Re: [Leica] Tri Elmar Repair

[John Collier <jbcollier@shaw.ca>]

The Passport protection plan offered by Leica USA and several other 
distributors is IN ADDITION to the normal two year international 
warranty. So if you are in Timbuktu, and need warranty repairs during 
the two year period, it will be done (assuming there is a distributor 
where ever the h*** Timbuktu is).

As Leica USA was the only one offering Passport, you had to send it 
back to Leica USA for repairs that would only be covered under the 
Passport program. Now that several distributors are offering Passport, 
it MAY be possible that their are reciprocal agreements such as exist 
with the regular warranty. I do not know or particularly care that much 
as I still consider Passport as window dressing since it does not cover 
the two most common causes of loss.

It is getting very distressing to realize that a DEALER could be so 
misinformed on warranty matters.

John Collier


On Monday, January 20, 2003, at 12:12 AM, Kit McChesney | Acmefoto 
wrote:

> John--
>
> With all due respect ... :)
>
> Cameras, lenses, binocs, scopes, and other Leica products imported 
> into the
> United States via Leica Camera, Inc (USA) are warrantied by Leica 
> Camera,
> Inc. (USA). They all carry a special seal affixed to the package 
> indicating
> that they are warrantied by Leica USA and are officially imported by 
> Leica
> USA.
>
> On cameras (M and R) and lenses (M and R) that are covered under the 
> USA
> Passport Protection Plan (as well as binoculars covered under the 
> comparable
> binocular Lifetime Protection Plan), the warranty explicity states 
> that if
> the camera or lens fails to perform, or is damaged under conditions 
> outlined
> in the USA Passport Warranty, that the said item will be repaired by 
> Leica
> Camera, Inc (USA) at its Northvale, New Jersey offices. This means that
> wherever you are in the world at the time of the equipment failure, 
> under
> the term of the warranty, that the camera will have to be sent to the
> Northvale, New Jersey, repair facility. If you're in the U.S., you'll 
> send
> it to Northvale; if you are in Tokyo, you can either send it to 
> Northvale
> yourself, or entrust it to the Leica authorized repair facility in 
> Japan,
> whereupon they will forward it on to New Jersey for you. The transit 
> charges
> should be covered by the authorized Leica repair facility.
>
> The Passport Protection Plan isn't window dressing; it is a 
> comprehensive
> three-year warranty (as opposed to the international two-year 
> warranty) for
> all cameras imported into the United States by Leica Camera, Inc (USA).
> Leica USA pays for the repairs for cameras and lenses it warranties; it
> forwards cameras and lenses and other products purchased outside the 
> U.S.,
> with non-U.S. warranties, on to Germany for repairs. Leica AG will not
> reimburse Leica USA for repair work to cameras and lenses that are 
> covered
> by non-U.S. warranties. The same holds true in the other direction, for
> cameras purchased in the U.S. and given over to non-U.S. repair 
> facilities.
>
> All this may seem unfair, that somehow cameras purchased in the U.S. 
> are not
> repairable in other locales, however, there is a flip side to this 
> coin, one
> that is purposefully advantageous to the U.S. customer buying a U.S. 
> camera.
> The camera market in the U.S. is huge; the numbers of repairs that 
> would
> theoretically originate in the U.S. could be totally overwhelming to 
> the
> Germany repair facility. If John Doe in California buys a camera here 
> in the
> U.S., and it fails under warranty, he can send it to New Jersey, 
> rather than
> sending it back to Germany for repair. Leica USA is a separate 
> corporate
> entity from Leica AG. They are not the same company. Leica USA 
> warranties
> and cares for the products it imports and sells. It adds an extra year 
> of
> warranty protection to the product warranty for R and M cameras/lenses,
> adding to that the other coverage (for damage done to the camera by the
> owner--such as dropping, having sea water splash over the camera, or 
> any of
> a number of imaginable circumstances other than fire or loss, yes) not
> provided for by the international warranty. Most people are glad to 
> have
> this USA Passport Protection Plan, as it adds more value to their 
> cameras.
> They can also add two extra years of regular warranty coverage to the 
> camera
> anytime during the valid warranty period covered by the USA Passport 
> Plan.
>
> Kit
>
> --
> acmefoto | acme online sales, inc
> post office box 777 | louisville, colorado 80027 usa
> www.acmefoto.com | kitmc@acmefoto.com

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