[Leica] A question of a dealer's responsibilities and ethics

[gregor samsa <gregor...samsa@usa.net>]

I recently (last days of march) purchased an M6 classic in "mint condition"
from an established, though not Leica-authorized, dealer whose name will be
VERY familiar to most American LUGnuts. After perhaps a dozen or fewer rolls
this camera started manifesting an annoying but not critical fault: when I
double-stroked the film advance, it occasionally added space between frames
(occurring perhaps once per roll on average), generally skipping about one
sprocket hole. Over the following weeks, this problem has worsened so that it
now might happen three or five or more times per roll. The problem, suffice it
to say, can no longer be ignored. Just to repeat for clarity, the camera is,
somewhat counterintuitively, ADDING space between frames.

I called the dealer today to share this story with him and find a mutually
satisfactory solution and was surprised and appalled by his response: "I can
offer you a list of quality repair facilities and, well, good luck. We offer
no warranty on our used Leicas." He was saying, in essence if not in these
exact words, this "mint condition" camera was sold as-is and any mechanical
problem is just my tough luck.

Now, on the other hand, remember that it's been five weeks already that I've
had the camera and also that I neglected to call him as soon as the problem
started manifesting. (In my defense, and I'm no Clarence Darrow, I've been
swamped with projects lately and also, what is clearly a problem today I
rationalized as little hiccups originally).

So my question to one and all is: what do you think is a fair resolution here?
And, to help concentrate the mind, would you do business with this dealer,
knowing what you know now?

Thanks for any cool-headed responses.

Gregor

____________________________________________________________________
Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1