Re: [Leica] Here is what it says....Part deux

[SthRosner@aol.com]

Friends:

We're like a bunch of people shouting at each other in the dark. You are 
talking about two different things: warranty and Passport.

Warranty: Leica Camera warrants new Leica USA equipment "against defects in 
workmanship and materials." For two years, except for Leica binoculars, 30 
years.

Note what is NOT covered under the Leica warranty that IS covered by the 
Passport Program: "DAMAGE to camera or lens, INCLUDING BREAKAGE, WATER 
DAMAGE, FIRE AND ANY ACCIDENT" (emphasis mine). For three years.

You drop your camera or lens and it breaks, no warranty coverage. Yes 
Passport coverage. You accidentally poke a hole in your shutter curtain, no 
warranty coverage, yes Passport coverage. I drop my 35/2 Summicron-M on a 
tile floor at the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi (it actually happened) and bend 
the mounting flange, no warranty, yes Passport. Your camera is destroyed in a 
fire or soaked in a flood but you are able to retrieve the remains which are 
identifiable and show a serial number, no warranty, yes Passport.

Note, under the Passport program, Leica USA repairs and returns to full 
functionality but does not restore to pre-existing cosmetic condition. If not 
reparable, they may replace with comparable equipment.

Just checked this with David Elwell at Leica USA. For me, this is cheap 
insurance for three years, not just a warranty against defects in materials 
or workmanship but a real insurance policy. You may disagree, buy grey-market 
and want to assume that risk. That's entirely reasonable but let's hear no 
more charges of rip-off. 

Incidentally, John, if your Leica with the bent rewind thingie was not bought 
with USA Passport, either you were lucky or they were generous. That's 
damage, not a manufacturing defect and it is not covered either under the 
factory or LeicaUSA warranty.

Seth          LaK 9



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