Have I/to What Extent Have I Voided My Lamy Warranty

[MrMassador]

Earlier last week, I received a newly acquired Lamy 2000 that I purchased 'New' on eBay (here's the link I bought the pen from in case anyone's curious). All was fine with the pen, but the nib was a bit scratchy and a tad out of alignment. Being the "do it yourself" kind of guy, I figured I'd give a go at realigning the tines by using my fingertips and finger nails and to my success, I realigned the nib successfully! However, the pen does feel a bit scratchy, so I am intending on using 12,000 grit micro mesh (only) to smooth the nib out to my liking.

 

My question is this: By purchasing my pen (new) from eBay, have I voided my warranty with Lamy (I am located in the USA, so I imagine I'll go through Lamy USA?)? By realigning the tines with my fingertips and finger nails, have I voided my warranty? By smoothing my nib out with 12,000 grit micro mesh, will I void my warranty? If I have a problem with parts of the pen NOT related to the nib, will Lamy still honor their warranty (i.e. replace a cap, fix the piston, etc...)? And lastly, if I indeed have voided my warranty by doing any of the above procedures, can, and if so, how does Lamy (and other pen manufacturers, for that matter) tell if you've voided your warranty by realigning your tines and/or smoothing your nib with micro mesh?

 

As I'm sure any of you can assume, I am asking this question because while I want a glassy smooth feeling out of my Lamy 2000 nib, I also want to make sure I will be/can be covered in case any problems occur with my pen. Returning the pen isn't much of an option, as I don't want to have to hassle with return shipping, wait for a new pen to arrive, and receive another Lamy 2000 with a defective nib.

 

Thank you so much for reading through this wall of text and I hope you have a great day!

 

tl;dr: does realigning tines void warranty? does polishing nib with micro mesh void warranty? are other non-nib parts honored by warranty still? will lamy be able to tell I've realigned the tines and/or polished the nib with 12000 grit micro mesh?

[Sasha Royale]

Re-aligning the tines would not void the warranty. It is undetectable. However, you altered the nib permanently. While they should honor any warranty on the piston, legally the warranty on the nib is void. If the degree of alteration of the nib is not detectable, no foul !

 

Of course, I have no cred, since I am not so discerning.

[MrMassador]

Re-aligning the tines would not void the warranty. It is undetectable. However, you altered the nib permanently. While they should honor any warranty on the piston, legally the warranty on the nib is void. If the degree of alteration of the nib is not detectable, no foul !

 

Of course, I have no cred, since I am not so discerning.

 

Ah I see. If you don't mind me asking, to what degree of alteration would make a nib 'detectable' or 'not detectable?' Is polishing a nib on very fine micro mesh really that noticeable? And if the nib was polished just and only to the point that the nib became smooth (assuming the tines were aligned before polishing), do you think enough polishing has occurred to make a noticeable visual difference?

[LizB]

Interesting question.

 

Personally, I'd certainly try and have any other element repaired under warrantee, even if I had done those minor nib tunings you describe. I'd assume (or rather hope) they wouldn't bother looking at the nib. Legally, they could argue that the warrantee was void, but I'd be inclined to try and get a warrantee repair done if it was on a different part of the pen.

[FOUR X FOUR]

Ah I see. If you don't mind me asking, to what degree of alteration would make a nib 'detectable' or 'not detectable?' Is polishing a nib on very fine micro mesh really that noticeable? And if the nib was polished just and only to the point that the nib became smooth (assuming the tines were aligned before polishing), do you think enough polishing has occurred to make a noticeable visual difference?

MrMassassador. From what you just said, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Smoothing a nib is certainly different from a grind.

[Jamerelbe]

Short answer: I don't think that manually realigning the nib voids your warranty - you haven't made any material alterations to the pen (unless you've bent things badly out of shape!)... I think, though, that applying micromesh would be another issue. Speaking for myself, I'd be inclined to contact Lamy first, and see if they're willing to help you.