Waterman Repair Outrage

[sjsoldo]

Okay get this. Purchased a Waterman Harmonie pen in late January. Used it lightly for about three weeks and the barrel button fell off, and I cannot find it. I sent the pen in to have this fixed and guess what, they feel this is not covered under warranty service. Not only that, they want $50 bucks to fix this !!! I paid only $80 for the pen.

 

If part of a pen falling off after a month of use is not defective workmanship, I do not know what is. I've sent pens to them for years, and even if something was not covered under warranty, the fees were typically modest.

 

I don't think I will ever purchase another Waterman product again, including their ink. I own about a dozen of their pens. This makes me very, very, angry.

[Ondina]

I don't think is reasonable to expect that type of repair unless the threads are defective. If the barrel unscrewed before, you should have claimed warranty before the cosmetic damage was done. The manufacturer has no way to tell apart a whack from an accidentally partially screwed barrel from a real manufacturing issue. For as much as I support good customer service, many of us have had similar accidents with pens of many brands and well, those things happens, you know. For as angry as one may feel about it, and as long as the pen writes, use it, is a fine instrument. If you post a WTB for the barrel you may even find one in good condition, or a donor pen.

[StyloBug33]

I'm not really sure what is meant by a barrel button. But, about five years ago I had the decorative piece on the end of my Preface fall off. I had the pen for a few years at that point, but they fixed it for free. I can't imagine a pen falling apart after three weeks and not being taken care of. Even if they think you dropped it, I would think it is better to keep the customer happy. And charging over half the pen's value for a repair is equally silly, IMO. I would be upset too.

[Pippin60]

I'm not really sure what is meant by a barrel button. But, about five years ago I had the decorative piece on the end of my Preface fall off. I had the pen for a few years at that point, but they fixed it for free. I can't imagine a pen falling apart after three weeks and not being taken care of. Even if they think you dropped it, I would think it is better to keep the customer happy. And charging over half the pen's value for a repair is equally silly, IMO. I would be upset too.

 

I've been lucky with the few Waterman's I own but I believe they are owned by Sanford now and this probably reflects cost cutting measures. Its too bad really because FP users like many of us here have some brand loyalty and a FP is not a novelty to us. Its actually bad business in the long run.

[John Cullen]

what exactly is a barrel button? I do not know this pen so I am a little in the dark.

 

If it would take them five minutes to glue on a new piece that would cost $1 to make, then they surely ought to do it for free or for a five dollar fee.

 

$50?? Ridiculous, even if it is the owner's fault rather than a warranty issue.

[sjsoldo]

what exactly is a barrel button? I do not know this pen so I am a little in the dark.

 

If it would take them five minutes to glue on a new piece that would cost $1 to make, then they surely ought to do it for free or for a five dollar fee.

 

$50?? Ridiculous, even if it is the owner's fault rather than a warranty issue.

 

 

I would attach a photo, but I am not sure how to do this. The barrel button is a small gold "cap" on the top of the barrel assembly. The pen cap goes over it when you are writing. It is a little bit larger than a pencil eraser.

Edited April 3, 2009 by sjsoldo

[J English Smith]

Modern service from Waterman and Parker seems to be inconvenient and expensive. Frankly, it would keep me from buying more expensive current production pens from either maker. The stories I hear about Montblanc service largely have the same effect on me...

 

I am sorry, I hope the pen can still be used...

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Parker and Waterman is having trouble offering good customer service as of late, and this is not at all surprising. They used to give good service, so this is most unfortunate.

 

Dillon

[Pensee]

Okay get this. Purchased a Waterman Harmonie pen in late January. Used it lightly for about three weeks and the barrel button fell off, and I cannot find it. I sent the pen in to have this fixed and guess what, they feel this is not covered under warranty service. Not only that, they want $50 bucks to fix this !!! I paid only $80 for the pen.

 

If part of a pen falling off after a month of use is not defective workmanship, I do not know what is. I've sent pens to them for years, and even if something was not covered under warranty, the fees were typically modest.

 

I don't think I will ever purchase another Waterman product again, including their ink. I own about a dozen of their pens. This makes me very, very, angry.

 

I'm curious how button was designed/constructed to attach to barrel. Did you find evidence of broken screw, part of a rivet or anything in barrel? Button was threaded or just glued like a kid's model airplane?

 

Waterman QC seems to be getting spotty. I'm angry at Waterman too.

 

New Carene had inlaid nib that wasn't flush with section & looked like it it was a size too small!

 

*How* did this pen get past QC? I mean we're talking about as much as a .5mm gap between molding & nib. Nothing near quality of say, a Sheaffer PFM for example.

