A bit angry at la Couronne du Comte (resolved)

[Lexus77]

Hi everybody,

in the past, I used to buy from LCDC regularly. They have a great assortment, and I like their website a lot. Also, when things are delivered, it's really well packaged, wrapped, perfectly in order. I was used to them not being the fastest though, and I was sort of OK with that. 
So when I took up the hobby again, and needed some Rhodia pads, it was natural for me to order from them again. And now, their website has an indication of wheter or not hings are in stock.
So, I ordered an A5 and an A4 pad from them, and the website said it would be delivered in 3-5 days. Well, that's okay.
So, after it took them substantially longer to deliver, I sent them an email. They wrote back that they were having trouble with getting their supplies due to the corona virus situation. Seems a bit weird, in March 2022, but I took their word for it. They told me they'd deliver by mid april. Not too bad, although a bit longer than I had expected to wait.
So when mid april had passed, I contacted them again. Got the response that the Rhodia pads would come in any day now, and would be sent to me as soon as they had them. Well... here we are, may 2nd, and I stiill haven't gotten my Rhodia pads, after 6 weeks of waiting. And even worse, they still aren't updating me on it. They just wait for me to send them an email, inquiring when I'm gonna get what I paid for.
To be frank, I'm losing my patience with these people. It's Rhodia pads. Not diamonds cut to order. It's a simple product, and it shouldn't take this long. I'd have more patience if I had the impression they cared to keep me updated on it. But they don't. I've sent an email again, and I'm waiting for  their response. But to be honest, if this is an indication of how things are going to be with LCDC now, I'm seriously considering to do my shopping elsewhere from now on. Just had to get this off my chest. Thanks for "listening."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bill P]

Lexus77:

 

There are threads on the same LCDC issue that you are experiencing....many have had the same experience, and have given up and gone elsewhere for their Pens and supplies.

 

LCDC says system issues (which are going to be corrected - but haven't been corrected), covid, etc...many excuses for too long.  They advertise items they do not have in stock, with no transparency to the buyer, and then the excuses begin when the product doesn't ship within a reasonable period of time.

 

Good Luck to you...you might consider cancelling and going elsewhere...that's what many of us have done.

 

Bill P.

 

 

[Lexus77]

2 minutes ago, Bill P said:

Lexus77:

 

There are threads on the same LCDC issue that you are experiencing....many have had the same experience, and have given up and gone elsewhere for their Pens and supplies.

 

LCDC says system issues (which are going to be corrected - but haven't been corrected), covid, etc...many excuses for too long.  They advertise items they do not have in stock, with no transparency to the buyer, and then the excuses begin when the product doesn't ship within a reasonable period of time.

 

Good Luck to you...you might consider cancelling and going elsewhere...that's what many of us have done.

 

Bill P.

 

 

Thanks for your reply. I've looked for threads on this topic, but didn't find any recent ones that have the name of LCDC in the title.
But this is exactly what I was afraid of already. Blaming it on Covid may have done it in 2020, but not when things have been opening up for some time again. I already felt like a poor excuse. 
It's really a shame though. I've always liked shopping there. They have such an excellent line of products, although it has always seemed they didn't have anything in stock, ever, and would just order something after I ordered it.
Things must have really gone downhill there. Poor management, perhaps?
I must say I really regret this. It feels a bit like losing something that could have been so nice, but just wasn't meant to be.

[Bill P]

Here's one thread I found quickly....

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/348253-la-couronne-du-comte/#comment-4233637

 

[sansenri]

unfortunately I also experienced the described disappointment, ordered a product and was told eventually it was out of stock, I cancelled my order and bought elsewhere...

[TitoThePencilPimp]

Same issue as OP. That is why I no longer patronize them.

[Lexus77]

12 minutes ago, sansenri said:

unfortunately I also experienced the described disappointment, ordered a product and was told eventually it was out of stock, I cancelled my order and bought elsewhere...

I'm thinking of doing the same. I didn't do that before, because I bought the pads on a good offer, but now saving a few bucks no longer seems worth waiting extremely long and getting upset over the complete lack of communication.

