Italianpens

[PatientType]

I've just had a rather weird experience. I've been banned by bidding by Italianpens on their Ebay auctions. I'm a reliable buyer, 100% rating on Ebay, always pay within minutes (or hours if I'm out of the house) ... Heck, my credit rating is over 800.

 

Why the ban? Apparently because I sent them a message politely suggesting that their $15.00 shipping fee for a Laban Celebration (offered for as low as $36 Buy-It-Now by other vendors) might be a disincentive for bidding. Personally, I wouldn't bid on a $40-$50 range fountain pen that carries a $15 shipping fee.

 

This is probably a blessing in disguise. I REALLY don't need more fountain pens and I shouldn't be perusing Ebay. But, I've never experienced such dismissive treatment from a vendor. When I sent a follow up, "Is there a problem of some kind?" email Italianpens didn't even respond. So much for communication...

[gylyf]

I've just had a rather weird experience. I've been banned by bidding by Italianpens on their Ebay auctions. I'm a reliable buyer, 100% rating on Ebay, always pay within minutes (or hours if I'm out of the house) ... Heck, my credit rating is over 800.

 

Why the ban? Apparently because I sent them a message politely suggesting that their $15.00 shipping fee for a Laban Celebration (offered for as low as $36 Buy-It-Now by other vendors) might be a disincentive for bidding. Personally, I wouldn't bid on a $40-$50 range fountain pen that carries a $15 shipping fee.

 

This is probably a blessing in disguise. I REALLY don't need more fountain pens and I shouldn't be perusing Ebay. But, I've never experienced such dismissive treatment from a vendor. When I sent a follow up, "Is there a problem of some kind?" email Italianpens didn't even respond. So much for communication...

 

This is the new eBay ID for the person who used to sell as Outletline, then Centennial Pen. His name is Ben something or other, and he's notorious for banning people from bidding on his auctions. He's a bit like the Soup Nazi: ask a question he doesn't like, and it's "No pen for you!"

 

Best,

David

Edited June 17, 2009 by cellulophile

[ralphawilson]

They say it takes all kinds, but does the world really need THAT kind?

[OneRiotOneRanger]

I've just had a rather weird experience. I've been banned by bidding by Italianpens on their Ebay auctions. I'm a reliable buyer, 100% rating on Ebay, always pay within minutes (or hours if I'm out of the house) ... Heck, my credit rating is over 800.

 

Why the ban? Apparently because I sent them a message politely suggesting that their $15.00 shipping fee for a Laban Celebration (offered for as low as $36 Buy-It-Now by other vendors) might be a disincentive for bidding. Personally, I wouldn't bid on a $40-$50 range fountain pen that carries a $15 shipping fee.

 

This is probably a blessing in disguise. I REALLY don't need more fountain pens and I shouldn't be perusing Ebay. But, I've never experienced such dismissive treatment from a vendor. When I sent a follow up, "Is there a problem of some kind?" email Italianpens didn't even respond. So much for communication...

 

I had suggested the very same thing to another eBay seller - prahaBleu - and wasn't banned, but was asked to discontinue bidding on his products. Like the man said, it takes all kinds ...

 

[diplomat]

I've just had a rather weird experience. I've been banned by bidding by Italianpens on their Ebay auctions. I'm a reliable buyer, 100% rating on Ebay, always pay within minutes (or hours if I'm out of the house) ... Heck, my credit rating is over 800.

 

Why the ban? Apparently because I sent them a message politely suggesting that their $15.00 shipping fee for a Laban Celebration (offered for as low as $36 Buy-It-Now by other vendors) might be a disincentive for bidding. Personally, I wouldn't bid on a $40-$50 range fountain pen that carries a $15 shipping fee.

 

This is probably a blessing in disguise. I REALLY don't need more fountain pens and I shouldn't be perusing Ebay. But, I've never experienced such dismissive treatment from a vendor. When I sent a follow up, "Is there a problem of some kind?" email Italianpens didn't even respond. So much for communication...

 

Welcome to the club! You are in good company, don't worry!!

[MCosta77777]

Kind of a funny way to treat possible clientes.

I believe that you should always mantain a respectable profile with potencial clientes.

But as already said. There are all kinds out there.

BTW, I have bought from him before and I was quite satisfied with the service I got (although I did not question the cost of shipping at the time)

 

:roflmho:

[PatientType]

 

I had suggested the very same thing to another eBay seller - prahaBleu - and wasn't banned, but was asked to discontinue bidding on his products. Like the man said, it takes all kinds ...

 

Fascinating... I have actually purchased a pen from prahaBleu. Good thing I didn't mention their shipping! I don't want to be persona non grata everywhere on Ebay.

 

prahaBleu has high shipping just like Italianpens but, unlike the Italianpens site, prahaBleu doesn't slap high reserves when he sells via an auction. When I get a really, really good price on a pen, I'm ready to overlook a little padding on the handling & shipping side. I just temper my bid to take shipping over charge into account.

