Cross Quality Today?

[ThirdeYe]

Now granted my info here is a couple years old but it's still relevant to me.

 

When I sent an uninked Signature in for a nib swap, they didn't refund the $10 service fee, they totally WAIVED it. (Now, I did go down to the bottom of the queue since it wasn't a repair per se but the full wait was only about 6 weeks.)

 

When they ran out of Century Classic I's and people were still sending them in with the terminal rotating nib problem, Cross replaced the pens with brand new Century Classic II's, Even The 14kt models. (Which was listed at over $300 retail) This was for other than original owners with absolutely NO paperwork. Not another major pen company in the world would do that that I'm aware of. (All their responses are usually, "Sorry, we no longer have any parts for those pens, CLICK."

 

So far as their communication goes, I have one Customer Service lady there who always answers my questions in a timely manner and did for over a two year period off and on.

 

I also have the secret bat phone number directly to the repair department. The techs there are assigned specific models that they repair. I can call there and ask to speak directly to the one person who will handle my pen when it arrives in their shop.

 

Again, find me one more major pen company where you can do that...

 

I'm waiting... :hmm1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

Pentel has great customer service as well.. always willing to help me out with my questions and they routinely send me goodies for pens/pencils that I buy new or used. For example, I bought a nice gold colored rollerball on eBay from the 80s and I asked them what size refill it took -- and they went ahead and just sent me one for free. I bought an older pencil and the eraser was gone, so they went ahead and sent me a bunch of new ones. I had an issue with one of their modern rollerball refills and they kept sending me new ones til I decided that a different refill would fit into it, so they went ahead and sent me three or four of that style of refill for free. Top notch, IMO.

[stuartk]

I would be very interested in knowing if anybody would recommend a CROSS TOWNSEND or similar Cross model fountain pen with a fine point nib. I'm looking for this particular style/body/weight or maybe the CENTURY is nice also. I really would like to know if they write well with a fine point nib. I really don't want to purchase another fountain pen that writes scratchy. I don't own a CROSS, but it seems like the type of pen that I would really be willing to try out. Please explain your thoughts on these CROSS models. Thanks,

Crusader 007.

 

I have a couple of Century pens with F nibs, and they write very well. They tend to lean towards writing wet, so you still get dark lines even with a finer nib.

[cajungizmo]

I questioned cross about quality and collect ability a few years back. The product just didn't seem the have the perceived value anymore. But I do understand competition and pricing in the market place, even though their pricing didn't go down after being made in china. Also I wonder how much lead I'm holding in my hand when I write with a cross pen. One never knows.

[cajungizmo]

The quality is not determined by who made it and where it is made BUT by what materials and techniques have been applied.

 

If CROSS company supplied the worst materials, even if it is made in USA, it is still a poor quality pen.

 

 

IPADs are also made in china but it seems nobody's questioned lots of its quality.

 

 

I have used some cross century classic ball pen and pencil in the U.K. I guess they are all made in china but the quality are good. Compared with parker, waterman's products which are made in France, cross quality is much better.

 

I import tires from china... And quality control is everything. We have imported tires that went worth anything because of quality control, and that have. It all depends on materials and production oversight.

[JonDoh]

 

Again, find me one more major pen company where you can do that...

 

I'm waiting... :hmm1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

Pelikan and they won't charge you $10 to fix or replace the pen.

[adamselene]

I've had three or four repairs in the last few years, and I remember being offput by the $10 fee mentioned on the web page. I have never been charged a fee though. Never requested a waiver, they just never charged me the fee.

 

They will send back a damaged pen along with the replacement, if you specify that it has sentimental value.

[Mike Schutz]

I've been a fan of Cross Pens for over 40 years and have had dozens in various models. I can pick out the Chinese pens when I'm blindfolded. All you have to do is run your fingers over the pen. I've yet to find a Chinese Cross that did not have rough edges. Now, I have nothing against Chinese products. They have some great tea and almost all electronic products are made in China. But, I'll live with my older Cross products and save my pen dollars for properly made product.

[max dog]

 

Again, find me one more major pen company where you can do that...

 

I'm waiting... :hmm1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

Pelikan and they won't charge you $10 to fix or replace the pen.

 

After the Pelikan 3 year warranty expires, you will be charged for repairs. Cross warranty kind of goes on forever whether you are the original owner or not. If it means I have to pay them $10 to repair my 10 years old Cross pen no questions asked, that's still pretty good.

 

Since Cross moved their production to China, the stringent quality control of the yester-years obviously isn't there any more. So there are going to be more instances of defects. At least you can send them back to Cross to get it right. But to be honest, the crop of Chinese made Cross pens I have (Townsend, Apogee, Century IIs), their quality are often still equal if not better than some German (L2K), Italian, French, Japanese etc made pens I've experienced. I've had a few pens that had defects from day one, and Cross repaired them and now they are great.