 

1 minute ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

Same issue as OP. That is why I no longer patronize them.

If I decide to cancel my current order, that's what I will do too.
I loved their shop, but I also love getting what I pay for within a reasonable amount of time. Also, a poor excuse like "it's because of Covid" just feels like I'm being lied to.

[A Smug Dill]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:28 AM, Lexus77 said:

I've looked for threads on this topic, but didn't find any recent ones that have the name of LCDC in the title.

On 5/3/2022 at 7:32 AM, Bill P said:

Here's one thread I found quickly....

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/348253-la-couronne-du-comte/#comment-4233637

 

Now that's a blast from the past from the year 1 Before COVID Era, and before the web shop application platform was updated in 2020 to make provisions for stock availability (advisory on individual product pages, and checks when reviewing the contents in the shopping cart). Nice bit of digital archeology there!

 

On 5/3/2022 at 7:13 AM, Lexus77 said:

I like their website a lot. …‹snip›… And now, their website has an indication of wheter or not hings are in stock.
So, I ordered an A5 and an A4 pad from them, and the website said it would be delivered in 3-5 days.

 

I've given Dennis very direct feedback about those things in the past, more than once.

 

On 5/3/2022 at 7:28 AM, Lexus77 said:

Blaming it on Covid may have done it in 2020, but not when things have been opening up for some time again. I already felt like a poor excuse. 
It's really a shame though. I've always liked shopping there. They have such an excellent line of products, although it has always seemed they didn't have anything in stock, ever, and would just order something after I ordered it.
Things must have really gone downhill there. Poor management, perhaps?

 

From my observations over years of continued custom, LCdC has always lacked control over its supply chains, long before COVID was ‘a thing’. The fallout of the pandemic on the responsiveness and production output on the part of manufacturers, on availability of raw materials (which Pelikan has been alleged to blame, according to other discussion threads), on staffing levels of every company with a hand in the supply and distribution, on disruptions to international shipping, only made the problem worse. Even if the world had already truly recovered to pre-2020 levels of performance — and, it hasn't, from what I keep seeing in Australia and China regarding delivery and logistics — LCdC's ability to fulfil orders for not-in-stock or backordered items would still be regrettably poor relative to many other retailers prominent in the fountain pen hobby landscape.

 

‘Upgrading’ the LCdC web site to indicate stock availability was completely decoupled from fixing supply chain issues; and the indicative time-to-availability of not-in-stock items seems to be based on looking up a chart of static information (by distributor of each product) that is not updated with recent actual performance. For brands such as Pelikan, Tibaldi, etc., the “available in [range of] business days” estimates are largely worthless; no retailer is getting exactly as many units of every model of Pelikan pen as (back)ordered from the manufacturer or regional distributor in the set time, as far as I'm aware. Maybe LCdC needs to provide for an availability status of “uncertain” or “when the manufacturer is ready”.

 

Not that any of that should affect Rhodia products from France. There are no doubts to production capability at the source, no issues to do with shipping from or via China, no problems with Brexit to contend with.

 

Now, I have not personally visited LCdC's bricks-and-mortar store to see how it works, though it always seems to me that the business model is primarily one of ordering from a product catalogue, but fronted by a small stationery store-cum-showroom. My guess is, when a new pen model or colourway is first released, LCdC will order in a bunch of them (and with various nib options) to sell; but once the first batch of stock has largely been sold, it just keeps one or two of each model (that aren't ubiquitous, ‘staple’ pen products such as Lamy Safari) in the store to show drop-in customers. If they happen to be happy enough with the black one with the F nib or the red one with the B nib, they can buy it on the spot (and LCdC may order another one, or a different one, back in for display purposes); if not, LCdC will just take an order and get the customer's preferred combination or variant in, subject to supply chain constraints. Stock of inks and paper products may not be as limited, of course, but still mainly kept in store for the benefit of capturing in-store spending, on the spot before the customer walks out with his/her new pen purchase.

 

With fewer people visiting and shopping on the premises, the business is simply going to keep less in stock.

