I recently purchased a NIB Leica CRF from Midway USA. I wanted register the purchase to be covered under Leica's two year warranty program. However the warranty card state that "dealer stamp and signature" must be on the card. What the hell is this. Midway does not do this on any purchases I have ever made nor any other dealer from whom I purchased warranted merchandise from. Has anyone lost out on a warranty issue because of this?

I recieved mine as a gift and never registered them or sent in a stamped card. They have warranty repaired mine with no problems.

This is my first post. Under the Magnuson-Moss consumer warranty act, the seller may not impose any duty on the buyer such as returning a registration card, in order to validate the warranty. I would just keep the receipt showing the date of purchase. That is all that is necessary. The warrantor may not impose any duty, other than notification, upon any consumer, as a condition of securing the repair of any consumer product that malfunctions, is defective, or does not conform to the written warranty. However, the warrantor may require consumers to return a defective item to its place of purchase for repair.

quote:

Originally posted by Hutt:
I recently purchased a NIB Leica CRF from Midway USA. I wanted register the purchase to be covered under Leica's two year warranty program. However the warranty card state that "dealer stamp and signature" must be on the card. What the hell is this. Midway does not do this on any purchases I have ever made nor any other dealer from whom I purchased warranted merchandise from. Has anyone lost out on a warranty issue because of this?

The receipt that you received should have the CRF 1200 product # and the serial # as well as the date of purchase. You can mail in a copy of that receipt with the warranty card. That will show both that you purchased from an authorized dealer and the date of purchase.
You should not have any problem if you do this.
Enjoy the rangefinder.

There is no requirement that you mail in the registration card in order to validate the warranty. Those cards generally ask for a bunch of demographic information and have no legal effect on the validity of the warranty. Merely save the receipt showing the date of purchase in order to substantiate the date of purchase in case you need to take "advantage" of the warranty.

Actually, Leica does not use these registrations for a mailing list as you might think. They really do record the information for warranty purposes. If you do not register the purchase thru the warranty and you have a warranty repair need you will have a problem with. They really do want that registration sent in within the time period stated on the card.

I never said anything about the manufactureror putting your name on a mailing list; I simply said they use the registration cards to collect demographic information about the purchaser. Is gr8fuldoug suggesting that you might have a problem with Leica honoring your warranty if you don't fill out and send in your warranty card?

Yes, I am stating that unless you register the purchase with Leica the warranty will not be activated. Leica wants the warranty cards registered so that they know that the item was purchased thru an authorized Leica dealer.

Let me try and make this more clear. Requiring the completion and mailing of a registration card as a condition to the validity of a warranty with respect to any consumer product is against the law. If Leica's position is as gr8fuldoug says, the company potentially is exposing itself to class action lawsuits.

I am at home and cannot look at a warranty card, however, I do believe that it states on the warranty registration card that it needs to be mailed in within 10 days of purchase in order to activate the warranty.

Look at the card before you opine, please.

I just looked at the warranty card of a CRF 900 and it states that if you need warranty work you must send in the product along with a dated sales receipt from the authorized Leica dealer it was purchased from along with the serial #'d warranty card that comes with the item.

I also looked at the warranty card from a new Ultravid HD binocular. It does state Complete and mail within 30 days of purchase. However, it does not stste that if you do not it would void the warranty.

My advise is simple...Save your receipts from puchases and if there is a warranty card that comes with a product, fill it out and mail it in. Why not?

Then I guess we agree that the OP doesn't need to fret about not having something with a "dealer stamp and signagure" on it, don't we.

Absolutely, as long as he has a receipt from an authorized Leica dealer

well now there you go qualifying things. What difference to the efficacy of the warranty should it make whether the consumer purchased from an "authorized" dealer, whatever that means. What happens if a retailer obtains some stock from a authorized dealer who went out of business. Is this retailer somehow unable to sell brand new goods with a factory warranty? This takes a closer reading of warranty law, which I'm not willing to undertake at this point. But new is new and it should not make a difference. Is Leica playing the same game as some camera manfuacturers, selling in different markets with different warranties?

Not at all. They are protecting the authorized dealers from the independant sellers that do not support them and the consumer from product that might not be "fresh, new goods". Leica (As well as most of the major higher end optics companies) track their products by serial #'s and know which dealers receive which items. This makes it easier if you the consumer lose a receipt and have an issue. If you tell Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss, etc. that you purchased it in January of 2008 from Camera Land they can look and see if that serial #'d item indeed was sold to that store and if needed contact that dealer. It is all done to assist in customer service to the end user. If the consumer prefers to buy from just any dealer as opposed to an authorized dealer they are taking the risk of not having anyone stand behind the product and possibly buying used goods as new.
If we buy from the manufacturer we know that a product is a fresh new item. If we purchase it from a dealer that is going out of business the product may be a fresh new item, may be a display piece, may be a loaner or rental item, who knows. It should not be represented as new as it really may not be. The manufacturer in most cases will take goods back from a business that is closing, check those goods out, and reclassify them as Class II goods, or Refurbished goods, or Certified Pre-Owned goods. This would happen after the items are gone over to make sure that they are in perfect operational and optical condition. Then they would sell these to authorized dealers with a shortened warranty at a reduced price and that discount gets passed on to you. Many of the items on our demo page, http://www.cameralandny.com/demos.html are acquired in this manner. As a matter of fact we picked up over 300 binoculars from Nikon today (we'll post a list as soon as we get them received and inventoried) that fall into that same situation. Some were show samples, some were initial repair items, some were new goods that were authorized dealer stock balance returns (dealers will send back items that they over bought or and are having a slow time of moving and swap those items out for other items. These items are not put back as fresh new inventory as they have been out of the manufacturers control and may no longer really be "new" goods. Again, they may have been a display unit, a rental or loaner, etc). By purchasing from an authorized dealer you will know that they product that you are buying is exactly what it should be and if you ever have a problem that dealer will be there to assist you.
I hope this clarifies this somewhat.

