Oxonian's Contact Information Please

[whathappened]

To satisfy your 'curiosity'. The difference, amongst other things, I feel better for respecting the man's wishes.

 

Personally I feel the word could use a little more of respecting people, just like I respect my fine writing instruments as well as others.

 

In any case, it's not like it was difficult to ask and wait a little bit for a PM, with the added benefit of a nice interaction.

Edited January 19, 2018 by whathappened

[jackflash]

  On 12/15/2017 at 12:41 PM, smiffy20000 said:

An email has just been received from John on this subject and he has specifically asked that his personal email address is removed from this thread please.

 

And it has been, so...?

 

  On 12/15/2017 at 1:46 PM, smiffy20000 said:

 

 

The bottom line is that he has specifically requested that his personal email address is removed from this thread and its availability elsewhere on the internet is not relevant.

 

This is a personal choice and should be respected and not made public on FPN if that is against the wishes of the owner.

 

It has been removed so...?

 

  On 1/19/2018 at 12:41 PM, smiffy20000 said:

 

 

The diiference is that John has made a request that his personal email address, or links to the address, are not publicised on FPN, John has no control over that Philippines site otherwise I am sure that he would have asked for it to be removed. Johns email address has been shown in this thread and has been removed by a Mod and as has been indicated by a Mod above, contact John through FPN personal messages

 

This is quite different to what you say in your first post.

[BT_Summers]

  On 1/19/2018 at 7:20 PM, jackflash said:

 

And it has been, so...?

 

 

It has been removed so...?

 

 

This is quite different to what you say in your first post.

 

 

I am trying to think what motive you could have for making these posts at this time other than being a troll or having a malevolent intent, I actually cannot think of one..

[Chrissy]

  On 1/19/2018 at 12:22 PM, whathappened said:

I know that, but prefer to respect the man's wishes once they were clearly stated in this thread.

 

He's not my personal slave to treat how I wish, no matter how desperate I am, that's just not cool IMHO.

 

The link is still in the thread and it shows John's email address. If you want to make contact with him, then that's what you need.

 

When this came up before I asked him if a specific named person had made contact with him, and he replied that person had. John wasn't concerned about the link, but preferred for his email address to not actually be retyped on the post. He already knows it's on the FPN Philippines link, and the link is on the Internet for everyone to see. He can't prevent anyone from posting an Internet link.

 

Either you want to contact him or you don't. He won't mind whether he hears from you or not.

[BT_Summers]

We have just had a long email from John as to how he would like to be contacted.

 

His position is that his email address that has been shown and deleted in this thread is his own private email that he would prefer is not passed around generally.

 

You will appreciate that he has a great many emails asking questions where the answers are readily available elsewhere on the internet and on FPN, along with some frankly silly questions. All these take time to answer and of course, his time attending to nibs is how he earns a living, dealing with non productive and emails as some form of library service is not for him, quite understandably so. As John says, he does not have time to answer multiple tyre kicker type questions that have already been answered in previous posts on FPN and he does not intend to answer or get involved in discussions with those who ask for work to be done and then try to tell him how to perform the work.

 

In summary, John takes the view that as his email is private to him and unwanted emails are seen as an intrusion into his privacy and deleted without a response.

 

A PM through FPN will be answered, particularly if it is on the basis of a general enquiry such as - I have bent the nib on my Pilot, here is a pic, do you think that you can repair it please? He cannot stop the links to the site mentionned above and many people have used the email address, but the preferred method of contact is via a PM through FPN with the request that people give a moment to think about their question, and not, to use an example he has given, Dear John, will you change my Fine nib to a flexible BBB please or, presumably, people asking for a BB nib to be turned into a Fine.

 

I am sure that we all have respect for the privacy of email addresses, home addresses and telephone numbers and would not wish to see such information available to anyone.

 

Whilst I try and watch Johns back for him on such matters, trying to do the right thing for this family friend, I cannot fight every fight for people who want to post links to Johns email address, I will leave it at that.

[Glenn Atkins]

Amazing......

[jackflash]

  On 1/20/2018 at 6:41 PM, GAtkins said:

Amazing......

 

Quite amazing.

[Inkling13]

As speaking from someone whos private contact information got leaked on the internet, there is two responsible parties. Those who know that his info shouldnt circulated and the individual themselves. If Oxonian wanted it to end he would have changed emails. Just sayin.

[Aysedasi]

As has been said before, when you're in business, changing an email address can have significant knock-on effects with customers.....

[Inkling13]

  On 1/21/2018 at 7:44 PM, Aysedasi said:

As has been said before, when you're in business, changing an email address can have significant knock-on effects with customers.....

Then why would one object to having business info spread? Makes no sense if you ask me.

[Aysedasi]

Its one's own choice, isn't it?

[Chrissy]

Anyone can just type "email john sorowka" into their Internet search box and find the required information. "Who can repair your fountain pens" always comes up. It's hardly rocket science.

 

The link has already been posted on FPN in several threads over several years.

