Jump to content

Montgomery pens


josh1990

Recommended Posts

Yeah, according to a friend of mine, I *won't* be able to leave feedback. Which is just annoying (she thinks so, too, which is just *one* of the reason she doesn't like Ebay) -- it make it look as if the seller has mostly positive feedback, without any sort of highlighting of issues such as the ones I had.

Well, hopefully folks on here read this and weigh their options carefully before shopping at Montgomery (either the website or through Ebay). And I've put their B&M address up on Facebook (although I don't know how much the info will get disseminated).

My friend said to check the feedback ratings -- but that wouldn't have helped in this case. It would be nice if there were some way to see if there had been cases opened against sellers, and how they were resolved (even just as a percentage). But I doubt that Ebay is going to want to do that for major cash cows such as Montgomery. Although my brother told me that in his experience Ebay is pretty fair-minded in settling disputes.

Ironically, Montgomery had gotten positive feedback from seller streetfair -- and my dealings with *that* seller were extremely pleasant. Unfortunately, this had been a case where Montgomery *appeared* to have a better deal going for what I wanted; then they jerked me around to the point where it was too late to go anywhere else even if I *had* returned the pen set to them.

And I looked carefully at the two pens yesterday before the box was wrapped -- they're not even a "set", per se (just two pens that are the same color) because they have completely different date codes on them.... They're just two pens the Montgomery threw together to make a set.

Well, because I got a full refund (even though I doubt it actually came out of Montgomery's pocket), I threw in a pack of Quink cartridges I had lying around (and were unlikely to actually ever use myself at this point), then picked up a refill for the BP at Staples along with a nice, inexpensive Gibson journal (I've found that the Markings line have very FP friendly paper, and the journals are a very good value with over 25o pages that are heavy enough to have *no* showthrough; the paper is not quite to the level of Rhodia, but still pleasant to write on; I'd have a slight perference for unlined pages, but you take what you can get sometimes).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 93
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • inkstainedruth

    8

  • sdonahue

    5

  • Ghost Plane

    4

  • Gloucesterman

    3

+1 :thumbup:

for the Gibson journal. Excellent experience for me with that book & company.

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Unfortunately, I found this thread after ordering a pen from this seller. Same experience others have had: no communication, charging the card before shipping, and very long wait time for arrival.

 

Worst fears confirmed when the pen arrived today: the cap band fell off as I removed the pen from the case. The nib was sprung and the tines misaligned. Not credible that anyone would sell an item in that condition and be unaware that the pen wasn't ok. You didn't need a loupe to see the nib problems.

 

I've taken photos, contacted the seller, and told them I expect a refund. But after reading this long history, I'm worried.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you--I ordered from the website. :wacko: But I will talk to PayPal, send the photos, and see what they can do. Because, come on, somebody assaulted this beautiful pen, and they need to be brought to Justice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny you should mention that...

Saw a pen on ebay yesterday. Checked out the pictures and the pricing and thought I would buy it.

Then I looked at the seller (finally a little common sense rears it's head). Saw it was M..pens and thought, WELL, maybe NOT!

 

And that was it. There is no "rest of the story". Thanks to FPN and all the good people here, I was saved from possible wasted - all,

 

Thanks to YOU all!

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The kinda scary part is that they still have lots of listings on Ebay (annoyingly, they seem to be trying to corner the market on Parker Vectors), and good feedback scores. And their retail arm, Montgomery Stationery, was one of the proud sponsors of Fountain Pen Day (I saw their name on the FP Day website).

Of course, a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine posted this thing on Facebook, which asks "What would your warning label say?" Mine was something along the lines of "Beware the mouthy American broad with access to social media!" :rolleyes:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I don't have a lot of warm fuzzies about Montgomery Stationery, but I have bought several items from them, lately a Parker Frontier stainless fountain pen. Nothing wrong with it and it came fast. I have bought items from them for years, never suspecting they were a fraudelent operation. They are not low priced often, but I never got anything from them that wasn't as I expected it would be. The above experiences of others are surprising.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought from them once. They were slow to ship, and slow to respond when I tried contacting them about the shipping; however, I recieved the correct the pen and it was new in box as described. So due to their high prices and my poor customer service experience, they're not on my shortlist of favourite vendors, but they didn't give me any reason to go so as calling them fraudulent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ pajaro and raging.dragon:

Maybe their main store/website are okay. I have only dealt with them on Ebay. My experience was not a positive one (and, really, was pretty much the first negative experience I'd ever had on Ebay).

YMMV, but as far as I'm concerned they're a case of "caveat emptor".

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
  • 3 years later...

Caveat Emptor

 

I've had a recent experience with Montgomery Pens.

 

They have the

 

Namiki Vanishing Point Raden Fountain Pen on their site in the fine, medium and broad nib.

 

Given you can add the item/s to your cart and actually purchase them you may think they have them in stock.

 

But no, they don't. Further, after purchasing one, and being told they do not have any of them in stock, I pointed out that perhaps they should not mislead potential buyers into thinking they were available.

 

I note that as of today they are still listed and available for sale.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have bought several very nice “hard to find” NOS pens from them over the years. Occasionally you might get one that is used, but most times it works out. These people are very eclectic. They seem to have a very large inventory that they don’t keep track of very well. You may find one pen for $75. Then in the next page the same pen for $185. That has been my secret in buying from them. I’ve got some really nice NOS for a 10 year old price. I look through their listings for the pen that they have not updated the price on, and buy it at the original low price. Not many of those left. Their listings are pretty much picked clean for good deals. Most of their prices are full retail or worse. They have been getting sloppy in the last 3 or so years. I just assumed that a key person had retired or passed away. Communications now are hot and cold. I pretty much steer clear of them these days. They have some Edsons that I snagged before they caught on and adjusted their prices. Had a nice cache of NOS Waterman Expert 1, Phyleas and Charleston with 18k nibs, that they had neglected to update prices on. I bough several of those. It use to be fun to rummage through their stock, but not so much anymore.

I would be cautious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

So I am not sure what exactly is the story of Montgomery Stationers. When I landed in NYC in 2013, I went around to visit many of the pen shops I only read about or knew from online presence. I got to visit both Art Brown and Joon's exactly once before both subsequently went into receivership, which were sad days for me.

 

I also got to visit Montgomery's. How shall I put this? It would was like a classic case of online dating gone wrong. It's like you were promised something so much more, and then when you're in the store, you realize something is not right. The store was located in the Lower East Side, very close to Chinatown. The store was dirty, poorly stocked and a jumble of badly organized very low end stationery products. Everything had a layer of dust and it looked like no one bought anything from the store in years. And they DEFINITELY did not carry any fountain pens worth considering. I was in the store for what was a minute. I asked about fountain pens, and the guy said he pretty much could get anything. I did not want to check the veracity of the statement and promptly left.

 

From that day on, I would stay far away whenever I saw the work Montgomery Stationers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...