[Leica] The death of quality and support. Was: HELP WITH M6 TTL

[abridge at dcn.org (Adam Bridge)]

On 5/17/04 <tedgrant@shaw.ca (Ted Grant)> thoughtfully wrote: 

>
>Certainly that would have been the way it was before the internet, problem
>solved and surprise of surpises ... "you fixed the problem all by yourself."
>Now for heaven sake people have to ask the internet world about every
>conceivable situation. Doesn't anyone think for themselves anymore?
>

Ted and I have had a brief interchange off-line. As I read both his original
posting (abstracted above) and his note to me I realized what he's really
responding to - and it resonates: no one gives quality support any more, you
don't even remember what it's like, so you have to go to some community of
people who know in order to find out answers.

This has been growing for some time but most especially since the advent of
commodity personal computers. These devices, which really NEED support, don't
provide it and they market support that should be included with the product.

Attempting to return anything to these outfits, or their resellers, is such a
difficult and ugly business that trying to figure out the answer on  your own,
or with some help from on-line friends. Unless you're a Fortune 500 company and
order in pallet-loads, the chances of getting quality software or hardware
support approaches the vanishing point.

Back when I was out of college I owned and ran a software firm which had a
software product that did graphics. This was for DEC PDP-11 computers and for
small VAXen. We sold our product and we figured that we had an obligation to our
customers to both make sure our software did what they wanted it to, but that it
WORKED, so they could call us up and get some serious help. Sometimes we helped
them, sometimes they found a bug in our program and we quickly fixed it and sent
out replacements.

This was the NORM in the industry.

Then computers became commodities and any notion of support was thrust first on
the local reseller and then on user communities and FAQ lists when the reseller
couldn't make enough to even care any more - heck they only made $50/sale - what
sort of support can you give for $50?

In the United States, at least, that has translated into a profound reliance on
self-help, and communities who help each other. So it's no wonder that someone
who has forked over $1500 or $1800 for a camera wouldn't think to take it back
to the dealer, or even CALL the dealer: who would possibly expect to be
supported? The expectation is that you'll get some rude help line person who
won't have ever seen a Leica and will probably write in the on-line database:
Like-a.

The number of times I have had good service are SO small that when I get good
service I go back to the same place time and again. I hate to shop at Circuit
City. BUT...this past fall I moved a Sony TV under their extended warranty down
to my place in Arizona. I turned it on - it went "poof" - and died. So I called
Circuit City. They had a repair agent come and get the TV. When they couldn't
get a part to fix it I got a voucher for the NEW price of the TV so I could go
to the store and buy a new one and have it delivered. Think I'll buy my next
major TV at Circuit City and use their extended warranty? You betcha.

I have all my photofinishing done at a store in Sacramento because once last
summer they called me and asked me to check my R8 - they saw scratches on the
film and were worried it was from my camera. And they were right - there was
some dust there that should have been blown out. So I go back: they care.

Oh well, rant over, now back to your normal webcast.

Adam