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Engeika Online Shop Customer Service


dan in montreal

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I’ve read elsewhere on fpn that many of you have had good experiences with Taizo at Engeika Finest Shop. I just bought 2 Platinum pens on 2 different occasions and have not been particularly happy with the results.

 

First, a Platinum standard in green, purchased from his eBay shop. Bought a Medium, listing showed he had several in stock. It took him a while before sending it as the pens were not in stock as advertised. Took a while for him to admit it, but I finally got the pen and was quite satisfied with it (and still am). Still, it always bothers me when a seller states he has the pens in stock while he does not.

 

Because I liked the pen, I decided to purchase another. Since I could not find what I was looking for in his eBay store, I went to his online shop. I purchased a Platinum Bordeaux Maestro with a Medium GP nib.

I got the pen one week ago. He sent me the wrong color... I got black instead of red. After sending him multiple – and polite – emails, he has not issued an apology or offered me any kind of explanation. He is just telling me not to worry, that he sent me a medium nib, as requested. And yeah, it’s black. That’s it.

 

I decided to keep the pen anyway as I don’t want the hassle of arguing via email or going through the trouble of returning it (although he never even offered to take it back and replace it). And I also like black pens, but that's hardly the point.

 

Now he has many more expensive pens for sale and granted, these models are among his cheapest. But should that fact keep a seller from offering basic customer service? Still 50 USD + 15 for shipping is 50 USD + shipping - it’s not like he’s giving them away either.

Just my 2 cents. In my last email 3 days ago, I just told him he had lost a customer. Never got a response. I can’t say I’m thrilled.

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I wouldn't have post this up, no matter how much of a fluke. If you wrote to him in the same tone as you have written this post, I'd be hesitant to write back. I really don't know why you didn't just order from Jetpens, considering that they are closer, and reaching them isn't all that hard. I've had plenty of smooth transactions, and I would really suspect yours is a fluke case. Considering that I ordered a M90 and it took him less than 3 days to ship it to me, that, is a deal all in its own considering how far it had to come.

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

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To be honest...I've purchased over 25 pens from him. Not a single problem so far. I even requested that he change the size of the nib on one occasion, and it was done, no questions asked.

 

25/25? That's a pretty good rate in my opinion.

 

I have purchased items from $3-$80. Combined shipping whenever I asked for it, whenever I was bidding on multiple items, he was very understanding about waiting for me to finish bidding on everything that I had wanted.

 

I'm not quite sure what happened in your case...

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Nonsensical: indeed, that is a good rate. I can only refer to my own dealings with this seller. Granted, mistakes can happen. But then there is customer service.

 

Professionaldilettante: To answer your question, Jetpens did not have this particular model. And my experience with Jetpens is actually the point. I recently received an AG Spalding pen with a blemish in the wood, contacted them and in a matter of days they had shipped a replacement. That’s what customer service is supposed to be. As for my tone, I’m sorry, but I feel I gave the guy more than a fair shake. I don’t think I’m going overboard. Evidently, my experience is far different from yours.

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Sorry to hear this. :crybaby: I have only had good and helpful service from Taizo. I have only made inexpensive purchases from him - mainly ink, but have always had good and attentive service.

Whatever is true,whatever is noble,whatever is right,whatever is pure,whatever is lovely,whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Philippians 4.8

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I must have bought 50+ pens from Taizo from his ebay store engeika from 60USD to 400+ USD since 2009. the following is my personal impression that I get lately(last 6months): they have slacked up on the customer service i am very sorry to note. They used to have excellent communications and prompt shipping. of late there is little communication, i have to enquire and then they say that they are waiting for the pen to arrive etc... Once the reply was very rude and i had to send him a reprimand, i was very disappointed. Also some of their description of the items is becoming more and more exaggerated to the point of being misleading...

 

I think their operations have expanded very much and more than one employee responding to emails under the name of Taizo. also look at the negative feedback piling up.

 

sorry to see such an excellent source of Japanese pens deteriorating...

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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I must have bought 50+ pens from Taizo from his ebay store engeika from 60USD to 400+ USD since 2009. the following is my personal impression that I get lately(last 6months): they have slacked up on the customer service i am very sorry to note. They used to have excellent communications and prompt shipping. of late there is little communication, i have to enquire and then they say that they are waiting for the pen to arrive etc... Once the reply was very rude and i had to send him a reprimand, i was very disappointed. Also some of their description of the items is becoming more and more exaggerated to the point of being misleading...

 

I think their operations have expanded very much and more than one employee responding to emails under the name of Taizo. also look at the negative feedback piling up.

