F To M ? - Waterman (Newell Rubbermaid) Service After Sales

[JeanManuel]

Dear fellow FPN:ers,

 

Bought a Ici-et-la pen with fine nib (F) for my better half in 2009. The plastic nib unit broke from the inside out (plastic inner tension, or nib forced in with defect somewhere).

I sent it to France for repair. It took maybe 2-3 months until they sent it back (I was not hoping for it anymore).

When we received it, I was very surprised but I realized that they changed the nib unit completely.... for a medium (M) nib size.

 

The repair report even states exactly that.

 

I'm not sure what I should think of it. But I thought I should let you know of the "NewellRubbermaid-brands that matter" service.

 

Waiting to read your comments,

Have a wonderful christmas season, and I hope Santa will deliver you wonderful pens

 

Jean-Manuel

Edited December 10, 2011 by JeanManuel

[Left FPN]

I (we) hope that you have informed them of their error.

 

I bought a S/H Carene with a damaged cap/clip and a very minor chip in the barrel lacquer. I asked NR for costs to repair the cap only and subsequently sent it to them for assessment/repair. After a 3 week wait it arrived back fitted with a 'new' cap that had visible corrosion spots. When I notified them of this, with photo evidence, they were most apologetic and requested the pen back for correction. I was arather annoyed because they could have just shipped me a cap. Again after a 2 week wait it arrived back and not only had they replace the cap but also fitted a new barrel and included an ink converter FOC. When I say FOC, it cost me 2 registered postages to France which is not cheap.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Force

[JeanManuel]

I (we) hope that you have informed them of their error.

 

I bought a S/H Carene with a damaged cap/clip and a very minor chip in the barrel lacquer. I asked NR for costs to repair the cap only and subsequently sent it to them for assessment/repair. After a 3 week wait it arrived back fitted with a 'new' cap that had visible corrosion spots. When I notified them of this, with photo evidence, they were most apologetic and requested the pen back for correction. I was arather annoyed because they could have just shipped me a cap. Again after a 2 week wait it arrived back and not only had they replace the cap but also fitted a new barrel and included an ink converter FOC. When I say FOC, it cost me 2 registered postages to France which is not cheap.

 

Thanks for sharing your own experience.

First I would not send the pen again. It took them months to process it the first time.

Second I did not even bother to contact them again because, past the ridiculous delay, the "mistake" seems to be machine-registered, i.e. I'm assuming they are very aware of it.

[JeanManuel]

Actually I checked. It took a bit less than a month to get repaired, and apparently it took a month to arrive back to me (snail mail or just sitting at the factory, I cannot say).

I decided to write to them after all. I sent them this email:

 

 

 

 

"Dear Waterman staff,

 

At the end of August, I sent you a defectuous pen for repair under warranty.

It was repaired in late September, and arrived in the second half of october.

By that time, I was not hoping to see it ever again. And was pleasantly surprised.

 

However the F nib was replaced by a M nib.

 

So it took about 2 months for me to get my pen repaired, and the result is not what I bought it for.

 

It seems to me that the community of customers has noticed that buying your pens became increasingly synonymous with "trying One's luck". It's a shame because you make excellent pens. But the lack of consistency is simply inviting us to prefer your competitors.

We don't need unreliable European pens, e.g. many Asian manufacturers already have that covered for much cheaper than you can.

 

I trust that this lack of consistency is a temporary drawback of the recent change(s) of hands of the Waterman (and I heard the same about Parker).

I hope that the Waterman name will not lose it soul in the process. It certainly lost a good deal of it's loyal customers' trust.

But a correction of your current approach would make us want to see more of your products.

 

With best regards,

your customer for over 20 years,

 

Jean-Manuel

 

 

I'll let you know if I get an answer.

[RMN]

Actually I checked. It took a bit less than a month to get repaired, and apparently it took a month to arrive back to me (snail mail or just sitting at the factory, I cannot say).

I decided to write to them after all. I sent them this email:

 

 

 

 

"Dear Waterman staff,

 

At the end of August, I sent you a defectuous pen for repair under warranty.

It was repaired in late September, and arrived in the second half of october.

By that time, I was not hoping to see it ever again. And was pleasantly surprised.

 

However the F nib was replaced by a M nib.

 

So it took about 2 months for me to get my pen repaired, and the result is not what I bought it for.

 

It seems to me that the community of customers has noticed that buying your pens became increasingly synonymous with "trying One's luck". It's a shame because you make excellent pens. But the lack of consistency is simply inviting us to prefer your competitors.

We don't need unreliable European pens, e.g. many Asian manufacturers already have that covered for much cheaper than you can.

 

I trust that this lack of consistency is a temporary drawback of the recent change(s) of hands of the Waterman (and I heard the same about Parker).

I hope that the Waterman name will not lose it soul in the process. It certainly lost a good deal of it's loyal customers' trust.

But a correction of your current approach would make us want to see more of your products.

 

With best regards,

your customer for over 20 years,

 

Jean-Manuel

 

 

I'll let you know if I get an answer.

"Recent change of hands" ????????

What do you call recent? AFAIK NR owns Parker and Waterman for amny years now. (they bought the package from Gilette in 2000.)

 

D.ick

[JeanManuel]

"Recent change of hands" ????????

What do you call recent? AFAIK NR owns Parker and Waterman for amny years now. (they bought the package from Gilette in 2000.)

 

D.ick

 

10 years is apparently recent enough

They won't mind.

Edited December 16, 2011 by JeanManuel

[Bill Wood]

"Recent change of hands" ????????

What do you call recent? AFAIK NR owns Parker and Waterman for amny years now. (they bought the package from Gilette in 2000.)

 

D.ick

 

10 years is apparently recent enough

They won't mind.

 

Good letter Jean. I guess we'll have to wait (insert time here) to hear from them. Let me know. I'm a little gun shy of waterman at the moment. I'm one of those customers !

[Antoinem]

I don't know, I sent them a 25 year old LeMans 100 with a plugged and twisted m nib, wrote them a little notes telling them how I wrote and thanks to that wonderful lady in their Ontario office, they replaced that useless nib with a very nice OF nib free of charge (under warranty they said!).

We all have different experiences... I still love my Watermans.

[jar]

The Ici Et La is only available in a medium nib IIRC. It may have been available with a fine nib at sometime in the past but at least as long as I can remember it was medium nib only. Since it is a discontinued model what you would get depends on any remaining inventory.

Edited December 17, 2011 by jar

[JeanManuel]

The Ici Et La is only available in a medium nib IIRC. It may have been available with a fine nib at sometime in the past but at least as long as I can remember it was medium nib only. Since it is a discontinued model what you would get depends on any remaining inventory.

 

Ah yes, that's possible. They should have said so then in the repair report.

[JeanManuel]

I don't know, I sent them a 25 year old LeMans 100 with a plugged and twisted m nib, wrote them a little notes telling them how I wrote and thanks to that wonderful lady in their Ontario office, they replaced that useless nib with a very nice OF nib free of charge (under warranty they said!).

We all have different experiences... I still love my Watermans.

 

That's great !!! :) This is exactly how it should be.