Re: [Leica] Camera quality

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

Hi Ian,

No one is accusing you of miss handling your M6's. I got a new M6 that had
a problem as well. My point is that this stuff happens. My BMW warranties
are 8 years 80,000 miles and they loan you a *new* BMW when they have it in
for either service or warranty work. I have never paid a penny for any work
or repair. Never been without a car. Like Leica. I know we pay for this
"free" service, but the passport warranty makes a problem easier to tolerate.

All of these pieces of equipment are made by humans. The same humans that
fight with their spouse the night before, or were up all night with a sick
child. I'm surprised it's all as good as it is.

And if it wasn't actually made by humans, humans made the robots that made
the part. No one expected the Challenger to blow up a few years ago. If I
paid that much money for a rocket, and it blew up, I'd be pissed!

Stuff indeed happens. When it happens to you (or me) it seems unfair. But
thinking about all that is involved, I'm surprised it's as good as it is.
The older Leica's seemed better because each piece was hand fitted and
adjusted. Leica would be out of business today if they had continued that
practice.

Jim

At 01:50 PM 3/16/98 +0500, you wrote:
>Hello Jim,
>
>
>At 09:10 AM 98-03-14 -0800, you wrote:
>>I wonder if any of these people have had car trouble? I have a family of
>>six. Three sons, one daughter, a wife, and me. Five of us have BMW's of
>>various vintage. Mine's the newest, a 94 530, my wife's is a 91 525,
>>daughter a 90 325is, oldest son am 88 M3, next oldest son an 87 325i. Each
>>and every one of these cars has had something break. Something that wasn't
>>supposed to break. My wife's has had two new heads, a new radiator, and
>>transmission work three times. Mine has had two new timing chain covers. My
>>daughter's is the most trouble free. The M3 has a new engine. The 87 seems
>>OK too.
>>
>
>	Remind me not to buy a BMW - we haven't had any car trouble - we have used
>a Toyota Landcruiser and a Suzuki Samurai here in Nepal for over five years
>now and have had no trouble at all with either of the vehicles.  I won't go
>into details but the driving conditions here are not the.  Both have been
>serviced regularly but no repairs have been made.
>
>>The point is that sh*t happens! Period. I will continue to buy BMW's as
>>will my kids. Like Leicas, we know them, trust them, and when they get
>>sick, we fix them.
>>
>	I like my Leicas and I trust my M4-P but I had a problem with two (2) band
>new M6's and the when I sent the second one back to them to get fixed they
>didn't fix the problems that I had identified and told them about in great
>detail!!  My trust is a little shaken.
>
>>Also, you are looking at probably .001% of the total Leica population. And
>>of the 300 or 400 LUG members, you are looking at perhaps 1%. And don't
>>forget, many times problems are brought about by a mistake in handling.
>>
>	Both of the M6's I have been talking about were brand new - straight out
>of the box.  The damage was not caused by a mistake in my handling - my
>M4-P continues to function well in spite of me using it all of the time.
>
>	I know that this situation is more frustrating for me because of where I
>am living but one of the reasons that I decided on a new M6 was the
>reliability of my old Leica equipment.  I don't know if you have been in
>Nepal before but there are no Leica repair facilities here.
>
>Ian Stanley.
>
>Kathmandu, Nepal
>