Montblanc Engraving Service And Cracks

[kurus]

Hello everyone,

I apologize in advance if this is not the right section of the forum for posting this or it's against the rules of the forum, in that case just delete this topic please.

I'd tell you my story.

Last week, on friday, I've been in the Canary Wharf Montblanc boutique in London and I've asked to have my Meisterstück n° 149 engraved with my signature. The clerk has taken my pen and inspected it once while I was compilating the form, when I asked if it was possible to have my actual handwritten signature on the pen she's told me that it was not possible to do this in house so they'd have sent the pen to Hambourg and asked me to come back the day alfter. On Saturday, in the alfternoon I went again to the same boutique but there was not the same clerk, he's given me a new form and asked me to draw the engraving I wanted on my pen. While I was compilating the form and trying to make a good signature he's inspected my pen for the second time then he's compilated the receipt with the reference number and putted my pen in a little black box completely unpadded.

Yesterday the same clerk that have spoken to me on the first time called me on my mobile telling that in Hambourg they've found a crack on the body of my pen and it was necessary to replace it for 62£. I've told her that my pen was inspected twice by she and her collegue and I am pretty sure that my pen, before coming in the boutique was perfect and her answer has been "Sir, we were not looking for a crack on your pen, that's why we've not noticed it."

 

Now, she's promised me that she will try to do something for the cost but I'll have to pay for a damage that's not been caused by me and I don't think that it is the right behavior that one expects from a Montblanc boutique.

 

Sorry for being this annoing but I think that this can be usefull to somone else that will deal with the Montblanc service.

 

Regards,

Ciro

Edited July 29, 2016 by kurus

[Chrissy]

If the boutique was looking at your pen with a view to adding a signature to it, then they might have been paying more attention to the cap, where one might assume that the signature would be placed.

 

In Hamburg they would have examined it much more closely before they attempted to do any work on it.

 

I would not be surprised if a boutique failed to find a crack that a technician at Hamburg found when checking the whole pen minutely under a loupe.

 

Was your pen a brand new pen that you bought from the boutique? If not, have you personally owned it since it was brand new?

[kurus]

Hello Chrissy,

my pen has probably been made in the late 80s (18k nib and plastic feed) and I was born in 1993 so I'm not the first owner but when I've got this pen on last January it was in mint conditions. The pen has been in another boutique for the annual check on June 7 this year and no issues were reported.

Also, I've brought this pen with me from Italy to England filled with water and it has not been used or empied, when I've brought it to the boutique the water was still inside and there were no leaks.

Besides, I've inspected my pen many many times and I've lots of pictures of it showing no cracks anywhere.

[meiers]

I would ask them to service the pen.

Edited July 30, 2016 by meiers

[kurus]

I would ask them to service the pen.

I'm sorry, I've not understood. What do you mean with "service the pen"?

[Chrissy]

They will service the pen and replace any damaged parts

[meiers]

What Chrissy is saying makes a lot of sense. They most likely discovered a hairline crack that is barely visible to the human eye. I would let them replace the damaged part(s) and also ask them to check and lubricate the piston. That's a part that often fails.

Edited July 30, 2016 by meiers

[kurus]

If you mean the annual checkup suggested by MontBlanc it has been performed on last June 7 by another MontBlanc boutique in Italy. I have a receipt with the detailed description of all the polishing, cleaning and manutening processes that have lasted 4 days.

The question is not about repairing or not repairing, it's obvious that my pen has to come back as brand new, the question is: what super powers has this technician in Hamburg to see a crack that me, 2 very expert friends, the Italian technician team, two clerks in the MontBlanc boutique, the lens of my camera and a lot of people who has seen my pen has not? And why can't I have a picture of this damage? Why should I pay for something in a closed box?

 

I'm a MontBlanc customer, I have other 4 MontBlanc fountain pens, I've payed 900 for this pen and 62£ are not a problem. The problem to me is about being teased.

[Chrissy]

You have two choices. Either you keep it as it is with the crack, or you get the part that is cracked replaced during a service that the boutique may provide for free, if you ask them to. Being agreeable with them, rather than aggressive to them, might work to your advantage.

 

However it was cracked is now in the past. No-one can say for certain how it happened, who noticed it and who didn't notice it. You can't go back and uncrack it. If you don't wish to keep a pen that has a hairline crack in it, you can only go forward and have the part replaced by Montblanc.

 

I was only trying to help. If you don't want any help, but you just wish to complain that your pen is now cracked that's fine too.

[kurus]

Chrissy,

I thank you for your help, but I think that you are missing the point. There is no way that the pen is coming back to me cracked, paying or not I don't mind, my priority is to get my pen back in mint conditions.

The problem is that they are asking me to pay for a damage that i've not caused with every evidences and I will!

 

This is not the behavior I expect from a blazoned brand as Montblanc is. The only two possibilities are that the pen has been damaged during the shipping to Hamburg or that it has been damaged in the lab, in every case the fault is not mine.

