Bromfield Pen Shop

[RedSox04]

Hello all who may be in the Boston area.

 

Well, being born in Boston and living in the area for a few years, I have had my share of tempered drivers and store owners. I certainly understand the taut attitudes. But, driving down Washington street up to the Bromfield Pen shop, I expected something a little different.

 

Looking at their website in the days prior piqued my interest in the store (check it out for yourself, they have tons of stuff) In fact, they have every major brand in stock. Pel M series, all viscontis, many Montblancs, many Pilot/Namiki (including Silver and Maki-e versions) and Delta (including the oversize), many Lamy pens (Dialogue 1, 2 and 3) and many others. Look, if you wanted a major brand they would have it. They even had special edition Homo Sapiens.

 

They even had G. Galo paper, copperplate nibs, Rhodia and CF. Not to mention NOODLERS ink!

 

Montblanc ink, lamy ink, HERBIN ink. ALL OF IT!

 

They had Stipulas, too! (this is for you, wim)

 

 

I walked out of the store with a bottle of Bay State Blue and Heart of Darkness, Why, you ask? Well, to tell the truth, I had the intention of spending a couple hundred dollars on a nice momento. I expected something expensive, but maybe worth it.

 

 

Now to the real trouble. After walking in, I was greeted by a couple of women behind the counter. They seemed a tad abrupt, but I accepted it as the Boston attitude. Now, this is around lunch time, so it's not as if I was keeping them from closing...

 

I was obviously enamored at their stock, asking to see about 5-6 pens. They could tell I was knowledgeable (not to be self-aggrandizing)

 

For example, I looked at the Pel 1000, the Stip Ettruria, and the 823. When I asked to see the pen, the lady got the case out put the pen on the glass and stepped back. Now, I usually like being left alone when shopping so I could accept this. When I asked the price one lady took out a catalogue and showed me. The other lady was doing inventory for 30 minutes and did not look up a single time.

 

After playing with the 823 for a little bit I asked "how much?" One lady grabbed the book and said $288. High, but expected. I continued toying with the pen (carefully) and unscrewed the plunger and drew the plunger out. When the inventory lady saw this she immediately reprimanded me, "do not disassemble the pens!"

 

I was a tad taken aback, but I obeyed and "re assembled" the pen.

 

Keep in mind the lady only spoke when I asked her a question (about price)

 

A Lamy Safari will run you 35, an Al Star 45.

 

A lamy 200 Ballpoint is 75.

 

Pilot Custom 74 is 160.

 

I did not ask anymore after hearing this.

 

 

So, I got ink.

 

 

What shocked me is that they are the only pen store in Boston. The only one. They obviously have a specific clientele, yet they were so blatantly apathetic and rude. I did not see another person in the store for the 30 minutes. I have heard the owner is a very nice man who does care about this hobby. The two workers were not. There prices are outlandish, and their service sucks.

 

I will not be going back.

[USMCMom]

I think that I would call or write a nice letter and tell him what took place. I've been in management and never tolerated staff who were cold, rude or obviously not interested. They're little feet would hit the pavement.

[RedSox04]

I appreciate the suggestion.

 

That never crossed me mind but you are absolutely right. I suppose it is worse to not say something to upper workers.

[Guest Subvet642]

There used to be one young woman who worked there who cared; other than that, I have NEVER gotten anything close to acceptable service from anyone else there. I will only go there if absolutely necessary, and not for pens, as they seem to hate collectors. I suspect that's because they can't BS a collector.

[penmanila]

that's sad to hear. i dealt (by mail) with bromfield back in the mid-1980s, when i started collecting, and the man i corresponded with seemed very kind and helpful. he must be that guy in charge. i hope some of his manner rubs off on his employees.

[Lloyd]

There are other FP purveyors in and near to Boston including Levenger at the Prudential Center (in Boston), Paradise Pens (Burlington MA), Quill and Press (Acton MA).

[kernando]

Tell Fred that his help doesn't. I was lucky enough to visit Boston, so went there once. He helped me realize that the North End is worth walking to, and not far, as it would look from having however many T stops along the way. He has a little of the East Coast not so talkative attitude, but I imagine that at least with him, if he realizes that you know what you're talking about, he'll talk about whatever. I actually only bought a ballpoint refill and a cheap case.

 

Looking in the Pilot catalogue for a price is pretty tacky. It's also a waste of space and time. There are only so many pages of fountain pens, and they can carry only so many, so they might as well write down or type out the prices.

[Ernie Wayne]

I am sorry to hear this account of rude service—as all pen shops, like bookstores, are endangered species, and should look to help customers as much as they can. I work a few blocks away and am a frequent customer.

 

 

 

I have had only good experiences at Bromfield, from Fred and from Val. They have repaired pens for me and ordered stuff.

 

 

 

Val has not been there the last few times I went in. I hope she is still with them.

[RedSox04]

So it sounds that they are helpful, but it is very dependent on staff.

 

I will certainly not bash the shop in a letter but rather express a general disappointment in their service.

[USMCMom]

If you write a letter, give the date, morning/afternoon and stating that two women were working and what happened. I would think that he would know who was working and at the very least, talk to them about customer service. I don't know this shop, of course, so it could be that these women are there when the shop is open and how ever many days a week it's open. I doubt he has a large staff. If it were me ... I'd talk to all of them!

