[Leica] Leica Service and my new 0.85TTL

[Cummer Family <cummer@asiaonline.net>]

Hello Luggers,
A couple of weeks ago, for my 56th birthday, I took the Star Ferry over to
Kowloon to Cameron Photo and bought a new M6HM TTL from Mr. Chin. I have
now purchased three new M6's - the first one in 1989 - from Mr. Chin's
brother Tommie, and the second, an M6HM, from Cameron Photo last year. In
the case of the first M6 the screw on the underside of the winding lever
had to be tightened and the plastic ring around the flash socket was
cracked when I bought the camera. Tommie took the plastic ring off another
M6 and replaced the cracked ring before I left his shop so I had no cause
for complaint. I have had that first M6 CLA'd once in ten years and the
camera continues to perform flawlessly. It is a sentimental favourite of
mine - I bought it with money left to me by my Dad.  My M6HM that I bought
last year arrived in perfect condition and continues to work fine. However,
the rangefinder of my new TTL began to bother me after I used it a few
times. The rangefinder patch would move past infinity. From where I live I
can see the lights of Ocean Park about a mile away. When I turned a lens to
infinity on a light at the top of the chairlift it would go into focus and
then form a double image again beyond infinity, as well as having a halo
below the light. I didn't get a single pin point of light as I expected. I
focussed on this distant light with my HM and with my old M6 - and achieved
a single point of light.  I decided I would have to take the new TTL in for
service. The point of this story is the wonderful service experience I had.
I called Peter Kwok of Schmidt Scientific and explained my problem and the
fact that I am leaving Hong Kong next week. He said, "No problem - what you
need is an emergency service." He called the service department and made an
appointment for me to see Mr. Tam, the service manager. When I got to the
service department, Tam came out to see me, I explained the rangefinder
problem, he said he could fix it in about ten minutes and he did! He came
back with a focussing target which he taped up on the wall about 10 meters
down the office hall and we focussed the TTL and focus was spot on. I told
Tam about running through a set of batteries already and he took the camera
back to check the battery circuit (it was pronounced okay) - Tam said don't
forget to turn off the camera when putting it in a camera bag - slight
pressure on the shutter release may keep the diodes lit and exhaust the
battery which is what I think I did - I'm not used to having to turn off a
Leica M! So, I am now ready for my summer vacation and delighted with the
service I have received and looking forward to taking many *good* pictures
during my travels to the UK, the US and Canada. I thought some might enjoy
hearing about this positive experience given how many unfortunate
adventures have reported recently by Luggers with regard to Leica quality
control and service.
Cheers, 
Howard Cummer.