 

On 5/3/2022 at 7:13 AM, Lexus77 said:

I'd have more patience if I had the impression they cared to keep me updated on it. But they don't. I've sent an email again, and I'm waiting for  their response.

 

Dennis has always been very responsive, at least to my email; and he's been through a lot, personally and health-wise, in the past several months to limit his availability and ability to attend to business. I have all the patience in the world with him. The main letdown, though, is frankly I don't think he has any truly competent ‘colleagues’ to support him and keep business operations going smoothly when he isn't around. That is something not incumbent on us as customers to ‘empathise’ and make concessions for, but a business/ staffing problem he really needs to remedy. It is one he ought to have more control over, than he does the company's supply chain troubles.

 

For what it's worth, I find LCdC a trustworthy retailer — outside of lead time to delivery issues — and Dennis, and by extension his staff, will do all they can to fix any problems I have with items received, and not automatically try the minimum-cost approach on for size to resolve issues.

 

So, LCdC remains the first place I will look for any new product or model coming to the market, or anything that is not new-to-market and I have no rush to get, as well as shop for great bargains among the clearance specials (by any other name) when it tries to clear out all those “one or two of each model” they keep in the physical shop, but have since decided just aren't going to sell at the regular asking prices. Rhodia notepads, commonly available inks, etc. would just be padding for orders so as to qualify for free international shipping.

 

[Recursion]

Sadly I have many similar experiences with them as the OP. I gave them feedback and pointed out that expectation management is an important part op the buying experience   Sadly with no results. So I stoped buying from them and switched mainly to Akkerman Den Haag. 

[AmandaW]

I have ordered from LCdC more than a few times and if the item is in stock it arrives pretty quickly - usually a week to ten days - which, to my location, is great.

 

If the item is out of stock the estimates on the website are a bit optimistic.

 

I will continue to order from them, but preferring to order only from what is shown as in stock - and if that changes by the time they process my order - I can cancel (and have done that if it's a gift for some occasion or some other reason that makes the wait not an option).

 

[Aether]

With so many viable options in retailers I am surprised that this kind of service somehow keeps LCdC in business.  Customers today often value loyalty to a store a lot lower than availability and price to name a couple of things.

[A Smug Dill]

54 minutes ago, Aether said:

Customers today often value loyalty to a store a lot lower than availability and price to name a couple of things.

 

… and LCdC often offers very competitive (as in kick-ass, were it not for delivery timeframe uncertainty) prices.

[Lexus77]

7 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Now that's a blast from the past from the year 1 Before COVID Era, and before the web shop application platform was updated in 2020 to make provisions for stock availability (advisory on individual product pages, and checks when reviewing the contents in the shopping cart). Nice bit of digital archeology there!

 

 

I've given Dennis very direct feedback about those things in the past, more than once.

 

 

From my observations over my years of continued custom, LCdC has always lacked control over its supply chains, long before COVID was ‘a thing’. The fallout of the pandemic on the responsiveness and production output on the part of manufacturers, on availability of raw materials (which Pelikan has been alleged to blame, according to other discussion threads), on staffing levels of every company with a hand in the supply and distribution, on disruptions to international shipping, only made the problem worse. Even if the world had already truly recovered to pre-2020 levels of performance — and, it hasn't, from what I keep seeing in Australia and China regarding delivery and logistics — LCdC's ability to fulfil orders for not-in-stock or backordered items would still be regrettably poor relative to many other retailers prominent in the fountain pen hobby landscape.

 

‘Upgrading’ the LCdC web site to indicate stock availability was completely decoupled from fixing supply chain issues; and the indicative time-to-availability of not-in-stock items seems to be based on looking up a chart of static information (by distributor of each product) that is not updated with recent actual performance. For brands such as Pelikan, Tibaldi, etc., the “available in [range of] business days” estimates are largely worthless; no retailer is getting exactly as many units of every model of Pelikan pen as (back)ordered from the manufacturer or regional distributor in the set time, as far as I'm aware. Maybe LCdC needs to provide for an availability status of “uncertain” or “when the manufacturer is ready”.

