Mont Blanc service charges

[KAC]

Interesting and informative discussion. In this instance, my personal sympathies lie with the original poster. Legal parsing of the MB web site ought not to be a requirement for a simple transaction: "I have a pen in need of repair so what's the cost to me and what do I get?" should be the extent of it.

 

More annoying, is the obtuse refusal of the store to make accommodations for an unhappy customer. I'd contrast that with Amazon (a mega-concern I have no attachment to). My anecdote: I purchased a Suunto compass about 6 years ago from Amazon. Four years later, it developed a large bubble in the capsule, rendering the compass inaccurate. I contacted Suunto to exercise the "lifetime guarantee" and was basically told to take a hike (guided by that compass so I wouldn't find my way back). I contacted Amazon expecting the same response. Instead, Customer Service said they 100% back the guarantee and immediately sent me a brand new replacement, even though the current price was significantly higher. In my experience, Amazon supports the customer, even when some counterfeit item was purchased on their (US) web site.

 

Back to the original point, MB's web site is opaque. The "dealer" lost a customer. It's now on a pen web site. How did that approach help anybody?

 

[Gloucesterman]

2 hours ago, Emver said:

The final episode.

 

I've just returned from collecting my 146 from Ernest Jones in Leamington Spa following its repair by Montblanc.

 

The pen looks absolutely brand new, as expected.  They have replaced the piston filling mechanism and the barrel, and I was pleased to see that they have also replaced the nib section which I had managed to fade from black to light grey during my original efforts to take the pen apart - in future I'll be more careful when I use the heater in my ultrasonic cleaner. 

 

I was worried that replacing the nib section might also mean replacing the cap because some people have said that the cap threads are different on the more modern versions.  I can't tell whether the cap is new or not, but the clip is my original one marked "W Germany".  I was also curious about whether they would replace my original monotone gold nib and ebonite feed, both of which were perfect, but the nib appears to be my original one.  So I now have an early 1980s MB146 in pristine condition with completely original specification apart from the striped ink window. The cost was £68 as expected, with no additional fees from Ernest Jones, despite their being just an authorised retailer rather than an official Montblanc Boutique.

 

Thank you again to all those who have made positive contributions on here, and thank you to Ernest Jones in Leamington Spa whose service was excellent.

Thank you for providing the "Final episode". Glad things worked out to your satisfaction. Now go ENJOY your 146!

[CS388]

Nice. Pleased it's all sorted.

 

I, too wasn't sure if age-different caps would fit newer bodies.

I scratched a mark on the inside of a 146 cap (from a monotone/blue window/W Germany pen) which was going in for service, as I couldn't always tell what had, or hadn't been changed.

 

The pen came back with a brand new body, section, feed, piston mechanism - and the original cap. It was a perfect fit, on the new body!

 

Enjoy your revitalised pen.

[crescentfiller]

4 hours ago, KAC said:

I contacted Amazon expecting the same response. Instead, Customer Service said they 100% back the guarantee and immediately sent me a brand new replacement, even though the current price was significantly higher. In my experience, Amazon supports the customer, even when some counterfeit item was purchased on their (US) web site.

 

4 hours ago, KAC said:

 

Well, when a company operates with slave labor, dodges taxes, and thrives on corporate welfare when expanding its warehouse facilities in new communities, it makes it easier (and cheaper) to offer customer support of that kind.

 

 

[KAC]

Everything you wrote about Amazon is absolutely true but not really relevant to the company's customer service. While Amazon can afford to lose a few hundred thousand customers, a small pen dealer would be well advised to recall the old adage: "The customer is always right". I suspect (to use another hoary old saying) a small business might keep in mind with regard to "hidden fees" and other disincentives for patrons, "You can attract more bees with honey than with vinegar". I think the same trite observations apply to Suunto (a Finnish company, completely unfettered by close commercial ties to Amazon).

 

Anyway, this is off the pen topic,

 

KAC

[Gloucesterman]

2 hours ago, KAC said:

Everything you wrote about Amazon is absolutely true but not really relevant to the company's customer service. While Amazon can afford to lose a few hundred thousand customers, a small pen dealer would be well advised to recall the old adage: "The customer is always right". I suspect (to use another hoary old saying) a small business might keep in mind with regard to "hidden fees" and other disincentives for patrons, "You can attract more bees with honey than with vinegar". I think the same trite observations apply to Suunto (a Finnish company, completely unfettered by close commercial ties to Amazon).

