Wh Smith Has Acquired Cult Pens

[wastelanded]

I somewhat selfishly wonder how this will affect Cultpens' international shipping, which had always been exemplary.

[MuddyWaters]

I always read this as Will Smith has acquired Cult Pens

[benn093]

i worry that WHS will get overly involved in Cult Pens. WHS has really gone downhill in recent years (and not just their terrible store carpets and trying to flog bars of chocolate to every customer). Their prices are on the high side (even against Rymans, which has rapidly proven to be a better stationery store chain) and their staff largely apathetic. Even Paperchase has cheaper pens and paper.

 

The one thing they should steal from Cult Pens is some enthusiasm for their business!

 

I did once try to order something on-line from Smiths from here in Canada. I rapidly gave up.

[anemography]

Paperchase notebooks mostly have terrible paper though. I've had much better notebooks from Eason's (Irish WH Smith-type chain)

[adyf]

I remember my childhood going into town on Saturday's with my parents and being mesmerised with the pen counter in WH Smith's. So much so, and with plenty of nagging, they bought me a Parker 45 for my 7th birthday in 1973. There started my obsession.

 

Not sure when the pen counters disappeared, but like many companies they're a shadow of their former self with regard to pens.

[tinta]

The news may be a bit worrying, but I'll let the dust settle before making any judgements.

Since discovering Cult three years ago or so, I've become a huge fan of their operation. They are quick to reply to my questions, give me expert advice & good value for the money. International shipping from Cult has been second to none.

 

Cult is my reliable supplier of Pelikan's 4001 blue/black (particularly the carts), the staple diet in a stainless Kaweco Lilliput that goes with me virtually everywhere. I also purchased four Kaweco 14c nib-units from them & a couple of hard to find raw leather Lilliput pen cases.

 

I am pleased that somehow Vanness had been able to get the bottled version of the blue/black to sell to the North American market. Unfortunately, I regularly get beat up by the taxman at the Canadian Border, so I've been doing much less business from sources down in the States.

[nealh]

I just place an order for a Pelikan nib and some inks from Cult Pens. [My last purchase from Cult was for a Souveran 400 and another nib]

Their prices and service remain excellent. My order shipped to the States the next day. Louise very responsive to my questions, and helpful.

So far, so good.

[tinta]

I just place an order for a Pelikan nib and some inks from Cult Pens. [My last purchase from Cult was for a Souveran 400 and another nib]

Their prices and service remain excellent. My order shipped to the States the next day. Louise very responsive to my questions, and helpful.

So far, so good.

[mongrelnomad]

In a perfect world, they'd set up little brick-and-mortar Cult Pens micro-stores inside WH Smith outlets; perhaps the first shoots of a Japanese-style stationary culture developing in the UK which would no doubt expand with exposure.

 

If they bought Cult Pens to begin with, their numbers must be solid, which would prove there's a market.

 

In a perfect world...

Edited March 17, 2018 by mongrelnomad

[invisuu]

I just place an order for a Pelikan nib and some inks from Cult Pens. [My last purchase from Cult was for a Souveran 400 and another nib]

Their prices and service remain excellent. My order shipped to the States the next day. Louise very responsive to my questions, and helpful.

So far, so good.

Got my order in from Cult Pens a couple of days ago as well. I cant imagine what could have been done better.

[GaryUK]

I've had great service from Cult pens. Some bargains, good range and top service.

 

My local WH Smith store has a decent selection of magazines and some limited well-priced books. But most of the other stuff is over-priced and clearly aimed at people who don't shop around. The branch never seems to be busy and I'm surprised they remain in business.

 

Gary

[gibbs]

I think going to there twitter page they're hoping very little will change and as far as they're concerned for them it's business as usual. In some ways, this could be advantages as they do share some lines so they be able to leverage a larger supply chain through WHSmiths to get shared items cheaper.

As for there service, I've placed several orders Including one that involved a lot of additional work for them as I was after something specific and they went above and beyond to sort it out for me and where still able to get it shipped the same day.

 

[RJS]

Until today I had no idea WHSmith had acquired Cult Pens. 2 1/2 years later and they don't seem to have done any damage, which is remarkable, all things considered.

 

I liked WHSmith when I was growing up, but now they're the company everyone in the UK loves to hate, thanks to their horrid price gouging airport/train station/motorway service station stores. I'm not exaggerating, they're literally the no.1 most hated shop in the UK in polls, year after year. I avoid their retail stores in transport hubs like the plague.

 

I love books and stationary, but their high street stores are a daft place to buy either, thanks to pricing that isn't competitive with what is available online. Speaking of online shopping... the past few times I have tried to buy a book from their website they haven't actually had stock- one book was a very expensive limited edition from Taschen, and by the time they told me they were not going to fulfil my order it had sold out elsewhere. Incredibly inept. I wouldn't shop with them again.

 

If it wasn't for the fact Cult Pens have been exceptional in my dealings with them I would happily blacklist them on principal. Should coronavirus drag on too long, WHSmith's likely go bust (small mercies), and I very much hope they don't drag Cult Pens down with them.

Edited October 24, 2020 by RJS

[RJS]

I forgot to mention, they also take advantage of the most unfortunate in society, with shops in hospitals that charge significantly more than their high street stores do. Despicable.

[shostakovich]

I don't think W H Smith are that bad. The most hated store for me is Boots. WHS have some good paper i.e. Oxford Campus - and they do still sell fountain pens, i.e. Parker Sonnets, whatever you might think of those ... WHS also sell plenty of refills for rollerballs etc., not that I use those scratchy things much. (Only in a thunderstorm or where I don'r care too much about losing one of those "things"). But I'm amazed that Cult Pens is owned by WHS. I do use them and they are good, but I just slightly prefer The Writing Desk, who seem to just have a tiny bit more expertise. It depends on what they stock and one may have what I want and the other not. Both give excellent service.

