My Verona issues continue

Well after waiting 8/28 to 12/10 for receipt of my pen. I fully admit that I rammed the piston rod through the rubber piston but I see that Visconti has also changed this configuration in their new pens so I don't think I was the only person to have their piston stick and break. As well I have heard of others seeing clouding of the clear windows and since the pen is 90% clear it really shows up and I detailed this problem when I packed the pen off for repair.

During the months of waiting I emailed several times but recieved no answer. Called twice and got a voicemail once ( no call back) and then finally a person who said they were expecting a package from Italy next week.

Now usually when I have such a prolonged issue with a pen and it is repaired I just don't want anything to do with it as I can't enjoy the pen I just remember the lost time and hassle not to mention the cost of sending it back. So it appeared in the Marketplace for sale and I was going to sell it

until

I did my usual cleaning of the pen before packing it up and noticed that there was a scratch/rub mark from nearly the tip of the nib to the section. Looks like the pliers slipped when they were taking the nib off and the hazing of the body was still there.


Now this is not my first rodeo with Visconti as I had a Manhattan who's section oring broke down and started leaking at the threads as well as ink getting between the inner and outer shell of the body. I sent the pen in and nothing was done by the US distributor ( old one) [wait they did a nib exchange for me] so I contacted Italy directly and they sent me a new 'o'ring which I replaced but the pen still had the staining.


So I sent an email sharing my annoyance to both Italy and the US reps of Visconti and suprisingly ( ) have received not a single reply. You might say that two days is not enough time for them to reply but the pen was out of my hands for months and they only repaired it partially not even giving me a note saying why they only fixed one thing or saying anything about the damage to the nib.


So for me the pen is now a reminder to never buy another Visconti pen again.

Kurt

Ouch!

Ughh. Truly bizarre.

Perhaps this story will reach the correct eyes and and ears and you will have a resolution similar to your Levenger woes.

I guess today was the wrong day to get my first ever Visconti...

The worst service I have ever received was from Visconti and more then once.
As much as I like their pens I will not buy another one.

What a crying shame.In this age of no customer service,i was really happy to note that many pen companies were different in this regard.
But this story is sad and to read them like this is becoming too commonplace.
I myself have had 5 Visconti's and had to send one back as well.It was taken care of promptly and back to me in 2 weeks.
But that was last year and i sure hope they are not changing policy as that would do them a great disservice.

Hope all goes better Kurt.

Jim

Not at all. All mine have been great straight out of the box and stayed that way. I'm just sorry to hear the struggles other folks are having

Hmmm. As I sit awaiting my first Visconti this post is troubling. I had a problem with Aurora's turn around repair time which was explained by the fact they close for the month of August.

Perhaps you should contact Ken Jones, the US distributor for Visconti (AFAIK).

Ken has sold me a couple of pens and repaired one with great success.Give him a call if you have not already.
He really took care of me.

Jim

Ken is a good guy. I think you should pick up the phone and call him.

I hope that Visconti service in Italy is better... I hope to never verify it. I got only one Visconti, a Summer Yellow Opera Club with some ink flowing problems but I hope to resolve them washing the converter with the dish soap and water.
I think that in this age a Company Service does the difference of quality. It is better to have a cheap pen that works everyday than a expensive one that it has always problems.
I'm finishing my review of the Stipula La 91 and then I will post the review of the Visconti I got. I hope to have resolved the flowing problem before starting the review, because I always wrote my reviews by hand in a paper before translating them... I have 3 more reviews to translate... I think I will post two of them next week.
Bye

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with this pen and with Visconti-Italy. That sounds frustrating.

I have bought only one Visconti (van Gogh Midi Tortoise) and I love it. Mechanically, I've had no problems with it at all. I did arrange for a barrel exchange because mine arrived damaged from my retailer, and the retailer put me in touch directly with Ken Jones/Visconti (in New Jersey) (the retailer paid for my postage; they took responsibility for shipping me a damaged barrel). I did not deal with Mr. Jones personally and instead had telephone communication with someone in that office (Pat, who happened to answer the 'phone when I called), but I received nothing but courteous, responsive, and immediate personal attention from the New Jersey office. She told me that they wanted me to be happy with my new purchase, and she/they ensured that I was. I had my pen back within days because their headquarters is only a few hours from me. I used the toll-free number posted on Pendemonium's page of manufacturer's contact info and reached a live person every single time. This was just a few months ago. I'm very surprised that you haven't been able to talk with someone about your concern.

