Revisiting Leica Customer Service

[JohnnyUno]

Due to my previous 2 dismal Leica service experiences I guess you'd have to say I'm not very smart in that I have acquired a NIB 3200.com unit from an acquaintance of mine. No, I did not buy it directly from a retail facility, but it is still NIB, never used.

Yesterday I got these out of the box, put in the battery, and lo and behold this thing won't range squat, only very occasionally it may read something under 100 yds. Yes, 100 yds, and nothing at all, zero, nada over that range. Disappointing for a $3000 unit.....that's an understatement, as I start hunting mule deer and whitetails in 3 1/2 weeks.

I reach out to Leica Customer service yesterday morning and get crickets until I finally got a contact name from Doug at CL named Hamilton. I reached out to him and he finally did call me back and told me he thought it could be a DOA unit so he sent me an email to get the ball rolling with Brenda at Leica. Didn't hear squat all day yesterday and basically half a day today. She finally emailed me saying that since even though these were a brand new, never registered unit, they would not honor the DOA policy so she got another customer service lady in the loop. Crickets for a few hours then finally another email telling me where to ship them back to. Upon receipt they would guesstimate an ETA for getting them back to me. Yes, I ship and insure on MY dime (about $100), even though this is a brand new, never used, never registered unit. I'm very tempted to demand a refund from my acquaintance in which I purchaser them and let him deal with it, and thank my lucky stars I don't have to deal with Leica Customer Service that still apparently sucks in spite of what I have heard otherwise.

Am I being unreasonable with my experiences and expectations?

 

[ormandj]

Due to my previous 2 dismal Leica service experiences I guess you'd have to say I'm not very smart in that I have acquired a NIB 3200.com unit from an acquaintance of mine. No, I did not buy it directly from a retail facility, but it is still NIB, never used.

Yesterday I got these out of the box, put in the battery, and lo and behold this thing won't range squat, only very occasionally it may read something under 100 yds. Yes, 100 yds, and nothing at all, zero, nada over that range. Disappointing for a $3000 unit.....that's an understatement, as I start hunting mule deer and whitetails in 3 1/2 weeks.

I reach out to Leica Customer service yesterday morning and get crickets until I finally got a contact name from Doug at CL named Hamilton. I reached out to him and he finally did call me back and told me he thought it could be a DOA unit so he sent me an email to get the ball rolling with Brenda at Leica. Didn't hear squat all day yesterday and basically half a day today. She finally emailed me saying that since even though these were a brand new, never registered unit, they would not honor the DOA policy so she got another customer service lady in the loop. Crickets for a few hours then finally another email telling me where to ship them back to. Upon receipt they would guesstimate an ETA for getting them back to me. Yes, I ship and insure on MY dime (about $100), even though this is a brand new, never used, never registered unit. I'm very tempted to demand a refund from my acquaintance in which I purchaser them and let him deal with it, and thank my lucky stars I don't have to deal with Leica Customer Service that still apparently sucks in spite of what I have heard otherwise.

Am I being unreasonable with my experiences and expectations?

If you're not happy with it, you're not happy with it. Just give it back to whomever you bought it from, and pass all the legwork off to the original owner re: warranty and move on. Even if they fix it, are you going to be happy? Your first sentence pretty much sums it up. I'd also be pissed at whomever you did buy it from for not telling you about such a serious defect on purchase. I'd be far more mad at him/her than Leica.

FWIW, if you were the original owner (not sure if they offer a transferable warranty) I would have expected them to cover the full shipping cost. If you're not the original owner, and the warranty is not advertised as fully transferable, then that isn't a raw deal with them asking you to pay shipping.

Re: all the delays, chasing down support for most companies is impossible right now, so while I think it's a poor experience, it's not uncommon. A day or two isn't bad in that regard. That said, if it's important to you, there are other companies in this business that will pick up the phone every time, so just buy from one of them.

 

[JohnnyUno]

For 2021 Leica's passport warranty is transferrable, and they offer 10 years on electronics at the same time. I guess it really bothers me because I have had to send my Swaro SV's back twice due to me dropping them in the sand and them rolling around, a couple of Leupold RF's, and a new to me Vortex Fury AB that I sent back to fix a very hard to use focus wheel. In every single case they manufacturer sent me a prepaid shipping label. Swaro had them back to me within 3 weeks, Leupy 2 weeks, and Vortex 10 days. Leica seems to think customer service involves sending an email every 8 hours, or when they get around to it.

