Delta Limited Editions: A Cautionary Tale

[chazz]

DELTA’S LIMITED EDITION PENS & SERVICE

 

I have had in mind for some time to write a detailed comparison of high-end pens from Delta, Omas, and Pelikan. I hope to post that sometime next month. But first:

 

This is by way of a brief review and an advisory warning to would-be buyers, based on my purchases and acquisitions (as gifts) of Ltd. Ed. Pens from all three companies.

 

I will first give some recommendations:

 

1. Be very careful about buying Delta’s high-end pens. They used to be good, but Delta now produces so many “limited editions” that quality control has gone out the window. The much cheaper Delta pens seem to be more reliable, and there is less of a loss if they turn out to be hopeless.
2. If you buy a “limited edition” pen, buy one with a very low number. The pens in a given series get produced over time, and my observation is that care is taken only with the first few.

 

Delta makes some very beautiful Ltd. Ed. Pens. However, ultimately, a pen should have more than decorative value: it should be a functional writing instrument. Delta’s pens fail in that regard, and this situation is not helped by Delta’s poor service and lack of quality control. All of my high-end Delta pens have been very problematic, and below is an example case.

 

At the outset, I think we can all agree that when a pen costs over $1000, it should (i) start writing immediately, (ii) write well, and (iii) last a long time writing well and without requiring instances of repair and service.

 

My latest Ltd. Ed. Pen was a Delta Citta Reale, in the above-$1000 range. (After getting the pen, I also purchased two extra nibs, of different dimensions, at a cost of over $450.) Sadly, the pen proved to be no that a very expensive piece of plastic, however beautiful, and it is indeed a beautiful pen.

 

Out of the box, the pen could not write without suddenly drying up after a couple of pages, even though still nearly full of ink. Application of all the tricks suggested in numerous pen magazines and dedicated pen websites, e.g repeated flushing with water, soaking in water, flushing with this or that ink or liquid---all the advice that we are familiar with on this forum---did not work.

 

As I live I North America, I sent it, by costly registered service, to Delta’s N. American representative, Yafa Pens. A few weeks later they returned the pen, after having tinkered with it but apparently not sufficiently bothered to test it. There was no difference in its performance. So, as has happened more than once in the past, I decided to send it to Delta in Italy. I should add, though, that in all other respects, I have found Yafa to be a good company, with an above-average level of customer service; in particular, Clara Cornett is generally super, and it is a pity that she is not a technician.

 

A caution about Delta in Italy: According to them, even if it is their own pen being returned for repair, they claim that they would have to pay Customs for anything over, say, $50. If when sending back a pen, you wish to be safe and declare its full value, then Delta insists that you first pay them enough to cover the Customs value. (Of course, for an expensive pen you will also have paid extra to insure it to its full value during postage.) This is a win-win arrangement for Delta: if they should lose the pen, then you will not be able to claim more that the value you declared (if under $50). On the other hand, if you declare the full cost, then you also pay Customs duty to Delta, although it is not clear that Delta actually pays it to anyone else. Why they should be charged Customs for taking in a used product of their own, for repair, is something they never make clear. The other thing is that Delta insists that shipments to and from them, which you will have to pay for, must be DHL/UPS/FEDEX. But perhaps has a “good mutual arrangement” with those three companies.

 

But to resume the story of the Citta Reale:

 

It ended back with Delta, Italy. And I clearly indicated what the problem was and that Yafa had failed to properly test the pen before returning it after an alleged repair. After a little over two months, I heard back from Delta: the pen was ready, and I should pay to have it shipped back, by DHL/UPS/FEDEX. I paid. Incidentally, Delta Italy does not accept credit-card payments; so be prepared to make a bank transfer, for which, of course, you will have to pay quite a bit in fees. And it all adds up.

 

I specifically made a point of again noting that Yafa had not properly tested the pen after their alleged repair and that Delta Italy should properly test the pen before returning it. So one can well imagine my surprise when I finally got back the pen.

