Battersea Pen Home?

July 18, 2011

Just wanted some thoughts on this company. I recently sent them a pen to assess for repair. They valued the pen at over £40 and wrote to say it would cost over £20+ to repair but if I didn't want it repaired they'd sent it back for £7. The assessment had me quite concerned for the following reasons-

The Pen is a Parker which can be bought typically via ebay for about £10 or less (NOS).

The pen only cost me the price of a stamp to send to them so why do they want to charge me £7 to return?

I am somewhat regretful of sending them the pen now as i don't have any experience with www.penhome.co.uk but I assumed as they came up first on Google they would be a good company (not that I'm saying they are a bad company). I guess I just feel that there quote is unreasonable for the small job I needed doing with the pen.

July 18, 2011

Interested to know what model Parker you have sent in for repair. If the pen can be bought for £10 on eBay, why are you bothering to repair it?

As regards the postage, they are a business and it is more than their reputation is worth to return customers' pens uninsured and untracked. £7 is the price of Special Delivery plus a bit for packing.

July 18, 2011

Just wanted some thoughts on this company. I recently sent them a pen to assess for repair. They valued the pen at over £40 and wrote to say it would cost over £20+ to repair but if I didn't want it repaired they'd sent it back for £7. The assessment had me quite concerned for the following reasons-

The Pen is a Parker which can be bought typically via ebay for about £10 or less (NOS).
The pen only cost me the price of a stamp to send to them so why do they want to charge me £7 to return?

I am somewhat regretful of sending them the pen now as i don't have any experience with www.penhome.co.uk but I assumed as they came up first on Google they would be a good company (not that I'm saying they are a bad company). I guess I just feel that there quote is unreasonable for the small job I needed doing with the pen.

They spent the time to inspect your pen and five you an evaluation of the value and also what it would take to repair the pen.

They will most likely ship the pen back to you better packaged than you shipped it to them if it only cost you the price of a stamp.

They own a business repairing and selling pens.... you expect them to work for free.

Would you take the time in your business to assess the value of something, estimate the repair needed and cost of repair and then figure out what good packaging for return postage would cost and just ship it back to the customer for free....... I doubt it... why should they.

July 18, 2011

Interested to know what model Parker you have sent in for repair. If the pen can be bought for £10 on eBay, why are you bothering to repair it?
As regards the postage, they are a business and it is more than their reputation is worth to return customers' pens uninsured and untracked. £7 is the price of Special Delivery plus a bit for packing.

It's just a Parker 45 and I'm currently doing a search on ebay now to replace it. It had a dodgy cap which would no longer go on the pen. I figured it would be a simple fix to have either a replacement cap or perhaps some special tool to fix the internal bracing. No problem paying a fair price but I'm old enough and wise enough to know when I'm being had.

I'm pretty much at the point where I'm writing off that pen.

Edited July 18, 2011 by tenorclef

July 19, 2011

You asked about Battersea Pen Home's reputation. BPH has an excellent reputation.

As you suggest, the P45 can be bought cheaply, I am giving one away on another site when people buy 2 bottles of ink, for example.

If you want to cut costs for the return postage, just have them send the nib back to you at your risk by FCP and throw the rest of the pen away.

July 19, 2011

You asked about Battersea Pen Home's reputation. BPH has an excellent reputation.

As you suggest, the P45 can be bought cheaply, I am giving one away on another site when people buy 2 bottles of ink, for example.

If you want to cut costs for the return postage, just have them send the nib back to you at your risk by FCP and throw the rest of the pen away.

I totally agree!!! Simon is one of the Pen World's real Gentlemen - and someone I have dealt with very happily.

July 19, 2011

BPH =

July 20, 2011

Sad that the reputation of a company is under question for only doing what was asked of it!

I do not think tenorclef is being "had" at all. The time and effort to assess the pen, package, and post it, (and undertake most basic repairs) will be the same whether it is a P45 or a P51. I think BPH is taking the flak here for tenorclef's lack of knowledge - had he known before sending the pen that it was of low value then he presumably would not have sent it.

I am also guessing that the quote would have been for NOS replacement parts, not second hand bits sourced off ebay.

July 20, 2011

I would also like to vouch for Battersea Pen Home. I have had work carried out by them on a number of pens, and the standard of work and quality of service has always been first class.

July 20, 2011

I would also like to vouch for Battersea Pen Home. I have had work carried out by them on a number of pens, and the standard of work and quality of service has always been first class.

July 20, 2011

Everything is on their web page ref repairs and quotes to take in before considering using them.

http://penhome.co.uk/penrepairs.htm

Though I will add their SH pen prices are high. But you can take it or leave it.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Force

July 20, 2011

Interested to know what model Parker you have sent in for repair. If the pen can be bought for £10 on eBay, why are you bothering to repair it?
As regards the postage, they are a business and it is more than their reputation is worth to return customers' pens uninsured and untracked. £7 is the price of Special Delivery plus a bit for packing.

