Inky Paw Stationary

[Kattz]

I am very disappointed with this company to say the least and I truly hate to have to post this. I just don't want to see anyone else get burned. 

 

I was given some money to buy myself some "pen stuff" as my relative said, for Christmas. I added some of my own cash and placed an order for some ink, samples and a pen at Inky Paw in Toronto on Dec. 8. I had checked them out a few months ago and although there weren't a lot of reviews, they seemed to be good to deal with. I did do a quick check again before placing my order and all still seemed good. I went ahead as they had everything that I wanted. 

 

When my order still hadn't shipped over a week later, I started trying to call. No one ever answered. There was no reply to voicemails or the messaging on their site.

 

I typed Inky Paw into a  Google search on my laptop  to check yet again a few days later. All kinds of bad things came up. I had done everything on my phone or tablet  up to this point. According to  Google reviews, this company had  stopped sending out orders or responding to customer inquiries several months ago. They did, however, continue to take orders and people's money. 

 

I contacted PayPal who assured me that I would get my money back. I bought a couple of bottles of Noodler's from Amazon, emailed a picture and of course, sent a hand-written note in a lovely green ink to my relatives. They don't need to know about this. 

 

If this isn't the correct place to post this, please move it for me.

 

If you are trying to research a company you might want to also do a search on a real computer. Your phone may not tell you everything that you need to know. I hope that everyone enjoys whatever you celebrate at this time of year and that 2022 is better for all of us. 

 

 

[MuddyWaters]

Looks like they used to be a legit business with the owner falling off the map many months ago. I wonder if it could be a medical problem or something. Anyway, it looks like their ordering system is very much still able to take people's money...

[OCArt]

Thank you for sharing this warning.

 

1 hour ago, Kattz said:

[snipped...] I typed Inky Paw into a  Google search on my laptop  to check yet again a few days later. All kinds of bad things came up. I had done everything on my phone or tablet  up to this point. According to  Google reviews, this company had  stopped sending out orders or responding to customer inquiries several months ago. They did, however, continue to take orders and people's money. [snipped...]

 

[DvdRiet]

Can you report this kind of thing to PayPal? They have to have an account there if they accept that as payment and maybe PayPal can check to see if the account holder is still 'active.' I have no idea how any of that kind of stuff works, just kind of thinking out loud here...

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the heads up, Kattz.  Did this company have a website, or were they an eBay vendor, or what?  Because if the latter you could also file a complaint with eBay.

The only Canadian pen-related business I've dealt with was Wonder Pens (also in Toronto), and that was an in-person visit on the way to an educational conference a few years ago.  Had a little trouble finding the place (it's in the basement of a large building in a mostly residential neighborhood, and turned out that the entrance is around the corner up an alley).  But there was a sidewalk sign out, and in the store itself had a nice chat with the guy working there, and bought a pack of cat-shaped paper clips and a bottle of Noodler's Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham (a Canadian exclusive).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pilotheinrich]

Caveat Emptor

 

I ordered a pen from Inky Paw in September and after a reasonable amount of time for them to ship what I had paid for and have not received, I reached out to them via:

 

1. Several emails, none of which received a reply
2. Several attempts to use their chat support, during stated hours, with no response
3. One attempt to use a contact form, which didn't generate a response
4. One attempt to call a phone number I found for them and got a voicemail that did not identify as a business at all.

 

Instead of using PayPal to dispute the transaction, I used my bank, and after due process and fair investigation, the bank credited me the money I paid to Inky Paw.

 

I warn anyone reading here to avoid this company. There is no excuse to continue taking people's money with no intention or ability to deliver the goods. It's not hard to disable the shopping cart portion of a web site when there are extenuating circumstances (see https://www.reckless.com/ for an example). However, I checked today and Inky Paw is still taking orders.

 

Why a company would operate in a manner that discredits itself is curious. I would give them the benefit of the doubt, up to a point, were it not for knowing that others have had similar problems with Inky Paw, which does have ink all over its hands.

 

[Misfit]

I also will post a similar warning. I placed an order on October 1. The only email I received was the order was placed email. After a week and a half, I tried the chat. It provided a place to submit a comment. That was not answered. After two weeks I emailed them every day. I got no response. I even asked if they were all right, out of concern. 
 

