Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/10/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Some companies vigourously fight against gray market goods. Omega Wtach Co., on their website, basically implies that any Omega watch purchased from an online website, or any source other than an official Omega retailer, is likely to be either counterfeit or stolen. I doub't that it is true, but it certainly gives someone some doubts when shopping around for cheap prices. I'm surprised Leica, as a manufacturer of a prestige item, doesn't follow suit. -dan c. At 09:10 AM 24-10-04 -0600, you wrote: >I hate to open the official/grey debate again but :-) > >Buying a camera from any official distributor through their regular >dealers will give you an official warranty honoured world wide. The >passpost warranties are actually insurance schemes and each distributor >offers their own as insurance laws vary from country to country (one >reason away). > >So if you require service during the normal warranty period, any >distributor's repair depot will be able to help you. If you require >service only available under the terms of your passport warranty, then >the item will have to back to the repair depot of the distributor it >was purchased through. > >Grey market is something entirely different. Some one with deep >pockets, our grey marketeer, orders a ton of stuff from Leica. Leica >agrees to sell outside their normal distribution channels because they >are greedy. Our grey marketeer has lower costs because they have little >or no staff, no parts, no minimum stock, no area reps, no or minimal >repair depot, no advertising: none of the things required by Leica from >their official distributors. > >I have heard, though I do not know if it is correct, that Leica is no >longer dealing, or slowly eliminating dealing, with grey marketeers. >This is a smart business strategy in my opinion. A good deal of ill >will has been generated in the past by people who were disappointed in >the difficulty of getting warranty service after purchasing grey market >goods. > >John Collier