 

If John doesn't want his email address anywhere on the web, and wishes to remain incommunicado then he should change it. It's up to him and is a simple fix. He can't put the genie back in the bottle when it's been out there for years.

 

Meanwhile here's a very useful list of pen repairers who can be contacted. Battersea Pen Home is another one in the UK that should be included.

[BT_Summers]

  On 1/20/2018 at 12:59 PM, smiffy20000 said:

In summary, John takes the view that as his email is private to him and unwanted emails are seen as an intrusion into his privacy and deleted without a response.

 

 

 

 

As has been said before, contact John through a PM on FPN and they will have a response, emails may not.

 

This thread is trying to be helpful to those who want to be in touch with John, I am sure that you will understand that.

Edited January 22, 2018 by smiffy20000

[Chrissy]

  On 1/22/2018 at 6:43 AM, smiffy20000 said:

 

As has been said before, contact John through a PM on FPN and they will have a response, emails may not.

 

This thread is trying to be helpful to those who want to be in touch with John, I am sure that you will understand that.

 

This thread like several others on here was started because John doesn't always respond to PM's sent by FPN members.

I'm not continuing this discussion with you.

[Oxonian]

Hello Folks, Sorry to say that this topic is getting to be a pain. The main reason I do not post very often, if at all, these days is simply that I do not have too much time to spare for various reasons that I need not and do not intend to air to any great extent here.

 

I prefer to spend what time I have working but it seems that I need to say something on this topic. This will be my only post on this subject and I will not get involved in any discussions either here in thread or backchannel................

 

I am well aware that I cannot stop links being posted, published or otherwise made available on the internet.

 

I can however choose which e-mails to answer. I would however prefer not to spend time having to read and answer mail that is asking questions that have been dealt with numerous time online, not just by me but by many other repairers, nib specialists or whoever, not once but numerous times

 

I will happily answer e-mails from referred clients so if you have been referred please mention from whom, or from whence, this referral came.

 

If you already have my e-mail address please use it with the same respect as I treat yours when I have it. ..if you do not treat my e-mail with respect you will be ignored, if you get to be a pain you will be blocked....this is based on past experience...trolls are not just a mythical silicone based life form.

 

The reason I do not change this address is that it is the one the family and friends use, why should they, or I, have to change something that has been the way is it for years. Before I, almost accidentally, started nibwork as a business, it was for decades a hobby, it was fun, there were a few clients, there was no need to use a separate address. I have always treated, and still do my best to treat, every client as a one off, an individual who gets all of my attention and skills, such as they are, applied to their problem, and also address myself to their questions if they are newcomers to pens, or have never had any specialist work carried out, in short I try to treat them as people.

 

I will, and do, answer PMs. Once in a while a forwarded PM may get lost in the mass of incoming mail, for those I have not answered for this reason I can only apologise.

 

Answering the PMs may take me some time as...

a) I travel a fair bit on business, when dealing with anything I tend to concentrate on what I am doing, rather than spend time browsing online. When travelling on business I do not to take any devices with me other than my mobile, which i use to make calls.

On the rare occasions that I get chance to travel for pleasure I do not spend time looking at my incoming business mail, those who need to get hold of me can do so, everyone else can wait until I return home.

c) I can be intensely busy, 16 hour days are not uncommon.

d) I get intense migraine episodes from time to time, nothing other than breathing is done during these episodes.

e) I have family caring commitments that take time.

f) Once in a while I need to take some time out.

I fit the nib work between these constraints and give it my complete attention.

The same reasons for delays apply to e-mails. BTW, For those who may take the time to look, or can be bothered to look, my e-mail address is available on FPN, it has been there all the time. I do not intend to post my e-mail address again and I would ask others not to do so. If I give you my address then feel free to use it.....If you find it then if you need to, use it don't abuse it.

Please do not bombard me with repeats of the same mail, if I have not answered within 14 days then a gentle reminder is fine, before that it is just cluttering up my inbox. If it is a question that you would like answered then look through FPN's previous posts before mailing me you may well find the answer to your question there.

Seriously folks, please note that it is not possible, without re-tipping, to turn an EF into a BB, and yes, I have been asked that more than once.

Turning a BB into a Fine is possible but extremely time consuming and so very, very expensive.

If I decline to take on a job then that is my choice, it is not a personal insult to you although I am not obliged to give reasons I usually will.

If you ask my opinion, please bear in mind I may well have one that does not match yours, I am not bound to give you the answer that you want, nor am I going to get involved in a long discussion.

As I make clear at pen shows, I do my best to be polite, and ask you to do the same.....please remember that you approached me in my own time and space, I did not approach you.

I am sorry if this seems to be a rant, or an unnecessary chewing out of the vast majority of FPN members who are polite and reasonable and for whom I have nothing but liking and respect but......... when I attract more attention b not posting anything than I did when I posted on an almost daily basis then something needed to be done.

This should also reassure those on FPN Facebook who were doubting that I existed at all. :-)

Back to the grindstone.

Cheers, John