Re[2]: Don Chatterton

[seungmin@luxmail.luxcom.com]

     I absolutely agree with you.  The M4-2 had erratic shutter, which 
     could not be happened during shipping.  It is my guess that Don has 
     been doing very good business and now enjoys a little too much of it 
     to pay close attention to the customers as he used to.

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Don Chatterton
Author:  leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us at Internetmail
Date:    11/25/96 4:40 PM


Various people sent in mail relating positive experiences with Don 
Chatterton after I and someone else related our experiences receiving 
broken cameras from him.  One person suggested that the M4-2 had been 
damaged in shipping, which I doubt, although I can't be sure. However, 
I can be quite sure that the damaged R6 I received from Don Chatterton 
was not damaged in shipping.  The reason I can be sure of that is that 
the problem with it was that the meter lights lit up backwards (the 
overexposure arrow lit up when the aperture was decreased, and the 
underexposure arrow when the aperture was increased, and the center 
value was in any case wrong), and when I sent it to DAG at Don's 
request, Don told me that DAG told him that it was "wired up all 
backwards inside."
     
I can't think of any way that a Leica R6 can suffer damage in shipping 
that causes it to become "wired up all backwards inside."  Before I 
bought the camera, I asked Don very clearly whether he had tested the 
camera and he said he had, and he had found it in perfect working 
order.  Obviously he had not, unless somehow someone had gotten hold 
of the camera and "wired it up all backwards inside" after he tested 
it but before I received it.  This seems unlikely.
     
Now, I did not say that Don Chatterton is a bad man.  I very carefully 
said that I did not think he was trying to steal from anyone.  But I 
do think that he is at least careless.
     
I think it's useful to have everyone's data on dealers -- both good 
experiences and bad -- so we can make our own decisions based on as 
much data as possible.  The Photographic Mail Order Survery 
unfortunately doesn't always have a lot of data on Leica-only dealers, 
so our group can be a valuable resource in this regard, if we're 
willing to listen to both positive and negative data about dealers.