Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/01/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Okay folks, I've got the scoop from the director of warranty registrations at Leica USA. This supports everything I've already mentioned here. You can believe it, or not believe it, that's your choice, but this is how the USA warranty works: 1) Leica USA warranties its products intended and registered for the U.S. market. They are identifiable by serial number, and always come in a Leica box with the seal that reads "Officially Distributed by Leica Camera, Inc." This means that it was officially distributed through Leica USA, out of New Jersey. If they are M or R cameras or lenses, they automatically carry the USA Passport Protection Plan. If they are sport optics (other than the laser rangefinders and Geovids) they are covered by the Lifetime Sport Optics Protection Plan. 2) Leica USA considers any product not bought in the USA and warrantied under their USA warranties to be gray market, for purposes of warranty service. In essence, it does not matter whether you bought the non-U.S. Leica product from a dealer in Germany, or from a dealer in the U.S. (whether authorized or not), if the product was not imported and registered through Leica USA, it's gray market. Period. Always ask if the product you are purchasing is a U.S. product, if that's what you want. 3) If you have a U.S. product, and during the warranty period it fails (or is damaged under the conditions covered by the USA Passport Protection Plan), the product will be repaired by Leica USA. It will have to be sent to New Jersey for repair. If you are outside the country, sometimes a non-U.S. facility will agree to repair it, if they feel they can be reimbursed by Leica USA, but in most cases, they will not. They will, however, forward it on to Leica USA for you, and in such a case, that will save you the costs of shipping to New Jersey yourself. You can do either; ship yourself, or have an authorized dealer ship it for you. 4) If you have a non-U.S. product (bought outside the U.S., or not a U.S. product) Leica USA may, at its discretion, repair on site. In most cases, though, Leica USA will forward the non-U.S. product to Germany for repairs, because the international warranties are serviced by Leica AG, in Germany. 5) Leica USA has more than a dozen skilled and certified technicians who work out of its New Jersey location. Anything that requires repair can be done in the U.S. Most of the technical staff are from Germany. So this notion that the repairs can't be done here because the personnel are not experienced, or lack the training, is nonsense. So there you go. KM - -- www.acmefoto.com | kitmc@acmefoto.com - -- - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html