Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/03/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Holy Doodle! There seems to be a big misunderstanding about what grey equipment is. Here is what it is not: It is not grey if it is supplied by an authorised distributor anywhere in the world. It is not grey if you buy it mail order from a store supplied by an authorised distributor. You do not have to be in country to be covered by international warranty. So you can phone up Timbuktu and buy your Leica gear there and, as long as it is supplied by the official distributor, you will be covered by the international warranty and the warranty will be honoured by your local distributor. The grey market equipment problem is a creation of Leica. They will, under certain conditions, sell to unauthorised distributors. I assume the reason is the size of the order. These unauthorised distributors can significantly undercut the authorised distributors because they have no spare parts, no repair staff, no nothing. Warranty claims are processed though the country of origin. Leica USA, for example, bills Leica AG for its own warranty work and has to document claims and keep defective parts so they can prove the work is valid. If the camera was purchased from another country then that country's distributor is responsible for claiming for the warranty work. Equipment must have provenience so that warranty fraud can be controlled. If you have bought a piece of grey equipment, then there is no authorised distributor who can give you warranty because the equipment has no provenience and they cannot claim recompense. Are you then out of luck? No but you have to send the equipment to Leica AG. In order to control warranty and weed out fraud Leica makes it impossible for distributors to claim recompense for repairs to grey equipment. Warranty fraud is a real problem so the controls are a good idea. What is the solution? In a perfect world Leica would only sell to authorised distributors. Of course the world is not perfect and Leica cannot resist the size of the unauthorised orders. I am sure there are more than one or two people on this list who sell grey equipment (Joseph? Rich?). Perhaps they could enlighten us further. John Collier - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html