I don't understand one bit your mention of "fresh new goods." Assuming something it's in its original box and has never been opened, is there some suggestion that it makes a difference in the reliability of the scope whether it's been in stock for one day or 10 years. I would say rather than clarify, you have confused. All you are talking about is a bunch of retailer, distribution chain mumbo jumbo. Is the item new or isn't it. If it's new, it should be eligible for the full warranty regardless who the final seller is. It sounds to me like you are trying to scare people from buying from eBay retailers who are selling new, in the box, goods.

Fresh new goods indicates a new product that has not been opened. Some ebay sellers are authorized dealers and some are not. All I am trying to impart is that if a seller is not an authorized dealer you have no idea if it really is a new unopened box because they did not initially purchase that product from the manufacturer. Does that clarify my point?

As much as I covet a Leica rangefinder, my Leupold is looking better all the time. I was going to sell it and "upgrade" to a Leica, but is sounds like Leica doesn't have as much faith in their products.

Nebs,
I have a 10 year old scope in the plastic I will sell you as fresh and new at a fresh and new price...never mind the fact that the coating technology and waterproofing factors have turned over 10 times.

Get it now.

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
Nebs,
I have a 10 year old scope in the plastic I will sell you as fresh and new at a fresh and new price...never mind the fact that the coating technology and waterproofing factors have turned over 10 times.

Get it now.

Perry

You totally missed my point.

quote:

Originally posted by Magnum Hunter1:
As much as I covet a Leica rangefinder, my Leupold is looking better all the time. I was going to sell it and "upgrade" to a Leica, but is sounds like Leica doesn't have as much faith in their products.

Don't misunderstand what's going on here. There is nothing in this thread that should inidicate that Leica is not a quality product. What is going on here is a discussioin about the efficacy of warranties. Gr8fuldoug wants you to think it make a difference whether the factory will honor a warranty depending on who you buy from (authorized dealer, etc). So long as the product comes with a warranty, it make no difference. But, as is the case with some foreign camera manufacturers, depending on which country you buy the camera, you may or may not receive a factory warranty, and the price differential can be considerable. Some cameras intended for distribution in other countries without warranty sometimes find their way into the domestic market (called grey market). I don't know if Leica does this with their rangefinders and riflescopes. Just make sure that whoever you buy from is selling you a product with a full factory warranty. If you buy based on price, make sure that the retailers you are researching are selling products with a full factory warranty and thus you are comparing apples to apples.

If someone on eBay is willing to sell you the same model with a full factory warranty as some other retailer, go with the lower price.

It's amazing how far afield this discussioin has wandered from its original point.

You are missing my point. I
f you do not have a receipt from an authorized dealer, of have registered the warranty when the purchase was originally made, from an authorized dealer, many of the manufacturers (not singling out Leica) will not perform warranty work. A few of them will return the item to you and will not even repair it even if you offer to pay to get the work done. Call a few of the companies and ask to varify this.

Nebs
I did not miss your point, your point is very "purchaser" biased. Buying an expensive electronic devise out of someone's 140 degree garage/storage unit and expecting the manufacturer to warrant it is outrageous. This is where the "authorized" part comes into play. All things also have "shelf-life" and manufacturers should not be responsible for something that has outlived its time.


Perry

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
Nebs
I did not miss your point, your point is very "purchaser" biased. Buying an expensive electronic devise out of someone's 140 degree garage/storage unit and expecting the manufacturer to warrant it is outrageous. This is where the "authorized" part comes into play. All things also have "shelf-life" and manufacturers should not be responsible for something that has outlived its time.


Perry

This is a different point than the one you made in your prior post. In your prior post your point was technology turnover in 10 year. My point assumed stable technology and a consistent product from year to year. IOW, the same product.

Your new point has to do with storage, which is different. If a manufacturer warrants a product for a certain period after purchase, the warrantor has assumed a certain amount of distribution risk. If an authorized dealer keeps something in stock for 10-years and then sells it to a consumer, the warranty should be good.

quote:

Originally posted by gr8fuldoug:
You are missing my point. I
f you do not have a receipt from an authorized dealer, of have registered the warranty when the purchase was originally made, from an authorized dealer, many of the manufacturers (not singling out Leica) will not perform warranty work. A few of them will return the item to you and will not even repair it even if you offer to pay to get the work done. Call a few of the companies and ask to varify this.

I'm not missing your point at all. The consumer should always retain proof of the purchase date, whatever that form might take. This thread started out with a purchaser who encountered some claim to an obligation to produce some sort of dealer stamp in order to validate the warranty. My claim was that sending in the registration card with such a stamp was not necessary to the validity of the warranty; all that was needed was the receipt showing the date of purchase.

Nebs, Nebs, Nebs,
May I suggest the political forum.

Perry