Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/03/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 08-03-1998 23:12 Alfred Breull wrote: (snip) >You pay several thousand $ to get a part of Leica gear, and wait >8, 10 weeks or longer till you get it - instead of investing >USD 80, 100 and hold it in your trembling fingers at the very next day. > >It's absolutely incredible to me, that any LUG who spends that much >money on the gear, reacts absolutely cheap on delivery conditions and >prefers to wait instead investing into UPS and receive the gear next >day till 10.30h. > >So, why don't you call Leica GmbH, make them send your gear via USP and >own it at the very next day ? I would go crazy if I needed to wait weeks >and weeks for my gear - absolutely incredible to me. Alfred, believe it or not, but this is also the general situation over here in Belgium. And we're not that far from Germany... At most dealers you have a clear choice: - - either they have an item in stock (which is VERY seldom the case, at least for the precise item you want): you can inspect it and take it or leave it. - - or they do not have it in stock: you can order it, sometimes pay a deposit (because they say they can do nothing with non-sold Leica items, hum...), and after weeks (or months) waiting you may praise yourself lucky you are able to pick it up, inspect it, but in any case pay it, even if you decide not to keep it because it appears not to be what you wanted exactly. Rare is the dealer who will let you walk out of a deal without financial loss on your side. If you want the item, but you notice flaws, then of course you'll be entitled to ask for a replacement item, and wait another couple of weeks/months. It is my experience the situation is MUCH better in Germany (only to be expected), so it is always easier to go shopping for Leica gear in Germany, but then there is the question of the guarantee... which should be honored worlwide... until the moment some failure happens and a local dealer in your country will blatantly tell you he will only send in your item if you agree to pay for the repair, "because you didn't buy the bloody thing in your country". And if you protest with the official importer, they will tell you the same story... And so I could go one for a while. To make it even clearer, when I went into the biggest camera store in my home town, and made enquiries about Nikon F5, they looked at me, and showed all the Nikon gear I wanted to see and hold, and when I wanted to know about Leica R8 they just smiled at me and told me they do not have Leica items in stock, although they admitted that the lenses are great, but then again they said: "would you be really prepared to pay more than 3 times the price for comparable top Nikon lenses only to have such a small quality increase?" See the problem? Greetings, Pascal - -------------------------------------------------------- t h i n k d i f f e r e n t a p p l e c o m p u t e r - -------------------------------------------------------- <<< PGP public key available on request >>>