[WarrenB]

Paperchase notebooks mostly have terrible paper though. I've had much better notebooks from Eason's (Irish WH Smith-type chain)

 

I missed this the first time round. Really? Dang. I had one Paperchase notebook and it was 'alright'. Better Eason paper would be something, but they closed all their Northern Ireland shops and their website is a bit peculiar.

 

I might have to stick with Rhodia.

 

What a hardship.

[RJS]

I don't think W H Smith are that bad. The most hated store for me is Boots. WHS have some good paper i.e. Oxford Campus - and they do still sell fountain pens, i.e. Parker Sonnets, whatever you might think of those ... WHS also sell plenty of refills for rollerballs etc., not that I use those scratchy things much. (Only in a thunderstorm or where I don'r care too much about losing one of those "things"). But I'm amazed that Cult Pens is owned by WHS. I do use them and they are good, but I just slightly prefer The Writing Desk, who seem to just have a tiny bit more expertise. It depends on what they stock and one may have what I want and the other not. Both give excellent service.

If WHS does fold during the pandemic, and Boots survives, they'll probably be the ones to take the spaces that WHS vacate on motorways/stations/airports/hospitals, and will also take advantage of the captive audiences they are presented with in exactly the same way. The government looked at the issue of outrageous pricing at motorway services a few years ago, as 60% of people boycott using services for anything but the toilets because of the rip off prices, and as a result people eat and drink less than is healthy whilst undertaking long journeys. Nothing came of it, sadly.

 

I'd like a 7-11 style shop open in all those places, as you see in some Asian countries, that change exactly the same across all their shops in the country.

 

Speaking of hateful WHSmith, do you remember when they got slapped down by the government for their naughty/disingenuous/not really legal airport practices? They'd demand they scan people's passports, and if you were flying out of the EU they'd charge the customers VAT that they shouldn't be paying and pocket it, rather than declare it. Weirdly, the government only officially banned this practice on purchases over £6.

 

I really liked Smiths growing up- magazines, stationary, books, comics, sweets, VHS tapes, etc- so I resent them more for becoming this rip off company. Boots may be as bad when they're in stations/airports/etc, but they're much less prevalent in my neck of the woods, and offer some good deals on toiletries (competitive with supermarkets) and serve a purpose as a pharmacy too.

Edited October 24, 2020 by RJS

[RJS]

Cult Pens are obviously aware of how their customers might not like the idea they're owned by Smiths, as they make no reference to it on their about pages, or in any small print. I don't think I've purchased from The Writing Desk before- I'm very loyal to shops when they offer fair pricing and their customer service is good, which is why I've stuck with Cult Pens for a decade or so (when I'm in the UK, that is).

[shostakovich]

Cult Pens are obviously aware of how their customers might not like the idea they're owned by Smiths, as they make no reference to it on their about pages, or in any small print. I don't think I've purchased from The Writing Desk before- I'm very loyal to shops when they offer fair pricing and their customer service is good, which is why I've stuck with Cult Pens for a decade or so (when I'm in the UK, that is).

 

I've swapped between Cult and Writing Desk although WD were the fist one I used, about ten or fifteen years ago. I find one may have something I need whereas the other may not. I've bought pens from both.

 

Regarding WH Smith, we have a large store a couple of miles away and in the distant past I bought two or three pens from them. Now I tend to only buy paper, journals, notebooks and refills from them.

 

Regarding Boots I used their optician services which were dreadful. The specs had dimming in sunlight, so much that you could hardly see, and it felt like midnight. The reading specs were so out of focus at any distance - one foot to a hundred yards. I returned them and got a refund and then went to a proper opticians.

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting thread. I missed it entirely originally, and of course that was before I had ordered anything from Cult Pens. I've only done so once, but that was because they didn't have what I wanted more recently (I got my Pro-Gear Slim Purple Cosmos from them a couple of winters ago, and they were a pleasure to deal with all around).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Being in the US, I don't of course know about the reputation (good, bad, or otherwise) of WH Smith. But in my experience, a lot of businesses (especially chain stores) depend on customer loyalty, where the customers don't necessarily shop around to see if you can get X for a better price in store A, but Y for a better price in store B, and Z in a better location than either A OR B.

As for price gouging in airports/hotels/highway rest areas, all I can say is "Yeah, duh, what's your point?" Because unless the local laws prohibit things like price gouging at rest areas vs. the local area if you get off the highway, the companies ARE going to do it.

A few years ago I had to take a friend shopping (and she, the true Pittsburgher, needed me (the native local guide even though I'm originally from the greater NYC area) to take her to Restaurant Depot and Sam's Club, and Pittsburgh's Strip District (where the wholesale food markets are). She was going to buy oranges at RD (in a case box) and I said "Trust me -- I know a better place!" and took her to one of the wholesale produce places instead, because I knew she'd get a better deal. And it turned out that for buying stuff like paper products (coffee cups, napkins, etc., Sam's Club was cheaper than Restaurant Depot too. But big stores depend on people NOT going around comparison shopping -- they trust that customers are in a hurry and just grab stuff on their list. And yeah, I go to Restaurant Depot when I'm going to be making marzipan -- buying a #10 can of almond paste there is way cheaper than anywhere else in the area I've found.

But you DO have to shop around, and most people don't (they're lazy or in a hurry). And stores count on that.

Edited October 24, 2020 by inkstainedruth