Like Ghost Plane, all mine have worked perfectly out of the box. I currently have 5. I have no reason to not buy another and would in a heartbeat.

I do feel the pain Kurt is experiencing, it's fustrating to get no solution or for that matter, no real response from a manufacturer. I hope things come around.

I would estimate that you have about a 50% chance of it working out of the box. Chances are probably better with the lower-end models and worse with LEs. If you consider them stereotypically Italian products then I don't think you'll be too disappointed. (I'm at about 1 in 3 working out of the box myself, but I'm integrating others as well.) In any case, Visconti service or a little nibmeistering have gotten all of mine working.

I must be a lucky guy as i have owned over 30 italians and had only 2 with problems.
Thankfull.

Jim

My Visconti is flawless. As are the Viscontis of everyone I have talked to about them. I guess some people just have all the luck.

Kath

Hmm. I was thinking of a Visconti Divini for my next aquisition. I absolutely hate hearing about bad service though.

I have only one Visconti so far (a Kaleido Voyager Verde Foresta) which I bought pre-owned and it wrote well. The occasional nib tuning that my pens need I just send them over to the local nib technician who does it for RM10-20 (US$3-6) for any number of pens I hand him over


But my Marlen E-Com has been giving me headaches. I bought it mint from robmorrison on eBay, but within 1 week of using it I noticed the captured-converter leaked at the blind cap end Since the pen is still new and Marlen has a lifetime warranty for their pens I sent it over back to Italy via their local agent, PenGallery. That was at the end of May 2007.


After a very long wait (in fact, I had almost forgotten about this pen) I finally received this pen in the last week of November 2007. That's a full 6 months of waiting!! Inked it up and after using it for a couple of weeks I noticed the same leaking problem had recurred today Should I send it back again to Marlen.... and endure another half-year wait?? Getting really (whoa there)-off with them. Showed it to the nib expert but since Marlen had glued tight the barrel to the section he dared not repair it for fear of breaking the pen in the process of opening it up.


Sorry for hijacking this thread... I just had to vent and I don't think starting another thread would be of much use



Shahrin

Indeed, but I've also learned that in a product fan venue such as this, all brands are above average.

I can hope so!

Kurt

In theory emailing viscontiusa should put me in contact with Ken Jones. But I have never received a response to this point to an email.


Kurt

He may be a good guy but why should I have to contact a particular person in the Visconti supply chain to get any customer support? The pen should have been repaired and returned


oh well,

Kurt

I have owned quite a few visconti's and only two of them had issues curious that both had either the single or dual filler. So I do like the line but the possibility of having to rely on their customer service is going to make me think twice.


Kurt

That reminds me of my Omas green Arco alignment problem and Kenro's inability to let me know if Omas could repair it. After many a week that I had waited for an answer, I finally contacted Omas themselves. Those Kenro folks know zilch about old-stock Omas. And they are not passionate pen people, just

I had my expensive saft green celluloid Paragon go back to the factory since there was a hole (sic!!!) in the filling knob. They repaired it in two months' time. When it came back from Italy, the new piston knob was forced so tight, that I had to use the brutest kind of force to get it turning again. I really freaked out when I was jerking at this knob, the whole pen wrapped in a slightly moistened cloth to enhance friction. Plus, the top of my filling knob is not as nicely polished as the old one. It's matte, and I don't know if they just forgot about this. They send the pens back in the metal container that I had sent the pen in the first place (you know, these "Retro 51" tubes). Well, I had wrapped the pen in addition to avoid clanking and scratching. Needless to say, they hadn't. It was happily rattling in the metal tube when it came back. Every other good pen person I know of, will wrap the pen or put it in a little plastic bag before they put it back in the metal tube. Talk about being respectful to such expensive pens.
I will only contact Omas if I REALLY have to. Their repair's normally ok to good, though. But the circumstances and the hassle make me want to puke every time I deal with the factory.

