Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com> wrote: >Is there no way to have real statistics from the maker, the importers and/or the dealers as to the evolution of quality control related complaints from customers through the recent years? >Is there no way for these people to go public with this, or at least to make some statement about the current situation ? Given that Leica won't even release lens and body serial number lists, the chances of them publishing commercially-sensitive information such as failure rates must be near zero. In the absence of such info, individual experiences are all we've got to go on, unrepresentative through these may be. In theory we list members could compile our own statistics, assuming that someone with a knowledge of statistics was prepared to process the information, and that the majority of us were prepared to take the time to submit information on the equipment we purchase. >So, please, all my colleague users, do not spread an image of degraded workmanship if this is not based on real and verifiable experience. Any member's exerience of faults is surely a "real and verifiable experience" - as long as we remember that it is only evidence of a single case, and not neccessarily evidence of a trend. If several posters report the same fault, this raises the possibility of a trend, and may give other users something they can check when making their purchases. Alan rightly raises the fact that reports of alleged poor quality can make prospective purchasers hesitate to buy Leica. This makes it all the more important that those of us who have no problem report this fact to the list. However, this raises a security problem - listing one's purchases could make the individual who owns a lot of equipment a target for burglary. Perhaps we should look for a long-established list member who would be prepared to receive such "no problem" reports, remove the poster's name, then repost weekly or monthly summaries to the list. >I have read posts of users ... arguing that the process of degradation is evident since the first milligram of plastic entered Wetzlar. If this is a reference to my own recent posting concerning plastic components in the M4 and Leicaflex, can I remind readers that I was reporting the view of a long-dead Leica user who had his first shave long before the Leica I was launched. I would suggest that for many amateur photographers, Leica equipment only becomes affordable in middle-age, when income may be at maximum, and children have grown up and left home. This must have been even more of a trend a generation ago, when Leica equipment was much more expensive (in the terms of typical earnings) than it is today. For people of my father's age, their experience of plastic was that this was an often-brittle material used to make cheap goods such as children's toys. The point I was trying to make was that many people of his age who were now able to afford new Leica gear for the first time in their lives may have seen plastic components as evidence of a drop-off in quality, so decided to stay with their existing second-hand screw equipment. Regards, Doug Richardson