How good is Leica's warranty? (1 Viewer)

Alexis Powell · Jul 20, 2010

Do you have the passport warranty card for the 10x50BN? Leica has never been generous with its warranty service--always requiring that you actually retain that card to get the passport protection, and not necessarily inquiring after it to prompt its use (i.e. remind the owner that it exists). But I'd be shocked if you were denied passport protection on presenting the bins with the card.

--AP

BMR · Jul 21, 2010

Alexis Powell said:
Do you have the passport warranty card for the 10x50BN? Leica has never been generous with its warranty service--always requiring that you actually retain that card to get the passport protection, and not necessarily inquiring after it to prompt its use (i.e. remind the owner that it exists). But I'd be shocked if you were denied passport protection on presenting the bins with the card.

--AP

I do have the warranty card for both binoculars. The woman basically scoffed at me when I said "I thought the Passport warranty covered damage due to any reason, such as dropping, running over, immersing in water, etc., as long as you have the piece showing the serial number." She said in a condescending tone, "That's crazy, nobody covers their binoculars for such abuse." I started to get into it with her, and she cut me off, saying, "Well, it doesn't sound like yours has been subjected to this, so it really doesn't matter, now does it." Man, I was fuming after that phone call. It makes me never want to buy another Leica product, as I don't know if they'll be there if something happens to my sport optic. Oh, yeah, and you can bet that they'll only get a copy of my Passport warranty card - I wouldn't doubt they'd just happen to "misplace" it if I sent the original.

Alexis Powell · Jul 21, 2010

BMR said:
I do have the warranty card for both binoculars. The woman basically scoffed at me when I said "I thought the Passport warranty covered damage due to any reason, such as dropping, running over, immersing in water, etc., as long as you have the piece showing the serial number." She said in a condescending tone, "That's crazy, nobody covers their binoculars for such abuse." I started to get into it with her, and she cut me off, saying, "Well, it doesn't sound like yours has been subjected to this, so it really doesn't matter, now does it." Man, I was fuming after that phone call. It makes me never want to buy another Leica product, as I don't know if they'll be there if something happens to my sport optic. Oh, yeah, and you can bet that they'll only get a copy of my Passport warranty card - I wouldn't doubt they'd just happen to "misplace" it if I sent the original.

It sounds like you've gotten a more extreme version of what I've experienced over the phone. Leica doesn't want to verbally acknowledge or make any promises with respect to its warranty, which makes for bad PR. Testing customers this way is the opposite of the Swarovski approach. Ironic too, since it's Leica that started the whole "no fault" warranty trend in premium binos. Happily, my experience has been that what they say over the phone, versus what they honor when it comes to actually doing the service work, are two different things.

--AP

hoggy · Dec 30, 2023

wimvdam said:
Over at the Zeiss subforum, people are trading war stories about how good the warranties of Swarovski and Zeiss are. For example:

Quote: Originally Posted by Alurap
I have a friend that left his Swar EL on the roof of his car, lost them on a busy highway, at rush hour! He and a friend returned at mid-night, once the traffic eased and pickup up the pieces...the barrels broken apart and the insides just shards of glass. Swarovski now has an addition to their "wall of shame", my friend has a new Swar 8.5 X 44 EL (free of charge).

I'm in the marker for my first alpha and I'm leaning towards Leica, so I'm wondering what your experiences are with Leica's warranty service.

hoggy · Dec 30, 2023

I am in dispute with Leica right now , my wife have a pair each of Leica 10x25 trinovid compact purchased2001 they have been good but recently they have acquired a grey mist inside ,I sent them of to leica Portugal, the London shop stated providing items not been maltreated or abused or dropped " repair under 30 year warranty! Well they now say the grey is a fungus and warrenty invalid ,odd as I have pair of Leitz trinovid 40 years old ( leica purchased Leitz in 1996 all these binoculars are identical) I keep all 3 pairs together ,they " live together, used together ,travel together and are kept together at home they are never more than one metre apart the lens have no fungus ,furthermore I understand looking at some very comments on this forum ,I read that some one else commented that on early trinovids some fungus was found to be growing on the glue -solution used in securing lens units in place .Can anyone recall these comments as I cannot find them now and leica might ask to see them ! However Leica so far are refusing to repair my optics under warranty, in fact they say they will not dismantle then as it might contaminate their factory! What crap. Hoggy46

dries1 · Dec 30, 2023

When you say recently, what does that mean. a week a month? if one let's the haze even light haze. go, it can get worse in a humid environment and generate fungus.

