Problem with Visconti Homo Sapiens

[elderberry]

You can contact them via visconti@visconti.it and also send them the pen directly, they do not seem very customer friendly however - when I sent a request concerning the faulty HS all I got as reply was "send it to us and we will see what can be done". So I decided to leave that to the dealer I got it from.

 

He sent a whole batch of faulty HS in and it took him over a month to get some new ones - don't wanna know how long the repair of the old ones will take. All in all it doesn't seem like an enjoyable experience.

 

I will likely receive my new HS some time next week if it passes some tests the dealer will be doing and is working alright. Can't say I didn't like that stub nib as long as there was enough ink to support it! I just wish some makers of our beloved pens - and this doesn't go just for Visconti - would put some more thoughts into quality control and customer service.

[bassplayrr]

So just the generic contacts as listed in the pinned thread, huh?

 

Sounds like the pen manufacturers subscribe to the same customer service policies as many of the watch brands. Little to no direct contact, cryptic or ambiguous responses, etc. It's a shame. Thank God for friendly dealers or I'd probably be out of both hobbies.

[opitzs]

My seller (missing-pen in Germany) will try to get it repaired from a fp repair man he knows, as that would be a lot faster. If that doesn't work, he'll send it back to Visconti. You can't beat a good seller

[bugmd]

Well before I sent mine to the motherland I would try a couple of simple tricks.

 

Surfactant. Take about 5 ml of ink in a separate container and dip the end of a toothpick into dish washing detergent or another surfactant, PhotoFlow or Triton X-100 if you have any. Then refill the pen several times and give it a try.

 

Different ink, the typical cathartic ink is Private Reserve Tanzanite. I do not write with this one but do keep a bottle around for its purging properties.

 

Failing the above looks like a trip back to Italy.

[bugmd]

My seller (missing-pen in Germany) will try to get it repaired from a fp repair man he knows, as that would be a lot faster. If that doesn't work, he'll send it back to Visconti. You can't beat a good seller

 

 

Careful, make sure that you do not void the warranty.

[opitzs]

Thankfully, that is not my problem. I send the pen back to the seller for repairs under warranty. He can choose which way to go himself, but under German law the risk is now with him. So I sleep peacefully.

[WendyNC]

For those that have or have had problems with their Vosconti pens, how is the warranty work handled, out of curiosity? I recently ordered a HS from Bryant, and although I don't anticipate any issues with the pen, I am wondering how issues with Visconti pens are handled. When I visit their site I see a few international phone numbers for some key personnel, but no customer service/warranty numbers or emails.

 

Are issues with Visconti pens handled through the dealer, or is there a method by which one can contact Visconti directly?

 

If you bought the pen from Bryant, he'll deal with any issues which might arise. His after-sale service is one of the reasons he enjoys such an excellent reputation in our community.

[eric47]

For those that have or have had problems with their Vosconti pens, how is the warranty work handled, out of curiosity? I recently ordered a HS from Bryant, and although I don't anticipate any issues with the pen, I am wondering how issues with Visconti pens are handled. When I visit their site I see a few international phone numbers for some key personnel, but no customer service/warranty numbers or emails.

 

Are issues with Visconti pens handled through the dealer, or is there a method by which one can contact Visconti directly?

 

The email address is in the "Legal Notice" section. Even if you send an email to that generic address, it will get forwarded to the service department. How you handle warranty and repair issues, is in part up to you, where you're located, etc. If you buy locally then you can always deal with your local dealer or distributor. Even in that case you can still decide to send the pen yourself to Visconti.

 

As Elderberry mentioned, the usual reply is the send the pen to them so they can inspect it. That said, they phoned me a couple of times to tell me what was done and to clarify my further questions and well as decided what course of action to take. The person who phoned me at the end of last year was moved from service to production, so although I had a personal email address wouldn't do much good now. And after that move, my experiences with service has been less positive, e.g. unanswered emails and a nib swap that didn't turn out so great.

 

The only time I've ever had to pay more than the cost of shipping, was when a local store sent a pen (no longer under warranty) in repair for me.

Edited March 20, 2011 by eric47

[bassplayrr]

Thanks for the clarification. It sounds like I really made the right choice in buying from Bryant in the event I have any future issues. I still find it strange how ambiguous the warranty/service departments of many luxury brands can be.

[wimg]

Actually, this sounds like a partial baby bottom to me, and most manufactureres are not equipped to deal with those, other than doing a nib exchange.

 

A stub, especially a wide one, only requires that the front edge of the nib rests on the paper, that's all, angle of elevation should not make a difference.

 

This is something a nibmeister can fix fairly easily, BTW.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[opitzs]

On mine at least, it does not seem to a partial baby bottom. The tip of the nib is quite straight, as if the tipping material is just plated on the more or less unrounded tip.

Edited March 20, 2011 by opitzs

[wimg]

On mine at least, it does not seem to a partial baby bottom. The tip of the nib is quite straight, as if the tipping material is just plated on the more or less unrounded tip.

What do you mean by plated? The nib tipping should not be plated at all.

 

A partial baby bottom is only visible with a good loupe, and only if you know exactly what you are looking for. I have fixed a few nibs like that in the past. I doubt very much whether it is a feed problem, as the pen seems to work well when holding it straight up.

