Eating Crow ...

April 11, 2006

I have written previously about two Bexley Fountain Pens I own, a Equipoise and an Ebonite, and the problems I had with them.

Both were hard starters and neither liked writing on the up-stroke, running almost dry.

Both had been sent for repair and both returned in the same condition.

I was not happy.

Well Mr. Levy himself of Bexley pens contacted me. He must have been monitoring things here, or someone told him.

He asked me to send the pens back to Bexley, directly to his attention,

He asked for writing samples of these pens, samples of what I consider "good" writing pens, and asked how I held the pens, writing angle, pressure, types of ink used, prefered paper, etc.

He said he would evaluate and rework the pens personally.

The pens were mailed off. In no more than a couple of weeks the pens returned.

I inked them immediately and started writing.

I said I would give them a "one converter full" test and see how they held up.

Well, I'm about 3/4 through and decided there is no reason to test any more.

The pens have been perfect.

The ink flows when the nib touches the paper. Even if they have been sitting unused for up to 5 days.

Ink flow is as I like it, even and damp (not dry nor gushing).

The nibs are smooth.

How could I ask for more?

(I'm even looking at Bexley's again!)

Thank you Mr. Levy

April 11, 2006

Hey Glenn, that's great news! I recall posting (and even starting some myself) on some Bexley trees and your 'passionate' discussions about your utter dissatisfaction with your pens. I'm thrilled you got this straightened out and reported back - kudos to Howard Levy as well, however he might have discovered your issues, he acted upon them and that's super service. I, too, have dealt with Mr. Levy and it was a pleasure. Congrats on your two 'new' Bexley pens

April 11, 2006

Glenn,

Which nibs did you have?

I have an SMG ebonite prototype (twin of the one The Noble Savage has) with stub that skipped from the start. I followed the dealer's directions re putting several loads of ink through it and still have a problem. I tried the brown paper bag trick. I've tried different angles and inks. And I'm not convinced it is me because I can wield a cursive italic just fine.

I have an owner's club on the way now. Hmmm, wonder if I'll have trouble with it. Maybe I've been spoiled by Pelikans. The salesman for the prototype suggested I hold the nib to the paper momentarily before starting. That's not 100% effective either. But why should I have to do that with a pen that costs 20 times pens that I have that work perfectly, including speciality nibs?

Bill

April 11, 2006

Howard Levy is a great guy. He took care of a couple of my "51"'s as a favor to an associate of his who happens to be a personal friend. I have nothing but great things to say about H. Levy and the Bexley Pen Co. Furthermore, my Bexley Americana is one of my all-time favorites (well, I do have an affection for my "51" collection).

I can't wait to purchase my next Bexley.

April 11, 2006

Maybe I should comment on the quality of the nib on my Americana...

It's a medium and flows incredibly well. Wet and consistent. I never have flow issues. I know all pens and writers are different, but personally, it's one of the better performing pens I own.

April 11, 2006

Yeah, I had an issue or two with a couple of my Bexley nibs and they were solved right away. The major issue I had was my Prometheus with a medium nib. The nib was really bad and unwriteable. So I sent him an email to let him know the problems. A week later the pen came back and the nib wrote better. The medium wrote like a fine and it wasnt getting much use. So I paid the 30.00 and I swapped for the Stub and it works so nice that it is in almost constant rotation. The stub is a 1.3+ width and smooth as butter!!!

My Bexley Owners Club pen has been the smoothest stub to date. This nib for some reason was extra smooth, something that I am not used to Bexley putting out. I normally have to smooth out a few areas of the nib to increase the sweet spot along with slightly rounding the sharp corners. This was not the case for the Owners Club and the Prometheus. Fantastic pens and a great company to deal with!!

Glenn- I am glad you are eating crow!! I hope it tastes really good too!! I am sure glad that you allowed Howard to take care of the pens for you and you give Bexley another chance. They sure are great pens and one of the last American pen companies left.

TNS

April 11, 2006

Thanks for posting your experience. Not every pen leaves the factory in as perfect condition as we would want and sometimes a few escape quality control. However, it is great to see a company stand behind their product and please a customer. I would not hesitate to buy a Bexley again.

April 11, 2006

I agree with you 100% on that. I said this 1049 times, well 1050 now but due to my unique writing style, about 90% of my pens need some sort of nib customization. It normally is smoothing out aread of the nib that most people never use. I also increase the sweet spot on my Stubs/italics/cursives. Stubs need less work while the Italics need a lot more work, especially the crisp italics. By the time I am done, they are no longer Italics!!!

Getting back on track, IMHO and writng experience (limited) only 10% of the pens that I bought are perfect out of the box. 90% of the pens I buy need some sort of modifications. Out of the 90% that need modification, 15% of those need to be returned due to major flaws that prevent the pen from writing. Such as feed starvation, nib defects that are beyond normal modifications to fix and skipping.

So yes, there are problems woth quality control in the modern era of pen manufacturing. Compared with the golden age of fountain pens where most of them were tested at the factory. More time, moeny and research was put into shipping a product that the factory stands behind due to the fact that it was individually tested. Pens in those days were made to last a lifetime unlike some of the pens today. Quantity over quality is the name of the game today, it is a shame but unfortunatly, this is what we have to contend with. Not all pens today are like that but out of my 125+ fountain pens in my collection, I would say that I seem to grasp the idea on the quality of the modern fountain pen vs the vintage pens.

TNS

April 11, 2006

Glenn- I am glad you are eating crow!! I hope it tastes really good too!!

Carefull!

There's no need to get personal.

I stand behind my original assessment of these pens.

I did originally send them in to Bexley and paid for repair and they returned in the same condition sent.

It was Mr. Levy's latest efforts that I so heartily appreciate and acknowledge here.

I did have a third Bexley, a Cream & Blue Submariner that was FAR better looking than either of these, that wrote far worse and I just returned for credit.

At that time I was 0-3 with this brand and I just wanted my money back.

And I disagree that "quantity" is valued higher than "quality".

Any NEW pen that I pay over $75 had better work without my needing to send it out for repairs.

There are far to many good writing inexpensive pens out there for me to waste my money fixing expensive ones.

April 11, 2006