[Leica] What would you do if this happened to you?

[jls at runbox.com (Jeffery Smith)]

I would drink for a while. The UPS just lost a new M6 and dismissed it
with a "sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused" email. And I
thought I was the maddest guy on the continent. My loss was over $1500,
but I attribute it to a thief (a more noble reason than a heavy-handed
"patriot"). Deliberately damaging the M7s seems to me to be more of a
"maybe now you won't ship cameras in the future, asshole" kind of
response. I was verbally abused and nearly stripsearched for trying to
board a plane with a Leica CL three years ago. Now, I only travel with a
digital P&S. But that's not an option for a professional photographer.

Jeffery Smith
New Orleans, LA


-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Ted
Grant
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 12:27 AM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: [Leica] What would you do if this happened to you?

What would you do under these circumstances?

You use a black heavy duty plastic foam filled Halliburton case to carry
3
M7's and a half dozen M lenses.

You are not allowed to lock the case because the TSA security staff may
want
to look inside. And if you do use locks they'll cut them off anyway! So
to
make life easy you I didn't lock the case, but run black duct tape
around
the edges as I kind of feel good safety thing. Very easy to open by
pulling
the tape off, flipping two catches, that's it into the case and
equipment.

You cross your fingers & wave the case good bye as it's checked along
with
your other bag. Landing in Seattle from Victoria bags were claimed,
through
customs, then turned over to baggage handlers for the connecting flight
at
which time the black tape was intact.

Arrival in Phoenix we pick-up case and bags, black tape is gone and
silver
duct tape replacing it. Obviously the case was opened for TSA
inspection.
That's cool I'd rather have them check things as I'm a million air miler
and
I'd like to make it two million.

However, upon opening the case and attempting to load the cameras, two
of
the M7's were damaged beyond use with the shutter releases jammed right
into
the body of the camera. Nothing could be done at all. Those of you who
use
M7's know there's a shutter release lock to avoid accidental release and
the
camera shutter can't be tripped until the switch is moved to release it.

So OK lets think about what happened here as all three cameras were in
perfect working order when packed in their foam solid cut out positions
where they'd traveled more than a few air miles previously without any
damage.

One of the cameras didn't have the lock on the release and it was OK and
functioned perfectly. The other two ? Well lets put it this way I
screwed-in
a soft release and tried to pry the shutter release up out of the body,
it
wouldn't budge. I mean it's just hammered right in there. The other body
I
managed a slight lift up, and that's it! Solid jammed in the camera
body.

Now those of us who've flown with our carry on bag have seen air
security
officers look through an SLR, trip the shutter and as it goes click
that's
cool for them and  makes it a real camera. However, we're talking about
M7's
with shutter release lock and there's no way you can make it go click
without releasing the lock out.

By the same token I've seen them hold up M7's and M6's sort of look
through
the view finder releasing the shutter to go click because the lock out
wasn't on. So what do you think they did with the two cameras they
couldn't
make go click?

I mean these two cameras are really done and on their way for hopefully
repair and not replacement. Yep they're covered by warranty, I hope
under
these conditions. But that's not the point because if they aren't, I'm
in
for a big-time repair bill.

You might also be interested in the wording on a neatly printed card
left in
your bag explaining the opening of your bag and what responsibility they
have if any damage is done. :-(

Quote from "NOTIFICATION OF BAGGAGE INSPECTION":

"If the TSA screener was unable to open your bag for inspection because
it
was locked, the screener may have been forced to break the locks on your
bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, and has taken care to
reseal
your bag upon completion of the inspection. However, TSA is not liable
for
damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution."

This of course means they would not be responsible for any internal
damage
to the contents in the case. Because how could one prove they were in
perfect working order when packed?

Let me make it very clear, the case was not locked and quite easy to
open by
pulling off the tape. They did this and replaced it, as I said
previously,
so it was a piece of cake to open it.

But what happened to the cameras during their inspection handling?

ted


_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information