 

Not that any of that should affect Rhodia products from France. There are no doubts to production capability at the source, no issues to do with shipping from or via China, no problems with Brexit to contend with.

 

Now, I have not personally visited LCdC's bricks-and-mortar store to see how it works, from it always seems to me that the business model is primarily one of ordering from a product catalogue, but fronted by a small stationery store-cum-showroom. My guess is, when a new pen model or colourway is first released, LCdC will order in a bunch of them (and with various nib options) to sell; but once the first batch of stock has largely been sold, it just keeps one or two of each model (that aren't ubiquitous, ‘staple’ pen products such as Lamy Safari) in the store to show drop-in customers. If they happen to be happy enough with the black one with the F nib or the red one with the B nib, they can buy it on the spot (and LCdC may order another one, or a different one, back in for display purposes); if not, LCdC will just take an order and get the customer's preferred combination or variant in, subject to supply chain constraints. Stock of inks and paper products may not be as limited, of course, but still mainly kept in store for the benefit of capturing in-store spending, on the spot before the customer walks out with his/her new pen purchase.

 

With fewer people visiting and shopping on the premises, the business is simply going to keep less in stock.

 

 

Dennis has always been very responsive, at least to my email; and he's been through a lot, personally and health-wise, in the past several months to limit his availability and ability to attend to business. I have all the patience in the world with him. The main letdown, though, is frankly I don't think he has any truly competent ‘colleagues’ to support him and keep business operations going smoothly when he isn't around. That is something not for us as customers to ‘empathise’ and make concessions for, but a business/ staffing problem he really needs to remedy. It is one he ought to have more control over, than he does the company's supply chain troubles.

 

For what it's worth, I find LCdC a trustworthy retailer — outside of lead time to delivery issues — and Dennis, and by extension his staff, will do all they can to fix any problems I have with items received, and not automatically try the minimum-cost approach on for size to resolve issues. So, LCdC remains the first place I will look for any new product or model coming to the market, or anything that is not new-to-market and I have no rush to get, as well as shop for great bargains among the clearance specials (by any other name) when it tries to clear out all those “one or two of each model” they keep in the physical shop, but have since decided just aren't going to sell at the regular asking prices. Rhodia notepads, commonly available inks, etc. would just be padding for orders so as to qualify for free international shipping.

 

Thanks for the extensive reply. I agree with you completely. Thius does indeed seem to be their business model: They're just an inbetween for ordering from the producers' catalogues, who incidentally keep something in stock in their storefront. I've noticed in the past that even the basic diamine 30ml ink bottles, often need to be ordered before they can be delivered.
But, as you have pointed out, there simply is no obvious reason for some simple paper from France to take 6 weeks to get to the Netherlands.
It just reeks of incompetence, in my opinion. Which wouldn't be so bad if they just own up to it, instead of offering this poor excuse.

2 hours ago, Aether said:

With so many viable options in retailers I am surprised that this kind of service somehow keeps LCdC in business.  Customers today often value loyalty to a store a lot lower than availability and price to name a couple of things.

Well, they do offer a lot to keep your loyalty, when things go as they need to go. Very nice packaging, the occasional gift, and they used to have good customer service, at (as A Smug Dill correctly pointed out) kick-ass prices.
The problem is just, that I'd rather have paid a normal price for Rhodia pads, if that meant not having to wait for 6 weeks while they're not informing me about it. It seems the customer service has also gone bad, which is just the last thing they needed to lose my patronage.
 

 

[SpecTP]

this is disheartening to hear. I have 2 MB's on order and have been quite patient in waiting for their availability.

[DvdRiet]

7 minutes ago, SpecTP said:

this is disheartening to hear. I have 2 MB's on order and have been quite patient in waiting for their availability.

 

Based on my own experience, the good news is that you will most likely receive them eventually. (Barring some real disaster, obviously.)

