Leica Customer Service....

[Ingwe]

I would like to run this issue by you fellas here to see what you think before I go off the deep end when I call Leica.

I have a pair of Geovids which are about 10 years old so I thought that I would send them back to Leica for service.....this was 12/20/14.

Just today I received an Invoice in the mail which said essentially two words on it, "Heavy Moisture". Then to my shock and surprise, I saw that the service estimate is $800.00!!! That is almost 1/3 the price of brand new Geovids!

Have you guys ever heard of such a thing regarding service or am I off base here?
You can run a Vortex or Leupold over with a truck and they will pretty much fix it for free.

What do you all think of this and if you were me how would you proceed from here?

Thanks for the Rant!!

 

[trazman]

I am sorry to hear this. I assume that Leica USA is not the same as Leica Eu. Last year I had an issue with my geovid 8x56. The adjustment of the left ocular was not working properly and one of the objectives was punched because I have fall on it. It was nothing functional but I have send the bino in. After 40 days I have received a brand new binocular with new guarantee...

That is why I think that Leica USA must have different politics than Leica EU...

I hope you get it sorted out...

 

[Ingwe]

Me too Trazman!

 

[canderson]

I have two friends who sent geovids in for service. Both were quoted at least $500 for repair to rangefinder. One set was probably due to misuse. The other was not. I don't believe either had them fixed. I personally sent a 15 year old pair of binoculars in and they were service free of charge. I don't understand the difference. Good luck with your pair.

 

[Chopperguy]

I've not had anything but stellar service from them. I sent in a set of first issue Geovids last winter because of a couple issues including the armor coming loose from them. (I hunt them HARD!)

Returned within a couple weeks, no charge.

Sorry to hear about your issues. Have you tried calling and talking to them about it?

I continuously find many issues can be easily be moderated with a simple call and discussion. I tend to do this rather than e mail and stew over it.

But then, I'm an old guy and prone to taking on issues face to face or via the phone.

OP - Send me a PM and I can provide some of my contacts at Leica. May help. I'm in Vegas for the SCI convention and will be back Sunday with access to my contact information upon my return.

You may find they are easier to deal with.

YMMV

 

[dig]

Leica service is certainly not on par with Swarovski. I have returned several optics for variouse repairs. They are always expensive and lengthy time to repair. Most of the time they will offer you a trade up for a refurbished model that is a much better deal than fixing. I suggest calling.

 

[gunaddict]

My friend sent his range finding bino's to have Lecia clean them. They told him they had been dropped. And it would be $485 to fix. He told them he has never dropped them. He wanted to tell them to throw them in the garbage, and he would replace them with a pair of Swaro's, but his wife said have Lecia fix them. He paid the charge but was really ****ed about it.

 

[Ingwe]

Thanks for the replies fellas!

Chopperguy I sent you a PM!

Still can't believe this quote!

 

[Dosh]

Ingwe, keep us up to date on your progress. If there is no honor to their warranty, I will sell mine and buy from a honorable manufacturer.

 

[jonthomps]

Like others have said, my experience with Leica CS has not been positive. They are extremely s l o w! Sorry you are having troubles.

 

[JMUPT]

I called Leica a couple years ago asking about getting lens covers for my geovids since the rubber connector had torn in two. The guy I got on the phone he-haw'd around a little and said he guesses he could send me a pair out and wouldn't charge me. He made it seem like he was doing me a huge favor by sending me 2 more covers. I thanked him and asked about sending the geovids in for general cleaning and inspection since they were 8 yrs old or so, he quoted me $500. I about fell out of my chair. I said ok well thanks for the covers and ended the call there. I really like the binos but it will be the last Leica product I purchase. There are just to many other companies that will go out of their way to make you happy for me to purchase a leica product again.

 

[JMUPT]

...

 

[Ingwe]

Hey Fellas OP here again.

I was tied up today but I managed to get a call in to Leica. I spoke to someone there who I won't identify but essentially they told me that they knew that Leica has ****** customer service but that it comes from the HQ in Germany. The representative was awesome to speak to, very sympathetic, helpful, likable, and honest regarding my issue but there wasn't much that he/she could do about it from where they sit.

Again, I really liked and connected with this representative, and Leica is VERY lucky to have this person as an employee!

I was given 3 options....none were great.

1) Return my Geovids

2) Pay the $800 bucks and wait several months since the Geovids are made and repaired in Portugal!!

3) They do not offer a refurbished product, which I asked for, but I was offered a trade-in towards a NEW pair of Geovids. This last option sounded great until I was informed that the trade-in value for my 10x42 Non-HD Geovids would only be approx. $500 bucks! Damm!

So I am back to square one it seems....cough up another couple of GRAND PLUS, and then think about that on top of what I paid for my own Geovids!

I haven't decided on what to do yet but its a ****** situation.

We hunters/shooters make up the bulk of Geovid buyers....isn't Leica aware of this?

Now that Swarovski and Zeiss have come out with their own rangefinding binocular line, I will say that after this situation is resolved one way or the other, I will never ever again buy another Leica product!! Not even if the tubes are made of Solid Gold.

Are you paying attention Leica?? Swarovski and Zeiss, you should be smelling blood in the water.

Buyer Beware!!

 

[SLEDGE HAMMER]

I have a pair of 15x56 RF witch are great and a pair 10x42RF HD"s witch have just gone back to Leica at Solms Germany under warranty because one of the eye cup lenses has gone all fuzzy, I was told it will be 90 days for a fix!
A friend had the same issue and Leica sent him a brand new pair in about 90 days.