 

[ormandj]

For 2021 Leica's passport warranty is transferrable, and they offer 10 years on electronics at the same time. I guess it really bothers me because I have had to send my Swaro SV's back twice due to me dropping them in the sand and them rolling around, a couple of Leupold RF's, and a new to me Vortex Fury AB that I sent back to fix a very hard to use focus wheel. In every single case they manufacturer sent me a prepaid shipping label. Swaro had them back to me within 3 weeks, Leupy 2 weeks, and Vortex 10 days. Leica seems to think customer service involves sending an email every 8 hours, or when they get around to it.

Give it back and move on. Sounds like you've got a lot of other great options you've experienced already that will meet your expectations!

 

[Matt ironwood]

Due to my previous 2 dismal Leica service experiences I guess you'd have to say I'm not very smart in that I have acquired a NIB 3200.com unit from an acquaintance of mine. No, I did not buy it directly from a retail facility, but it is still NIB, never used.

Yesterday I got these out of the box, put in the battery, and lo and behold this thing won't range squat, only very occasionally it may read something under 100 yds. Yes, 100 yds, and nothing at all, zero, nada over that range. Disappointing for a $3000 unit.....that's an understatement, as I start hunting mule deer and whitetails in 3 1/2 weeks.

I reach out to Leica Customer service yesterday morning and get crickets until I finally got a contact name from Doug at CL named Hamilton. I reached out to him and he finally did call me back and told me he thought it could be a DOA unit so he sent me an email to get the ball rolling with Brenda at Leica. Didn't hear squat all day yesterday and basically half a day today. She finally emailed me saying that since even though these were a brand new, never registered unit, they would not honor the DOA policy so she got another customer service lady in the loop. Crickets for a few hours then finally another email telling me where to ship them back to. Upon receipt they would guesstimate an ETA for getting them back to me. Yes, I ship and insure on MY dime (about $100), even though this is a brand new, never used, never registered unit. I'm very tempted to demand a refund from my acquaintance in which I purchaser them and let him deal with it, and thank my lucky stars I don't have to deal with Leica Customer Service that still apparently sucks in spite of what I have heard otherwise.

Am I being unreasonable with my experiences and expectations?

Ive had a issue with a scope I purchased and had to use leicas warranty, i ended up sending it in at the begining of covid. I was told that they outsourced the repair. When the repair was checked by leica, they found the issue was not fixed. They did not have my exact scope to send me, and gave me a 3 options. I am very satisfied with the outcome.

i also had to pay shipping to them, wasnt happy with that, but quickly forgot when they went above and beyond.

i would buy leica products again, no questions asked.

 

[koshkin]

For reference, he has a lengthy discussion of this on 24HCF: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...cs/16506737/revisiting-leica-customer-service

Not sure if he was looking for opinions or just trying to bash Leica in as many places as possible.

ILya

 

[ma smith]

wtf the comments are cut and pasted not just the op

 

[Globalstar66]

Seems you're pretty hard on your stuff given all the repairs on various brands you need, or just SOL.... Anyway, when YOU purchase from an authorized dealer directly, and it's DOA when you RECEIVE it, Leica will swap for a new unit. Otherwise, it's warranty issue and needs to be returned for repair....

 

[JohnnyUno]

You would think it would be and easy deal, but apparently it's hit and miss with Leica. No, I'm not hard on my gear, I just use it, hunting about 70 days a year.

Yeah Koshkin, I do have a discussion ongoing on 24HCF, looking for opinions as to how to proceed. I found that just that by posting my situation. I was PM'ed a name/contact who actually got involved to get the matter off of high center. If you can't help, which you obviously can't, why bother posting worthless drivel?

 

[koshkin]

Which exact part was worthless drivel? I simply pointed out that you already have a discussion going on and it looks like people at Leica were on the case.

Were you hoping that by posting it at multiple forums you will have some extra people at Leica talking to you?

For the record, there is a world of difference between can't help and won't help.

ILya

 

[JohnnyUno]

Others have provided help, which is what I was looking for, not bashing, just the facts. For some, facts are tough to deal with. I've never paid much attention to what you have to say anyway.

 

[Average guy]

A year ago I was going to purchase a NIB Leica PRS scope. After looking over the warranty I walked away. This day in age these screwy warranties are definitely outdated to say the least.