[Blade Runner]

My experiences there have been OK, so it might be that employee. If I'm treated rudely I calmly but firmly tell them what I think and demand proper service. Why let someone waste your time, let a bad experience fester, and not tell a delinquent employee that his/her performance was subpar?

 

Btw, GO BRUINS! GO SOX!

Edited June 8, 2011 by Blade Runner

[RedSox04]

My experiences there have been OK, so it might be that employee. If I'm treated rudely I calmly but firmly tell them what I think and demand proper service. Why let someone waste your time, let a bad experience fester, and not tell a delinquent employee that his/her performance was subpar?

 

Btw, GO BRUINS! GO SOX!

 

You are very right. I just cut and run in this situation. I will let the crew know how the letter is received!

 

Maybe I'll write it in some BSB. Lovely ink by the way (Im a little late to the party)

[opus7600]

There are other FP purveyors in and near to Boston including Levenger at the Prudential Center (in Boston), Paradise Pens (Burlington MA), Quill and Press (Acton MA).

 

Don't forget Montblanc near Back Bay. Blick Art has good paper, dip pens, and calligraphy ink.

[Boston Brian]

I am afraid that my experience has been much the same with that store. The usual woman behind the conter has all the charm of an unflushed toilet, and the impression given to me as a customer was that I was being a pain in the ass regardless of what I was buying.

I would sometimes ask a friend who worked in Boston to call in during her lunch break to get me ink or cartridges, an after the first time going there she would say, "don't send me to the scary woman!"

The store is beautiful, the range of products extensive, the prices as they say in Boston "wicked high" and the service and atmosphere terrible.

[noctrl02]

You would think that they would send that lady to charm school. It is too bad that one employee can affect the reputation of the shop. I'm glad to hear others have had good experiences. I'd definitely write that letter - most small business owners are interested in their customers, after all it is their livelyhood on the line.

 

Andy

[noctrl02]

There are other FP purveyors in and near to Boston including Levenger at the Prudential Center (in Boston), Paradise Pens (Burlington MA), Quill and Press (Acton MA).

 

Anyone with experience at Quill and Press be so kind as to add it to the Pen Shops database (http://penshops.info/)? It is a great site to help find shops to feed our habit!

 

Thanks

Andy

[ga120]

I moved to Boston three years ago and I used to live on Beacon street, maybe three minutes walk from Bromfield store. I always got the same crappy and cold service. I usually went on Saturdays and an old lady was there almost always. Showing a decent knowledge and interest in fountain pen didn't seem to make any difference in their attitude. So I decided not to shop there anymore.

 

My girlfriend just bought me an amazing Graf von Faber-Castell Intuition (terra colour) for my bday and not knowing any other store she shopped there. I had another confirmation that they are awful and that their price was higher than other on-line shops (e.g. Joon NY). She also went back to have the pen engraved with my name and a guy (she told me) asked her for the receipt otherwise the engraving would have been double the price. She didn't have it with her but asked if she could bring it at pick-up. The guy said that with no receipt the price would be double. Not having enough time to go back and forth (we now live in the Back Bay, a little farther from the shop) she just did it. When she picked it up she told them she would never shop there again...

 

Unfortunately it's the best shop in the city (Boston proper) but I made a point not to go there anymore. It sucks because they have a lot of stuff. They are also the only retail in Boston of Noodler's ink. I will have to but it on-line.

 

I don't think I ever met the owner, he seems to be nice from the other comments. Fountain pen shopping is a lot more fun when you can talk to nice knowledgeable salesman, which was the opposite of my experience at Bromfield.

 

Gab

Edited August 6, 2011 by ga120

[Atrata]

The usual woman behind the conter has all the charm of an unflushed toilet, and the impression given to me as a customer was that I was being a pain in the ass regardless of what I was buying.

I know exactly whom you mean and couldn't agree more. She is cold and awkward to the point that I wondered if she had some sort of social disorder. There was one younger woman there recently who seemed helpful and relatively pleasant. And yes, the store is hideously expensive, but I do try to go there when I can (mainly for papers and inks as opposed to pens) because I don't want it to go out of business... I really like having the opportunity to hold something in my hand before I buy it. I don't want what happened to Bob Slate's to happen to Bromfield Pen, despite its flaws.

[rhr2010]

I have been in the store several times in the past couple of years. I heard that the owner of the store changed a few years back. I have always been served by one of the two women above described. They never showed excitement or enthusiasm, but I always managed to buy what I needed, that mostly was ink as I focus on vintage pens. The store looks great, with good selection. I wish the staff showed more excitement. As somebody noted above, bookstores and penstores are going to disappear, I wish it was possible to keep well and alive the few remaining.

[kp288908]

I've been following the threads about Bromfield's for some time. I live in Connecticut, and with Bromfield's being located in Boston, it's likely the nearest brick and mortar store to where I live. I appreciate the honest commentary about the shop. Being somewhat new to fountain pens, I was thinking of taking a drive up there to check out pen and ink stuff in person, but after having read the numerous posts, it's highly doubtful that I will visit the store. A few years ago, I decided that I would not do business with marketplace sellers (of any kind) that treated their clientele poorly. Simple and basic courtesies goes a long way with me; I think I'll stick with my favorite web-based businesses when it comes to fountain pens.