 

So far, LCdC has not proven to be *unreliable* but just very slow (through whose fault is up for debate), not terribly communicative in the proactive sense, and terrible at 'proper' inventory management. My own experience echoes what both Dill and Amanda mentioned above, with the most recent delay reportedly because the distributor did not have the item in stock as expected. I would agree with the speculation above regarding delivery expectations as posted on the site: I believe they are based on what one might normally expect under normal circumstances if supplied through a well-stocked distributor with no delay issues of their own. So, yes, quite optimistic. But to be fair, vendor managed inventory software is probably prohibitively expensive for a niche market like fountain pens. And keeping an extensive inventory on hand is, of course, also very expensive for most retailers.

 

So, patience and no expectations about keeping you informed about the status of your order are recommended. However, if you send them an email yourself, you can expect a friendly response with an update. I can't speculate as to how effective that might be at speeding up the delivery - sometimes it has seemed to help and sometimes not at all.

[Lexus77]

2 hours ago, SpecTP said:

this is disheartening to hear. I have 2 MB's on order and have been quite patient in waiting for their availability.

Well if and when they becom available, you will surely get them. I've never experienced them to be untrustworthy or malicious. Just very poorly organized, and incapable of admitting that they are. 

@DvdRiethit the nail on the head here. Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten much slower over the last few years, and haven't done anything to improve their situation. The stock counter on the website is just there to give you  the illusion they have.

Well, the latest news (after my last email) is that they claim to have sent the pads on april 28th. Which I honestly don't believe anymore. They didn't send a T&T link, which means they sent it by ordinary mail. And I have an app from the national postal service that shows me any incoming mail, and there's nothing on there from LCDC. So, I'm just gonna wait a few more days and start harrassing them again.

[A Smug Dill]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:20 AM, Bill P said:

They advertise items they do not have in stock, with no transparency to the buyer,

 

Oh, but there is transparency to the buyer, ever since the web shop application platform upgrade in 2020.

 

 

— • — • —

 

 

— • — • —

 

 

22 hours ago, Lexus77 said:

The stock counter on the website is just there to give you  the illusion they have.

 

Well, the ‘stock counter’ does provide some real benefit to both the business and shoppers. Especially for clearance items, when there are only a strictly limited number of units (in stock and) on special offer, shoppers can deduce how many units there are in stock and hence assess how long they can afford to umm-and-ah, or while putting together an order to qualify for free shipping, if they don't want to miss out become someone else got the jump on them.

 

You may think that the FOMO factor only helps LCdC, but let's be honest, if a nominally new unit of Pelikan Souverän is being offered at 30% off, it will get sold and reasonably quickly at that; so the primary beneficiary of knowing how many there are is actually the interested shopper. In the Easter Sale last month, for example, there was only one Esterbrook 6-pen Nook case on special offer, but a shopper could probably get as many of the red or purple Platinum Preppy Wa special edition pens as one would want at the clearance price. It certainly was important to me to know the difference.

 

As for the real benefit to the shop's operator, it is that the upgraded system will now limit the number of units on special offer that can be ordered. Previously, if LCdC wanted to put one unit of a pen on special, it ran the risk of two shoppers ordering the discounted item, or even one shopper decided it was such a bargain that he wanted to snatch three of them if the system allowed it. While it would still be up to LCdC to cancel the orders that it cannot fulfil, that is an unpleasant situation best avoided. To that end, Dennis used to have to monitor each sale event closely, and stand ready to manually remove a product listing for a discount item as soon as he saw the available number units were all sold. It was particularly tricky if there wasn't just one unit but, say, four of them that can be sold individually.

 

[invisuu]

Same experience here.

[Lexus77]

Well, the latest news: Today they called me again, to check if I received the shipping they allegedly sent a week ago. Which I haven't, and I'm not sure if I should believe they sent it, after all the excuses they came up with.
But, to be fair, at least they deserve some credit for (finally) showing some initiative in this matter.
They promised they would send the Rhodia pads (again?) as soon as possible, so if all goes well, I'll finally have my pads next week. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Aether]

Personally I think if a store says an item is in stock and they don't actually have that item in their store then this is a form of deception.  Customers should perhaps call before ordering and ask for clarification on whether in stock means they have it, or if it means they hope their distributor has it.