 

A digression on the getting back the pen: When shipping back the pen, by UPS, Delta had been sloppy about the paperwork. Halfway in its “prompt delivery” trip by UPS, enquiries had to go back to Delta. The response was inadequate, and I had to pay Customs duty on a used pen on which I had already paid all sorts of duties and taxes. For such parcels, in addition to anything else, DHL/UPS/FEDEX will also charge a hefty “brokerage fee” for getting through Customs quickly. Normal postal service, even with tracking, will not charge that. It all adds up.

 

And now, after Yafa and Delta Italy, the writing test: Nobody filled up the pen and tried to see how long it would write before grinding to a halt; i.e. the test I had been crying out for. After all that bother and expense, the new and improved pen was actually worse! Delta Italy had obviously changed the feed on the nib assembly, but that was it. Nobody had actually tested it to determine if the original problem had been satisfactorily solved, and I suspect it had something to do with the internals of the pen, rather than the nib. From two pages before grinding to a halt, I could, now, after significant expense, write for half a page before things ground to a halt!

 

Return to the Delta:

 

So what do now? Obviously trying to get this pen to work would end up being a very costly affair, more than it would cost to buy a new, reliable high-end pen from a better manufacturer (e.g. Omas or Pelikan). I don’t particularly need an expensive piece of plastic to decorate my desk, however beautiful it might be. And there was no point in sending it back to Delta when they claimed they had already done the best possible job.

 

A few days after getting back the pen, I did, by way of protest, send it back to Italy. I sent it to Ciro Matrone, one of Delta’s founders, as a “gift”. I hope that with the accompanying explanation, he will get his company to do a bit more quality control. As for the extra nibs, I am this week sending them back to Italy too, a gift for the head of Delta’s marketing department.

 

Quality control on the Delta:

 

I have been buying Delta pens for some years now, either for myself or as gifts to others, and they have generally been satisfactory. Indeed, one of my most reliable writers is a mid-range Delta pen that I bought in 1999. Nevertheless, at least two things seem clear to me today. First, as Delta has grown and got a bigger market, its quality control has slipped. Second, this especially affects the high-end pens: Delta today has, in light of its success, adopted a rather cavalier attitude; don’t expect that they will be mindful of how much you paid for the pen to start with.

 

So, what’s a good manufacturer for a Limited Edition Pen:

 

Parker’s high-end pens are basically all variations of the Duofold Centennial. I own a variety of Duofold Centennials and its Ltd. Ed. Variations, covering a period of about 25 years. The ranges in design and colour are more limited than are for the other large manufacturers. I am also not much enamoured of cartridge convertors (as opposed to piston fillers). But one can say this of them: they write well and consistently. And that, ultimately, is what a pen is all about!

 

For a high-end piston converter, my first choice would be Omas. Generally very good and reliable writers. After that, it would be Pelikan. And both with superb, if rarely needed, service. Omas had a period of some dodgy service but is now very good again.

Edited July 7, 2013 by chazz

[Raskolnikov]

 

 

A few days after getting back the pen, I did, by way of protest, send it back to Italy. I sent it to Ciro Matrone, one of Delta’s founders, as a “gift”. I hope that with the accompanying explanation, he will get his company to do a bit more quality control. As for the extra nibs, I am this week sending them back to Italy too, a gift for the head of Delta’s marketing department

 

This made me smile

Anyway, as I see it, after-sale service is actually an important part of the product itself.

Sorry to hear about your story, I own a couple of Delta (i.e Dolcevita piston filler) which needed an intervention (it broke in the ink window part, basically): under warranty, I was only charged the shipment (back and forth), 20 euro. It took more or less one month, which I find after all acceptable as we're talking of basically "useless" (if you forgive me the term) items.

 

But one of the reasons I prefer the pens I have there in the avatar is after sale service too: had to send a couple of Visconti to assistance. I had them back in couple of weeks and I was never charged a cent (way out of warranty, mind you). Very professional.

 

Also, Montegrappa has a functional after sale service: prompt and kind answers, I was never charged for repairs (same as Visconti, out of warranty's period).

