[jonro]

I'm not selling this pen. Levenger is having a sale on the periwinkle version of their True Writer with a fine nib, only $14.95. It's a very smooth-writing pen and the fine nib feels more like a medium to me. The resin is striking, with a lot of depth. The URL is below:

http://www.levenger....d=5578|Link=Txt

Many people feel these pens are an excellent value at retail (about $55). It's a steal at $14.95. The photo below (which doesn't do justice to the pen) is from their Website.

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[yiterp]

does anyone know if you can use paypal at levengers site

[coolpenz]

Man, people work fast. Just spoke to Levengers; it's already sold out!

[jonro]

Wow! I had a feeling that after I posted that, they would sell out quickly. But, that was fast.

[JRodriguez]

I placed an internet order ... I guess it'll be cancelled. Thanks for letting us know about this though!

[jonro]

I think that if it went through and they processed your payment, they probably had them in stock when they placed your order.

[Ray-Vigo]

These are nice pens. If you missed out on this sale, keep on the look out for them. I have a Golden Tortoise and really like it.

[JRodriguez]

I'll be hoping so Jonro. The reason I'm ify though is that it said "call for availability" next to the pen ... I guess we'll see!

[coolpenz]

Yeah, J, that's why I called 'em right away. After they told me they were sold out, I called 4 Levenger stores hoping they'd have one or two left. Oddly, all of them were surprised HQ had any; apparently they'd been out for months.....

[JRodriguez]

Wow! It's amazing how fast word spread of this.

[rasmussen]

You guys certainly did jump on this deal pretty fast. You're right CoolPenz, I was actually quite surprised that we still had these in our warehouse.

- I want to disclose that I work for Levenger. I've been online for a few months working with productivity communities. FPN is fairly new for me. -

My experiences on Douglas Johnston's DIYPlanner.com and Merlin Mann's 43Folders.com have shown me that open discussions with customers about our products can be just as valuable to the community as it can be to our company. This was most notably the case when we started opening up our new product development to the creative collaboration that takes place every day between those community members. Who better to tell us what works and [often more importantly] what doesn't than the very people we hope to serve. [re - Co-Creation]

link to FPN reference : paper quality | feathering

Levenger's recent decision to focus entirely on the Truewriter line made for some great deals on our other-brand pens. I also know that it disappointed many customers that routinely visited our stores for the primary reason of exploring the pen cases. For me, I'll miss how exciting it was when our vendors would stop by to show us their new lines. This has left us with a pretty big job to do - re: How do we build this line into a compelling pen brand.

I can't think of a more valuable way to learn what needs to be fixed, and what directions you'd like us to pursue, than by listening and responding directly to all of you folks here in the FPN.

From some of the threads I've read, I think I might have a long road ahead of "making things right" with some of the quality issues that have been voiced and the customer experiences that resulted. Nonetheless, I hope this can be a starting point. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions, or just post a question to keep threads organized and drop me an email [that's why it isn't hidden] if you think I should get involved.

I also welcome any thoughts on how you think my affiliated participation should be handled. Every community is different, and I want to be sure that my activity is adding value to the whole site. I welcome any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks,
Ryan Rasmussen

[julikko]

Ryan,
It is great to have someone from the other side of the counter in the forum.
One of the issues that have come up a number of times with Levenger is the policy of giving support only to the products sold through their stores or online. As it is, I have bought two TrueWriters from other forum members, found that the nib was too wide for me, got in touch with Levenger and been told that they will neither exchange the nib nor sell me a new nib unless I show my bill... The comparison with Chartpack, the company that runs Pelikan's customer service in the States, is very favorable to them.
Just my USD 2%.

Julio

This post has been edited by julikko: 13 February 2007 - 06:53 PM

[Cloud]

Hi Rasmussen,

Well, you wouldn't be the first person from a pen company/store to participate in this forum. There are a couple of other's like James from the Pear Tree Pen Company, Winedoc (Kevin) from internet pens, Richard Binder from Richardspens.com, Corniche which is the maker of Colfer's Imperial inks and few others.

They participa by giving us information, sometimes annoncing promotions from their store, and many times correcting or informating us in a rationnal non partisan way. As long as you are not pushing your product or bashing on others there shouldn't be any problems. Some only post in the marketplace, other are important contributor to the wealth of information on different pens, history, and pen property, care......

Welcome aboard

[mholve]

Glad to have you with us...

[scubie02]

well, if feedback is wanted on the True Writers...

I ordered three of the periwinkles, two showed up with parts fallen off the pen and laying there in the box next to the pen--actually, of such a nature that it's hard to believe it could happen in transit and they must have just been shipped that way. On one the central larger metal band that says Levenger on it was laying there in the box next to the pen. On one the metal band that should go around the converter was similarly laying there in the box next to the pen. So one out of three showed up fully intact, basically, which isn't so impressive.

Actual performance wise, the fine nib as mentioned is too wide, more like a medium at best, it sometimes balks a bit starting out. Once it is actually writing it does ok. The caps sometimes are a bit balky screwing on and off as well, the barrel sometimes comes unscrewed, however, to make up for it...

The Kyoto is actually quite a nice looking pen if you get that color. The periwinkle is less striking (and is even LESS appealing with parts missing...). Seems like they need to work on the ol quality control a bit or just carry various brands like they used to.