Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/19

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Subject: Re: [Leica] LEICAUSA: That ain't no customer, that's....
From: "Henning J. Wulff" <henningw@archiphoto.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 20:32:11 -0700
References: <000001bfda19$cd68d3a0$d70110ac@ccapr.com> <4.3.2.7.0.20000619192222.00ad5700@pop-server.nc.rr.com> <002c01bfda4b$eb0a8200$6f206420@kimmel>

At 5:49 PM -0700 7/16/00, Jim Laurel wrote:
>So, since when is the United States not part of the International community?
>
>All the rationalizing here doesn't matter when you have a customer that buys
>products in good faith and expects to be treated fairly.  There is nothing
>in the terms of Leica's international warranty that excludes the USA.
>
>Enforcement of the distribution channel should be transparent to customers.
>Leica sells a high quality, high cost specialty product.  Customers should
>be handled with the utmost care.  Lexus has built a business on that
>philosophy.  Thier service is legendary.  Leica should take a cue from them.
>
>--Jim
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Bud Cook" <budcook@attglobal.net>
>To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
>Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 5:10 PM
>Subject: Re: [Leica] LEICAUSA: That ain't no customer, that's....
>
>
>> I once bought a Leitz product from a well know mail order dealer in the
>U.S.
>> and I knew it was essentially a gray market item.   I asked him about a
>> warranty and he said I could always send it to Canada using the
>> International warranty.
>>
>> My assumption has always been that if you want Leica USA to fix something
>> under the International warranty, you had to prove you bought it outside
>the
>> U.S.
>>
>> It's up to the buyer and seller to make sure there isn't any confusion
>about
>> what's going on.
>>
>> Bud
>>
>>
>>

So have you run into a grey market Lexus lately? I think the point is that
if you buy grey market, you get a better price. Then, if you have problems
that should be fixed under warranty, you should reasonably expect that you
won't get the same warranty quality (speed, availability etc) as if you had
paid full price in the first place.

Since I live in Canada, and sometimes I buy things from the US or Hong Kong
or wherever due to the substantial price difference, or availability, I
expect that if I have warranty problems I might have to send things back to
wherever I bought them from. In some cases the total cost of the item,
shipping, and extra expenses might be more than paying the local full
freight. That's my gamble, but I don't expect anyone to come to my rescue.
On the whole I am ahead. Obviously, if I buy in the US I buy grey market,
because if I have to send it back to the US for warranty service, I might
as well get the benefit of the lower price. Sometimes warranty service
through the US is faster than dropping the same item off locally and seeing
it shipped to Toronto, then to Germany, and eventually back to me.

In any case, if you go for the cheap price, expect some tradeoffs. As long
as the store discloses that it's a grey market item, I don't think you have
a reasonable beef.

   *            Henning J. Wulff
  /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
 /###\   mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
 |[ ]|     http://www.archiphoto.com

In reply to: Message from "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net> (RE: [Leica] LEICAUSA)
Message from John Coan <jcoan@alumni.duke.edu> (Re: [Leica] LEICAUSA: That ain't no customer, that's....)
Message from "Bud Cook" <budcook@attglobal.net> (Re: [Leica] LEICAUSA: That ain't no customer, that's....)