[Siv]

So, let's start with the fact that I broke my 80s 149. I dropped it and the cap top broke off and the clip fell off. I was quite annoyed because it is an absolutely lovely smooth B nib that is one of the very best writing pens I have ever had.

I took it into the MB boutique and asked them to repair it - the said fine and off it went. They called me today to come and pick it up. The cap etc is beautifully repaired and I was very happy. Until I took the cap off...

Now nothing was wrong with the rest of the pen (other than a few scratches) and on the surface it looked like that part had not been touched (scratches were still there). BUT the nib was buggered! The tines were separated (vertically) and you could clearly see that with the naked eye. Truning the pen over, the feed (or nib) was rotated about 20 degrees from where it should be. The pen looked like it had been manhandled by a gorilla - and a part of the pen that didn't need to be touched! I was quite annoyed as this is one of my favourite writing pens. I told them to go fix it - they tried to give me some bull about them being sure that nothing would have happened during the repair as that part was not affected but I wasn't having any of it.

The girl that was serving me was accommodating and agreed to have it looked at again but I'm very upset that my pen cannot be trusted with these monkeys. Next time, I'm only leaving them with the bit that needs to be fixed so that they have nothing else to break!

[georges zaslavsky]

sorry to hear this :( It is heartbraking when you have a pen that you like that is damaged by incompetent people or noobs at work. Next time send your pens to John Binder, Greg Minuskin or Sean Gosse, you will have less troubles and a perfect pen.

This post has been edited by georges zaslavsky: 07 November 2009 - 08:15 AM

[hari317]

Siv, on 07 November 2009 - 01:06 PM, said:

So, let's start with the fact that I broke my 80s 149. I dropped it and the cap top broke off and the clip fell off. I was quite annoyed because it is an absolutely lovely smooth B nib that is one of the very best writing pens I have ever had.

I took it into the MB boutique and asked them to repair it - the said fine and off it went. They called me today to come and pick it up. The cap etc is beautifully repaired and I was very happy. Until I took the cap off...

Now nothing was wrong with the rest of the pen (other than a few scratches) and on the surface it looked like that part had not been touched (scratches were still there). BUT the nib was buggered! The tines were separated (vertically) and you could clearly see that with the naked eye. Truning the pen over, the feed (or nib) was rotated about 20 degrees from where it should be. The pen looked like it had been manhandled by a gorilla - and a part of the pen that didn't need to be touched! I was quite annoyed as this is one of my favourite writing pens. I told them to go fix it - they tried to give me some bull about them being sure that nothing would have happened during the repair as that part was not affected but I wasn't having any of it.

The girl that was serving me was accommodating and agreed to have it looked at again but I'm very upset that my pen cannot be trusted with these monkeys. Next time, I'm only leaving them with the bit that needs to be fixed so that they have nothing else to break!

Siv, I suggest, you withdraw the pen and send it to Mike or any other nib man/repairer of your choice. I am worried MB may decide to replace the entire pen except for the nib. Ebonite vs plastic feed does make a diffrence as far as I have seen.

wsac this the platic nipple screw type cap or the later brass screw variant?

Thanks!
Hari

[Ed Ronax]

Sorry to hear of this horlicks, I would only have left the cap if the rest of the pen was fine, so far I haven't had any problems but I think I would have gone ballistic if it had been me.

[greencobra]

Damn, that'd ruin my day! I feel for you and hope it gets sorted out to your satifaction. Keep us posted.

[stevlight]

That's disappointing. I have had nothing but great service from MB. Hopefully it will come back good as new.

[humblescribbler]

That's awful! And it's possible the boutique staff mishandled it (shoving it into the hard plastic repair sleeve, or some such) rather than the factory, so it's hard to follow up. Or even someone examining it out of curiosity who's not in the repair stream. The feed being twisted is weird. Hopefully the entire chain of people who had contact on your repair will feel responsible enough to make sure they "get it right". Please let us know.

[greencobra]

stevlight, on 07 November 2009 - 08:20 AM, said:

I have had nothing but great service from MB.

Me also. But you hear this too often now, pens coming back damaged, and not just from MB. A product coming in to a service center should go thru incoming inspection where they look for damage other than what they are contracted to fix. It should go thru another when it's ready to leave so stuff like this doesn't happen. Or at least that's how it use to be. And a copy of the inspection notes came back with the product.

[Siv]

hari317, on 07 November 2009 - 02:40 AM, said:

Siv, I suggest, you withdraw the pen and send it to Mike or any other nib man/repairer of your choice. I am worried MB may decide to replace the entire pen except for the nib. Ebonite vs plastic feed does make a diffrence as far as I have seen.

wsac this the platic nipple screw type cap or the later brass screw variant?

Hari, it's a plastic screw variant. Honestly, I don't really care about the rest of the pen - they can do what they like to it. I have no qualms about modern feeds and brass screws - I have two new MBs that I have no problem with.

The real annoyance is that the nib was the most perfect part of that pen. It's lush and wet and smooth and lovely. They can replace the whole pen as far as I am concerned - they just shouldn't touch the nib.

stevlight, on 07 November 2009 - 07:20 AM, said:

That's disappointing. I have had nothing but great service from MB. Hopefully it will come back good as new.

This is what I expect to hear which makes my experience all the more annoying.

What I would note is that the people who work at the store, while polite and all that, know absolutely nothing about pens. The girl who was dealing with me went to the cupboard and pulled out a new 149 for her to compare what it should look like against what mine looks like. OK, so I'm a fountain pen geek and I can spot a wonky feed and nib from 10 paces but I would expect someone who works in a pen store to be able to do that 100x better than me!

The only gratifying thing about this experience is that I managed to get another 3 bottles of Seasons Greetings '07.

[jniforat]

i'm really sorry to hear that i hope everything works out well now and in the future with MB service

[hari317]

Siv, on 07 November 2009 - 10:29 PM, said:

Hari, it's a plastic screw variant. Honestly, I don't really care about the rest of the pen - they can do what they like to it. I have no qualms about modern feeds and brass screws - I have two new MBs that I have no problem with.

The real annoyance is that the nib was the most perfect part of that pen. It's lush and wet and smooth and lovely. They can replace the whole pen as far as I am concerned - they just shouldn't touch the nib.

I understand your feelings Siv and I will probably feel the same way. I hope MB is able to settle this repair to your satisfaction.

Best wishes,
Hari

[Wideguy]

Hi Siv
A while back I had a "little" disagreement with MB.
Its a small world today, and I just took it to the top management levels - sending them repeated emails until the issue was solved to my satisfaction.
Its amazing what a nicely put letter of complaint can do.......
Best Of Luck
Adam

[meiers]

They will make it right. Do not give up.
The MB boutique will advocate for you.

Matt

[harry19147]

I myself have had nothing but excellent customer service from boutiques and the repair center. I don't bellieve that the pen could ever possibly get damaged if the cap is what's being repaired. Maybe you didn't notice that your pen was "screwed up" until other parts of it looked like new...

[jeen]

MMahter, on 08 November 2009 - 08:59 AM, said:

There seems to be differences in who you talk to as well. I sent my BP back twice to them and didn't really get satisfaction from either peson.

It's conceivable that individual pen techs at a brand as large as MB can vary in proficiency. But taken as a whole, I've found MB service better than most brands. The simple fact that I don't have to send a pen overseas (unless it's an LE) is a huge advantage in itself over many other foreign makes.