Royal Mail Confirms Fountain Pen Ink Is Dangerous

[Barkingpig]

And if this was merely "unused Limited Edition" ink, aren't you glad you weren't trying to post the new "Elixir" inks & trying to explain THOSE components used to produce the ink!

[Chrissy]

And if this was merely "unused Limited Edition" ink, aren't you glad you weren't trying to post the new "Elixir" inks & trying to explain THOSE components used to produce the ink!

 

Yes. Thank goodness for small mercies.

[Gloucesterman]

And I thought MB LE ink was only dangerous to my fiscal well-being!

 

Give yourself extra appreciation for patience and persistence.

 

Thanks for sad and true episode of "BBS" - bureaucratic BS!

[Octo]

It's not just the U.K. A while back, I posted to PIF for FIVE CARTRIDGES of NOS ink in a color no longer made. Because the package contained liquid, the postage was $15. It went to the UK. Any liquid is under that rule here for international shipments.

[MercianScribe]

 

Martin,

 

Good choice of business name.

Had you decided on "The Smelling Desk", your profits might have been affected.

 

David.

Well, I thought it was pretty damn funny.

[MercianScribe]

Btw, fwiw, though it seems youre on top of this, my mum never has any problems sending ink to me, but its Japan and all needs to be clearly labelled anyway.

[DrSam]

It seems there is always someone who wants to try to justify their job. I remember when the TSA in the US started all the "random" checks. One time when they swabbed my carry-on items and put the swabs in a mass spectrometer, I asked if she saw any nitrogen bonds on the display screen. She seemed to have no idea what they were, or that they would be important if she one day found them. It was just all about making it look like they were saving us from something. It has not changed much.

[Eccles]

There is a similar stupidity in Australia with coins. They are prohibited items as far as the mail is concerned (international & domestic), but I buy them by mail order from a major retailler in Melbourne, who sell also sell world-wide!

I sent the identical coin set to friends in UK and friends in Canada for Christmas. The UK parcel was returned to me for the offending items to be removed, the Canada parcel went on its merry way.

Both parcels had customs declarations honestly completed.

Go figure!

Glenn.

[Chrissy]

What happened next was that I received the parcel back. I happened to have more than one duplicate bottle in both of these inks, so I asked the buyer if he wanted me to try again or have a refund. He wanted me to try again.

 

So on Wednesday morning at 11.30am, a very similar parcel was mailed from my local Post Office, containing the same two ink colours. This time though, with TWD's very kind assistance, there were extra labels on there stating that inside was "fountain pen ink". On Good Friday morning, in Belgium, the parcel was delivered to a very happy buyer.

 

It just goes to show what can happen when Royal Mail get it right.

[Charles Rice]

Too bad the inspectors didn't try a little dab of "perfume" for themselves.

[Chrissy]

Too bad the inspectors didn't try a little dab of "perfume" for themselves.

 

I just had this thought about "what if it had been Noodler's Baystate Blue"

[Mech-for-i]

OK I guess the motto is to plaster the packages everywhere wit label telling whoever manning the process that those are just ink inside. I suppose sooner or later someone along the way would open one and had a tr to see if its really ink

Edited April 1, 2018 by Mech-for-i

[Left FPN]

 

[TSherbs]

@Force: hahaha

 

@Chrissy: no reimbursement from RM, I suppose

[Chrissy]

@Force: hahaha

 

@Chrissy: no reimbursement from RM, I suppose

 

@Force: When the postman brought the original parcel back to me, I said to him that I expected to see a robot exiting his van with it in it's grip, and him in his Hazmat suit operating the controls. He said the men were on their way from Salisbury as we spoke.

 

@TSherbs: Oh yes, absolutely.

[AndyLogan]

 

Hi Andy

 

 

Try Appelboom if you want to order from the EU, I ordered from them and the customer service was great, delivery was UPS so there were no problems with it.

 

 

If you want to place a large order I would email Joost first and he will let you know what stock he has, when he is expecting deliveries etc. so you can decide. It is also worth knowing that for KWZ there is a sliding scale i.e. the more you buy the more you save and this works in conjunction with the discount code which I think is still ‘friend’ – this is always up to date on SBRE Brown.

 

 

I’ve also read good feedback for both The Writing Desk and Cult Pens shipping overseas.

 

 

Al

 

Thanks for the info Al, I've visited the Appleboom site before and have not considered purchasing as of yet, and I do watch vids from SBRE Brown to get my fountain pen review fix.

[AndyLogan]

There is a similar stupidity in Australia with coins. They are prohibited items as far as the mail is concerned (international & domestic), but I buy them by mail order from a major retailler in Melbourne, who sell also sell world-wide!

I sent the identical coin set to friends in UK and friends in Canada for Christmas. The UK parcel was returned to me for the offending items to be removed, the Canada parcel went on its merry way.

Both parcels had customs declarations honestly completed.

Go figure!

Glenn.

 

Glenn I've purchased some coins from the Perth Mint via their website, never had any trouble, at least none here in South Australia anyways.

[AndyLogan]

I've sent ink bottles all over the world for years. This is the only problem, apart from a slight delay here or there, that I've ever had with a parcel. You're safe in Australia because we have to stick on Customs labels. Even if the person doing the scanning can't absolutely tell what the small bottles are, a look at the label will give them the information. That assumes they've heard of fountain pens and ink.

 

I should have stuck a big label on there saying these are fountain pen ink bottles, even though it was within the EU and they don't require one.

 

Good to know Chrissy, I have recently been supporting local ink makers like Robert Oster (who hails from South Australia same as me) but for the life of me, a lot of the inks I'm interested in is always out of stock at our local (and probably only) Pen shop, so I try to source it online.

[Appelboompen]

 

Hi Andy

 

 

Try Appelboom if you want to order from the EU, I ordered from them and the customer service was great, delivery was UPS so there were no problems with it.

 

 

If you want to place a large order I would email Joost first and he will let you know what stock he has, when he is expecting deliveries etc. so you can decide. It is also worth knowing that for KWZ there is a sliding scale i.e. the more you buy the more you save and this works in conjunction with the discount code which I think is still ‘friend’ – this is always up to date on SBRE Brown.

 

 

I’ve also read good feedback for both The Writing Desk and Cult Pens shipping overseas.

 

 

Al

 

Thank you for the support!

[JotterAddict62]

Maybe all the labels should be printed in all the languages of each country that the package travels thru.

 

Better yet make up stickers with pictures of the product that is being shipped, but that would only tell the criminals

 

what you are sending. Can't win either way, just need more intelligent people working in government .