the ongoing saga of my miserable m8 purchase...

[Frank Petronio]

I'm really sorry for your hassles but I am very impressed by Tony and Nikonwebmaster. I know where I'd buy... if I ever.

 

[gdi]

Yes, admirable attitude and work on the part of Tony R. and Fred!

 

[cuss]

ouch, a sad story, to say the least!

I think I can bring my own experience, here in Italy.
In july (late July to be fair), I've bought an M8 from a local dealer (I've could have saved a couple of hundreds euros buying online from some respectable shops, but I've preferred to "see my dealer in the face". The story tells me I did right).
After some days, I realized it had problems with focus and with frame lines - they didn't change when mounting lenses). It wasn't easy to spot it, as I'm a Leica newbe, but eventually, with the help of some friends, I brought it back to the dealer, pointing the problem out.
He looked at it, he consulted some "leica-gurus", and decided it had to be sent back to Leica.
Actually he didn't sent it to Leica Germany, but to the Italian Leica importer (Polyphoto) - as he was supposed to do.
I suppose he let it sit there a couple of days, before shipping it (he had to contact Polyphoto in order to arrange a shipment, I imagine).
Well, as soon as Polyphoto saw it, they send back a new M8 as a replacement. It didn't even need to go back to Solms to be "visited".
My new camera was back within two weeks.
I must admit I'm a satisfied Leica customer, who received a great post-sale service.
(we may argue that even two weeks is not quick enough for a professionist, but... for a small company like Leica - and compared to you hodissey! - it's acceptable to me)

This just to say, it's strongly depend on the local dealer/HQ.

Consider I'm in a very small country (if compared to USA, at least) and, I don't have any sale data, but I'm sure they sold less M8 in Italy than in the USA. We could expect, then, a worst service in here, but no, it's a great one, and I'm happy of it being so. (and to have chosen the local dealer for buying it).

Bottom line: it seems that the Leica USA/your dealer is to be blamed for your sad story. (not that this change much, especially for you!). And while this isn't the first story of this kind I've heard (well... read) about, I'm confident Leica is putting a great effort in the after-sale service, at least in some part of the world.

I hope you'll end up with everything back ASAP, and wish you good luck with your "new" camera...



cuss

 

[emraphoto]

thank you my friend

i am sure the m8 will turn out to be a magnificient performer when i finally get all the bobbles neccessary to use it!

cheers
john

 

[nitrox1]

This pretty much sums up the reason I'm going to order my M8 from Tony instead of from New York. It'll cost me an extra $400 in sales tax, but the personal service afforded by Tony will make it worth while should my M8 have issues.

Thank you for sharing your story and I'm sorry for your troubles.

John

And today I just put my money where my mouth is. I called Tony Rose and placed my order for an M8 with him. What a great experience to actually talk to someone who wants to talk with you about your purchase. We spent a good 20 minutes on the phone.

John, I am truly sorry to hear about your situation, and I wish you the best in getting it resolved.

John Hall

 

[emraphoto]

thank you for your well sihes john. today the rest of the kit arrived so at this moment in time i am charging the battery!
no word from mr erhardt at this point... oh well. an m8'ing we will go!
thank you again all for listening to be complain and offering your words of advice! it helped keep me from really going ballistic!
i'll let you know if i hear from mr erhardt!
cheers
john

 

[gavinlg]

thank you for your well sihes john. today the rest of the kit arrived so at this moment in time i am charging the battery!
no word from mr erhardt at this point... oh well. an m8'ing we will go!
thank you again all for listening to be complain and offering your words of advice! it helped keep me from really going ballistic!
i'll let you know if i hear from mr erhardt!
cheers
john

I'd love to see some shots from you and the m8 - see what this whole ordeal has been leading up to! I'm glad it's finally sorted though, good luck!

 

[CameraQuest]

thank you for your well sihes john. today the rest of the kit arrived so at this moment in time i am charging the battery!
no word from mr erhardt at this point... oh well. an m8'ing we will go!
thank you again all for listening to be complain and offering your words of advice! it helped keep me from really going ballistic!
i'll let you know if i hear from mr erhardt!
cheers
john

I've heard from Mr. Erhardt, the Director of Marketing Photographic Division, Leica USA.

Behind the scenes he and other key Leica personnel saw to it that your situation was handled quickly.

Stephen

 

[emraphoto]

indeed they did... i also spoke with him and feel very good about our conversation.
over the last day someone (or a few someone's) has obviously whispered in the right persons ear over there. thank you! the rest of the kit arrived so quick it made my head spin! yesterday afternoon i called to say i was missing a bunch of things, today at 9am they were all here!
i believe the only thing to do now is... as gavin has pointed out, make that m8 sing. as a matter of fact i think we should change this thread to the "make our m8's sing" thread.
i am so glad to put this behind me!
there is one other matter to cover here... this forum is a real resource and i want to again thank all the people involved. your kind words and excellant suggestions really make this place what it is for me!

stephen
cindy
fred
tony

you will continue to be a great source of information for me and i will always be appreciative of your input!

 

[agi]

And that's what makes this a great community. Congrats on resolving this issue and now show us some photos!

 

[nikon_sam]

Great...get that battery all charged up and get out there...the first shot should be you with the camera and a big smile for everyone...