Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/03/03

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Subject: [Leica] Holy Doodle: grey market equipment
From: John Collier <jbcollier@powersurfr.com>
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 17:18:50 -0700

Holy Doodle!

There seems to be a big misunderstanding about what grey equipment is. Here
is what it is not:

It is not grey if it is supplied by an authorised distributor anywhere in
the world.

It is not grey if you buy it mail order from a store supplied by an
authorised distributor. You do not have to be in country to be covered by
international warranty.

So you can phone up Timbuktu and buy your Leica gear there and, as long as
it is supplied by the official distributor, you will be covered by the
international warranty and the warranty will be honoured by your local
distributor.

The grey market equipment problem is a creation of Leica. They will, under
certain conditions, sell to unauthorised distributors. I assume the reason
is the size of the order. These unauthorised distributors can significantly
undercut the authorised distributors because they have no spare parts, no
repair staff, no nothing.

Warranty claims are processed though the country of origin. Leica USA, for
example, bills Leica AG for its own warranty work and has to document claims
and keep defective parts so they can prove the work is valid. If the camera
was purchased from another country then that country's distributor is
responsible for claiming for the warranty work. Equipment must have
provenience so that warranty fraud can be controlled.

If you have bought a piece of grey equipment, then there is no authorised
distributor who can give you warranty because the equipment has no
provenience and they cannot claim recompense. Are you then out of luck? No
but you have to send the equipment to Leica AG.

In order to control warranty and weed out fraud Leica makes it impossible
for distributors to claim recompense for repairs to grey equipment. Warranty
fraud is a real problem so the controls are a good idea.

What is the solution? In a perfect world Leica would only sell to authorised
distributors. Of course the world is not perfect and Leica cannot resist the
size of the unauthorised orders. I am sure there are more than one or two
people on this list who sell grey equipment (Joseph? Rich?). Perhaps they
could enlighten us further.

John Collier

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