 

Having said this, I hope Cross monitors these forums and hears what their long time customer are saying . Bring back Cross production to USA where it belongs!!!!!

 

 

 

 

P.S. I dont think President Bush nor Obama would have used Cross Townsends as official bill signing pens if they knew ahead of time that production unilaterally moved to China.

Edited December 24, 2012 by max dog

[JonDoh]

 

Again, find me one more major pen company where you can do that...

 

I'm waiting... :hmm1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

Pelikan and they won't charge you $10 to fix or replace the pen.

 

After the Pelikan 3 year warranty expires, you will be charged for repairs. Cross warranty kind of goes on forever whether you are the original owner or not. If it means I have to pay them $10 to repair my 10 years old Cross pen no questions asked, that's still pretty good.

 

Since Cross moved their production to China, the stringent quality control of the yester-years obviously isn't there any more. So there are going to be more instances of defects. At least you can send them back to Cross to get it right. But to be honest, the crop of Chinese made Cross pens I have (Townsend, Apogee, Century IIs), their quality are often still equal if not better than some German (L2K), Italian, French, Japanese etc made pens I've experienced. I've had a few pens that had defects from day one, and Cross repaired them and now they are great.

 

Having said this, I hope Cross monitors these forums and hears what their long time customer are saying . Bring back Cross production to USA where it belongs!!!!!

 

 

 

 

P.S. I dont think President Bush nor Obama would have used Cross Townsends as official bill signing pens if they knew ahead of time that production unilaterally moved to China.

 

 

My Pelikan was past the three year warranty. I told the rep it was out of warranty when they told me they wouldn't charge me and her response was "we always take care of our customers." And again, there was no $10 fee. In fact, they sent me a little gift in addition to replacing the nib.

 

I've just had a recent experience with Cross. I sent in an old pen to be repaired. They sent me a new one, for which I am grateful. But in addition to charging me $10, they broke the old one that I had sent in. I could have fixed the minor problem myself, but I wanted it repaired by pros. Now I the old one is totally useless. The new one, I will say I rather nice, but it's upsetting that they ruined one of my favorite pens.

[dadoody]

I've been happy with the Cross Solo/Radiance pens I have. Easily repairable and maintained, cheap, pretty, balanced, smooth as silk, but I believe they are Japanese made (by Namiki).

 

The Cross ATX pens write well and also seem solid, but the shirt clips on them fall apart very easy and I am not so happy with them in that way. The plastic parts are also low quality and can flake off sometimes. I'm not sure where they are made. I assume China.

[Florida Blue]

But to be honest, the crop of Chinese made Cross pens I have (Townsend, Apogee, Century IIs), their quality are often still equal if not better than some German (L2K), Italian, French, Japanese etc made pens I've experienced. I've had a few pens that had defects from day one, and Cross repaired them and now they are great.

 

Having said this, I hope Cross monitors these forums and hears what their long time customer are saying . Bring back Cross production to USA where it belongs!!!!!

 

Since the last time I've posted on this thread (back in July of 2011) I have acquired a Cross Suavage in the blue azurite finish and it is just as nice as my Apogee. I'm surprised to read that others have experienced "rough edges" or "flacking" of finishes because I have not experienced any of that with my two Chinese-made Cross pens.

 

I would compare both of them favorably and on par with modern pens (2010 to the present) that I've bought from Parker, Waterman and Pilot (made in France and Japan respectively) and even the lone Pelikan I have from the 1980s and a Montblanc 144 from the late 1990s.

 

However, I agree with you that I would like to see Cross bring back manufacturing to the USA.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Florida Blue

[Chaz]

Quick contribution from a total newbie to the forum, but someone that has used a US made Cross Townsend for years. I recently lost mine and popped into a well-known UK pen-specialist chain to buy a Lamy caligraphy pen for my wife. Thought I would try a Townsend and a Century whilst there (which confirmed that the Century is too narrow for me). What I found with the Townsend, though, was that at the join of the section to the barrel there was a distinct and quite sharp edge. Seemed like the section was a bit wider than the barrel and screwed in slightly off-centre. My old Townsend was perfectly mated at this join, no edge, seam or misalignment.

 

Chaz

[cstephens]

I've been a fan (and user) of Cross pens since the 70's. I own 15 or so Century ballpoints--about half made in USA and half made in China. While I really like the USA made ones, the Chinese ones have served me just fine. What I have done now is use the USA ones when I am dressed up or for formal occasions and when at home. I use the Chinese ones at work. I don't know why, I just have fallen into this habit. I also have a gold USA-made Townsend and a burgundy Chinese-made version. The quality difference in those two is imperceptible. I also have Chinese-made Cross pens in at least 10 other models--including fountain pen, pencil and ballpoint. They all have served me well and I routinely use them as gifts.