 

P.S. : By the way, a bit OT, "La città reale" is one of the few Delta limited I don't find way too excessive, I was about to buy one myself right here from an FPN user but it had a nib I don't use.

[Tombstone]

But one of the reasons I prefer the pens I have there in the avatar is after sale service too: had to send a couple of Visconti to assistance. I had them back in couple of weeks and I was never charged a cent (way out of warranty, mind you). Very professional.

 

 

To be honest, I hope you just took your Motorino and drove it directly to Via del'Osservatorio.

 

 

I worked in Florence in the mid-90's and can still bite my butt for not passing by... I even bought an original wooden Visconti-Pen-Box at the Casa della Stilografica... ok, I also did not use the possibility to buy a Panerai... oh my God, what a beautiful city...

 

 

 

PS: sorry for being OT...

[Freddy]

Intriguing.... .Anyhow..Chazz..Welcome Aboard!

 

Enjoy your time here..

 

 

Fred

 

Tennessee Border Show

[Freddy]

Ladies and Gentlemen we sincerely apologize for the

dreaded double post..

Edited July 7, 2013 by Freddy

[karmakoda]

Ladies and Gentlemen we sincerely apologize for the

dreaded double post..

 

It happens,

 

I only have one Delta pen, a Limited Edition Summer Windows Demonstrator, buttonfiller and had some issues with it.

When it failed to work properly, naturally I took it apart.

The tan coloured sac had a tiny tear in it. After removing the sac, it was obvious that the feed extension, a thin tube that should extend into the sac, was broken.

I don't do well with the shipping and back and forth stuff, so I filed and re-shaped the feed, installed a new black sac, and voila, it works.

But, that was my last Delta.

[PatientType]

In contrast to the above, I sent a Nettuno Trident with a broken clip to Kenro Industries, the US distributor. They apologetically said that, since the pen was no longer under warranty, I'd need to include a check for $35. So much for a pricey repair. Kenro didn't have the clip on hand so they forwarded my pen to Italy at their expense for replacement. It took awhile, close to two months, but my pen arrived with a brand new pocket clip.

Similar positive experiences with Conway Stewart. A fountain pen with a captive converter developed an internal leak. They asked me to send it in with a $10 check to cover return postage. They weren't satisfied with a local correction, apologized for a more extended delay, and shipped the pen to England at Conway Stewart's expense. I got the repaired pen a month or so later.

 

Also Conway Stewart ... I bought a Churchhill that had flow problems just as described in chazz' post. One could write for about 1/2 page and the pen would become unreliable. It would skip and fail to deliver ink for the first bit of each new word - making for splotchy, poor looking documents. I contacted Conway Stewart and they invited me to mail them the pen. They didn't adjust the pen themselves. They sent it to Mike Masuyama at Mike-It-Work - on their dime. The pen came back smooth as butter and reliable as the sunrise.

 

It pays to do business with companies that stand behind their products. It is likely that nothing will ever go wrong but, when it does, it is SO nice to deal with companies that demonstrate pride in their products and care that customers enjoy a positive experience.

Edited July 7, 2013 by PatientType

[misslucy107]

A few days after getting back the pen, I did, by way of protest, send it back to Italy. I sent it to Ciro Matrone, one of Delta’s founders, as a “gift”. I hope that with the accompanying explanation, he will get his company to do a bit more quality control. As for the extra nibs, I am this week sending them back to Italy too, a gift for the head of Delta’s marketing department.

 

Love this!

 

I'm curious if you'll hear anything back from them... If you do, please let us know.

[treborefir]

Hi,

 

My first Delta was a Dolce Vita (large size) with a very scratchy nib that Mike Masuyama had to add TLC to make it work..now one of my favorites. My second was a Chatterly Shadow which wrote well out of the box but after about 3 months began leaking internally above the nib. Sent to YAFA who sent it to Italy where it was promptly repaired, in good time, and now is pleasant to use. My third is a Fusion which wrote well out of the box and continues to do so.

 

All in all I would say I'm pleased with the company and would buy another.