PYRTLE · Dec 30, 2023

hoggy said:
I am in dispute with Leica right now , my wife have a pair each of Leica 10x25 trinovid compact purchased2001 they have been good but recently they have acquired a grey mist inside ,I sent them of to leica Portugal, the London shop stated providing items not been maltreated or abused or dropped " repair under 30 year warranty! Well they now say the grey is a fungus and warrenty invalid ,odd as I have pair of Leitz trinovid 40 years old ( leica purchased Leitz in 1996 all these binoculars are identical) I keep all 3 pairs together ,they " live together, used together ,travel together and are kept together at home they are never more than one metre apart the lens have no fungus ,furthermore I understand looking at some very comments on this forum ,I read that some one else commented that on early trinovids some fungus was found to be growing on the glue -solution used in securing lens units in place .Can anyone recall these comments as I cannot find them now and leica might ask to see them ! However Leica so far are refusing to repair my optics under warranty, in fact they say they will not dismantle then as it might contaminate their factory! What crap. Hoggy46

Doesn't matter to Leica what comments are attributed here on BF.......if they have decided the problem is out of the parameters of the associated warranty then unfortunately that is really quite final. The comment about contamination, is that written or verbal - either way it seems they are reluctant to even consider an invoiced clean, service or repair.
A pity and I can understand your dilemma and disappointment - finding an independent technician to undertake the task will also be tricky.
Both pairs of 10 x 25 display the same issue, and you sent them via an approved Leica store or directly?

Binastro · Dec 30, 2023

Fungus can and has destroyed binoculars six weeks from new in tropical climates.

But in England I have seen numerous, probably hundreds of binoculars and lenses with fungus.

After 22 years it is not surprising to find fungus in a binocular.

The fact that another similar binocular has no fungus is irrelevant.

I have lenses from 1850 that have no fungus.

I have had a brand new Chinese binocular with fungus inside.

It is a fact of life that eventually nature will take over.
It may be a year or hundreds of years.
However, stained glass windows can last hundreds of years, and Roman glass may still be O.K.

If Leica refuse to work on a binocular that is their decision.

I have binoculars with fungus that I keep well away from clean glass.

I have cleaned telescopes and some lenses with fungus, but if really bad I just throw the item in the rubbish bin.

There are usually two reasons a binocular firm may refuse to repair free. Collimation error and fungus.
A third reason is abuse or damage from dropping.
Also lack of spare parts.

When I was in the business of examining items for warranty I sometimes had to make decisions that the customer did not like.

Although Zeiss say they will not deal with moisture/fungus in my case they did.

You may find a repairer who will clean and recollimate the Leica binocular, but in my opinion it is not worth the trouble in this case as the cost equals or exceeds the value of the binocular.

The statement from Leica that it might contaminate their work space if they open the binocular is quite valid.
Usually this work is done in a separate building with Air Sentry type ventilation units and the technician wearing a mask.

If the fungus is between cemented elements then the whole job is a non starter as the cost of separating the elements, cleaning, recementing and recollimating would probably be £400 or more.

If the fungus has etched the glass, then it may not be repairable at any price without replacing the affected lens elements.

The binocular has some use as a defective unit, but in actual fact if Leica are correct, and they probably are, then the binocular has no commercial value.

Swarovski might be generous and just give a free binocular as a replacement.