 

Regarding customer service...I have had Century ballpoints repaired over the years (a clip that was sprung in an 18k model, a 10k model that ceased to rotate to expel the ballpoint, Ion that wouldn't open/close, and a 10k model that was simply beat up). They were always professional, courteous, thorough and quick. And they never charged me the $10 fee.

 

While I would prefer that they manufactured in RI, I will continue to buy their products.

[rucnok]

I have an old cross metal chrome ballpoint. The ink

Doesn't seem as nice as montblanc ink.

Montblanc doesn't smear and the cross

Gets all over

[nicholasyeo]

The Cross ballpoints today are still pretty good. One thing is for sure - they're affordable. They are seen as brick and mortar store stuff, not high quality stuff. But they are generally cool. Everything is made in China and I got a few pens recently that write really well. Very much than Lamy, for sure. My favourite ballpoints are still Caran d'Ache.

[JonDoh]

The Cross ballpoints today are still pretty good. One thing is for sure - they're affordable. They are seen as brick and mortar store stuff, not high quality stuff. But they are generally cool. Everything is made in China and I got a few pens recently that write really well. Very much than Lamy, for sure. My favourite ballpoints are still Caran d'Ache.

 

 

I received a Cross 18K ballpoint this past Christmas. As you know, it is one of their most expensive ballpoints. Right out of the box I could tell it wasn't the same quality as my old USA made pens. It was much lighter in weight for one thing. There was a noticeable gap between the top and bottom of the pen and when you turned it to release the point for writing you could feel a grinding like there was sand in the mechanism. Regardless, it was a nice looking pen and I carried it a few times, wrote with it and tried to like it despite it's shortcomings.

 

One day, it just fell apart. The top crown came off. And the mechanism that turns and releases the ballpoint just spins and no longer catches. This was after I had had the pen for two months and used it sparingly. I've sent it back and they're charging me the "warranty fee", even though the pen was only two months old.

 

So, no, I'm sorry to disagree with you, but the quality of Cross pens produced in China are total and complete (bleep). They are nowhere near the quality of the ones I have that were made here and which cost much less too.

[UK Mike]

I have recently received a Cross Century II fountain pen in warranty replacement for a Century Classic which had the spinning nib problem.

The new pen in very similar in style but with a bigger and heavier cap.

 

The service from AT Cross UK was excellent - no questions asked, no charges made, and as they were unable to repair the original they replaced the pen and also returned the original.

 

I had to buy a new converter (now screw-in type)

 

I must say however, that the new pen was delivered with one of the worst adjusted nibs I have seen in a long time. Tines a long way out of alignment, skewed feed and a wide open tine gap. It was quite scratchy when I first tried it. I am reasonably competent rather than a nibmeister but I was able to set the tines and also align the feed so the pen now writes smoothly - but if they are selling pens in this state to the general public their reputation will suffer and they will put people off fountain pens. I have certainly had Jinhao and Baoer pens in a much better state.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I don't know if it means anything, but I was reading a book today about violence. (It's a book for writers to get their violence correct.) Anyway, the Cross brand was identified by name in a chapter on impromptu weapons. Apparently the metal ballpoint can be hammered through a sheet of plywood. It is less capable as a weapon because it requires good aim.

 

The book didn't mention the fountain pen. I own a fountain pen and two ballpoints, but they're all at least 13 years old. I will use them from time to time, but they're not my favorites. I was also a bit curious about the fountain pen in terms of violence. Would it be better than the ballpoint? Anyway, not the normal way people look at their fountain pens, but that is what comes of my combining my interest in fountain pens and my interest in writing a novel with realistic violence.

[tripcode]

I would think that the nib would snap/bend if you tried to hammer it through... well, anything really. Ballpoints, with their strong piercing tip, are far more dangerous as weapons. If one were to use a fountain pen in a violent way, the really good way would be to have a pen with a sharpened nib, without tipping. That way, it could pierce the skin and the shoulders, also sharpened, would widen the cut, allowing the whole body of the pen into the wound.

 

It's sort of like cutting through jello. The tip of the knife pierces the otherwise fairly resilient skin, and then the edges make the actual cut that they wouldn't be able to make without the first little piercing.

 

ETA: If I were to do this, I would choose an Esterbrook manifold nib, as they are both stiff and thick enough to sharpen noticeably.

Edited April 1, 2013 by tripcode

[lahlahlaw]

I picked up about 10 Cross pens of various models at Marshall's department stores. Some of them are clearly cheaply made plastic and feel too light. I have a few that are enamel and seem to be better quality.

I paid between $10 and $15 each, that should say it all...