Pen shoppes:Attitude,quantity,etc

[handlebar]

Another thread made me think about this.Having been a salesman for over 25 years,i try to give the best service to my customers when they purchase from me.

How do you feel about the pen shoppes you visit?Which do you visit frequently(that is if you have one close enough to visit)?

Is it a fun place to go or does it seem like a challenge when you shop?

 

I was visiting LA this last week and went into the Mont Blanc store in South Coast Plaza,Costa Mesa/Newport Beach.The salemen were rather disappointing with their condescending attitude while looking more over as to say"does he have enough money to be in here". Then again,being in such a "luxury"mall,i understand a wee bit more.

I looked over the pen selection (which was not that great)and promptly walked out.Went down to Paradise Pen 100' away and encountered a completely different attitude:one of fun and joy at working in such a place!!I certainly decided to purchase from them!

I also have a local Paradise Pen in Portland,Or.My wife and i enjoy going there to shop as well due to the quality service and knowledge of the staff.The owners are there usually,and that makes for some delightful discussions.

 

What about you??Where do you "browse" or buy??

Any experiences??

 

JD

Vancouver,Wa

 

 

[Titivillus]

QUOTE (handlebar @ Mar 4 2007, 10:42 AM)

Another thread made me think about this.Having been a salesman for over 25 years,i try to give the best service to my customers when they purchase from me. How do you feel about the pen shoppes you visit?Which do you visit frequently(that is if you have one close enough to visit)? Is it a fun place to go or does it seem like a challenge when you shop?

I have been ignored, pressured to buy and alternately pressured & ignored in pen stores. The warm fuzzy feeling that some people write about with their local pen store is rather suprising to me.

 

The nearest local 'store' is a paper store that carries pens so it might not be a good example but I have been to some of the talked about stores and maybe it was my dress or that I wasn't a local. Anyway I have bought ink or paper but only once a pen.

 

so no I have not had good experiences in pen stores.

 

 

Kurt

[georges zaslavsky]

My best pen store experiences I had were mainly at Morastylos: http://www.morastylos.com. I always receive a warm welcome and professional advice when I come into this shop. I also has a good experience from Stylos Marboeuf and Le Palais du Stylo who offer real after sales and customer service as well as a large pen choice.

[Rique]

My experiences with the few pen-stores I´ve visited in Brazil are consistently negative. Pen prices are absurd here (about three times the list prices in the US; A MB 149, e.g., has a list price here that is the equivalent of 1200 usd; a Waterman Expert goes for about 300 usd) and the attitude of the salesmen is usually of the "how dare you come in here?" kind (it should be remarked in passing that I am middle-aged and fairly well-dressed, not a boy in jeans and sneakers). Salespeople in stationery shops, who cater for students, are usually much nicer to deal with, and less arrogant.

As a result, I´ve bought less than 5% of my pens in dedicated pen-shops; the others were bought in stationery shops, online or second-hand...

 

 

[acfrery]

I also live in Brazil, and share with Rique the general bad experience... but there is one notorious exception: Humberto, the owner of StarFountainPen. He is nice, polite, and happy to share information. There is also a family owned store in Rio de Janeiro that I enjoy visiting a lot.

 

My worst experience, though, was in Argentina while visiting a very famous store. The day I went I was recived by the famous name owner's parents. While admiring a nicely hand made silver cap, this lady loudly said to me

QUOTE

You don't want that pen. It is too gay.

My immediate reply was

QUOTE

It's OK, I'm too gay too.

 

Never entered the store again (nice pens, but lousy parents and -the worst part- high prices)

 

Alejandro

[Larry T]

I live in the Detroit area, and have visited several pen shops in the area. The Paradise pen store at Somerset Mall is one of my favorite places. I have gotten to know the staff well, and they are always pleasant and helpful. I just bought a checkbook cover from Clark a couple of hours ago. I try to take a different pen to show when I go there, either something they don't sell, or a vintage pen from my collection to show off. They seem to enjoy learning about our hobby. Two of them went to the Michigan Pen Show with me last year.

 

The Montblanc store is a different matter, they treat you well enough, but I'm not impressed by their knowledge of the goods they sell.

 

I also live close to Pam from Oscar Braun's. What can I say? She is THE great lady of fountain pen sales, as my ever-diminishing bank account will attest.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Larry

[cmenice]

I have a Paradise Pen near me and get a completely opposite attitude you write about. The people are snobby and really don't want to deal with anyone it seems. I absolutely refuse to go into there shop because of this.

[Titivillus]

QUOTE (cmenice @ Mar 4 2007, 04:42 PM)

I have a Paradise Pen near me and get a completely opposite attitude you write about. The people are snobby and really don't want to deal with anyone it seems. I absolutely refuse to go into there shop because of this.

