The frustrating wait for my M8 to return

[tbarker13]

I'm heading into my 9th week of waiting for my M8 to be repaired. This repair was estimated to take 2-4 weeks in the letter I received from Leica.
The camera was having electrical sudden death type issues.

Since the company (Leica USA) says it cannot offer me any guidance on when I might get my camera back, I just thought I'd check here.

For anyone who's sent an M8 back this year for a warranty repair, what sort of turn-around did you experience. Did they get close to hitting the estimate?

[SolaresLarrave]

Sorry to hear about your predicament, Tim.

As for your question, I wish I could help, but have no M8.

[BillBlackwell]

I'm heading into my 9th week of waiting for my M8 to be repaired. This repair was estimated to take 2-4 weeks in the letter I received from Leica. The camera was having electrical sudden death type issues...

It is in situations like this you need a good Leica dealer like Tony Rose (Popflash) quarterbacking the problem for you. If your dealer leaves it to you to go it alone I would make it "public" and never buy anything from him again.

[tbarker13]

Well, I did buy from Tony.
I guess maybe I should have sent it back to him for help on this, instead of trying to deal directly with Leica.

[Keith]

Aaaargh .. every time I hear this sort of story I pick my M8 up, give it a hug and beg it not to do this sort of thing to me!

I'm sure if Tony becomes aware of what's happened he will attempt to push things along for you ... he seems like that sort of guy to me. :)

[furcafe]

My M8 has been repaired twice under warranty. The 1st time was for a defect (malfunctioning AE/metering) that was right out of the box back in January 2007; that took approximately 6 weeks door-to-door (DC-Solms). The 2nd time was for a dead up button; that took about 10 days door-to-door (DC-NJ). Both repairs were pretty close to the estimate.

I'm heading into my 9th week of waiting for my M8 to be repaired. This repair was estimated to take 2-4 weeks in the letter I received from Leica.
The camera was having electrical sudden death type issues.

Since the company (Leica USA) says it cannot offer me any guidance on when I might get my camera back, I just thought I'd check here.

For anyone who's sent an M8 back this year for a warranty repair, what sort of turn-around did you experience. Did they get close to hitting the estimate?

[tmfabian]

i have no first hand experience with leica repairs (thank god mine have never broke down) however a good friend of mine sent his m8 back for repairs through their professional service and it was back in his hands in a little more than 2 weeks...during which time they gave him a loaner to use.

My suggestion would be to contact Mr. Rose and see what he can do to expedite the process (I'm sure he knows a few folks over there in leica land) as well as for you to keep pestering leica about the repairs and at least have them give you an update.

I wish you the best of luck in getting this all figured out and hope it gets well soon.

[tbarker13]

I hate to bother them over it, but that strategy doesn't seem to be helping my cause.

The sad thing is that I've had this camera since Nov. 2006. That's roughly 20 months. But in reality, I've had the camera for 16 months and Leica has had it for 4 months. (the camera had to make a trip back to Solms right after I got it for the fix that all the initial cameras needed.)

[photomoof]

I imagine getting an M8 fixed is kind of like honking when there are cars in a line. The people who honk believe that by honking the line goes faster because they believe that the person in the front of the line is deliberately not going.

I am sure Leica is repairing cameras as fast as they can. Sometimes it takes longer because there are more repairs, or more complicated repairs in the lineup. Some months fewer camera need repairs, so the turnaround is quicker.

So if you call Tony, maybe he can get your repair made out of order? So someone else has to wait longer? Maybe he can, maybe not. I am sure there is a rush line for dignitaries and a few friends, but still everyone cannot be first in line.

So if honking your horn makes you feel like the line goes faster good luck on that.

Of course clearly from the waiting times reported, Leica needs more employees, but that is not probably easy, especially in the repair area.

[tmfabian]

i do agree with you to an extent, however they should clearly be able to at least get information about the camera and how the repairs are going.
In general I find most people aren't upset about lengthy things so long as there is proper communication.

I imagine getting an M8 fixed is kind of like honking when there are cars in a line. The people who honk believe that by honking the line goes faster because they believe that the person in the front of the line is deliberately not going.

I am sure Leica is repairing cameras as fast as they can. Sometimes it takes longer because there are more repairs, or more complicated repairs in the lineup. Some months fewer camera need repairs, so the turnaround is quicker.

So if you call Tony, maybe he can get your repair made out of order? So someone else has to wait longer? Maybe he can, maybe not. I am sure there is a rush line for dignitaries and a few friends, but still everyone cannot be first in line.

So if honking your horn makes you feel like the line goes faster good luck on that.

Of course clearly from the waiting times reported, Leica needs more employees, but that is not probably easy, especially in the repair area.

[photomoof]

i do agree with you to an extent, however they should clearly be able to at least get information about the camera and how the repairs are going.
In general I find most people aren't upset about lengthy things so long as there is proper communication.

Well i agree, but it would read something like -- it is sitting on the shelf 30th in line -- it is sitting the shelf 20th in line, it is sitting on the shelf 15th in line, and finally it is being repaired.

I admit it would be better if there was an idea, but I am still sure it is happening as fast as possible.

The issue is how much info can you get, very little from here in the US, it would seem, unless you make a real stink, or have your dealer make one.

Just as an aside:
Tony Rose lists himself as a broker in his RFF ad, I did not realize he is also a dealer? Because he calls himself a broker, I had thought all this time he only sold used equipment on consignment.

[ClaremontPhoto]

A year or so ago I had an issue with a Leica.

