Anyone have any experience with penboutique.com

[hexyr]

They seem to have a few inks I want in stock. I was wondering if anyone ever dealt with them.

 

 

Thanks

 

[jbb]

I'm wondering about penboutique.com too. Anyone ordered from them?

[OTDoc]

I ordered from them once and didn't have any problems. They do a lot of business through Amazon so you might be able to get some ratings on them there.

[Guest Pjay]

A couple of months ago I bought a MB149 and some J.Herbin ink from Pen Boutique, and had a very positive experience.

[Vincent1278]

I've bought several MB inks and my Aurora 88 from them. You can also purchase from them through their ebay store. Good experiences.

[Glaurung]

Two thumbs up for them.

[TMac]

I have made purchases both online and in their store. When you buy something online, they ship extremely fast. When you go into their store, it is a positive experience, very friendly, helpful and no pressure. (No affiliation, etc.)

[DukTape]

I bought something from them online, too, and found their service fast. Their site is easy to navigate as well.

[donnad333]

I've had GREAT experiences with Pen Boutique...And it's the only place I could get J. Herbin Rouge Hematite.

[DukTape]

Now I am wondering if they are really busy or something, as I ordered something on August 30, but it hasn't shipped yet. I write, and they haven't answered. Seems strange.

[UCSF2012]

I'm done with Pen Boutique. I've ordered from them, talked to them on the phone, and everything. Never again will I do business with them, as they have a fake lowest price guarantee.

 

The gist of it's that the "guarantee" the lowest price against all other authorized dealers. The truth is that when you order from them, requesting the lowest price, they don't take your order. They just disappear off the face of the Earth when they don't make a large profit margin.

[DukTape]

I got them on the phone today, and they were apologetic -- one of the items I'd ordered was on backorder. They said they'd tried to reach me, and that may be true, because I don't answer my cell phone if I don't recognize the number.

 

UCSF--they don't take your order? What do they do? Put you on hold and never come back or what?

[jbb]

I had a very good experience with penboutique.com buying Waterman ink.

[streeton]

Exhorbitant shipping to Australia and they flood Ebay with countless Buy it Now items - so my Ebay Parker searches are done -pensboutique. I could use Auction only in my ebay searches but then I may miss out on some genuine Buy it Now items from other sellers.

 

So not a direct experience as such, just an observation.

[English]

Im still new to the fountain pen world and Pen Boutique was the first company I came across via Amazon. Ordered my al-star and safari from them. Also ordered converter and one bottle of ink through them. No problems with the first orde except they left out the converter out. I called them and they said their inventory showed it was shipped, and they asked me to check to see if it was lost in the packing box. I did and didn't find it still. They agreed to ship a converter at no charge.

 

My next order from them was a Lamy 2000. I ordered an extra fine nib. The box was marked fine nib and the packing slip indicated extra fine. It was clear that even for Lamy this was a broader nib than extra fine. I emailed their customer service department and got the run around. The person e,ailing always had to check with her supervisor. This went on for nearly 2 weeks. They told me to contact Filofax. I did and they would change the nib out but it would be at my expense. They even asked why I called them, and that it should be a simple exchange on the part of Pen Boutique.

 

I called Pen Boutique and they offered to split the shipping cost to Filofax and then I would have to pay to hav an extra fine nib placed on the pen. They insisted they had shipped the correct order. I sent them pictures of the box with "fine nib" sticker on it and a copy of my extra fine safari line and the 2000 line.

 

Finally they said they would send me return instructions. They never did. I emailed again and got no response.

 

It was only after this episode I discovered Goulet Pens. If only I had done a bit more reading here first! Oh well, water under the bridge.

 

Long and short ... When things go well, pen boutique is an acceptable place from which to order. If anything goes wrong or if the order is mixed up, they don't want to help. Really offering to split e shipping charge for a mistake by their shipping department? I'm a laid back guy generally but this was the worst customer service I could imagine... The whole experience was like talking to the cable company when you are trying to get new service scheduled.

[Postscript]

Never a problem here but they are my local bricks-&-mortar AD so they know me well when I come in. I find them quite knowledgeable and get great service.

 

Post Script

[fourseamer]

Had a large order of Lamy pens with them middle of last year. Smooth transaction all around. I would buy from them again.

[leod]

I ordered a few inks from amazon (penboutique) and got excellent service, some free shipping on single ink orders.

[SueEllen]

I had no problem with a recent transaction, but it was unnerving that they charged for the order in full as soon as I placed it rather than when they shipped it. They listed something for sale that was not yet in their inventory. However, they communicated about the delay; I received the item in a reasonable amount of time; they were cheerful in my conversations with them and they adhered to basic FTC guidelines. I would buy from them again if I'm in their B&M store. I will not order online from them again, because there are many other online pen&ink merchants with better pre-sale communication.

 

As a general rule:

When a merchant charges before shipping it's important to immediately check with your CC company as to the rules that apply in this situation.

[Zaphodbeeblebrox]

I placed my first order with them this past weekend. I had to contact their customer service after I placed the order because I forgot to use my $5 off first order code when I placed my order, the were very friendly and were able to quickl resolve this and credit me back the $5. Have not recieved my order yet but so far they have been a great at keeping me up to date with the entire process. As of right now I would highly recommend them and I would order from them again.

 

Cramer