Otherwise, I'll have to send it to the US and pay those ridiculous UK customs charges and handling fees.

Parcelforce have this week raised their handling charge to £13.50 from £8.00 ! I know, because I paid £8 last week and £13.50 today, for parcels to be delivered from the US. The VAT was only £12, so ended up paying more for the handling fee !
They don't seem too bothered about parcels from elsewhere, though.

Any help would be appreciated.

What type of work are you looking for?

Martin

Hi Martin,

Having flow issues and skipping with the pen.
Probably needs adjustment, but I'm not up to it.

I've heard good things about Laurence Oldfield www.penpractice.com and I've also heard that Peter Twydle at www.penmuseum.co.uk does repairs.

No doubt they both have long waiting lists

I've recently been in contact with Laurence Oldfield and was told he's unlikely to send any new work back before May. He's writing a book about pen repairs - that will be worth reading.

Regards

Richard.

When I sent a pen to Richard Binder (from the UK) I wrote on the Customs form, at his instruction, 'pen for repair'. He wrote something similar on the US Customs form when he returned the pen to me (e.g. 'returning pen after repair' or something along that line) and I was not charged VAT or Customs on what was my own pen to begin with.

I have a linked question about general repairs - I need a couple of vintage pens serviced. I figure the nibs need to be looked at as well as new ink sacs put in. I was told by a friend that Pen Museum was the way to go and on the website he says 15 days turn around. I haven't actually spoken to him yet though!

Would be interested to know what you hear!

Many thanks for all your replies.

I will start looking into your various suggestions.

I don't know if they call themselves nibmeisters but the people at The Battersea Pen Home, http://www.penhome.co.uk/index.htm, certainly turned my Parker Ellipse into a wonderful writer. The turn around time from Sweden was quite modest.

Cheers

Anthony

Hi, I have used the Pen Museum a few times, most recently 2 weeks ago - I sent my Parker 51 Special to him via Royal Mail Special Delivery on the Friday. Peter Twydle contacted me via email on the Monday with a quote for the work to be done (paid via paypal) and I received them back via Royal Mail Special Delivery the following Friday - a 7 day turnaround.