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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Poor Leica experience (1 Viewer)

Sorry it took so long to answer. Really busy weekend......:king:

I hadn't used the 7x42 UVHD+ for quite a while (it is set for my wife), but I just tried it's focus wheel earlier this evening. For the most part, I could not discern any hesitation/backlash when changing focus direction. I say "for the most part" because every now and then I thought I could discern just the slightest amount of backlash, but it was extreeeeeeemly small, if present at all. Overall, picky as I am, I think the focus wheel works just great.

Thanks for the response, Phil. I think I would describe mine in the same way. I have noticed that an extremely small amount of slack or backlash is sometimes noticeable when and if I suddenly change focus direction. If I focus to a certain point and then move the wheel in the other direction after a pause then I feel no slack at all. If I gently 'wiggle' the focus wheel clockwise and then anticlockwise with the first two fingers of both hands together I can feel that it's not 100% 'tight', but in practical terms the slack is only occasionally noticeable when suddenly changing direction with one continuous movement while focusing.

I very much suspect that all UVHD and UVHD+ bins are like this (although some might be slightly worse than others within certain tolerances) but that some people are much more sensitive to the issue than others.

Inevitably, I suppose, there will be a few examples which may be outside of normal tolerances which find their way into the hands of very critical users (like me! ;) ). Those instances deserve to be dealt with in an understanding and professional way by Leica.
 
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Zeiss, and especially Leica, cannot even be mentioned in the same sentence as Swaro when it comes to taking care of it's customers. It's not even arguable. The best advice you can get when buying Leica here in the USA is to buy from CameralandNY so that Doug can bail you out when Leica screws you over. The 24hourcampfire forums have had numerous examples of this very thing happening.
 
Well, accidents happen. Two days ago I dropped my beloved 20 year old Trinovid 10x25 BCA's. They were in the case and I was picking up a handful of things at the same time. Note to self - your Leicas are worthy of exclusive handling! Anyway, somehow they slipped out of my hand and hit the deck. Removed them from the case for a quick inspection - no visible damage, but - out of collimation! Damn!

Today I phoned Leica UK and spoke to Mark Symes hoping to get the address for Leica service, Portugal, so I could send them off. These old Trinovids from 1997 came with a 30 year guarantee, but of course I had no expectation that they would be covered by that! I was right, but I happen to be travelling to the UK next week and Mark suggested that I could drop them in and they could send them to Portugal and ship them back to me free of charge. He also told me that Leica's service and repair charges had undergone a revision (this is not sounding so good, I thought!) and that all charges had been much reduced! What?! This is my lucky day! But there was more. Mark said that he would have a word with David Slater in the service department about the matter and he would get back to me to confirm that they could ship them off for me. He came back 10 minutes later to say that as they were Trinovid BCA's and not gas filled David could do the re-collimation himself and would do it free of charge as a good-will gesture! How's that for service? Fixing accidental damage on a 20 year old bin.

If this sounds somewhat gushing, I'll admit that it is. I'm very impressed. Genuinely. But here's the real reason for me posting this experience. I had a chat with Mark about Leica service in general. My experience has only been excellent, but we discussed the fact that this hasn't always been everyone's experience. He was very honest with me and admitted that when the servicing had moved from London to Portugal (where most of it is still done) there was a period when things were not good, and some people had bad experiences. 'We (Leica) dropped the ball', are the words he used. However, he assured me that that was now quite some time ago and that these days Leica are very concerned with their reputation for customer care and service and are doing all they can to ensure that they are on at least a par with everyone else. It's unfortunate of course that if bad experiences in the past have been reported on this forum then they are there for all time to read, but given my excellent experience I wanted to report here that Leica UK are doing all they can to rebuild their customer service reputation.
 
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Swarovski service is very good, I have used it. But they charge for scratched lenses,
I have had them do that on an ocular lens on a 10x50 SLC. I believe it was only
a $50.00 charge.

Jerry

Jerry when I sent my "old" 7x30 SLC non phase coated binocular into SONA I told them the one eyepiece was somewhat scratched, they quoted me a low price [I think $50] to replace it if need be. It was ok. It was great service and one reason I bought a 8x30SLC neu later. I had contacted them once before this to ask if the 8x30 SLC eyecups would fit the 7x30 SLC , SONA sent me a new eyecups for the 7x30 SLC "old". I had sent in my registration form and how they knew my address.
 
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Well, accidents happen. Two days ago I dropped my beloved 20 year old Trinovid 10x25 BCA's. They were in the case and I was picking up a handful of things at the same time. Note to self - your Leicas are worthy of exclusive handling! Anyway, somehow they slipped out of my hand and hit the deck. Removed them from the case for a quick inspection - no visible damage, but - out of collimation! Damn!

Today I phoned Leica UK and spoke to Mark Symes hoping to get the address for Leica service, Portugal, so I could send them off. These old Trinovids from 1997 came with a 30 year guarantee, but of course I had no expectation that they would be covered by that! I was right, but I happen to be travelling to the UK next week and Mark suggested that I could drop them in and they could send them to Portugal and ship them back to me free of charge. He also told me that Leica's service and repair charges had undergone a revision (this is not sounding so good, I thought!) and that all charges had been much reduced! What?! This is my lucky day! But there was more. Mark said that he would have a word with David Slater in the service department about the matter and he would get back to me to confirm that they could ship them off for me. He came back 10 minutes later to say that as they were Trinovid BCA's and not gas filled David could do the re-collimation himself and would do it free of charge as a good-will gesture! How's that for service? Fixing accidental damage on a 20 year old bin.

