Lamy Vs. Montblanc Repair Service

[WriterJP]

Hello All,

 

A few weeks ago, I sent out my Lamy 2000 and Montblanc LeGrand 146 pens for service. Both wonderful pens, used and cared for meticulously; however, I seemed to have quite bad luck recently with each.

 

The Lamy 2000 had a broken piston which needed replacement. One day whilst trying to fill it, the piston made an audible click, and not long after that began leaking ink from the space between the barrel and filler knob, out the end of the feed, and from under the hooded nib. The pen had literally exploded its contents. When I tried to clean it out by sucking water in and out of the pen via the piston, it didn't.

 

As for the 146, I was not quite sure as to what the issue was. When trying to suck ink up into the pen, the filler knob was extremely resistant to turning, and the pen made a quiet popping noise as there was a slight bit of "slack", for lack of a better word, when you let go of the knob which turned back the opposite way a few millimeters. This was a new development, and I had suspected that perhaps the piston and barrel needed to be re-lubricated.

 

I sent the Lamy out via FedEx ground service from New Jersey to Connecticut (the Lamy repair center location) on a Monday morning. By Thursday evening, the pen had arrived back at my doorstep with a brand new piston, tested by the repair staff member who repaired my pen and verified to work perfectly. As you can imagine, I was elated that in three days, and for the cost of shipping and return shipping (free going out from work, and $9.50 on the return), my pen had been brought back to life and I've been using it since that day two weeks ago. Lifetime warranty was honored, and at record pace in my opinion. I hold good customer service in high regard, and it is experiences such as these that lead me to become a repeat customer. I will have no concerns about future Lamy purchases as I can expect the customer service to be outstanding.

 

As far as my Montblanc was concerned, my experience has not been as satisfactory. The same day that I sent my pen out, I visited a local Montblanc boutique at a shopping mall nearby. I explained to the saleswoman there (who I fear did not know much about fountain pens) what I had been experiencing, and she said that she would have it sent out to the repair center in Texas tomorrow morning. She examined the pen and was impressed that for being slightly over two years old, there was hardly a scratch on the resin, and the condition was immaculate. She wrote "good condition" on the repair request form, even though she had just finished exclaiming how well cared for this pen was. From there, she took a look at my warranty card and acted taken back when she realized that the pen was originally purchased at a Paradise Pen Company store, rather than directly from a Montblanc boutique. She closed the booklet, turned to one of the more junior associates there that certainly appeared to be younger than 20 years old, and asked "if he didn't buy it here, it probably won't be covered under warranty, right?". I explained to the associate that regardless of which authorized Montblanc dealer I had purchased the pen from, the fact that Montblanc offers a warranty on its authentic products should obviously supercede my choice to purchase the pen from a dealer other than Montblanc itself. Sensing that I was noticably frustrated, she moved along to packing up my pen, made me a copy of the repair order, and told me I should expect to hear something from them in one to two weeks.

Well, today I received a call, exactly 23 days later, explaining that the piston needs replacement, and that they will also be replacing the feed on the pen as well for a total of $56.75, which I would be responsible for when the pen arrives back at the store in approximately one week. I inquired about the warranty that came with the pen, and she stated that the pen was purchased in September of 2011 which is 2 years and two months ago, and that the warranty for any repairs expires after 2 years. Having no other choice, I authorized them to do begin work on the pen. I will provide an update of the service when I go to pick it up and have a chance to try it out.

This thread is not meant to be a long, rambling whining session. Rather, I would like to document my experiences for others that may be considering a new pen purchase and for those who consider good customer service to be as important as the quality of the product itself. With Lamy, I was elated with the turnaround time, quality of repair, and even the disposition of the customer service representative I spoke with over the phone prior to sending out the pen. With Montblanc, I am disappointed in the staff at the brick and mortar store who seemed indifferent, borderline annoyed that I had brought in a pen for repair. I would have appreciated a follow up phone call letting me know that their service schedule was going to be delayed, and well, it's a shame that the warranty only lasts a mediocre 2 years on a product you'd expect to be able to give to your children one day, and that I had to exercise the repair center 2 months after my warranty expired at cost to myself.

I'm interested to know if anyone else has had experiences with these two firms that confirm or deny my thoughts.

Thanks for reading!

 

WriterJP