Cameraleather.com experience

[slantface]

I would say that Morgan has gotten a whole lot better in the last couple of years. I had a few issues with cameraleather.com having to email over and over before getting a response saying my leather was delayed. However, they have turned the operation around, from what I can tell.

I recently ordered (in the last month or so), a levant black covering for my lever rewind M2, and had the kit in my hands within 4-5 days. Very quick turnaround compared to my 3-4 week turnaround from a few years ago. I would recommend them these days

[mbdiesel]

I finally got my m3 cover after two months. It's been a month now for my Nikon FA cover. It's hit or miss. Not very reliable.

[Vickko]

oh, I am so glad to hear that his service has improved. Morgan is a great guy.

[donkee]

It took about a month to get my Minolta XD kit. It was worth the wait though. My XD-11 is looking great once again wearing black Griptac!

The only problem I have now is what to order for the XD-5.........

[ped]

Got my R-D1 griptac kit and a leather kit very quickly, pretty sure it was only a couple of weeks to me in the UK. Very good and the stuff worked perfectly (have kept the leather set for spare!)

[danieldumanescu]

I've also posted this in another thread, but this one seems more active. So: order placed on April 6th for 5 kits, instant payment, instant "thank you for your payment" reply, "we should have all of these done this coming week" (namely by April 13th).
And, as you might already imagine, 0 (zero, nil, nothing, nada) communication ever since. I mean mutual communication, not just my (increasingly) questioning emails.
Judging from previous posts, he seems to be active. I wonder if my $178 isn't enough to buy me at least a decent email reply...

[danieldumanescu]

Update: I sent a message with "PayPal dispute to follow" in the subject line and ending it with "With all due respect, please be so kind as to offer me a reason for not claiming my money back while I can still do it." 11 minutes later the answer came back, letting me know that 4 out of my 5 kits are done and that goat and exotic kits usually take three weeks. Now either my logic has gone bad or "We should have all of these completed this coming week" in Morgan's language translates into "three weeks" in everyday language.
This has to be the weirdest way to run a business I've ever seen.

[robbeiflex]

I take it some of you have never been to Vermont, and therefore not experienced how time slows down there. Actually my experience with cameraleather was many years after I lived there, but I know that Morgan only cuts the material after it is ordered, and mine arrived even faster than I expected. Keep that in mind I'd you order more than one, and know that the quality is excellent and you do get what you pay for. A quality product takes time to produce.

Cheers,
Rob

[geebeewien]

Morgan is not very communicative, and did not reply to any of my emails. I orderd mid-march, and my leathers showed up yesterday, and I immediatly recovered my Pen FT. Despite a tiny misalignmet around the time knob which I can not work out better, it works just perfect.

Have just ordered some aganin for my other cameres.

[Trashfunkel]

Oh Yeah !! So happy to see he is on business again. I'm ordering mine today, let's see how much time it take for a Cardinal Red leather for a Canon P coming to Barcelona!!

[loquax ludens]

The cameraleather.com site is alluring. The quality of the product is widely acclaimed and resoundingly praised. But this thread reads like a horror story from a customer service perspective. Hopefully if I ever need new skin for a camera, there will be some high quality alternatives available.

[karlori]

Originally Posted by loquax ludens

The cameraleather.com site is alluring. The quality of the product is widely acclaimed and resoundingly praised. But this thread reads like a horror story from a customer service perspective. Hopefully if I ever need new skin for a camera, there will be some high quality alternatives available.

There is Aki Asahi... BUT me and quite a number of members had no such problems with Morgan, and I'd recommend his services /products every time someone asks for an opinion. IMHO some orders from this thread did take a while to complete but you got to understand that some leather is more of a luxury than the camera you are re-skinning and could be hard to get and not be available pre cut to him.

[Trashfunkel]

Originally Posted by loquax ludens

The cameraleather.com site is alluring. The quality of the product is widely acclaimed and resoundingly praised. But this thread reads like a horror story from a customer service perspective. Hopefully if I ever need new skin for a camera, there will be some high quality alternatives available.

What other alternatives do you know ? If you want to re-skin a Leica no problem (official service) , but what abou an old Canon or another rare cameras ¿?

Thanks !!

[loquax ludens]

Originally Posted by Trashfunkel

What other alternatives do you know ? If you want to re-skin a Leica no problem (official service) , but what abou an old Canon or another rare cameras ¿?

Thanks !!

I don't know personally. But Aki Asahi was just mentioned. Looks like they can supply new skin for a fair number of cameras.

[Bobbo]

I'm still waiting on an order for the cheapest covering for a Rolleicord from about 4 months ago. I've just written it off. I don't care any more, as I'm just going to focus on using slightly newer/nicer gear from now on.

Before this, he has been fine for a number of orders. It seems hit or miss (mostly hit, but the occasional miss). Then again, I also had to return gear to KEH this month because it didn't work for the first time in the 10 years I've been buying from them.

[BobYIL]

In case of urgent needs, you may try Aki-Asahi if you are after some conventional coverings. I have recently placed my third order to him; excellent quality, precise cutting and prompt delivery. I am very pleased with the results. This one was about three weeks ago:

[back alley]

i have bought from both without problem from either...

[L David Tomei]

I ordered the wrong material for my 1941 Leica IIIc from Cameraleather and he promptly sent an email and suggested the proper material. It was in my mailbox 4 days later and I live in a small mountain village in Italy. So, he has my vote.

[lynxkcg]

June 5- I paid for plain VH black leatherette and a scratch pad for my M3 via paypal.
June 7- Received an e-mail from Morgan stating my leatherette had been cut and shipped
June 11- Received leatherette in the mail.

[roundg]

I am still waiting for the leather of RD1 which I ordered last Dec. ....

[danieldumanescu]

More than 3 weeks ago, when he eventually answered my email, he wrote "I will reconnect with you as soon as I get back later today". As robbeiflex wrote, time seems to have a totally different meaning for Morgn, as the "today" he was writing about seems to be far from over.
I wrote him again 3 days ago explaining I would have to go on a trip in July with my naked cameras.
You guess - no answer.
Order placed on April 6th...

[jammcat]

Some people seem to have good experiences with cameraleather, but I paid for my order on 03/09/2012 and have received nothing as of yet. However good the end result may be, there is really no excuse for the terrible customer service, even if it is a small operation.

[mbdiesel]

So after I finally received my M3 cover, I decided to place another order for Nikon FA blue griptec. I had asked Morgan before placing the order if he was busy and he said not really. Well two months went by, many emails unanswered, and I even sent a letter via postal service. No answer.

A couple of days ago, I sent an email expressing my displeasure and asked for my money back. Today I got a notification from postal service that a tracking number was generated.

I hope it's my camera cover and not some explosive. I am done ordering from cameraleather. Too much BS.

[danieldumanescu]

Maybe we should start a poll (how long did it take for your cameraleather.com order to actually reach you) and grant some symbolic awards to those of us who did their very best in waiting. And waiting. And waiting, and then waiting a little bit more. And keeping on waiting. It looks like myself I've got no chances at all of getting any of the top awards with my insignificant (yet) 2 month + waiting time. And I still hope I wouldn't get to receive the first place award a few... years(?) from now.
I actually wrote Morgan that this was supposed to be a self-gift for my birthday which was in April. But that he'd also have other chances to send my order in April 2013, April 2014, April 20xx...

[roundg]

Originally Posted by roundg

I am still waiting for the leather of RD1 which I ordered last Dec. ....

It arrived yesterday. so 6 months after I put the order.

The product itself is great and Morgan wrote an apologize message in the invoice paper included in the envelop.　For me, it's a good gesture.