If this sounds somewhat gushing, I'll admit that it is. I'm very impressed. Genuinely. But here's the real reason for me posting this experience. I had a chat with Mark about Leica service in general. My experience has only been excellent, but we discussed the fact that this hasn't always been everyone's experience. He was very honest with me and admitted that when the servicing had moved from London to Portugal (where most of it is still done) there was a period when things were not good, and some people had bad experiences. 'We (Leica) dropped the ball', are the words he used. However, he assured me that that was now quite some time ago and that these days Leica are very concerned with their reputation for customer care and service and are doing all they can to ensure that they are on at least a par with everyone else. It's unfortunate of course that if bad experiences in the past have been reported on this forum then they are there for all time to read, but given my excellent experience I wanted to report here that Leica UK are doing all they can to rebuild their customer service reputation.

That's a good story, Mike. In my case, someone very senior at Leica has picked up on my problem. He's asked me not to divulge his name, so naturally I'm going to respect that.

My binoculars are in Wetzlar right now, so I'll update on developments in due course.

Cheers
John
 
Mindful of the above and my own recent positive experience with Leica, the following strikes me as a fair order of merit:

1st: Swarovski
2nd: Leica
3rd: Zeiss

LGM
 
...If this sounds somewhat gushing, I'll admit that it is. I'm very impressed. Genuinely. But here's the real reason for me posting this experience. I had a chat with Mark about Leica service in general. My experience has only been excellent, but we discussed the fact that this hasn't always been everyone's experience. He was very honest with me and admitted that when the servicing had moved from London to Portugal (where most of it is still done) there was a period when things were not good, and some people had bad experiences. 'We (Leica) dropped the ball', are the words he used. However, he assured me that that was now quite some time ago and that these days Leica are very concerned with their reputation for customer care and service and are doing all they can to ensure that they are on at least a par with everyone else. It's unfortunate of course that if bad experiences in the past have been reported on this forum then they are there for all time to read, but given my excellent experience I wanted to report here that Leica UK are doing all they can to rebuild their customer service reputation.

This is going to be interesting. I've now heard from Leica, who've acknowledged the backlash in the focuser. Apparently the armouring is going to have to come off, which is fair enough. They no longer make the green armouring, so they've asked if I'd mind if they were re-armoured in black if the green armouring gets damaged.

This is where I have a real problem. I bought the green binoculars precisely because I wanted something different. If they re-armour in black (and the focuser is repaired to my satisfaction) I now have a pair of black HDs, which are a step down from the HD Plus I already have.

I've told them I want my binoculars back with the focuser repaired and with the green armouring intact, or I want some kind of compensation.

I await their response.

Cheers
John
 
Here is the thing with customer service beyond the warranty:
I can say with 100% certainty if these were made by Swarovski they would completely refurbish them Free of Charge. That is the scale of gap in approach to customer service between the big 3.

LGM

Swarovski warranty sounds like the Vortex / Athalon lifetime guarantee, no questions asked. For the price you pay for Swarovskis, you would expect that guarantee as a minimum. My only warranty experience was getting one loose eye cup replaced on a Zeiss Terras 8x42. Basically had to pay for shipping to Germany and they sent me a brand new set. Australian Zeiss were hopeless, no answer from the retailer or Australia. Hence I approached Germany direct. Same day reply and they directed me to their distributor in Singapore (based here working atm) who was informed by Germany I was coming.

Hopefully I never have to use the Swarovski warranty.
 
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sbb, post 49,"quote:
"for the price you pay for Swarovskis, you would expect that guarantee as a minimum".
In The Netherlands the Swarovski SLC 8x42 is almost 1000 euros cheaper than the Leica Noctivid 8x42 and it performs just as well, it is even brighter and it does not have field flatteners, which some users do not like reading BF. I consider your statement therefore as questionable certainly because the Leica service and guarantee fluctuates quite bit.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
This is going to be interesting. I've now heard from Leica, who've acknowledged the backlash in the focuser. Apparently the armouring is going to have to come off, which is fair enough. They no longer make the green armouring, so they've asked if I'd mind if they were re-armoured in black if the green armouring gets damaged.

This is where I have a real problem. I bought the green binoculars precisely because I wanted something different. If they re-armour in black (and the focuser is repaired to my satisfaction) I now have a pair of black HDs, which are a step down from the HD Plus I already have.

I've told them I want my binoculars back with the focuser repaired and with the green armouring intact, or I want some kind of compensation.

I await their response.

Cheers
John


John, I suspect that if they could they would simply exchange yours for a new pair, but as the green is discontinued that's obviously not an option for them. I guess they are offering you the best solution which they are able to, but I totally understand your position. Let's hope it doesn't come to them having to compensate you in any way. Fingers crossed! Michael.
 
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