 
Hi Chris N,
My M9 went black on half the screen and white on the rest with no warning.
Off to Camera Clinic in Melbourne who said it was a sensor corrosion issue and it would be repaired.
That was 16th July, I am hopeful.
Kangaroo 2012
 
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