"yafa" Brands

[SeeksAdvice]

Will "Yafa" actually sell you replacement parts, or do you have to send the pen in to get repaired, and to get your wallet reamed along with it?

 

Have a Monteverde (never, ever, ever again) and a Stipula (interesting, but not worth the price) that need new feed/grip sections. Since the Monteverde liquid ink refillable rollerball's tip assembly broke, I had contemplated getting a replacement grip section with an FP feed/nib (part of their color fusion series, so the bodies should be the same). The Stipula speedball failed with MB Perm Blue and apparently suffered from the MB Perm Blue insolubly precipitating into the feed section.

 

A while back, I asked the company about ordering the pertinent parts and never heard back. Do they insist that customers are to incompetent to install parts (i.e. increase profit margins by insisting on "easy" fixes)?

[KBeezie]

I emailed them twice for my Nighthawk I got last year (the first, and well only Monteverde pen I'll own) in regards to getting a new nib/feed collar (ie: the plastic part that screws into the metal section of the invincia deluxe, and that the cartridge or converter plugs into on the bac). I've yet to hear back from them, even as I was asking how much would it cost just to get that piece and while I was at it asked if I could buy a black section for the invincia deluxe, regardless if it's glossy or not (since the nighthawk is matte, but mine has been brassing since a month after I got it).

 

And even the email inquiries with Yafa in the past months and months ago has never been answered, I usually had to turn to social networking just to get something canned out of them.

 

I don't think they think customers are incompetent, they just probably don't want to waste time on such inquiries, and would rather you just buy a new pen. (warning... speculation, obviously).

[flyshot]

My new Delta 82 came with a broken ink converter. I have emailed them several times & requested a replacement. I finally got a response & I submitted my mailing address.

 

That was 2 months ago. Still no ink converter.

 

Terrible customer service. I know converters are inexpensive....but it's a matter of Principle.

 

No more YAFA for me!!

[inkstainedruth]

I looked at a Yafa pen a couple of years ago when they had a display of pens at Office Depot (it was spring and getting on towards commencement season). OD did not carry replacement cartridges. Those had to be ordered directly from Yafa (they might have been International Standard minis), and shipping was going to cost more than a pack of cartridges did. I had to have a guy in the store open up a box for me to get that information, and then go online once I got home to get further details.

I decided to pass. Now, in reading this thread, I'm glad I did....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: IIRC, the replacement cartridges had to be ordered from GREECE! Lord only knows what the shipping charges would have been to the US.

Edited February 21, 2015 by inkstainedruth

[Cordovian]

I ordered my Delta Profili from Yafa and that went okay. No problems but nothing special either...just went okay. I later asked them about a barrel for a Visconti and never received a response. I figured that they couldn't help so they didn't bother to reply. All other shops at least responded with a "sorry, can't help you". Yafa doesn't seem to have the best approach to customer service.

[bbycrts]

Yafa corporate phone number: Tel:(818) 704-8888

 

Has anbody had experience with their telephone service? I find with a lot of companies that email response can be shoddy at best but telephone contact is fine. Not saying that's the case here, but it would be worth a shot.

[shawndp]

For me personally, I have Yafa pens at the bottom of my list. I will literally take a chance on a $1.99 Hero pen than buy a piece of junk Monteverde.I am not in the habbit of bashing a brand across the board, but this one takes the cake - there isn't one pen they make that appeals to me, issues with Stipula that I have had have resulted in me leaving the Speed in the box for over 6 months, and the Delta nib - the less said the better... So there we have it - mediocre product and mediocre service...

[KBeezie]

Tel:(818) 704-8888

 

 

Has anbody had experience with their telephone service? I find with a lot of companies that email response can be shoddy at best but telephone contact is fine. Not saying that's the case here, but it would be worth a shot.

Because Yafa does Conklin, and because this is on facebook I'll have to quote it, but a friend of mine have dealt with them over the phone regarding her brand new Conklin which appears to have the nib glued in now (As opposed to an unscrewable unit) that was performing terribly.

 

Conklin, oh How you disappoint! I really wanted to love this pen. It's the ALL AMERICAN FOUNTAIN PEN - SUNBURST ORANGE -- It's such a beautiful pen, the color just pours out orange. I thought that it would be a real match for Apache Sunset. I got the 1.1 stub because I really love stubs. I like the clip of the pen with the spring, you can put it in your pocket without worrying about it. The color is even more beautiful than the pictures. I was excited by it when I took it out of the box. I Didn't care for the oversized and white silk coffin type of material ink the box, it was a bit wasteful. It did come with two small cartridges of in and a converter. You can not convert this to an eyedropper because there is metal.

 

The step from the body of the pen to the threads is uncomfortable. It left a little indentation on my thumb, because of the roughness.

 

The nib, did not start or write when I first put ink in it. I rewashed the nib, feed and converter out several times. It just didn't want to write. I finally got it to write after priming it and basically using it as a dip pen. The Stub Ripped through the paper I was using. At that point, frustrated, I was going to send it back. I had Jinhoas that wrote smoothly out of the box without even cleaning them!

 

I talked to a couple of people with their experiences with the new Conklin pens and they experienced somewhat the same things. I decided to keep it because I really loved the color. I looked to find the color and only found it in pens at a more higher price.

 

The first thing this morning I got the nib to start, still not a great writer. I used the Anderson Pen smoothing kit and started with Couse and went down to Fine. I used mylar paper as well. I might have to change the nib out -- From what I am told this is slightly smaller than a #6 and larger than a #5.

 

I would not recommend this pen to people who don't like to tinker with pens, it will only frustrate you. I would not purchase another Conklin pen. The only reason why I am keeping it is because it's simply a beautiful color pen.

...