 

[Ghost Plane]

Welcome to the club. Many of us have experienced the gracious friendliness and effervescent personality of Ben, with resultant blackballing. I suppose so long as there are sufficient new buyers of fountain pens on fleabay, his draconian tactics will serve him.

 

I find PrahaBleu's communication skills and customer service more than make up for any perceived fee issues.

[OneRiotOneRanger]

Welcome to the club. Many of us have experienced the gracious friendliness and effervescent personality of Ben, with resultant blackballing. I suppose so long as there are sufficient new buyers of fountain pens on fleabay, his draconian tactics will serve him.

 

I find PrahaBleu's communication skills and customer service more than make up for any perceived fee issues.

 

I concur that Scott Lee communicates well and quickly and he ships quickly, all good things. What he does with his shipping price is that, when he thinks an item will need to ship via UPS, he posts a higher charge than if he thinks it will go Priority Mail. I had suggested to him that he wait until AFTER the sale closed to determine the shipping method and fee and send the appropriate invoice. I also suggested that he spell Connaisseur correctly and that he understand the difference in Visconti's maxi, midi and mini sizes. Scott, clearly, doesn't like to be told - anything - and he suggested that I take my act on the road. Believe it or not, there are other places to spend money.

[Ghost Plane]

But he DID swap a problematic nib and some items needed when necessary, so I don't mind a little overage built in if he's going to stand behind his products when necessary.

 

There've been debates on shipping before on here. A search will haul 'em up from the depths of the archives.

[bardharlock]

I was selling some Dunhill and Cavicchi pipes at Christmas-time last year and had someone sent me a polite message stating they thought shipping was keeping people from bidding on some rather beautiful pipes. Pipe boxes are about the same as pen boxes in size and shape, but as a seller I really like using Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes, so if someone bids on all four pipes I have on sale, the shipping increase isn't a killer as I could actually get them all in one box.

 

Luckily, I used the question to list my actual shipping costs and and people found out I actually lost 5 cents per item if they were purchased and shipped individually. In my auctions, two Dunhill's were sold to a buyer in Japan through a bidding service and the other pipes went to happy folks in other places; for exactly what I felt they would sell for in the first place.

 

I didn't block the bidder but when he asked his politely worded question stating it probably wasn't his business, I thought to myself that he sure was right and if he really felt that way, why did he bother sending the message? The great thing was I knew the number of watchers I had because of the eBay reporting. I simply used the opportunity to politely make my point and explain my shipping.

 

Anyway, I suppose my point is if you don't like the shipping, simply don't bid. People charge what they charge for whatever reason they need or want to. Many sellers these days are very picky about bidders because as a seller you no longer have any real protections against a malicious person. Especially now with DSR in place, if you had bought the item and paid the $15.00 shipping because you felt the overall total was a good deal, despite high shipping, you could have nailed him on the DSR polling and actually caused enough of a ding to hurt him or keep him from selling. Most seller's think it just isn't worth taking a chance, so they'll block a potential buyer if they think they could hurt them later.

 

eBay has actually made it rather unpleasant to be a seller lately. I cannot blame a guy for trying to protect his best interest when a DSR rating below 4 out of 5 stars can get you blocked from selling for a while and almost no one likes paying shipping charges.

[jdclarkson]

I feel so neglected! I've had several transactions with Ben, both as Outletline and as Italianpens. Each transaction was smooth and pleasant. I've asked questions, made counter-offers, asked for reduction in prices, offered to buy if he'd substitute a nib he did not advertise. When he substituted a nib, he warned me that there would be a slight delay because he'd have to get the nib I wanted from his supplier. In some cases, we have had small problems like a longer delay than either of us expected, or a wrong nib. He has always made good, and when there was an unexpected delay (once), he was profoundly apologetic. When he (once) shipped with the wrong nib, he immediately shipped out the correct one BEFORE I even returned the original.

 

 

Ben's first language is not English, and it is true that, at times, his responses are terse, but I attribute that to language skills, not bad manners. I do notice that he is protective of his privacy to an extent that seems outside the norm, but he's never been rude or difficult with me. In fact, he's always been a reliable seller, straightforward, easy to deal with, and even friendly in his responses.

Edited June 19, 2009 by jdclarkson

[RevAaron]

Alas, the one transaction I've had with Ben has resulted in getting stiffed. Nothing sent to me after months.

[Ghost Plane]

Ben was decent to me for awhile, then he started ignoring the nib choices and sending wrong sizes, which resulted in additional shipping costs. I put up with that, but when I had a non-delivery and he didn't respond to my queries about it, I finally had to go to Paypal to preserve my rights. Got my money back immediately [it was a lot for me] and was immediately banned. And this after I'd spent a LOT there.

 

Simply took my business elsewhere and never looked back. There's so many nice sellers with good prices AND good service.

 

Interesting to see he's blocked a LOT of people who buy a LOT of pens regularly. As long as that business model works for him... :blink:

[someonesdad]

The old rule, which has worked for millenia, is "Vote with your pocketbook".

