Did I miss something? Got the once-every-now-and-again Swisher e-advert just a few minutes ago, with this odd paragraph in it:

<i>Swisher Pens has undergone quite a change since the beginning of 2008. This transition has been somewhat painful at times; but as they say - things do not get better by chance, they get better by change.</i>

Did I miss some upheaval?

Andy

Hmm... This is the second thread I've run into on the subject. Intrigue is abound...

Chuck & Co. may have been referring (in the painful portion) to earlier in the year/late last year when they had a falling out with A.T. Cross.

They have had some changes in personnel. I don't know to what extent, but I know they have several who are no longer there. I notice a new partners name, too, but that may have changed some time ago.

ht

All I know is that I placed my first order with them a couple of weeks ago, and the pens and ink arrived well packed and in a speedy amount of time. Whatever happened, Swisher is getting the job done!

They had a statement on their website at the beginning of the year stating there might be some delays in shipping orders. I waited a couple of weeks before I placed an order. I didn't get as quick of a response about shipping so I asked if they were still experiencing delays. That's when they told me there had been some changes in personnel. I think it may have taken two days longer than usual which was no big deal. They were quick to respond to my questions and told me when my pen would ship. The delays were due to training new personnel. I'm glad to hear it's back to normal.

ht

Well is Chuck still in charge?

I belive he means there's a new co-owner/partner. I don't know the story behind it.

A new co-owner or partner is usually the result of financial stress and the need for a fresh infusion of capital to keep the business afloat. I have watched this happen with several small businesses in my neighborhood in Upper Northwest DC. Within two blocks of my apartment building, a nationally known independent bookstore and a locally famous restaurant have both taken on new co-owners within the last 3-4 years. In both cases, the new co-owners have wisely opted to remain in the background and allow the old owner to continue as the primary manager and public face of the business. Hopefully that is the case with Swisher Pens.

The email today had a letter from the president, and that was Chuck. On their website under company info, Chuck Swisher and Charaleen Wright are listed as the owners. Wasn't there a previous co-owner with the last name Lee? Other than a day or two delay a few weeks ago I can't tell any difference on the website or their service.

ht

Yes, and I believe they were co-workers on their "real" 9-5 job when they hooked up if I remember the story right. Jennie Lee is still there.

Jennie Lee is still there, and still quick to respond to emails.

ht

That rang a bell! I went to the wayback machine and pulled up the old Swisher page. It listed Chun Lee as co-owner.

Whatever the change, I hope they don't change the way they do business, because they've been one of the places that will put up with us finicky pen people. Plus I have some stuff on back order...

Doug

Isn't their brick & mortar store pretty recent? Opening a "real" storefront is a huge stretch for a mail order company, I would think.

I hope all is well with them. Swishers is my favorite source for pens, inks, &c.

Bill

I am not at all happy with my experience lately. The last time I used Swisher was over a year ago and was painless. This order (about 2 weeks or so ago) was a royal pain in the a**.

Step one: Place online order, everything fine nothing labeled out of stock or anything
Step two: Receive call 4 DAYS! later that pretty much everything I ordered was out of stock.
Step three: Play phone tag all day to actually talk to the person who left me the voice mail.
Step four: Discuss at length how I would like to change the order (I did not want to wait)
Step five: Wait for call back to see if they have the new order actually in stock.
Step six: They don't so - have another lengthy discussion on how I would like to change the order again. (I even offered part numbers that the unnamed assistant would not take)
Step seven: Wait for call back to confirm every thing in stock. OK this time.
Step eight: Exactly one week later I receive the order (Priority mail) grrrrrrrr.
Step nine: Head explodes because the fuc**** order is WRONG.
Step ten: Note to self - SCREW THIS BULLSH**
Step eleven: Just keep the stuff I did not want or need, I am not dealing with trying to return it, I cannot imagine what a nightmare that would be.
Step twelve: Call Pendemonium, order what I wanted in the first place, they have it, receive package two days later, perfect.

RB

If Pendemonium has what I want I don't bother with any other place.

I looked on Swisherpens website and it looks like Charaleen Wright is Chuck's sister. That should mean that it will still have the family-owned business atmosphere. I'm wondering if some of the changes may include adding a lot of non-writing items. I can imagine with a large B&M store that a wider variety of products would be a plus.

ht

The shipping has been a bit slower lately, but only on the order of a few days. I may be a bit more sensitive to it than others because I live in a suburb of Richmond and the standard Priority Mail from Swisher Pens always arrives the next day. But before Dec. 2007 my order would always be shipped the same day or next (which is better than one typically expects from other vendors of almost anything), and now it seems to be taking them a couple of extra days to get things out. Is it possible that their sales are starting to outpace the ability of the staff to get things out? This would surely be good thing.

I've had nothing but excellent service and customer service from Swisher Pens--I can't recommend them highly enough.

I posted about my problem in January: I ordered online on Jan 15. When I phoned on Jan 18 for a status report, I was told that due to personnel turnover, my order hadn't shipped, they were working as quickly as they could, and they had no idea when it would ship. Then on Jan 23 I received an email saying the item was not in stock. I canceled my order. I was not pleased.

I just got off the phone with Chuck Swisher of Swisher Pens. Chun Lee, his former business partner retired this year; Chuck and his sister Charaleen Wright are now co-owners of Swisher.

I think all is well at Swisher Pens....Chuck said they are filling over 100 orders per day!

