Leica service: 3-4 months
I recently acquired a used Leica 90/2 APO-Summicron-R at a very nice price (see my review). The lens seemed to be in good working order, but for such an exotic lens, I wanted to make sure it was operating at 100% of specifications, so I sent it in for a checkup. About 10 days later I received a notice in the mail that it’s off to Germany with an expected 3-4 month turnaround time.
How can any company survive making its customers wait that long, especially when they sell products for 3-5X the cost of the Japanese brands? Leica makes stunning world-class lenses, but a product is both the physical object and the support behind it. For Leica to succeed in the new world of digital photography, customer support must be much more responsive.