 

[chevy_man]

Others have provided help, which is what I was looking for, not bashing, just the facts. For some, facts are tough to deal with. I've never paid much attention to what you have to say anyway.

You'd do well too pay attention to his reviews and optical engineering knowledge.

Does it suck that it was DOA? Yes! Why wouldn't you test it for a minute before paying for something second-hand though?

 

[ma smith]

Ebay and Papal require the goods to be 'as described' and probably your credit card company has a similar policy.

 

[Budrichard]

I have Leica M’s both analog and digital, 4 pairs of binocs, a Series 80 Televid and PRS scope.
Any questions, problems, help, no problem from Leica USA.
I now source as much as I can from Doug at CL.
But a lot has been purchased on the secondary market.

 

[JohnnyUno]

You'd do well too pay attention to his reviews and optical engineering knowledge.

Does it suck that it was DOA? Yes! Why wouldn't you test it for a minute before paying for something second-hand though?

I've likely killed and culled more big game animals in my 49 yrs of hunting than he's ever seen, and I know how to mount scopes, and I know what scopes work for what I'm doing (I don't shoot competitions). I fail to see how he can help me do anything I'm doing but I appreciate the tip.

I didn't have a chance to test it, or I would have.

 

[chevy_man]

I've likely killed and culled more big game animals in my 49 yrs of hunting than he's ever seen, and I know how to mount scopes, and I know what scopes work for what I'm doing (I don't shoot competitions). I fail to see how he can help me do anything I'm doing but I appreciate the tip.

I didn't have a chance to test it, or I would have.

Are you a concrete guy by trade? How much can you bench?

 

[Rancid Coolaid]

Due to my previous 2 dismal Leica service experiences I guess you'd have to say I'm not very smart in that I have acquired a NIB 3200.com unit from an acquaintance of mine. No, I did not buy it directly from a retail facility, but it is still NIB, never used.

Yesterday I got these out of the box, put in the battery, and lo and behold this thing won't range squat, only very occasionally it may read something under 100 yds. Yes, 100 yds, and nothing at all, zero, nada over that range. Disappointing for a $3000 unit.....that's an understatement, as I start hunting mule deer and whitetails in 3 1/2 weeks.

I reach out to Leica Customer service yesterday morning and get crickets until I finally got a contact name from Doug at CL named Hamilton. I reached out to him and he finally did call me back and told me he thought it could be a DOA unit so he sent me an email to get the ball rolling with Brenda at Leica. Didn't hear squat all day yesterday and basically half a day today. She finally emailed me saying that since even though these were a brand new, never registered unit, they would not honor the DOA policy so she got another customer service lady in the loop. Crickets for a few hours then finally another email telling me where to ship them back to. Upon receipt they would guesstimate an ETA for getting them back to me. Yes, I ship and insure on MY dime (about $100), even though this is a brand new, never used, never registered unit. I'm very tempted to demand a refund from my acquaintance in which I purchaser them and let him deal with it, and thank my lucky stars I don't have to deal with Leica Customer Service that still apparently sucks in spite of what I have heard otherwise.

Am I being unreasonable with my experiences and expectations?

Funny that the new guy - who admits to being "not very smart" is bashing a subject matter expert - while simultaneously telling us how much experience he has AND asking for advice on a thing that most 10 year olds could figure out in under a minute.

Everyone on the internet is a badass...

And I do so love the "ignore" feature on this site!

ILya, I mostly listen to you and somewhat value your input. Mostly. Usually.

 

[JohnnyUno]

Rancid....another clown show reject from the optics talk forum. Go over to Ilya's link and post over there and I'll teach you a thing or two.

 

[Rancid Coolaid]

I love internet tough guys, the absolute best.

Ignored.

 

[koshkin]

ILya, I mostly listen to you and somewhat value your input. Mostly. Usually.

I am deeply honored...

ILya

 

[Huskydriver]

Rancid....another clown show reject from the optics talk forum. Go over to Ilya's link and post over there and I'll teach you a thing or two.

Gotta be a Quigley Ford or huskemaw guy....

 

[JohnnyUno]

Gotta be a Quigley Ford or huskemaw guy....

Definitely not that. I gravitate to Bushy LRHS mostly, with an occasional SWFA or Cronus if dialing.