 

It's like you bringhing your car to a mechanician for a checkup at the motor and he calls you saying "Sir, your seats are torn but we can't show them to you, we can replace it for $$" when you are pretty sure that the seats were good before going to the mechanician.

 

I repeat: I will pay whatever they want to have the body replaced or whatever else, I only mind having my pen back as it was (in mint conditions). But it was not damaged before going to Hambourg.

Edited July 31, 2016 by kurus

[Chrissy]

I wasn't missing the point. Good luck with your pen

[View from the Loft]

Unfortunately, your tone is coming across as aggressive - and this will not help you (although I understand that you are probably puzzled more than anything else).

 

The lighting in the boutique at Canary Wharf is not that good, so it is entirely possible that they missed a hairline crack - especially when they may not have been looking at the affected part.

 

If it were me, I would write a polite note along the lines of the pen having been in the care of Monblanc as recently as June with no such damage noted and since then examined twice on X and Y dates at Canary Wharf, and again no such damage was noted as being present. To the best of my knowledge, the pen was not cracked when it was handed in for the engraving to be carried out. On this occasion, would it be possible for them to replace the part without charge?

Edited July 31, 2016 by View from the Loft

[kurus]

I'm sorry if I'm looking aggressive, my intention is not arguing with anyone of you. I've already spoken to the clerk on the phone - I've had no time this weekend to go there - and I've told her everything you have written, she's just replied that she will try to have a discount for me. This looked a bit offensive to me because, as I've written several times, the point is not the price, the point is that they are - against every proof - affirming that the pen was cracked even before it was sent to Hambourg and, obviously, by me. This is not correct.

 

They should face the evidence and admit their guilt without me asking for a discount or a free charge but they are not and I will not accept a discount, it makes no sense.

[jar]

I'm sorry if I'm looking aggressive, my intention is not arguing with anyone of you. I've already spoken to the clerk on the phone - I've had no time this weekend to go there - and I've told her everything you have written, she's just replied that she will try to have a discount for me. This looked a bit offensive to me because, as I've written several times, the point is not the price, the point is that they are - against every proof - affirming that the pen was cracked even before it was sent to Hambourg and, obviously, by me. This is not correct.

 

They should face the evidence and admit their guilt without me asking for a discount or a free charge but they are not and I will not accept a discount, it makes no sense.

If that is what makes you happy, go for it.

 

But the result is a cracked pen without engraving.

[kurus]

I'm pretty sure that I've written this several times: I will let them repair the pen and engrave it, I will pay for the repair and for the engraving, I will not accept a partial discount because it's offensive for me at this point and I will not ask them to don't charge me because it's not how I do this things.

 

I think that we are not understanding each other very well because of my bad english.

[Pravda]

I am sorry for your experience.

 

I suspect this nearly happened to me once (could've been really scratched on my behalf and I just didn't notice) and so each and every time thereafter I hand them one of my pens, I ask them to inspect it fully and to remark in front of me what they see/find because on return I will not accept any additional marks on the pen. Eventually, they got used to me hehe

[View from the Loft]

I'm pretty sure that I've written this several times: I will let them repair the pen and engrave it, I will pay for the repair and for the engraving, I will not accept a partial discount because it's offensive for me at this point and I will not ask them to don't charge me because it's not how I do this things.

 

I think that we are not understanding each other very well because of my bad english.

 

Unfortunately there is no proof that the damage did not exist prior to the pen being handed in at Canary Wharf. While the crack may have occurred in transit to Germany, equally, it may not.

 

Yes, you are upset about damage to your pen (as would I), but at this point I do not feel that it is fair to say that Montblanc are responsible for the damage.

 

For your own sake, as you have already said that you are willing to pay the repair charge, let this one go and chalk it up to experience.

[alexandero]

 

Unfortunately there is no proof that the damage did not exist prior to the pen being handed in at Canary Wharf. While the crack may have occurred in transit to Germany, equally, it may not.

 

Yes, you are upset about damage to your pen (as would I), but at this point I do not feel that it is fair to say that Montblanc are responsible for the damage.

 

For your own sake, as you have already said that you are willing to pay the repair charge, let this one go and chalk it up to experience.

 

But in this regard, how would you protect yourself? do you have to photographically prove that before sending it off to germany or anything, that the pen was in pristine condition?

This seems like an awful lot to do to protect oneself. Especially to a company as large and "luxuriously branded" as montblanc.

 

Seems to me sometimes salespeople even at the boutiques may not be the best to trust, be it their fault or not, they are humans too and likely to miss something but the offchance the damage was incurred during shipping they could simply say they dont know and then you would be liable to pay the fee.

[Fermata]

PM sent.

 

There is a lot of speculation within this thread which doesnt help anyone.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Parkette

[penparadise]

" A happy customer is much more valuable than a dissatisfied customer! "

 

As a former owner of a Montblanc boutique I would have handled this specific case with much more aplomb. I would have had made the service and the part exchange and charged this customer for the engraving and for nothing else.