[Leica] four stars for Leica USA -some babbling

[Photovilla@aol.com]

Hi Folks...amongst the many tales of woe- I figure a tale of good service 
should be posted too. 

While I am a Leica USA dealer, I think most of you who know me find that I am 
not a cheerleader for Leica or any brand of camera. This is true if I carry 
it or not...I call them as I see them. 

In my dealing with Leica cameras I have had very few problems. I have had one 
bad R8 body out of many that I have sold, and only one bad M6 body with a 
very subtle problem. I have sold hundreds of bodies and lenses mind you...

Now, today a customer who purchased some gear from me last week, called 
reporting a problem with a piece of gear that was quite unusual. We spoke on 
the phone for about 10 minutes and determined that it was indeed a problem. I 
didn't have a like-item in stock to exchange at the moment...and he was 
leaving for trip abroad at the end of the week.

I called Leica USA and talked to them about this. I expected them to say, 
send it in under passport and let the customer wait until it is fixed...but 
that is not what happened. 

Instead, I was told that it would be arranged that if he overnights his item 
in to them, they would ship a new one right back to him...in time for his 
trip indeed! They told me that "when they can do it, they make every effort 
to do so." I guess this one goes back to Germany to be fixed...but at least 
my customer didn't end up waiting for that event!

I called my customer, who was quite pessimistic the first time we spoke, and 
he was excited and grateful for the service. He called Leica right away and 
arranged it. He wanted to know if I "called in a favor with Leica," and the 
truth is _no_ I really have not been a big enough part of their business on 
the whole to believe I received any special treatment. I asked politely, they 
considered it, and they called back with good news. If they responded with 
bad news, there would not have been much I could have done.

While the pessimist might say that every item should leave the factory 100% 
certified and tested, always working without doubt, I think we all know that 
no manufacturer has accomplished this lofty expectation -and most have a 
piece or two slip through that don't work. 

(I think most new cars end up once back to the dealer at least once  too..and 
I hear that an M6 has close to the same number of parts as some simple 
cars.)The important thing was that their attitude was positive, their service 
exemplary and their efforts impeccable. 

I think we should consider that they occasionally get things right as much as 
we pounce on their shortcomings...

cheers,
Rich