I have only one Visconti Opera Club which has been working without problems. So, fortunately, I didn't have to contact the service department.
My girlfriend's Opera Club doesn't align when the cap is on. This is an annoying thing when considering the price of the pen. I really want to send it back for her, but I fear that the hassle might eclipse the benefits. And I don't think that the personal notes that one writes and in which one describes the problem aptly, are read thoroughly by the Italian repair department (maybe they don't know English so well).

Everything except for the Pelikan service (Chartpak) makes me shake with anxiety. They are the oasis in the desert of customer service!

My own brief experience with Visconti Van Gogh pens leads me to wonder whether their quality control might be slipping. One had a defect so obvious any halfway competent QC process should have found it. There was a bulge in the pen where too much resin had been applied, thus making it impossible to post the cap. The replacement was made poorly as well. The converter rattled with every tiny movement, and the clip was loose unless the screw holding it in place were tightened, thus putting it about a quarter of an inch below the surface of the pen.

The nibs seemed nice and smooth, but the rest of the pen was not well made at all. The screw holding the clip in place on the Van Gogh seems a particularly egregious design flaw, as it will have to be tightened over time (if not immediately), putting it below the surface of the cap, leading to cracks and scratches around the hole and possibly cracked or shattered caps.

I'm sorry to hear their customer service is apparently nonexistent, but if they're letting obvious defects get through, I can't say I'm terribly surprised. Judging from conversations I've had with several pen retailers, it seems more and more pen manufacturers are following Mont Blanc's lead in customer service. In other words, they declare that the product is perfect when it leaves the factory, so they're not responsible for any problems, as all defects are actually damage caused by the retailer or purchaser.

I hate to hear about the Marlen leak. I had a piston leak with one of my Krones. It came back repaired in 6-8 weeks. I thought it had breather problems afterwards, but after switching inks, it settled right down to reliable use.

I'm up to 8 Visconti now [so THAT'S where my disposable income went] and all are the cartridge converters except one salesman's sample with the piston I got off fleabay that works great, as I would expect a sample to.

My new Opera Club has been a bit fickle about ink and paper choice. The Aurora black seems to be working wonderfully now.

I do agree that the email to Ken does not get answered. I am beginning to think the address is not active or used. Old school phone calls may be the answer.

I think it's just bad customer service not to answer email. I wonder how many other manufacturers would behave the same way.


Kurt

I once tried to contact Houndstooth via email. They never responded. I then called and things got settled quickly. However, I agree that it is totally unprofessional and outright ridiculous to give out an email that you never check and/or use. One might think that operating a successful business is hard and demands a lot of work. Apparently, these people all get by swimmingly without email in the year 2007. I am surprised and I know that if I didn't answer emails, complaints about me would quickly reach a level that would endanger my professional future.

It would endanger my professional reputation too but I do not make expensive pens sold globally. But no sense complaining about something that cannot be fixed by just complaining. No offense meant BTW. If calling might solve the problem, I would call. Cannot get any worse can it.

This is quite an unfortunate horror story, Kurt.

I have only had one problem out of a large number of Italian pens. That said, I do acknowledge that all my Viscontis are older models. A story like this one does cause me to wonder if Visconti quality control might be slipping. If I find a Visconti model that I like and want to buy, I will no doubt follow through with the purchase. But I will be attentive to alternatives for servicing Visconti products.

I think that I am more warning other people about the lack of customer service by Visconti than anything else. I complained initially to the US distributor and to the manufacturer first- they did nothing so I am now speaking out to others. As I said I have called but didn't ask for Ken in particular.

Kurt

That's the thing that bothers me the most in that the manufacturer is not willing to stand behind their product and provide good service.