At that point, I checked on PayPal, which suggested contacting the seller. I tried a few more times.  Nothing. So I found the resolution center, and filled out a form, with the email issues, plus a screenshot of this thread. After the allotted time for InkyPaw to answer PayPal, PayPal decided in my favor, and refunded my money. 
 

I wish that InkyPaw had answered at least one email. Since they did not, I will never shop with them. Anyone else should do so forewarned that it is at your financial risk to do so. 

[inkstainedruth]

This thread is starting to sound like the couple of recent ones concerning La Courrone du Comte.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainederuth

[pilotheinrich]

Thanks, Ruth. I didn't know about that one. Upon reflection about such cases, I know there are far more reputable, reliable, and responsive vendors that serve, support, and share our pen passion. It's also heartening to have a community here that looks out for each other.

[Misfit]

10 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

This thread is starting to sound like the couple of recent ones concerning La Courrone du Comte.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainederuth

It looks like LCDC is going out of business. 

[Misfit]

3 hours ago, pilotheinrich said:

It's also heartening to have a community here that looks out for each other.

So very true.

[Targa]

I have had a few bad experiences including some from "reputable" vendors who e.g. do bait-and-switch for those whom they predict are too dumb to know any better, and it is always a difficult thing to handle.  I, personally, and some others here, believe it is a service to members to flag bad actors.  HOWEVER, it is, alas, also true that trolling can go both ways, and it is possible, and even likely, that we have among us some "trolls" who will attack vendors in an unjustified manner.  And others who will troll the whistle blowers with claims of libel or slander.  And who among us, in our anonymity, can tell the difference?  

So, while I personally appreciate the flagging of bad actors, do beware of trolls of all varieties.

If possible, I always use AmEx, and with the extra "wallet protector" insurance, so you can call out fakers as frauds, and get a refund too, if someone is scamming.  Even the "best" vendors are not free from scamming.    

[tzinc]

Oh my God I ordered from them and this is now happening to me I didn't even think to check out their reputation seemed like a NORMAL business near where I live. SMH I actually never heard of something like this.

 

[inkstainedruth]

On 12/17/2022 at 8:06 PM, Targa said:

I have had a few bad experiences including some from "reputable" vendors who e.g. do bait-and-switch for those whom they predict are too dumb to know any better, and it is always a difficult thing to handle.  I, personally, and some others here, believe it is a service to members to flag bad actors.  HOWEVER, it is, alas, also true that trolling can go both ways, and it is possible, and even likely, that we have among us some "trolls" who will attack vendors in an unjustified manner.  And others who will troll the whistle blowers with claims of libel or slander.  And who among us, in our anonymity, can tell the difference?  

Sadly, this is the case.  The last time I bought a pen from one of my favorite eBay vendors I was STUNNED to discover that the seller did NOT have 100% positive feedback -- because I've never had a bad experience buying from that seller (the only time there was a problem, it was the fault of eBay's lousy IT, and I felt so bad for the guy being up probably half the night -- he's in Europe -- PM'ing back and forth with the guy (he finally pulled the listing and redid it as a BiN at my price, so I could get the THREE pens I wanted at my price times three because eBay apparently *never* considered the situation arising (seller had five pens, your choice of colors, and you were bidding on one; I got outbid, and then two days later got a second chance notice from eBay -- apparently the winner didn't bother to read the big notice that you were bidding on ONE pen, not the entire lot).  So in order to get the THREE pens I wanted, the seller had to re-list as a BiN, because trying to get the system to work otherwise kept failing.  NOT the seller's fault at all -- he was a trooper dealing with a frantic me going "I can't believe this is happening!"  (I've bought two more pens from that seller since then, and both transactions have gone smoothly -- in fact in one case, there was a notice saying that the seller was going to be away and that the buyer might near hear back right away.  Was something I wanted, and for a great price, and I was like, "Okay, no problem...."  And I think I heard back from the seller in under 24 hours -- in spite of what the notification with the listing had said.  And then the most recent purchase, I waited till the last minute and bid the minimum and THEN saw that the seller did NOT have a 100% positive rating and I was going, "Seriously?  HOW?  I've NEVER had an issue with this seller!"  