[karmakoda]

 

It pays to do business with companies that stand behind their products. It is likely that nothing will ever go wrong but, when it does, it is SO nice to deal with companies that demonstrate pride in their products and care that customers enjoy a positive experience.

Yes, these are words of wisdom.

 

I cannot comment on Delta service, since I did not give them the opportunity to fix my pen.

So far, all of the service work I have had done has been more that satisfactory, surprisingly so, compared to some of the experiences expressed here.

My Delta LE is a good pen, but, unlike PatientType I did not purchase it from a source that was easy to deal with.

So I should clarify, my problem is not with Delta. In the future I will follow the above advice.

 

 

[Raskolnikov]

 

To be honest, I hope you just took your Motorino and drove it directly to Via del'Osservatorio.

 

 

I worked in Florence in the mid-90's and can still bite my butt for not passing by... I even bought an original wooden Visconti-Pen-Box at the Casa della Stilografica... ok, I also did not use the possibility to buy a Panerai... oh my God, what a beautiful city...

 

 

 

PS: sorry for being OT...

 

Mind you, I never had a motorino, I went straight from two feet to four wheels, talk about overprotective italian parents and traumatic childhood

 

Anyway no, I was too embarassed to "bypass" the official Assistance channels and go straight there, so I sent it like everyone else would

 

La Casa Della Stilografica is my favourite pen shop and Panerai, well I spend my daily minutes drooling at their boutique when I pass by.

Glad you liked the city anyway, should you come back for some reason drop a line and we'll visit some pen landmarks!

 

 

 

My first Delta was a Dolce Vita (large size) with a very scratchy nib

 

When my DV came back replaced it had a scratchy nib but I didn't want to wait for another month so I took it to one of our finest nibmeister (who happens to be a friend of mine) and he solved it in like seven seconds But I reckon not everyone is so lucky to have such aquaintances near where they live.

[raging.dragon]

The Italian post office is infamously unreliable, which is likely why Delta insist on shipping by courier.

It's always a good idea to buy from a dealer with a reputation for taking care of such problems. Some of these dealers have the ability to make repairs in house, while others have good relationships with the distributors and manufacturers and can work with them to sort out problems. For nib and feed issues, like you experienced, it would probably would have been far less expensive to send the pen to one of the many well reputed nib technicians in the US. Of course one shouldn't have to worry about such things when buying a luxury product, but unfortunately that seems to be the way of things with many pen brands.

For what it's worth, I have several Deltas, mostly bought new from Bryant or used from other FPN members, and the only problems I've encountered were a maladjusted nib that Bryant discovered and sent to Mike Masuyama for a quick fix before shipping to me, and a twisted sac that a friend replaced for me. So I have no personal experience with Delta's service.

Based on my experience, Visconti consistently provide the hassle free warranty and repair service one would expect from a luxury brand (the only thing I had to pay for was shipping to and from the local distributor, and even that could be avoided by dropping off and picking up one's pens in person).

Edited July 7, 2013 by raging.dragon

[georges zaslavsky]

I dunno, I tried several Deltas but they weren't really matching my expectations.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

My worst customer service experience was when I had a Caran D'ache Fixpencil in 3.0 mm that had a broken inner tube. The metal tube was cracked. I had to send it with a large check to cover fees, and when I got it back a number of months later, they sent a condescending letter telling me that the only problem was that I didn't have any lead. The metal tube of the interior of the pencil was still cracked, and they put in a bunch of broken pieces of lead. Visconti gave me good service though when a pen I was repairing suddenly snapped at the ink window. They fixed the barrel of the pen at no cost.

 

Dillon

[chazz]

Hi,

 

My first Delta was a Dolce Vita (large size) with a very scratchy nib that Mike Masuyama had to add TLC to make it work..now one of my favorites. My second was a Chatterly Shadow which wrote well out of the box but after about 3 months began leaking internally above the nib. Sent to YAFA who sent it to Italy where it was promptly repaired, in good time, and now is pleasant to use. My third is a Fusion which wrote well out of the box and continues to do so.

 

All in all I would say I'm pleased with the company and would buy another.