The head office would not quote a price or a turnaround time.

The local representative gave me a quote and a promise of same day service.

The local place (not so near so needed courier to and back) delivered on time and on budget.

[BillBlackwell]

Any time I have a Leica warranty repair issue I contact Tony and he handles it for me - I can't think of a single exception. That's why he always gets my business whenever I buy anything Leica (new). Quite frankly, until the M8 I haven't had much reason to be too concerned about it.

[tbarker13]

Tony actually called me this morning (I sent him an email late last night) and is going to do what he can to help.
Clearly I should have gone through him to begin with. A lesson learned there.
Amazing customer service - on Tony's part, that is.

[digitalintrigue]

Yes, Tony is an authorized dealer and he's top notch when it comes to service. I bought my M8 from him.

[boy_lah]

It doesn't help it's summer holidays in Europe atm. Germans take their holidays very seriously.

[bennyng]

Maybe Leica can consider some kind of online tracking for repair services, like UPS or USPS does for packages. May not take a lot of effort, but certainly something that their customers all over the world will appreciate.

Cheers,

[Keith]

The thing that worries me about time waits for repairs that run into months, and it seems fairly common, is that everything depreciates at it's own rate. While your camera is in being repaired Zeiss or Cosina could drop a gem of a digital rangefinder unexpectadly on the market and effectively wipe a grand or so off the resale value of your M8 while you don't even have it. I realise that this is just hypothetical and fairly unlikely at this stage but anything is possible!

[tmfabian]

Thankfully I don't have to worry about that...my m8 is scratched and dented to hell, I don't think the release of a new DRF would drop the resale value of mine any more than it already is.

Also, seems Mr. Rose is one high class act. Good to know there are still people out there who value customer relations in an honest and sincere manner (I hate those buggers that promise you the world just to get you to shut up...)
I will certainly make my next leica purchase through him after all that i'm hearing about him.

The thing that worries me about time waits for repairs that run into months, and it seems fairly common, is that everything depreciates at it's own rate. While your camera is in being repaired Zeiss or Cosina could drop a gem of a digital rangefinder unexpectadly on the market and effectively wipe a grand or so off the resale value of your M8 while you don't even have it. I realise that this is just hypothetical and fairly unlikely at this stage but anything is possible!

[Keith]

Thankfully I don't have to worry about that...my m8 is scratched and dented to hell, I don't think the release of a new DRF would drop the resale value of mine any more than it already is.


I would love to see a pic of a scatched and dented M8! :p

[tbarker13]

Well this has turned out quite well.
Tony Rose called me the morning after I emailed him about my situation. He said he would bring my case to the attention of the folks at Leica USA.
To make a long story short, this morning, a new M8 arrived at my house along with a nice note from Christian Erhardt apologizing for the delay.
I'm really floored by this on two counts.
First, I can't speak highly enough about Tony and his dedication to his customers.
Second, this was an incredibly nice gesture on the part of Leica. Certainly it wasn't something the company had to do, and I am thrilled.

[digitalintrigue]

Excellent! Tony is tops.

[photomoof]

Good call, I am sure someone in Germany looked at your camera and decided it was such a mess it would be better off resold as a demo, with all new parts.

[Gabriel M.A.]

Well, I did buy from Tony.
I guess maybe I should have sent it back to him for help on this, instead of trying to deal directly with Leica.

Hmm, me too, but I sent it to Leica NJ, which sat on it for almost three weeks before they realized there was a letter enclosed in it which explicitly outlined what needed to be done.

They sat on it because the person who was "taking care" of it didn't bother to look until it occurred to me to tell her of the fact that there was a letter taped to the thing.

After that, it took about 6 weeks.

[willie_901]

To make a long story short, this morning, a new M8 arrived at my house along with a nice note from Christian Erhardt apologizing for the delay.


This is very impressive indeed. Congratulations to you and to Leica as well.

[dcsang]

Good call, I am sure someone in Germany looked at your camera and decided it was such a mess it would be better off resold as a demo, with all new parts.

Ya.. I concur...

With mine, I was into.. umm.. the same week (week 9) when mine showed up.

As you're well aware, mine was a mere 2 weeks old so the chances that it was really messed up were slim but still.. it needed to be looked at.

I'm glad you got yours today Tim.. :)

Cheers,
Dave

[veraikon]

If it was sent to Solms, Hessia (Germany) . Hessian state school holidays finished there at this Monday. The weeks before were holiday time.

[dcsang]

Ya know.. now that I think about it..
here was the breakdown for my camera:
Back to dealer: April 29
Arrived in Solms: May 5
Rec'd snail mail from Leica: May 13 - post dated for May 8 (giving description of problem and fixes that were to be applied)
Checked a number of times on the status on Leica's site and it was always "in repair".
Started to get frustrated: June 9
Began email conversation with Leica customer service: June 10 (or thereabouts)
Camera "Completed" repairs: June 12
Camera shipped: June 16
Camera rec'd by me: June 19

Total transit time: 9 days
Total "out of my hands" time: 51 days
Total repair time: 42 days

So, excluding the travel time, it was 6 full weeks for the repair - not bad - but it always feels longer because, as Tom Petty sang, "The waiting is the hardest part . . . "

Dave

[BillBlackwell]

Good call, I am sure someone in Germany looked at your camera and decided it was such a mess it would be better off resold as a demo, with all new parts.

Actually, I think it was more like someone at Popflash reasoning with Leica corporate about their poor handling and how they should solve the problem - by sending the customer a new camera!