 

sorry to see such an excellent source of Japanese pens deteriorating...

Thinking about it, the last lot of Iroshi. ink I ordered took longer to arrive that it used to. Taizo seems to be selling fishing equipment and watches as well now. Perhaps he has bitten off more than he can chew.

Of his recent neutral and negative feedback, most are complaining of poor communication and/or long delays. What a shame.

Whatever is true,whatever is noble,whatever is right,whatever is pure,whatever is lovely,whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Philippians 4.8

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I'm sorry to say that I had a very bad experience about five months ago.

 

Taizo initially resisted an exchange of a pen that was defective out of the box. Only after I insisted, and made clear that I knew what I was doing, did he change his tune. At that point, I returned it. He never refunded the return shipping costs, despite saying he would. But much like the OP I just accepted it as the cost of a lesson learned.

 

I certainly wish I had seen a thread like this before I bought my pen. Which was Japanese-only and not carried by Jetpens.

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I am sorry you have had problems. My experience Taizo / engeika has been positive over the course of purchasing several pens. I have not purchased any pens from him in the last couple of years, however.

 

Greg

The more I know about computers, the more I like my pens.

 

Colorado Pen Show

5-7 October 2018

Denver, Colorado

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I wouldn't have post this up, no matter how much of a fluke. If you wrote to him in the same tone as you have written this post, I'd be hesitant to write back. I really don't know why you didn't just order from Jetpens, considering that they are closer, and reaching them isn't all that hard. I've had plenty of smooth transactions, and I would really suspect yours is a fluke case. Considering that I ordered a M90 and it took him less than 3 days to ship it to me, that, is a deal all in its own considering how far it had to come.

 

I didn't see anything wrong with the tone and it looks like Dan has provided a valuable warning to fellow FPN-ers, one that is borne out by the experience of other FPN-ers. It is one of reasons I find the FPN to be a good place to visit every day.

Colour is its own reward - N. Finn

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It has been taking a bit longer for pens to be shipped. I think Taizo is doing so much business that he can't keep everything in stock that he offers for sale. I did get one wrong color a few years back, but I liked it, so I kept it. The one time I got a leaky bottle of yama-budo ink, he sent me a new one "as a gift," rather than admitting that the one I got had a problem. That was just face-saving though. Heaven forbid that he admit Pilot sent out a defective product!

 

I now simply factor in about a week's extra time. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised and the pen ships the day after I buy it. I did notice that his eBay auction listings now indicate that pens will arrive about a month after purchase. So far, none has ever taken that long.

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So far I have had no problems with Engeika on eBay. I am only a recent buyer

and I have not experienced "that" level of service you guys speak of in the past.

My packages usually take 2 days to arrive - I live in Singapore... Pretty fast??

 

Perhaps the communication is not as perfect as one would like. Nevertheless,

I do believe that such a respected seller should be given a chance. I think they

are reliable, but there are some things about Japanese culture that cause such

misunderstandings in doing business. Being open and not-so-direct can also

help. I understand and respect the Western way of expressing one's thoughts,

but in this case it may be more productive to be more flexible and indirect.

 

I'm saying "may be". Because I do not understand the specifics in this case...

 

As a few people have already mentioned, perhaps they are a little overwhelmed

in the process of trying to expand their business. It's not about who is wrong

or who is right - if you like good Japanese pens, it would do us good to keep

this channel open in the future rather than trying to shut him down.

 

Rather than saying that the pen is just plain defective, you could possibly try

to imply that it is not suitable for your tastes... Nobody likes to be told that

they are wrong, even if they are. As we all already know, and with all due

respect to all parties, Japanese people, as part of their culture, work this way.

Or at least that was what I learnt, in an intercultural business communication

module... My theory is this:

 

I mean like, I would feel real stupid if I sent out a defective pen... But the

mere knowledge of it and I would already beat myself up for doing that...

I don't really need someone to remind me again of what I done wrong...

 

That's just me though, it might be different... A rude tone is definitely

uncalled for... :hmm1:

 

Just IMO, I don't mean anything... I understand fully how it feels to have a

defective product sent to you or having a product that doesn't perform.

I hope everything works out well in the end for all of you! :cloud9:

 

:thumbup:

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I bought a Pilot Prera from this seller on ebay. The listing was for a $1.00 Buy It Now. Naturally I jumped at the chnace and bought it for 1.00 and paid the 1.00 plus 13.00 for shipping via paypal. I got an email the next daya stating that the listing was a mistake and he/she would not honor the purchase. I responded that the sller was not allowed to do this, it was a contractual agreement and that the sller had to honor the contract. I never received a response. A couple of days later, I sent another email asking for a refund of what I had paid, and never got a response. # more emails without a single response. I had no choice they refused to deliver the pen and to refund what I paid them. I finally opened a claim on ebay and after waiting 3 weeks for resolution, ebay refunded my money. Not once did this seller bother to answer my email and I will NEVER buy anything from them again. They also sell 90% of their products with fine nibs and I hate fine nibs!!!