 

Plus the warranty is so vague & in their favor-- it's not worth paper it's printed on imho.

 

From warranty:

 

"This warranty does not cover ordinary wear & tear arising from use of the product, or damage that may arise from accidental or intentional misuse or abuse... (Waterman (2007) Limited Warranty Booklet. US / Canada.)"

 

They probably assume you dropped it-- i.e. "Accidental damage"

 

Soo... Think I'll stick with vintage Watermans for now.

 

A shame because my Expert was rock solid & built like a tank.

 

fwiw

 

--Bruce

 

[Treecat]

I've got three Watermans that I love & use regularly; my husband has two. I'm hesitant to get another new one though because of the tales I hear about Waterman customer service and repair. The fact that they're sent to France for repair is a turnoff. Hey, the pen gets to go to Europe and I don't! :hmm1:

[georges zaslavsky]

Waterman and Parker repairs are not what they used to be and this since the both brands became part of sanford.

[welch]

George asserted that, "Waterman and Parker repairs are not what they used to be and this since the both brands became part of sanford."

 

I think George means "since both brands became part of Newell Rubermaid Office Products Division Sanford". I think that gives a better feel for just where in the Newell Rubbermaid company hierarchy both Waterman and Parker now sit. Right across from the grand old pencil makers, like Eberhard Faber (Mongol), Venus (Velvet), Birol (American Eagle), and, I think, Faber-Castell: the grandfather of almost all pencil companies.

[pen2paper]

The comments in this thread will certainly affect my 'list' of future pen purchases..

how about composing a letter, including these comments, along with your original experience, and sending copies to the principals at the top of the company, as well as customer service department?

if you do, please post the response, if any..

p2p

[RMN]

Well, assuming you live in the USA, the $50 is probably the standard fee for sending the pen to France. As far as I know, there are no repair facilities in the USA any more.

This will be charged for all small non waranty repairs.

 

The question is: why is there no waranty.

You bought the pen for only $80, while I have seen prices on the internet of 100$.

 

So did you get the pen with al the trim and paperwork, or did you have a cheap offer pen only?

 

I suspect the latter to be the case.

 

In which case, it is just your bad luck, but you DO take risks if you buy cheap from unofficial sources.

 

Luckily, we don't have that problem her in my country: the shop that sells you something has to give you the warranty, not the manufacturer.

 

More and more manufacturers ask for proof of sale or original warrantypapers. This is also to protect the importers from cheap "grey" import.

 

 

D.ick

[sjsoldo]

Update: I issued the initial post here, and was very angry at the time. Since the post I have been back and forth with their service department and basically begged and threatened, and finally they agreed to fix it under warranty. I was prepared to send letters to the CEO and all of the Board Members at Newell Rubbermaid, stating a lot of what I put in the post. I even got an attorney involved (he owed me a favor)

 

Just to address some of the posts here:

 

1) The barrel button is held in place by a grommet on the inside section of the button. The grommet had not been flattened sufficiently to hold it onto the pen barrel. I would have fixed this myself, but I do not have a punch thin enough to fit inside the pen's barrel to flatten it out from the inside.

 

2) There is a statement about shipping from France. Well, Waterman has made a decision to perform all repairs from North American customers in France. So that means North American customers seeking repairs have to pay the punitive shipping costs to Europe? Isn't that policy itself a form of poor customer service? Please. Furthermore, I doubt pens are shipped one at a time to France, they probably do it in batches. Anyhow, really an untenable position to justify a $50 cost for a relatively minor repair on a pen that usually retails for $100. You'll have to come up with something better than that.

 

3) I bought the pen on the internet from a certified Waterman dealer in England. The pen arrived in the usual box, with warranty certificate and customary documentation, no different than had I purchased it at a local pen shop. This is NOT a grey market pen. Actually the dealer was very helpful, and offered to have the pen repaired before Waterman finally agreed to fix it for me. Obviously this would be inconvenient but this is an artifact of purchasing an item on the internet, particuraly from another country. Nonetheless, this has absolutely nothing to do with Waterman honestly fulfilling their warranty obligations.

 

 

Finally, after having gone through this, obviously one has to realize that Waterman service is not what it used to be and adjust your expectations accordingly. Treat your pens with kid gloves. Whether or not this dissuades you from purchasing Waterman pens in the future, well, that is your decision. For what it is worth, I have always liked Waterman becuase of thier cartridge system which allows a very quick and easy replenishment of ink without any mess. One can find the cartridges online for a reasonable price if purchased in quantity.