I had a green plastic VP from 1996 (according to the date on the nib); bought it a Levenger's outlet store way back when I was new at this game. The plastic body had begun to split on the barrel of the half of the body connected to the clip, so I put it away a couple of years ago and forgot about it. Lately I have been clearing out some old, less-than-desirable pens and came upon that old VP. On a lark, I contacted Pilot/Namiki about possibly repairing it, and they graciously told me to send it in for review. I mailed it a week ago Tuesday, and got a phone call from Johanna in Connecticut the next day to report the following: they had received it, but no longer had any parts for it, so they would replace it with any other basic VP I wanted, for free! I was standing in the Dallas airport at the time, with no ready access to the internet, so she described all the options to me and promised to have the replacement in the mail as soon as they could.

I never expected a free replacement, much less a phone call. I am VERY pleased with the service of this company!

Sharon in Indiana

Very impressive - I'm pleased that a company will stand by its products, especially after such a long time and not with a non super-expensive one either.

That's exactly what I thought, too!

That's great to hear. So what color did you go for? (I love my Grey...)

Wow, that is fantastic customer service. I love my VP and it is good to hear that as a company they are prepared to stand by their products in such a way.

That is what customer service should be all about !

Your story almost makes me wish I had chosen to purchase the VP. It was between a VP, Pelikan and Sailor. I went with the yellow Sailor Pro Gear from Pam Braun in medium/fine.

Wonderful story... guess what my next purchase will be....?????

Color of the new pen? Red with chrome, F nib. At least I THINK I requested chrome over gold; I was somewhat distracted while having this conversation. We were trying to flying from Dayton, OH to Boston via St. Louis, but ended up going Dayton-Dallas-Boston, dealing with two standby flights out of Dallas.

And, yes, this experience definitely steers me toward another VP, or some Namiki pen. My favorite color is purple, and I am trying really hard to ignore the existence of the purple VP LE!

Sharon in Indiana

Good going, Sharon! Red's a good choice - I like their red.

I am very partial to the silver finish over the gold. Just a classier look all around.

(I guess after my Grey, I like the two carbonesque finishes the best, then the orange LE pen.)

You should've asked for a Raden! Yeah, doubt they would've been that generous.

All kidding aside, it's great to hear of that level of customer service. Once in a while a testimony like this pops up, reinforcing my impression of how great Pilot Pen Co really is. If you're serious about getting another VP, definitely look at the Raden. Search for that keyword in Writing Instruments, Fountain Pen Reviews, and this sub forum--you're sure to find a few nice images. Here's one:

This is really interesting, as I just had to send my wonderful 1998 faceted VP to Pilot UK for repair. Interestingly, it was exactly the same crack issue as Sharon, but where the two halves of the body thread together (lots of force there, seems to me). Anyway, the person who deals with repairs was away this week and will be back early next, so I'll let you know how it goes. Having said that, so far they have been a joy to deal with, even indulging me when I emailed them to check the pen had arrived there safely!

Cheers,

Ralf

Hm. That raden IS pretty fine. But it is not red, or purple, so I don't know that it would be my first choice (if you could see the pens scattered all over my desk right now you would understand!).

Ralf, I'll be looking forward to hearing about the successful resolution of YOUR situation!

Sharon in Indiana

Can you tell me what caused the cracks? My VP cracked while sitting on the stove I didn't see it there as its black matte finish matched my stove. I know this is not covered by the warranty but I would really love to replace it with that body style. I don't know the exact year but I bought it in '99 at a discount b/c they had just come out with the new model.

I don't know what caused the cracks in my particular pen; could be it was consistently screwed too tightly when the sections were put back together after a cartridge change, or maybe the plastic was just weak and stressed over time. The cracks run along the faceting in my case. They didn't ask me what happened to it, they just offered to replace it!

BTW, I pulled out a magnifying lens and looked closely at the nib of my pen to to locate the date (it is coded about an inch down, I think, or at least it was on mine). I saw that in someone else's post on FPN, because I couldn't remember when I bought mine!

Sharon in Indiana

Just an FYI - got the VP today (red with chrome). I forgot I had it shipped to my office so I could guarantee someone would be available to sign for it (Pilot ships items with signature required), so it was a happy surprise to see that box!

I haven't written with it yet; frankly, I have three other pens ahead of it that I received this month so I may not get it inked for a few weeks.

Sharon in Indiana

Sharon said "I don't know what caused the cracks in my particular pen; could be it was consistently screwed too tightly when the sections were put back together after a cartridge change, or maybe the plastic was just weak and stressed over time. The cracks run along the faceting in my case."


This is what happened to mine, exactly. It was originally made in 98 judging form the nib date and style. The pen was pretty close to brand new when I bought it, so it's an odd "injury." Could it be that the plastic loses strength over time? My guess is that screwing the two halves together too tightly would cause damage just like this, but the screws bottom out, so it would be hard to do. Oh well.

Haven't heard back from Pilot UK yet, but I'll let everybody know what they say!

Best,

Ralf

Good luck with the UK office.

Sharon in Indiana

Well, I heard back from the UK office today. They don't have any spares on hand for this age of pen so . . . they have sent it to japan for repair! This suits me very well, since I like the faceted model very much. Still don't know if there'll be a charge. Anyway, it'll take a couple of months, so I'll let y'all know. So far I have to say I'm pretty impressed that they didn't just say "it's ten years old, go away . . ."

Best,

Ralf

A-mazing!!!!!!!!

Ralf, Any news on your pen?

Sharon in Indiana

Hi Sharon!

Nothing so far. Should be early November, and I am looking forward to seeing how the story ends :-)

Ralf

Okie dokie. Just checking in!

Sharon in IN

Well, my pen got back today, and it's not terribly good news. It's exactly the same as when it left. It's been all the way to Japan, but they have no spare parts, so it's still got my original rather shakey glued repair :-(

No discredit to Pilot at all, at least they tried, but I'm a bit bummed now . . .

Ralf

Oh, that IS horrible news. I am sorry to hear they weren't more helpful, Ralf. Oddly uneven customer service, I should think. And a pen that has traveled so far but cannot speak about it.

Sharon in Indiana