OTOH?  I had a bad experience with a seller who notified PayPal BEFORE *I* was notified that the item I wanted (and the seller had AGREED to my offer, BTW) was "no longer available".  And this was a seller with 100% positive feedback.  Well, NOT ANY MORE.  EBay said I couldn't provide feedback because the transaction was cancelled and I said "NOT BY ME it wasn't!  And GUESS AGAIN....  And provided that negative feedback after all.  The only time their lousy IT worked in MY favor....  

One time a few years ago I got stiffed by a seller, who then was an a-hole about it; I filed a dispute, and got refunded within hours, and could keep the item (a graduation present for my husband's niece) -- but was then PROHIBITED from posting feedback (which led me to wonder how often THAT seller pulled similar BS with other customers).  After that experience I started paying a LOT more attention to feedback ratings AND what the negative ones said, because it was a seller with literally tens of thousands of transactions -- but NOT 100% positive ratings....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[tzinc]

It looks completely normal like other local stores I have ordered from. You get a response email saying shipping instructions will come your way soon. They have Paypal on their site etc. But the shipping instructions don't come. I made 2 orders with them. I contacted them no response. Paypal refunded order #1 and am waiting on order #2 refund. Why is Inky Paw allowed to continue like this with the Banks/Paypal/CC companies on their site we know they can do something since these people went after protestors but they can't go after legitimate criminals HUH?

[Targa]

On 12/23/2021 at 2:16 PM, inkstainedruth said:

 But there was a sidewalk sign out, and in the store itself had a nice chat with the guy working there, and bought a pack of cat-shaped paper clips and a bottle of Noodler's Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham (a Canadian exclusive).

"Upon the Plains of Abraham".  How cute.  It's a line from a historical wannabe national anthem of Canada called "The Maple Leaf Forever", one my father learnt in the 1920s.  (It was never really in contention because of its anti-French connotations).  It continues, ".... Wolfe the conqu'ring hero came, and planted firm Britannia's flag on Canada's fair domain".  Next verse addresses the battle of Queenston Heights, where Laura Secord (Canada's female Paul Revere) and Sir Isaac Brock saved Canada from the invading hoardes of savage Americans, and then went on to invent chocolates (Laura Secord, not Isaac Brock).  I, personally always preferred another option, to which I only know the French words, "Mon pays, ce nest pas un pays, c'est l'hiver.  Mon chemin, ce nest pas un chemin, c'est la neige. ..."  (translation "My country is not a country, it is winter.  My road is not a road, it is snow."  

Or even better, "Un Canadien Errant."  ("A wandering [French] Canadian".)

Then there were special anthems proposed for Baffin Island when it tried to separate from Canada.  The chief contenders were "Snowflakes Keep Falling on my Head" (you can imaging the melody), and This land is your land, this land is my land, and it's not Thailand, it's Baffin Island".  

In the end, I think any of these would be better than Calixa LaVallée's nonsensical one.  And they can never settle on new words sufficiently politically correct.  They still have not addressed the politically incorrect French words "Car ton bras est fort, il sait porter la croix".  

Which reminds me of the old joke "Why did the Canadian cross the road?  To get to the middle."  

Or the one from "Wok with Yan" (anyone old enough to remember that one?)  "Why did the chicken cross the road?  "Cause it wanted to go for a wok."  

Anyway, anthems.  The Ontario one is silly "Ontari ari ari o".  when they could have had, e.g. "The Black fly Song" .  ("It was early in the spring, when I decided to go, ferta work up in the woods in North Ontario ...  with the black flies, the little black flies, always a blackfly pickin my bones, in North Ontario ....")

For the southerners among us, "black flies' (or as I would spell it, blackflies, one word) are not just any old flies that happen to be black.  Oh, no.  They are special.  Primarily 2 species, simulium truncatum and venustum, they are tiny carnivorous minsters that don't just poke you with a proboscis like mosquitoes.  No, these little beasts chew, and attack in the thousands.  A visitor from the South can be devoured in about 14 seconds, leaving just ragged bones.  Just look at the jaws on this creature!!!  (Hint - it is shown sitting on the defleshed finger bone of a visitor from Tilsonburg.)