 

Anyway, this is off the pen topic,

 

KAC

Also bear in mind that people with negative (customer) service experiences tend to tell many more people than those with positive experiences. Here on FPN the negative gets posted more quickly, I would wager, and then read by more people searching on specific key words (such as the dealer's name, a specific model pen, etc.). Once the information is posted comments may quickly mount up depending on the quantity and "strength" of the experience.

 

I, for one, would tend to look for a pattern of positive or negative experiences and then base my future action on my assessment after reading. Interestingly enough, "inkstainedruth" long ago referenced a satisfaction rating of 98.5% ( I think)for eBay seller as her minimum acceptable performance statistic to do business with the seller. I often/usually use this number as my own standard as well.

[Wael El-Dasher]

Sometimes it really comes down to personalities too. If the sales person that helped set up the repair order talked to the manager or owner and told them this was not an acceptable way to treat a client, the problem would have been solved. I always feel these things are down to luck of the draw. Sometimes I’d walk into a store, any store, and find someone that’s very helpful and caring, and other times it’s the opposite. 

 

I had a very surprising service experience with Nespresso. My machine that’s about 6-7 years old started acting up, making smaller and smaller espressos. I realized there’s a leak where the capsule pushed against the mechanism so I assumed it’s probably an O ring. Long story short, trying to fix the machine myself, I ended up ruining it. Called Nespresso to get it repaired and they said, don’t worry about it. We’ll send you latest and greatest machine for free! That’s a $750 machine! 
 

Sure, they make some money on selling these machines, but they really make their money on selling coffee capsules. I feel very lucky that the person on the phone saw the value of my patronage and was able to see the big picture and appreciate the long term established relationship I have with their company products rather than take the narrow view that I was just looking for a repair service. Sure Nestle is pretty big and owns half the drinking water and springs on earth so they can afford it, but they didn’t have to do that, yet I’m grateful they did. 
 

cheers

 

W

[ironjaw]

I’m sorry to see that you’ve had these issues. Per principle I do understand and I’ve been there as well. I’m guilty of losing a house due to £3000 difference in what I was willing to pay. It was take it leave it for me. As Long as you are satisfied. It’s your money after all and I personally don’t like to be taken advantage of.
 

Now I do have a different view on things but I still consider principe important in the fact that I always make sure that when I’m quoted a price, that I am not taken a fool. I find it very ungentlemanly to ask for A and then later ask for B. My dealings so far have been with the flagship MB store on Bond Street and the manager there kindly shipped for free my pen that I had for repair when Covid hit. 

[Emver]

Slightly sad postscript to "The Final Episode".

 

A few weeks after the pen finally came back from Hamburg looking absolutely pristine, I dropped it!

B*GGER   B*GGER   B*GGER !!!!!!

 

Of course the cap was off and it landed nib first on a hard maple floor.  It looked ok at first but it wouldn't write at all. 

 

On close inspection through a loupe the tines had closed up and one was slightly higher than the other.  I gingerly pressed

and prodded the nib against a variety of hard surfaces, and forced 0.001" then 0.002" and 0.005" feeler guages between the tines.

The thickest feeler guage was stiff enough for me to twist which helped to level the tines, and eventually they looked fairly good. But the pen felt scratchy and I began to despair that it would ever write properly again.  After another hour of minor tweaking followed by some smoothing on a sheet of micromesh, it now writes acceptably well. But somehow the ink flow doesn't seem quite as wet as it used to be, and the nib isn't quite as buttery smooth as I remember it.

 

[aurore]

I reside next to Germany. A couple of years ago everything was just fine with the service in Hamburg. Whatever  the problem was: 1st level = everything except the cap and nib is replaced, 2nd level the cap is replaced, 3rd level the nib is replaced. 
Recent experience: 1st level is more or less virtual and no longer existant, technically even the tiniest thing is now 2nd level. And they try to avoid any replacement of any part unless something is completely broken (they used to replace parts right away). Well, such is life.