Leica in fact gave my friend's godson a new completely free binocular when he dropped it in a south American lake, sent by express airmail.

Regards,
B.

grackle314 · Dec 31, 2023

hoggy said:
I am in dispute with Leica right now , my wife have a pair each of Leica 10x25 trinovid compact purchased2001 they have been good but recently they have acquired a grey mist inside ,I sent them of to leica Portugal, the London shop stated providing items not been maltreated or abused or dropped " repair under 30 year warranty! Well they now say the grey is a fungus and warrenty invalid ,odd as I have pair of Leitz trinovid 40 years old ( leica purchased Leitz in 1996 all these binoculars are identical) I keep all 3 pairs together ,they " live together, used together ,travel together and are kept together at home they are never more than one metre apart the lens have no fungus ,furthermore I understand looking at some very comments on this forum ,I read that some one else commented that on early trinovids some fungus was found to be growing on the glue -solution used in securing lens units in place .Can anyone recall these comments as I cannot find them now and leica might ask to see them ! However Leica so far are refusing to repair my optics under warranty, in fact they say they will not dismantle then as it might contaminate their factory! What crap. Hoggy46

Sorry to hear your disappointment on the fungus development. It may help to think that over 20 years good use were achieved with the Trinovid before the problem arose. I don't have a copy of a 2001 Leica warranty statement so I cannot comment on their responsibility.

Also, looking online shows people across the camera and binocular world who have experienced fungus problems. Zeiss have a page online to describe the issue and how to reduce likelihood of fungus problems at Fungus on Lenses | ZEISS Service Information which includes the line in large bold print "Note: In general, ZEISS does not accept instruments infected by fungus."

Binastro · Dec 31, 2023

Unfortunately a large part of the British housing stock has mold problems at various levels.
In some cases it is deadly.

With the inflation in the U.K. over the last two years and greatly increased heating costs, in some cases people have to choose between heating or eating.

Even with more wealthy homes heating has been reduced.

So mold problems have increased generally.

This is bad news for optics, as I think fungus problems will have increased.

I didn't know that relative humidity of less than 30% presents problems as Zeiss suggests.

I keep to my general advice of 13C to 21C and relative humidity 40% to a maximum of 60%.
Binocular storage out of cases, drawers or cupboards.
However, if stored on a sideboard the cat can knock the binocular onto the floor. Carpets help.
Currently the relative humidity here is 35% with heating on.

Besides the nutrients mentioned by Zeiss, fungus feeds on the glass itself if uncoated, depending on the make up of the glass type. It then etches into the glass.
Often fungus can creep around the front of the glass to the edge and then to the back surface.
If spotted early it can be cleaned easily.

The Ross Xpress E.M.I. 20 inch f/6.3 six element symmetrical lenses of the 1950s had soft coatings and the fungus devoured it.
I had to remove the whole internal coatings.

A 50mm f/1.5 Canon lens for their rangefinder camera had fungus on the inside of the front element.
This was easily unscrewed and cleaned.
But some lenses were just too difficult.
One aero lens I took apart shed perhaps a hundred tiny ball bearings.

Binoculars I generally give to professionals as I cannot collimate properly.

Independent repairers often deal with fungus even though some makers won't.

Hopefully not too many here will have fungus problems.

Happy New Year to all.

Regards,
B.

TXdefender · Jan 2, 2024

Bought a new pair of Leica's off Ebay but an authorized dealer. One of the objective caps did not fit correctly and was out of spec. Emailed Leica and they wanted proof of purchase. I gave them the Ebay sales slip. They replied Ebay is not an authorized dealer and tried to charge me $16 for new caps. I showed on the receipt the seller who was an authorized dealer and then a picture from their own website showing this WAS an authorized dealer. Still, nothing. I had to escalate it to supervisors at Leica and I got the dealer involved. Took a few weeks but they finally caved can sent new caps. For a pair of glass that cost over $2k, I would have expected better!

How good is Leica's warranty? (1 Viewer)

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Alexis Powell

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