 

Effectively, although the nib point may look straight from the tip, which is to be expected from a 1.3 stub/italic, it is that very likely indeed, which is why it writes well at 90 degrees. However, it very likely isn't when you hold the pen at a normal writing angle, hence the mentioning of a partial baby bottom. I've actually repaired nibs with double partial baby bottoms: at a high angle writing well, not writing well at an angle between 80 and 65 degrees, writing well again between 65 and 50, and well again below 50, up to about 30 (and the latter is exceptional ).

 

Warm regards, Wim

[opitzs]

Well, I am no expert, but there seems to be no rounding at all (Loupe 60x). Perhaps that is the problem, when I hold it in normal writing position, only the edge touches the paper, but hold it vertically and you have a bigger area touching the paper. I tried to take some photos of the tip of the nib, but I failed miserably, as I have no macro lens.

[elderberry]

Got word from my HS retailer yesterday that the replacement isn't working any better than the one I sent back in January, so I'm going to ask for a refund and forget about Visconti, at least for a while. There's a lot of other attractive pens in the world. (Still it's a shame.)

 

Hope you guys are having more luck!

[Tumbleweedtoo]

After not receiving any reply from Visconti to my e-mail about my Homo Sapiens pen, I decided to try cleaning it some more and fiddling with the nib, etc. It is finally writing almost acceptably. If it does not get better, I will pay to have it fixed by Mike-It-Work, who has helped me in the past. Needless to say, I will not be buying anymore Visconti pens. They should not cause a buyer this much hassle!

 

All the Best,

T

[jgrasty]

Just got my brand new HS in the mail from Italianpens (eBay). I ordered mine with a stub nib, and judging by a sticker in the box they had changed the nib from a F to 1,3mm stub. It looks like a stub to me, anyway. Filled it Diamine Prussian Blue, trying the power filler several times with the nib totally immersed in the ink, but alas: the pen does not write. What I mean by this is that the nib is so dry it barely leaves ink on the paper. When you apply moderate pressure you get a wet diagonal line of ink, but this is far far from feather touch.

 

Am I missing something, doing something wrong? Has anyone else had a problem like this?

 

Cheers,

 

Mika.

 

I have the exact same problem. I'm sending mine to Mike-It-Work.

[Susanna]

judging by a sticker in the box they had changed the nib from a F to 1,3mm stub.

 

Maybe they screwed the nib group a little too much, and now it feels a bit "tight".

You could try to gently rotate the nib group of few degrees and see it it improves.

[Tumbleweedtoo]

Progress Report: Because Visconti customer support never answered my e-mail request to return my Homo Sapiens pen for nib repair after I described my problems to them, I thought I would keep trying to make the pen write as it should. I am pleased to report that I have made remarkable progress, just in case someone else may suffer the same fate with their new Visconti pen. I kept cleaning the pen, refilling with ink, and trying to write with the pen, and then cleaning, refilling, and writing to see if the problems with the pen could be solved by multiple cleanings with Joy liquid soap, etc. Each time I cleaned the pen, the pen wrote a little better. I think I completed this entire process about 6 times. Now, the pen writes about as good as I think it should have written right out of the box on a variety of papers. I think with additional cleanings with clear water and refillings with ink that over time the pen will write better and better. I am using Platinum Black Ink and the pen now writes quite wet (as some of you described it should in this thread). It only seems to skip on the very first down stroke after the pen has been sitting nib up for a few hours; and maybe part of a letter will skip in the first sentence, with no discernable problems after that. I practiced writing Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with each cleaning and refill, so I could see how much it skipped and if it wrote better each time and on different paper. I am disappointed in Visconti customer support ignoring my e-mail; however, I do think I know now why so many of you like your Visconti Home Sapiens pens, especially the Stub. It will become one of my favorite pens, and my only Stub. I might add that I do use the Visconti Traveling Inkwell to fill this pen, having used it before to fill Pelikan pens. I do recommend their inkwell.

 

All the best,

T

[Uther Pendragon]

Exact same pen, stub nib, exact same problem, exact same seller! Tried Visconti Blue first, almost impossible to write with. Washed pen thoroughly with soap and water. Filled with Everflo True Blue. Writes MUCH better now on most papers. Will not start without some pressure on the HP Premium Choice Laser Paper 32 lb, which may be too smooth (all of my other pens currently inked, including Sailor, Pilot, and Pelikan, write fine on this HP paper). It will now write almost dreamtouch sometimes on other papers of varying quality after the pen gets started. I am hoping that over time the pen will write better with other inks. In some sense, the Everflo True Blue ink may have saved me more frustration with this stub nib. Love the pen, however! :-)

 

All the best,

T

 

Hi, I know I am new to this forum but I have a lot of experience with papers. Laser paper is not a good writing medium for fountain pens. You are correct it is too smooth, because it is made to be heat bonded (laser printed).

 

I you like the look of fountain ink on bright white paper, your best bet is to use extreme or high end InkJet paper. It is made for ink, and has spectacular bleed control capabilities.

 

Just my two cents worth.

 

:-)

 

Uther Pendragon

[Tumbleweedtoo]

I WILL try inkjet paper! What have I been thinking???? I use laser paper all the time for my printers and just naturally buy that type of paper. It makes great sense to get inkjet paper for a pen. Thanks for telling me something I should have thought of long ago! BTW: the pen does write better each time I fill it. :-)

 

All the best,

T