Kurt

I'm quoting my earlier post with a follow-up.
My Visconti Opera Club fine point arrived today and it is beautiful. After admiring the fit and finish I dipped the nib to test it out. To my surprise the downstroke looked and felt a bit rough and the feedback from the pen was bumpy. The upstroke was even worse, to the point where it caught on the paper (mead 5 star). After writing a few words I stopped and concluded I have a real nib problem here. Upon inspection under a 20x magnifying loupe I confirmed the problem and my fears are now realized.
I now have the 'opportunity' to experience Visconti's service and support first hand.
Thanks for letting me share, I'll keep you posted.
-Jay

See my threads also

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=46610

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=42861



Of 4 Visconti pens I own 2 have Quality controls faults and one has a clouding/crazing ink view window.

I emailed Visconti Italy 3 weeks ago with no response.

My experience has been extremely poor quality control and zero customer service.

Kurt just seeing and hearing about all of these problems with Viscontiusa e-mail. Emailing Visconti USA does not guarantee me getting the e-mail. My e-mail is kjones5369@gmail.com and my direct number is 202-498-5747. I answer all of my e-mails almost instantly and answer my phone when I am awake. Customer service I can say with the utmost confidence has done a complete 180 since I came on board. If you have a any problem with customer service or a Visconti pen please don't hesitate to contact me.

Whoa. I love this board!

(Thank you Ken!)

I can attest to this. My not-so-smooth nib was replaced in a week. Thanks.

Thanks Ken from me as well, I'm eagerly awaiting my first Visconti--maybe arriving tomorrow--and I'm glad to hear there's support should I need it.

Ken:

It's good to hear this from you. I have had the locking ring break on a new Copernicus (I know that it was produced almost a decade ago, but I am the origninal owner and I've had it only about a month ). I emailed customer service in the US almost two weeks ago and customer service at Visconti in Italy over a week ago simply asking how I can get the pen serviced - I have yet to get a reply to either email. I will get a note to you shortly. Thank you for chiming in here!


Dave

Ken Jones is a long-time, well-respected member of the fountain pen community in the mid-Atlantic states. I hope the Visconti owners on this board will learn to trust him and rely upon him to ensure good servicing of Visconti products.

*sigh* I guess no Viscontis for me...
I won't be able to stand buying such an expensive pen with the likeliness of having it arriving defective.

Not to worry! I have 12 and only one has a problem and I got it used. [Nibmeister plans after my tax refund].

Ken, thanks for chiming in here with your contact info!

Visconti have probably very nice materials but their nibs and their filling systems never equaled the good old piston filling system of my Omases or the Montegrappas I have tried. In terms of nibs and to very honest with you Omas and Montegrappa are the best closely followed by Marlen and Ancora. Aurora nibs are like toothpicks.

I am always saddened when I hear about someone having a bad experience with his/her pen. Living in northern NJ, I was lucky that when I had a very small issue with my Opera Club. I was able to go personally to Visconti in Lodi (NJ, not Italy) and have them take care of it right on the spot. I think that they will eventually answer you and take care of the problem. However, hearing about such things always makes me twinge. Does anyone know if Steve Weil is still with Visconti? I found him to be an extremely helpful and personable representative.

Nope didn't happen. Still waiting for someone from Italy to answer my emails!

After several months the pen came back with the gasket fixed but the barrel was still hazed. No explaination just the pen in a box. I was so disgusted that I sold it to someone disclosing everything that had happened about the pen.

After the fact in this thread and emails the US distributor did say that if I buy another Visconti and it has a problem to send it to him personally.

Doesn't do any good for me but I guess others can be helped by it.


Kurt

Not to be too contrary but why shouldn't everyone get the same high level of service from Viconti not just someone that sends it directly to Ken?


Kurt

Because people screw up. Nope, shouldn't happen.

When it does, though, it's good to know that at least one person understands that the buck stops with him. I can only hope that in turn his attitude goes back down the chain of command to each and every person that deals with the public. I'm sure Ken hopes so too.

gary

Maybe if it was one incident then the "people screw up" could be used but with the number of problems out there it seems to be a systematic issue with Visconti.

I would hope that the positive attitude could go both up to the top as well and maybe I'd look again at Visconti.


Kurt