Okay! So, I called Conklin, LOL, okay, really! The Customer Service person just wanted to pass me off to repair and not deal with it. Like I would really want to swap a pen that I know won't work? He didn't apologize for the glue down of the nib, and wasn't surprised by it. I said to him, that a pen in the $76 price range should be able to swap nib, he then said that any $10 pen should should be able to swap out the pen. Not at any point did he defend the price of the pen, or the quality of the pen. He just wanted to shuffle me over to another departments voicemail. Really! Conklin/Yafa -- will never get another dollar from me again. The end....

Also I did not know that Visconti was part of Yafa, I knew Stipula was since it's on their brand list here. http://www.yafa.com/ But had no idea that Visconti was. Edited February 22, 2015 by KBeezie

[Barkingpig]

I am confused (which in itself is nothing really new!) but when I sent an Opera Elements for nib exchange I sent it to Coles of London (N.Carolina) where they indeed switched the nib from a Medium to a Stub. This was in June 2014 so perhaps Visconti has changed distributors since then? (I believe I received that name & address from the dealer who sold me the pen.)

 

I purchased a Conklin Endura (identified as a prototype) from their site's sale listing. It was listed as a M nib & I asked if they would change it to the stub. The person I spoke with agreed to do so (which I assumed if it was their brand they surely had available nibs) BUT from that time their sale pages have the clear disclaimer:" MEDIUM NIB ONLY" In fact I received an e mail 2/19/15 & was astonished to see a Delta Adivasi (Indigenous People line) MRSP: $1157. w/ sale price $ 462.80 another MEDIUM NIB ONLY. Really..........if I bought this pen from a dealer it would clearly qualify to be sent to THEM for the nib exchange & yet they won't do it when they sell the pen "in hand?" I delete all the sale information after reading it & will continue to do so as long as they will only sell a MEDIUM nibbed pen. It may only be coincidence that the "Medium Nib Only" appeared after I asked to have a stub for the Endura but it is there & sorta says to me that altho they did it once when asked "they don't plan on doing it again!" I think the Delta pen is really good looking BUT I will not spend $500 for a pen & not get my choice of nib. One Ebay seller of the current Arco & Wild edition 360 Omas also refused to change a nib when I inquired He was @ that time offering about 8 of the pens & had reduced his price to $995. from the original MRSP of $1600. I no longer follow his listings. I am just amazed that Pen Manufacturers allow their products to be treated so cavalierly by the company they have employed to "Distribute" same to the "Sellers." You would think their interest would be in INCREASED sales rather than the inverse.

[Icywolfe]

So how many in total is under Yafa's umbrella? Because now it feels like if it isn't the German 3 or the Japan 3, it must be Yafa. Well there is the catfish swimming around Omas.

[KBeezie]

So how many in total is under Yafa's umbrella? Because now it feels like if it isn't the German 3 or the Japan 3, it must be Yafa. Well there is the catfish swimming around Omas.

I guess what you see along the bottom here:

http://yafa.com/about_us.shtml

 

IF they distributed for Visconti and such, you think they would advertise that.

 

But least we know some like Franklin-Christoph, Edison, etc are American made.

 

Far as the not being one of the big Japanese 3, I think Itoya would likely have a small chunk of of the brands as well (ie: Taccia, etc).

Edited February 22, 2015 by KBeezie

[Cordovian]

If you're basing them distributing for Visconti on my statement, don't. My inquiry to them was a long shot. They had some pre-owned pens they were selling so I asked if they had access to a Michelangelo for parts.

[transcend]

I have a 3 very temperamental MVs. Each worse than the other. I still prefer them far more than my consistent Lamy's. Though, I do love my Lamy's too. They feed my scented inks, and I like the hues of the Al-Star line very much.

 

I'm thinking of this Arista I just got. So bad, and so good at the same time. I love it.

Edited February 22, 2015 by transcend

[prighello]

Visconti is Coles of London. I just contacted them on Friday about getting the nib on my Van Gogh replated and have a case number etc. They are sending the pen back to Visconti Italy for the repair.

[Ted A]

I had a pen where the paint/finish came off the brass section. I called them, sent the pen back as instructed, and had the pen back with a new section in about 3 or 4 weeks. The nib had been modified by a nib person and they wanted me to note clearly that I wanted my nib back. And I got it. The experience was good.

[transcend]

I have a 3 very temperamental MVs. Each worse than the other. I still prefer them far more than my consistent Lamy's. Though, I do love my Lamy's too. They feed my scented inks, and I like the hues of the Al-Star line very much.

 

I'm thinking of this Arista I just got. So bad, and so good at the same time. I love it.

 

I take that back. I hate the Artista. After three sentences I want to fling it against the wiall like a ninja star and see who wins. The wall or the nib. I'm getting carpal tunnel thinking about it.

[SeeksAdvice]

I'm thinking that there is absolutely no point in buying anything from YAFA's subsidiaries. I've got a black Model-T body, cap, and some converters running around. Also have a Monteverde Color Fusion black pen body and cap. Might be a bit slow in getting them out, but if somebody could get some use out of them...

[bone215]

I purchased a Monteverde Prima at the Philly pen show this year and I am quite impressed. So far, everything works as it should. It worries me somewhat that the experiences above are almost all negative.

[kkshadow]

I have two MonteVerde pens and no problem. My Conklin, however. Uugh. Nib so bad even a meister could get it working properly. I threw it in the trash and replaced it with a nib from a pen turning company. So now I have a decent Conklin modern pen.

[Moshe ben David]

I (briefly) had a Stipula Passaporto which I was unhappy with. Tried to get information about maybe changing nib size. Yafa were shall we say less than forthcoming?

 

The pen ended up in the round file shortly thereafter.