 

Dan

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I am really very happy to see this thread started. I was lookin at a pen from this seller last week. When I looked at his reviews, they concerned me because long delays and lack of communication seemed to account for most of the complaints -- never a good sign. So I came here and found only good reviews. This made me rethink the whole issue and almost pull the trigger on the purchase.

 

I had one purchase from this seller a long time ago that took a bit longer than it should have (too late to dispute) and one from another seller that ended in a dispute; I decided to pass on the purchase. I am very cautious of dealing with vendors who appear to not actually have the items in stock when they sell them.

 

I am rather relieved to know that there have been others that have had similar experiences with this one. Thanks for opening the discussion and validating my concerns.

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I wouldn't have post this up, no matter how much of a fluke. If you wrote to him in the same tone as you have written this post, I'd be hesitant to write back. I really don't know why you didn't just order from Jetpens, considering that they are closer, and reaching them isn't all that hard. I've had plenty of smooth transactions, and I would really suspect yours is a fluke case. Considering that I ordered a M90 and it took him less than 3 days to ship it to me, that, is a deal all in its own considering how far it had to come.
I didn't see anything wrong with the tone and it looks like Dan has provided a valuable warning to fellow FPN-ers, one that is borne out by the experience of other FPN-ers. It is one of reasons I find the FPN to be a good place to visit every day.

Thanks - that's why I started the thread in the first place.

 

If I sum up the comments, it seems this seller’s service has really slipped in the last few months. Perhaps it truly is because of an expanding customer base. Still, he should treat the customers he has now with more care.

 

sorry to see such an excellent source of Japanese pens deteriorating...

Well said Hari, it’s always unfortunate to see a seller go down this path. Hopefully, he’ll clean up his act. In the meantime, and fortunately, there are other sources out there.

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I wouldn't have post this up, no matter how much of a fluke. If you wrote to him in the same tone as you have written this post, I'd be hesitant to write back. I really don't know why you didn't just order from Jetpens, considering that they are closer, and reaching them isn't all that hard. I've had plenty of smooth transactions, and I would really suspect yours is a fluke case. Considering that I ordered a M90 and it took him less than 3 days to ship it to me, that, is a deal all in its own considering how far it had to come.
I didn't see anything wrong with the tone and it looks like Dan has provided a valuable warning to fellow FPN-ers, one that is borne out by the experience of other FPN-ers. It is one of reasons I find the FPN to be a good place to visit every day.

Thanks - that's why I started the thread in the first place.

 

If I sum up the comments, it seems this seller’s service has really slipped in the last few months. Perhaps it truly is because of an expanding customer base. Still, he should treat the customers he has now with more care.

 

sorry to see such an excellent source of Japanese pens deteriorating...

Well said Hari, it’s always unfortunate to see a seller go down this path. Hopefully, he’ll clean up his act. In the meantime, and fortunately, there are other sources out there.

 

Oh man... what a pity! This really sounds terrible. Are there alternative sellers available for such items at this time?

Pisuke2005? Kendo Karate? If anyone has an experience with these sellers, do share them!

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Bummed to see this thread. I just bought a Sailor from Engeika and have already received word that the pen shipped, as well as tracking info. I had heard nothing but good things, so I'm still hopeful that all is well. I think it is. The tracking info, which I was told can take several days to be updated, already has info.

Tamara

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I have also dealt with Pisuke2005. He's a nice guy, sent me a few packs of free tea with my purchase, as well as a nice little note.

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Engeika is responsible for about 80-90% of the Japanese pens in my collection. To date, I've found him to be very helpful and he did help out with my many nib change requests. Shipping was always quick to my part of the world (well, then again we're not really that far apart). There were a few occasions when he did not reply emails promptly but those were a rarity and he did always follow up in the end. I suspect that he may be lagging a bit in service because of his branching out into his own Wancher line. I also suspect that he may have other people working for him now so that may also be a factor to consider.

 

Hopefully he bucks up because I do consider him to be the premier Japanese FP seller on the Great Big Auction site.

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I have also dealt with Pisuke2005. He's a nice guy, sent me a few packs of free tea with my purchase, as well as a nice little note.

 

Packs of tea? How quirky and pleasant!!!! :bunny01:

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