 

 

 

[Targa]

BTW, a pic of my father's family in 1915 or 1916. He is the little guy in the middle with white shoes.  The old codger is his father, who was in his 70s and still reproducing.

I don't think any of them owned a pen.  Way too pricey in those days.

I do have the watch that was on that chain though.

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

2 hours ago, Targa said:

"Upon the Plains of Abraham".  How cute.  It's a line from a historical wannabe national anthem of Canada called "The Maple Leaf Forever", one my father learnt in the 1920s.  (It was never really in contention because of its anti-French connotations).  It continues, ".... Wolfe the conqu'ring hero came, and planted firm Britannia's flag on Canada's fair domain".  Next verse addresses the battle of Queenston Heights, where Laura Secord (Canada's female Paul Revere) and Sir Isaac Brock saved Canada from the invading hoardes of savage Americans, and then went on to invent chocolates (Laura Secord, not Isaac Brock).  I, personally always preferred another option, to which I only know the French words, "Mon pays, ce nest pas un pays, c'est l'hiver.  Mon chemin, ce nest pas un chemin, c'est la neige. ..."  (translation "My country is not a country, it is winter.  My road is not a road, it is snow."  

Or even better, "Un Canadien Errant."  ("A wandering [French] Canadian".)

Then there were special anthems proposed for Baffin Island when it tried to separate from Canada.  The chief contenders were "Snowflakes Keep Falling on my Head" (you can imaging the melody), and This land is your land, this land is my land, and it's not Thailand, it's Baffin Island".  

In the end, I think any of these would be better than Calixa LaVallée's nonsensical one.  And they can never settle on new words sufficiently politically correct.  They still have not addressed the politically incorrect French words "Car ton bras est fort, il sait porter la croix".  

Which reminds me of the old joke "Why did the Canadian cross the road?  To get to the middle."  

Or the one from "Wok with Yan" (anyone old enough to remember that one?)  "Why did the chicken cross the road?  "Cause it wanted to go for a wok."  

Anyway, anthems.  The Ontario one is silly "Ontari ari ari o".  when they could have had, e.g. "The Black fly Song" .  ("It was early in the spring, when I decided to go, ferta work up in the woods in North Ontario ...  with the black flies, the little black flies, always a blackfly pickin my bones, in North Ontario ....")

For the southerners among us, "black flies' (or as I would spell it, blackflies, one word) are not just any old flies that happen to be black.  Oh, no.  They are special.  Primarily 2 species, simulium truncatum and venustum, they are tiny carnivorous minsters that don't just poke you with a proboscis like mosquitoes.  No, these little beasts chew, and attack in the thousands.  A visitor from the South can be devoured in about 14 seconds, leaving just ragged bones.  Just look at the jaws on this creature!!!  (Hint - it is shown sitting on the defleshed finger bone of a visitor from Tilsonburg.)

 

 

 

Ironically, before finishing reading your thread I IMMEDIATELY thought of "The Black Fly Song" (there was some guy who played fairly often at the campus coffee house at my college -- not the guy in your audio link, though -- who would routinely sing that song as part of his standard set).  Can't remember the guy's name now, though --it's been four decades since I graduated.... 

Of course now I'm going to have to Google the lyrics and possibly see if I can find a YouTube video to add to my list of "songs to play at phone spammers"! Thanks for making my day!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[inkstainedruth]

Ah.  Did a quick Google search for the song and I think the guy who played at The Carriage House (the place literally had originally been the carriage house for some mansion on the edge of campus) was Bill Staines.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[RosyBriar]

 

 

I too, have recently been burned by the company Inkypaw.ca.  I needed a couple of gifts, and in a panic I places 2 orders for pens.  I should have known they were too good to be true.  None of my usual retailers had stock of what I was looking for.  Then I came across a "local" online retailer, who has an up to date website & had in stock exactly what I was seeking! 

 

It's the same story, they accepted my money. Issued me a confirmation of my orders.  Then nothing.  I've tried every way possible to get a response.  All were a dead ends.  

 

I never even thought this would be a fraudulent company, it's such a professional looking website.  I thought, I was supporting a local business. I think I'll stick to my tried and true stores.  For now, I'll try going to PayPal to get my money back.

 

Some of these posts go back a few years.  How does he get away with this for so long?