Currently Visiting The Cs Factory During This Week

[OTDoc]

Hello,

I am visiiting the CS factory through to Friday.

During my visit we have several meetings planned. If you would like for me to bring your comments to the meeting table, please send your comments/feedback to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk and mention 'UK Meeting' in the subject line of the email.

With kind regards,

Mary Burke

I sent a message asking what might be the ballpark figure for a Bespoke Dinkie - no reply.

I'm not a tyre kicker, I have a CS Prof Dr and a Belliver.

No reply is discourteous.

 

It appears that you are in Wales so I am not sure what the deal is there as far as company response. Not sure who that would go to unless Mary handles that too! If so, she is really busy. CS is a relatively small company but they do appear to need to add additional help in handling customer queries.

[michaelembley]

I don't agree on the issue of packaging. I like the drama of opening a high quality item, and yes, if i've paid a higher than average price I want all the trimmings. If I buy and Aston Martin, I want to feel good about buying into that mystique, otherwise I'd buy a Jag.

 

I don't think "high end" fountain pens/watches/cars are ever truly rational purchases, if we were always rational then we'd have bic/casio/fords all the time. These are fine of course but not what I was after.

 

What I would like to see;

 

Communications via email. As stated above though when I once called the factory they were very good, pleasant and helpful. However emails have gone unanswered. Mary has replied to me very swiftly on the (very few!) occasions I've sent a PM.

 

QC. I own 5 CS pens. 3 wrote really well out of the box. One did not and required fettling, one still does not and I never use it. This is quite the most important thing for me. I love the ones that work well, the one that still does not grates. I think a testing period in house would be the most useful thing to introduce, and a reasonably lengthy one.

 

I love the pens, they are beautiful, objects of desire. I think that the marketing is close, but not widespread enough or quite on target yet (not at all bad though). More could be done. I want the brand to succeed of course. Strength in both the sausage and the sizzle is key (pardon the analogy but it's close to breakfast time!)

Edited February 5, 2013 by michaelembley

[alc3261]

Hello,

I am visiiting the CS factory through to Friday.

During my visit we have several meetings planned. If you would like for me to bring your comments to the meeting table, please send your comments/feedback to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk and mention 'UK Meeting' in the subject line of the email.

With kind regards,

Mary Burke

I sent a message asking what might be the ballpark figure for a Bespoke Dinkie - no reply.

I'm not a tyre kicker, I have a CS Prof Dr and a Belliver.

No reply is discourteous.

 

It appears that you are in Wales so I am not sure what the deal is there as far as company response. Not sure who that would go to unless Mary handles that too! If so, she is really busy. CS is a relatively small company but they do appear to need to add additional help in handling customer queries.

CS should reply to their emails.

If Mary is requesting comments she should reply to her PMs.

No response to an email from a Customer is rude.

[The Good Captain]

Hello,

I am visiiting the CS factory through to Friday.

During my visit we have several meetings planned. If you would like for me to bring your comments to the meeting table, please send your comments/feedback to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk and mention 'UK Meeting' in the subject line of the email.

With kind regards,

Mary Burke

I sent a message asking what might be the ballpark figure for a Bespoke Dinkie - no reply.

I'm not a tyre kicker, I have a CS Prof Dr and a Belliver.

No reply is discourteous.

 

It appears that you are in Wales so I am not sure what the deal is there as far as company response. Not sure who that would go to unless Mary handles that too! If so, she is really busy. CS is a relatively small company but they do appear to need to add additional help in handling customer queries.

CS should reply to their emails.

If Mary is requesting comments she should reply to her PMs.

No response to an email from a Customer is rude.

I'm not sure where I've posted this before but I've always found that a phone call to Christine Care, the General Manager, always seemed to get results.

[Rufus]

My impression is that she handles most, if not all, of the USA stuff. Not sure though. She is extremely nice and helpful when you get a hold of her. Remember, she is a moderator on the board and travels a lot for the company as well. Be gracious, patient, and don't give up. You can send a second email too.

 

Perhaps she ought to resign as a moderator of this forum so that she can focus on what's important to the company...customer service.

[Ghost Plane]

And yet the people on this board are always begging companies to pay attention to their feedback...

[Koyote]

Perhaps she should consider resigning (or someone should consider removing her) as moderator of this forum because of her rather obvious conflict of interest.

 

I'm not saying that I have ever seen that play out on the forum, but the whole point of ethics is avoiding even appearances of impropriety.

[Rufus]

And yet the people on this board are always begging companies to pay attention to their feedback...

 

How does her not being a moderator prevent her from paying attention to feedback? If CS, and other pen manufacturers, are truly committed to providing superior customer service they would have a rep. or two monitoring forums, such as FPN, for customer feedback. Being a moderator does not and should not enter into it.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Rufus

[parilla]

I must say that I am surprised such an interesting and controversial topic suddenly died with no real resolution...did everyone simply lose interest? Surely this is a far more interesting topic than the "I have just bought a new Conway Stewart whatever" that we usually see here.

Is Mary still here? Still wondering how to respond? Offended?

[mallymal1]

Perhaps majority of this forums users, are less interested in controversy, and more interested in their pens? :hmm1:

[The Good Captain]

Maybe it's just another example of 'no response'.

[searcher18]

I did just buy two new Conway Stewart FPs and loved their writing ability. I also appreciate the good service that Mary has given me. Would it hurt their image if they manufacture some flashier pens?

[alc3261]

I think the point being made by some of us is that it is "all style and no substance" ie massive amounts of flash packaging but NO Customer Service!!

I don't have time to find their phone number and call them, I expect them to Answer Their Emails!!

[searcher18]

Service is a promise made to Conway Stewart users and must be honored, but innovation in pen design leads to more pens sold and without cash flow a corporation can not fund top flight customer service. I look at the criticism over service as important feedback to help the company survive. There are so few pen manufacturers that we must help the ones still functioning. Does anyone have an idea of the percentage of new Conway Stewart pens sold in the USA?

[MikeW]

Like many of the others that have posted here, I have experienced problems with my pens and perhaps the most infuriating iisue of all, the lack of any acknowledgement let alone a response to my numerous emails - and I mean numerous. I was shocked to hear of the suggestion to call Mary, having been told by her to specifically use email. Like many of you that have posted comments, I am not exactly a casual user of CS pens, having15+ modern and three times that many vintage CS pens. And continue to buy them. I am not b*****ing for the sake of b****ing but hoping for some changes because I love their pens (at least those that I can afford).

 

Like many of you, I am sure, I would really like to hear from Mary about the issues she raised with CS on her visit and the plans, if any, that will be put in place to address them.

 

Respectfully,

MikeW

[Rufus]

Surely dearest Mary must have some feedback for us since it's been over a month since she asked for our input. Or is this another case of form over substance? To quote Macbeth, "Full of sound and fury signifying nothing."

[alc3261]

Not a peep!!

[Rufus]

Hello,

I am visiiting the CS factory through to Friday.

During my visit we have several meetings planned. If you would like for me to bring your comments to the meeting table, please send your comments/feedback to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk and mention 'UK Meeting' in the subject line of the email.

With kind regards,

Mary Burke

I sent a message asking what might be the ballpark figure for a Bespoke Dinkie - no reply.

I'm not a tyre kicker, I have a CS Prof Dr and a Belliver.

No reply is discourteous.

 

 

That's just plain ignorance, methinks.

[parilla]

Still nothing!

[warblerick]

Still nothing!

You are really better off texting to her phone or calling her directly. Her response time to emails is appalling. As is response time for emails directly from CS, in my experience. Or try writing her on Facebook.