[Parker51]

There are worse problems than dealing with an On-line seller whom refuses to sell an item. With an On-line seller you can simply buy from someone else.

 

I live in a Metropolitan area where there is only one chain Pen store and one Independent pen store.

 

The chain store while pretty and staffed with nice people is in a Mall and has quite high prices and significant fluctuations in stock. They only have current production pens, ink and accessories.

 

The Independent pen store is a one person operation. He sells current production, recent out of production and vintage pens. He will let you in the door and let you look around his store. He will tell you if he has what you want and how much it will be. However, he keeps all but the cheap pens he constantly pushes in a vault and will not get them out unless you assure him you are going to make a purchase. Thus, unless you are prepared to pay him the price he has set for a pen you want, he will not let you even look at it. I drive by his store about once a week and have not bothered going into his store for several years. I just wait for the day he has to go out of business and liquidates his stock. It may be a long time however, as he has made it clear he owns the building his store is in and he relay doesn't care whether he sells anything. And as far as follow up service if you do buy something from him; I have a friend who's wife purchased a Modern Parker Duofold from him, and when my friend stopped by to purchase some ink and asked a question about the Pen, the proprietor denied having sold the Pen and told him to contact Parker himself. My friend had a minor nib adjustment problem and the proprietor does repairs, so it was a reasonable service question. I am not completely surprised that the proprietor would not do the service on what he sold however, as previously he told me he doesn't like doing pen repairs.

[OneRiotOneRanger]

There are worse problems than dealing with an On-line seller whom refuses to sell an item. With an On-line seller you can simply buy from someone else.

 

I live in a Metropolitan area where there is only one chain Pen store and one Independent pen store.

 

The chain store while pretty and staffed with nice people is in a Mall and has quite high prices and significant fluctuations in stock. They only have current production pens, ink and accessories.

 

The Independent pen store is a one person operation. He sells current production, recent out of production and vintage pens. He will let you in the door and let you look around his store. He will tell you if he has what you want and how much it will be. However, he keeps all but the cheap pens he constantly pushes in a vault and will not get them out unless you assure him you are going to make a purchase. Thus, unless you are prepared to pay him the price he has set for a pen you want, he will not let you even look at it. I drive by his store about once a week and have not bothered going into his store for several years. I just wait for the day he has to go out of business and liquidates his stock. It may be a long time however, as he has made it clear he owns the building his store is in and he relay doesn't care whether he sells anything. And as far as follow up service if you do buy something from him; I have a friend who's wife purchased a Modern Parker Duofold from him, and when my friend stopped by to purchase some ink and asked a question about the Pen, the proprietor denied having sold the Pen and told him to contact Parker himself. My friend had a minor nib adjustment problem and the proprietor does repairs, so it was a reasonable service question. I am not completely surprised that the proprietor would not do the service on what he sold however, as previously he told me he doesn't like doing pen repairs.

 

You raise an interesting new thread: areas which are poorly served by B&M stores, or not at all. I live just west of DFW Airport. The entire Dallas-Ft. Worth area, which sprawls for miles and miles and includes several million people, has one pen outlet - a Paradise Pen located in the Galleria mall. It comes with the same shortcomings as described above. We are, as noted above, not unique, so that means we must deal with on-line merchants, some of which, as noted, come with their own idiosyncracies.I concur completely that we must vote with our pocketbooks; what is frustrating that, when we try, we are often told not now, or even, not ever. Several very well-known on-line merchants have lost my business because they don't stock what they advertise. Others can be hard to get along with, or engage in questionable business practices. Those I can count on for good service, adequate inventory and reasonable prices do not require me to use more than the fingers of one hand, and, at that, not all of them. The answer for me, recently, seems to be the few dealers I can count on and finding reliable repair/restoration people. Fortunately, there are enough of the latter around so that things can get fixed, with time and patience. Not the way an economic model would draw up a market, but, whadda you gonna do?

[Aysedasi]

Many sellers these days are very picky about bidders because as a seller you no longer have any real protections against a malicious person. Especially now with DSR in place, if you had bought the item and paid the $15.00 shipping because you felt the overall total was a good deal, despite high shipping, you could have nailed him on the DSR polling and actually caused enough of a ding to hurt him or keep him from selling. Most seller's think it just isn't worth taking a chance, so they'll block a potential buyer if they think they could hurt them later.

 

eBay has actually made it rather unpleasant to be a seller lately. I cannot blame a guy for trying to protect his best interest when a DSR rating below 4 out of 5 stars can get you blocked from selling for a while and almost no one likes paying shipping charges.

 

I'd like to support you on this point. Ebay is now substantially weighted against the seller - Ebay has consistently put more and more safeguards in place for buyers (which I understand) but sellers now have little or no protection against unscupulous and offensive buyers - and yes, it's happened to me in the past when I legitimately refused to sell to a bidder and he was personally offensive in his feedback - all of this is to such an extent that I now rarely sell on Ebay.

 

 

Having said this, I also deprecate 100% the tactics employed by the seller mentioned throughout this thread.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Aysedasi