It's just a Parker 45 and I'm currently doing a search on ebay now to replace it. It had a dodgy cap which would no longer go on the pen. I figured it would be a simple fix to have either a replacement cap or perhaps some special tool to fix the internal bracing. No problem paying a fair price but I'm old enough and wise enough to know when I'm being had.

I'm pretty much at the point where I'm writing off that pen.

No, tenorclef- you are not being "had". What you did was send of a pen packed improperly, and you want Simon to give you his opinion and a repair estimate for free. And then, you have the temerity to accuse the good folks at the Battersea Pen of trying to pull a fast one on you, when they tell you how much it would cost to send the pen back, packed properly and insured.. Shame on you!!!!

Edited July 20, 2011 by Wolverine1

July 20, 2011

I have lately noticed something that has really started to bother me here.

It's what I would characterize as the ongoing continuing public stoning of a member who makes the mistake IN HOW they address a bad vendor experience.

A good whack up side the head is one thing, being beaten into a greasy spot on the ground is something altogether different.

To me, this just isn't as easy a situation as so many seem to think it is.

I do feel that one "weakness" of FPN is that only GOOD news is allowed to be publicly attributed. Honestly, even that position is somewhat hypocritical because some of the very posters who will do this public stoning of a miss-poster will also be the first to pm someone who doesn't publicly out a bad vendor and ask who that vendor is so they themselves don't "get bit" too.

I am certainly not defending someone who comes in slinging mud without first having addressed the issue with the other party. I do have a problem with the en masse nukefest on them for doing so. To me, this makes it too easy for the wrong lesson to be learned, that ANY negative report is forbidden versus HOW that negative report should be worded and delivered.

This behavior to me does not fall in line with my general observation that FPN is one of the friendliest forums on the net.

Can we just lighten up maybe a bit on these "offenders" please?

Bruce in Ocala, FL-thinks others might feel different if they were the rockees and not the rockers

July 20, 2011

I have lately noticed something that has really started to bother me here.

It's what I would characterize as the ongoing continuing public stoning of a member who makes the mistake IN HOW they address a bad vendor experience.

A good whack up side the head is one thing, being beaten into a greasy spot on the ground is something altogether different.

To me, this just isn't as easy a situation as so many seem to think it is.

I do feel that one "weakness" of FPN is that only GOOD news is allowed to be publicly attributed. Honestly, even that position is somewhat hypocritical because some of the very posters who will do this public stoning of a miss-poster will also be the first to pm someone who doesn't publicly out a bad vendor and ask who that vendor is so they themselves don't "get bit" too.

I am certainly not defending someone who comes in slinging mud without first having addressed the issue with the other party. I do have a problem with the en masse nukefest on them for doing so. To me, this makes it too easy for the wrong lesson to be learned, that ANY negative report is forbidden versus HOW that negative report should be worded and delivered.

This behavior to me does not fall in line with my general observation that FPN is one of the friendliest forums on the net.

Can we just lighten up maybe a bit on these "offenders" please?

Bruce in Ocala, FL-thinks others might feel different if they were the rockees and not the rockers

I cannot say that I agree with your position. The OP asked for a reference for BPH and made a one sided and negative comment. The OP was advised that BPH had an excellent reputation.

Far from the posts not being freindly, they were particularly friendly and appropriate in their support of the Battersea Pen Home.

July 20, 2011

Wow! I'm quite overwhelmed by all the positive comments about us on here. So many thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to post here.

I don't usually post here, but I got a call from Andy Lambrou this afternoon and then further calls from other customers alerting me to the discussion taking place here. Andy lives a few hundred yards away from me, so we meet up quite frequently.

A few days ago we received a Parker 45 Flighter FP with a cap problem. We checked it out and found that the problem was that one of the cap clutch's metal prongs had been bent back into the inner cap. To rectify this, one either disassembles the cap and fits a new clutch (just as with a 61/75 etc) or, if the cap is the later 'press-stamped' version, one has to supply a whole new cap. With earlier versions, one can take the cap apart but, in the interests of cheaper production costs, the later 45 caps (like a Sonnet) cannot be disassembled into their component parts.

So we sent out a quote for £15 (including VAT at 20%) for rectifying this and cleaning the pen, plus £7 for return insured Special Delivery postage and packing.

As several posters have mentioned, we need to use this particular form of trackable/insured postage (albeit more expensive) as we are responsible for the pen until the customer gets it back, irrespective of the pen's value.

I've just checked Newell Rubbermaid/Parker's current 2011 repair price list, and a 45 cap repair is listed at £16.80 inc VAT but plus shipping costs.

Sadly some pens are not worth repairing and it is cheaper (or, at least, not that much more expensive) to go off and buy a new one.

As has been mentioned, it is very easy to check the price of buying a new pen these days - by googling and using ebay - which gives the customer a better picture as to whether to repair or to buy a new pen.