Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point

January 19, 2012

Often, many of us post about disappointing experiences with Customer Support. Two years after a defective Lamy cost me an additional 20% of the original purchase price to have fixed, I am still upset and I have not purchased a Lamy product since. So, when my Vanishing Point had a problem, I tried to fix it myself. (Big Mistake). Bummed out, I finally emailed Namiki / Pilot Customer Support and mailed my pen to them for repair.

Wow - Pilot Customer Relations was amazing. Pilot offered me "support" and "service".

Marina Heil from Pilot promptly responded to my email. She followed the repair of my pen from the first email until I had it back in my hand. And, when I told her how much I love the Bold Rollerballs, she even found some of the discontinued colors for me. I have my pen back - problem free and I was so happy with the Customer Support, I will be buying Pilot / Namiki products (frequently and as often as possible). The entire experience has made me love my pen more than I did when I bought it.

January 19, 2012

Cool! Just filled out the warranty card on my Fermo. Good to know that they stand behind their products.

January 19, 2012

What kind of problem were you experiencing with the pen? Sounds like a good (and less common) experience for sure.

It certainly doesn't help the fact that I want a VP but can't get one right away....

January 19, 2012

Often, many of us post about disappointing experiences with Customer Support. Two years after a defective Lamy cost me an additional 20% of the original purchase price to have fixed, I am still upset and I have not purchased a Lamy product since. So, when my Vanishing Point had a problem, I tried to fix it myself. (Big Mistake). Bummed out, I finally emailed Namiki / Pilot Customer Support and mailed my pen to them for repair.

Wow - Pilot Customer Relations was amazing. Pilot offered me "support" and "service".

Marina Heil from Pilot promptly responded to my email. She followed the repair of my pen from the first email until I had it back in my hand. And, when I told her how much I love the Bold Rollerballs, she even found some of the discontinued colors for me. I have my pen back - problem free and I was so happy with the Customer Support, I will be buying Pilot / Namiki products (frequently and as often as possible). The entire experience has made me love my pen more than I did when I bought it.

Can you supply us with her contact info.... I have a VP I wish to discuss with her....

January 19, 2012

good for Pilot, but they probably don't get calls often

January 23, 2012

Tom,

Here is the contact info as requested.

Marina Heil

mheil@pilotpen.com

Pilot Corporation of America

3855 Regent Blvd.

Jacksonville, FL 32224

904-565-7600 phone

904-996-2974 fax

Be sure to tell her that you heard about her from me or here.

Amber

January 23, 2012

@Leod, Professional and Amateur (I just had to do that). I agree that Pilot probably does not have a high defect rate. I think you're going to love your Fermo and I look forward to hearing about it.

The problem I had I described like this:

Comments: Dear Namiki, I purchased my green capless fountain pen from Paradise Pen. I have had trouble with it writing smoothly from the first day. I thought the problem might be that I needed a different nib so I bought the bold nib. The pen leaked inside and still would not write smoothly. It seemed like the nib was pushed against something and caused leaks. I tried to clean it and that's when the problems really started. I thought it was clicking fine but then the pen became stuck in the downward click. I know I have now bent the nib and I know that is my fault. But can you please repair my pen?

In later emails, I asked Namiki how much I need to pay. The bent nib had to be my mostly or all my fault. When I cleaned it, I somehow pushed out the gaskets. Then, when it wouldn't "click" I asked a friend to help me get the nib retracted. He literally pushed the nib until it bent. I was sick about it and if I didn't adore him, I would have smacked him. Anyway, I was prepared to pay for some or all of the repair. Namiki didn't charge me. They replaced the cap and nib. I no longer have a serial number on my super limited edition green, but I didn't care about the serial number, I just wanted a working VP, and Namiki delivered.

Anyway, I suspect that the user was the most defective part of this pen.

Amber

Edited January 23, 2012 by amberleadavis

January 23, 2012

@Leod, Professional and Amateur (I just had to do that). I agree that Pilot probably does not have a high defect rate. I think you're going to love your Fermo and I look forward to hearing about it.

The problem I had I described like this:

Comments: Dear Namiki, I purchased my green capless fountain pen from Paradise Pen. I have had trouble with it writing smoothly from the first day. I thought the problem might be that I needed a different nib so I bought the bold nib. The pen leaked inside and still would not write smoothly. It seemed like the nib was pushed against something and caused leaks. I tried to clean it and that's when the problems really started. I thought it was clicking fine but then the pen became stuck in the downward click. I know I have now bent the nib and I know that is my fault. But can you please repair my pen?

In later emails, I asked Namiki how much I need to pay. The bent nib had to be my mostly or all my fault. When I cleaned it, I somehow pushed out the gaskets. Then, when it wouldn't "click" I asked a friend to help me get the nib retracted. He literally pushed the nib until it bent. I was sick about it and if I didn't adore him, I would have smacked him. Anyway, I was prepared to pay for some or all of the repair. Namiki didn't charge me. They replaced the cap and nib. I no longer have a serial number on my super limited edition green, but I didn't care about the serial number, I just wanted a working VP, and Namiki delivered.

Anyway, I suspect that the user was the most defective part of this pen.

Amber

Glad you got it all sorted out without much of a cost to you. Word to the wise, never let others who aren't savvy with pens handle your pens. Just curious, how did you clean out your pen when you say you dislodged a gasket? I think the "trapdoor" end is about the same in mechanics, and what ever you did to your pen, I certainly don't want to repeat it. Happy for you that it all worked out though.

January 23, 2012

Amber,

Thanks for sharing this very positive experience with us! It is refreshing to see that you received exemplary support and service from Pilot Namiki. Such outstanding experiences indeed instill brand loyalty.

The one pen that is always in my rotation is a 10+ year-old VP that has traveled more than a million miles with me. It has never given me any problems and for that reason, I have never hesitated to purchase a Pilot or Namiki pen for gifts or for myself. Hearing your story makes me feel confident that should I ever need to send my beloved VP for service, I, too, will come away feeling even more loyal.

I hope your newly restored VP brings you many, many years of happy writing!

All the Best,

Gem

January 24, 2012

@Gem - Thank you.

@Pro ---- A Q-Tip. Amazing what damage you can do.

January 24, 2012

Tom,

Here is the contact info as requested.

Marina Heil
mheil@pilotpen.com
Pilot Corporation of America
3855 Regent Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32224
904-565-7600 phone
904-996-2974 fax

Be sure to tell her that you heard about her from me or here.

Amber

Pilot USA's headquarters (the address above) is literally five minutes from my home. They have a few open positions there that I've been encouraging my S.O. to apply for. It's really nice to see that they provide the type of service a company should be proud of.