 

That's understandable, and at a certain level I can live with it. Indeed, as I indicated above, one of my most reliable writes is in fact a mid-range Delta that I bought in 1999.

 

However, when one (i) pays over $1000 for pen and (ii) one is told that it is a special limited edition, of which there are only a few hundred in the series, then I do not think it unreasonable to expect that it will not have a scratchy nib, start to leak after 3 months, etc.

[chazz]

It's always a good idea to buy from a dealer with a reputation for taking care of such problems. Some of these dealers have the ability to make repairs in house, while others have good relationships with the distributors and manufacturers and can work with them to sort out problems. For nib and feed issues, like you experienced, it would probably would have been far less expensive to send the pen to one of the many well reputed nib technicians in the US. Of course one shouldn't have to worry about such things when buying a luxury product, but unfortunately that seems to be the way of things with many pen brands.

 

Yafa is Delta's distributor in North America, and they claim to have technicians who can fix Delta pens. That is why I sent the pen to them. As well, in the past I have had excellent service from Yafa. Delta *is* the manufacturer of the pen in question, and I should like to believe that they can repair their own pens. That is why I returned the pen to them. With those two done, there wasn't much else left to do, other than return the pen to them. Delta Italy was especially disappointing. In sending the pen to them, I specifically asked them to test it properly, as Yafa had failed to do to. Before they shipped the pen back, I again asked to have it properly tested and was assured that that would be done.

 

As for the US "nibmeisters", I have had Greg Minuskin (and others) do some work for me that I was happy with. In this case, however, I suspect that the problem was not in the nib+feed, and I expected that Delta would be able to sort it out.

 

One thing I have learned from this experience (and others like it)) is that for pens in a certain range, I don't want a spanking new, never-filled pen. Nor do I want a basic, "let's dip in and write a 8 with it" test. I will ask that someone (with a light hand, of course) actually fill the pen and write something more than "hallo, hallo".

[chazz]

 

P.S. : By the way, a bit OT, "La città reale" is one of the few Delta limited I don't find way too excessive, I was about to buy one myself right here from an FPN user but it had a nib I don't use.

 

It is an exceptionally beautiful pen, very tastefully done, very well-balanced, etc. So it is a pity that it doesn't write, which is a useful feature to have in a fountain pen.

[Joe in Seattle]

I have an early Dolce Vita, purchased off EBay for a reasonable sum. I had to buy it THERE because the features I valued in the model: 18K two tone nib and stainless steel section screw base were replaced by 14K monotone nibs and all plastic sections in later production models. Early reviews of that pen had been glowing and I wanted what the early reviewers had experienced. I am not sure why the decision was made to cheapen later production.

[raging.dragon]

 

Yafa is Delta's distributor in North America, and they claim to have technicians who can fix Delta pens. That is why I sent the pen to them. As well, in the past I have had excellent service from Yafa. Delta *is* the manufacturer of the pen in question, and I should like to believe that they can repair their own pens. That is why I returned the pen to them. With those two done, there wasn't much else left to do, other than return the pen to them. Delta Italy was especially disappointing. In sending the pen to them, I specifically asked them to test it properly, as Yafa had failed to do to. Before they shipped the pen back, I again asked to have it properly tested and was assured that that would be done.

 

As for the US "nibmeisters", I have had Greg Minuskin (and others) do some work for me that I was happy with. In this case, however, I suspect that the problem was not in the nib+feed, and I expected that Delta would be able to sort it out.

 

One thing I have learned from this experience (and others like it)) is that for pens in a certain range, I don't want a spanking new, never-filled pen. Nor do I want a basic, "let's dip in and write a 8 with it" test. I will ask that someone (with a light hand, of course) actually fill the pen and write something more than "hallo, hallo".

 

Indeed. One of the advantages of buying a used pen is that somebody else has probably taken care of any problems it had.

[bartl]

I have bought quite a few Delta's. Never had one problem. Montegrappa's on the other hand gave me trouble. But they have a very good service and at hardly any costs they helped me out.