Hi Anne,

This is my first post on this board but I wanted to take a moment to say that I appreciate your call today and it was very nice talking to you. I don't have much free time anymore, but I did want to put an end to any rumors that there are any serious problems at Swisher Pens, Inc. I appreciate their is some concern regarding recent changes at Swisher Pens, but hopefully things will be running smoothly again very soon. It is true that my partner of over 10 years has sold his half of the business to my sister and things have been extremely hectic around here trying to teach several new employees all there is to know about fountain pens and ink in a very short time. The young ladies that we have working for us have been doing their best to keep up with processing orders and telephone inquiries but at times they make mistakes. Sometimes they may get a little confused (most had no idea what a nib was until a few weeks ago) when taking and processing orders but they are learning very quickly and I am extremely pleased with how things are going for the most part. We lost a lot of experience in January but we still have several employees (including myself) that have been with the company for over 10 years. It may take us a few months to get everyone familiar with the technical names associated with a fountain pen and it may take a little time before they know where every item is located in our inventory. I apologize to anyone that has had to wait a few days to have an order shipped or if an order wasn't processed accurately and would like to speak to me about it, my cell phone number is 757-635-6056. . Hopefully, in a month or two we should have everyone trained enough to get your orders processed correctly and in a timely manner. Until then, we may be out of stock on some items and orders may ship a day or two later than before, but please take your frustration out on me and not on our new employees that are trying best to learn a new job and have little or no prior experience with using a fountain pen.

Chuck Swisher - chuck@swisherpens.com

Dear Chuck,

Now that's great customer service! As always, your service and dedication are exemplary.

I ordered a couple of small items during the transition, and barely noticed anything amiss, other than the fact that a couple of names had changed. Same friendly and fast service as before. Best of luck to you!


Cheers,
Tom

Chuck and his team have given many of us exceptionally fine service for quite a while now. Swisher Pens deserves the benefit of the doubt even if there might be a few bumps in the road for a few weeks or so. I think many of us on this board appreciate his candor with us on his website and now on the board, and are on his side during an obviously stressful time.

Thank you for the great response, Chuck! It's good to see when a company reaches out to their customers in such a way.

I experienced a slight delay in January, but a phone call put my mind at ease, and I received my order soon thereafter. It can be difficult right after a holiday season to get things in running order after a rush and a changeover. I go through it every year in my position - it is the busiest time of year for retirements.

I'm sure all your new fountain pen enthusiasts will slip in to their roles soon.

Thanks for the update, Chuck. I don't mind waiting a couple of more days than I used to--it's only pens and ink, after all. Keep up the good work.

Chuck,

When I started this thread, I had no idea it would generate so many conspiracy theories- the wording of your announcement left me wondering if something disastrous had happened in the family- I'm glad to see it's nothing more complicated that a major readjustment in staffing....

All the best to you and good luck to your new employees- they have to learn to deal with us nutcases...

Andy

Great news to have everything cleared up. It's a long trip for me to go to the store, but I have a trip there planned in the next few months. It sounds like that will be a great time to get there.

ht

I'm impressed! Thanks, Chuck, for taking the time out to write us your message. It shows your dedication to your customers. I'm sure you've won over some more customers today (I hope so!).

I ordered a pen and some inks not too long ago and everything arrived in order and quickly. So - let's make sure we keep Swisher Pens in business for a long time!

Erick

As a long time customer of Swisher's, I thank you Annie.

I was going to write that the "chaos" was definitely not typical of Swisher pens. One thing that really angers me is that I've tried a thousand times to have my stupid Firewall accept his new website and all I get is sheer frustration. I used to buy frequently from them, but alas! I will try sending them an email, for I miss buying from them.

I just want to add something that I was going to post about later, but why not stick it in now also.

Swisher has always had the best customer service you could ask for, including this past week, when they agreed to a certain unconventional transaction I proposed as a customer. I am very grateful for their help.
(I won't say what the favor was as they may not want to do it for everyone on FPN ).

Best of luck to everyone over there.

JR

It's been my pleasure to know Chuck some ten years now, going back to his days on the Zoss List (www.zoss.com and sign up for the pen list- it is the oldest pen group online and is of great merit) when he was turning pens in his spare time and fitting 'em with vintage nibs. Watching him grow into a significant retailer has been a pleasure, truly. Chuck is one of the good guys.

Any business can have glitches. Whilst i do not claim omniscience, i know of no business that does not have an occasional bout of flawed order processing.

In my opinion- take for what it is worth- Swisher Pens is one of the safe and affordable places to grab a modern pen and is a business run by someone who is passionate about pens.

regards
david

I ordered some ink from Swisher Pens last month and the service was great. Quick e-mail confirmation, quick shipment, order received in full -- in other words, business as usual.

It was nice talking to you too!



You're welcome!

Thanks for letting us know what's going on, Chuck. I was a bit concerned when I got that newsletter E-mail too. I'm glad things are rolling along for you and Swisher Pens. I look forward to buying more pens and inks from you this year.

Heck,
I had no idea anything was "amiss" at Swisher's... placed an order a few weeks ago and recieved it promptly and well packed... Easy to say that I'll be dealing with them again.

Yay! Thank you, Chuck, for posting here. Eases more than a few minds, it seems, to hear that things are progressing well down there in Virginia Beach!

Just placed my first order with Swisher for a copy of da book and a pen from their attic. Everything looks fine except for their web page creating two copies of my order...

Which bookstore are you near?

I'm a repeat buyer, so nice to hear from Chuck that all's well.