Unfortunately it's the salespeople at the moment that are the face of the store.

 

Then again I had a bad experience with paradise pens on the net. I bought some refills that they say usually go out within 48 hrs well 9 days later I get an email saying my stuff has shipped.

 

 

kurt

[alvarez57]

Here's Georges website translated in English

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?sour...stylos%2ecom%2f

 

Kurt is familiarised with the THIS* pen shop we were discussing a while ago. The owner has always been courteous to me and he knows I'm a regular but DO NOT spend big bucks there and knows I get my pens from the Internet. This is the guy I've helped get rid of his Montegrappas. His clerks are very nice younger ladies who have NO idea about fountain pens...and I don't think the owner knows much either . They are mainly a stationary store and I don't know much about paper myself.

So, internet suits me better.

 

* edited for a big error: "THIS" store is a local one I'm referring to, not to Monsieur Mora's store. I just pasted the translated website. Sorry

Edited March 5, 2007 by alvarez57

[georges zaslavsky]

QUOTE (alvarez57 @ Mar 4 2007, 10:16 PM)

Here's Georges website translated in English  http://translate.google.com/translate?sour...stylos%2ecom%2f Kurt is familiarised with the THIS pen shop we were discussing a while ago. The owner has always been courteous to me and he knows I'm a regular but DO NOT spend big bucks there and knows I get my pens from the Internet. This is the guy I've helped get rid of his Montegrappas. His clerks are very nice younger ladies who have NO idea about fountain pens...and I don't think the owner knows much either . They are mainly a stationary store and I don't know much about paper myself. So, internet suits me better.

The owner is a knowledgeable person perhaps you should read this article http://www.stylophilesonline.com/archive/jan03/05old.htm to see the talent, knowledge and good reputation of Mr Andre Mora can't be questionned. Mora stylos is not mainly a stationary store, they repair vintage pens and sell second hand pens something no other penshop in Paris does. Mora has 75 years of existence which in my personal opinion has more credibility than any huge feedback of an ebay seller. Also the shop has not many clerks but one clerk the son of Mr Mora or one of his nephews who also knows his pens perfectly.

Edited March 4, 2007 by georges zaslavsky

[JRodriguez]

Sorry to hear of all the bad experiences. I visited the Paradise Pen in Dallas once and found the service nice enough - the fellow working was pretty knowledgeable and pleasant, though not too terribly forthcoming with help - of course, as was said above, such experiences are a function of who happens to be working. I didn't buy anything, as I didn't see a good price on a single pen. Plus, when I asked, the clerk didn't seem too terribly interested in special ordering a nib size I would be happy with - it was pretty much all mediums, and mediums generally don't fit the bill for me. In Santa Cruz the pickin's is slim. There are two art stores that carry a small selection of fountain pens (Lamy, Parker, Waterman and Cross), and the the clerks are generally friendly and all, those I've encountered weren't into pens and didn't have much in the way of knowledge - so I pretty much just get ink there every so often unless I see a good sale on something, as with a Cross ATX I bought for $30 once.

[FrankB]

I am very surprised to hear the good reports about Paradise Pens. When I lived in Austin, Texas, I went to the PP store in the Capital Mall. I also made a couple of stops at the store in the North Star Mall in San Antonio. In both instances, the sales people were rude and as blatantly pushy as any sales people I have ever seen. There was no such thing as just walking in to look. The presure was intense to buy.

 

On one occasion, I was present when a young salesman rang up a MB 149 (at full retail price). When the customer exited the store, the young fellow then launched into a victory dance and began to brag about how he could sell refrigerators to Eskimos. On three separate occasions, I saw people bring in pens for servicing. The sales people handed those people padded envelopes to send the pens to the manufacturers, and expected the customers to do that for themselves. Again, the sales people laughed about their "customer service" when the people exited the store.

 

I exited the Paradise Pens store and have vowed never to return. That was my sole experience with a brick and mortar pen shop.

[EventHorizon]

QUOTE (acfrery @ Mar 4 2007, 03:46 PM)

My worst experience, though, was in Argentina while visiting a very famous store. The day I went I was recived by the famous name owner's parents. While admiring a nicely hand made silver cap, this lady loudly said to me QUOTE You don't want that pen. It is too gay. My immediate reply was QUOTE It's OK, I'm too gay too.   Never entered the store again (nice pens, but lousy parents and -the worst part- high prices)   Alejandro Now that's funny.   As for me, There is only one I go into and that's a place called Appointments in Cincinnati, Ohio. Great staff and always willing to help.

[vacuumkid3]

I went to Art Brown and my experiences were okay...the people there were always busy with other people, and probably didn't think much of two teenagers that look more like 10-year-olds than teenagers. The pen they sold me, a Touchdown Admiral with the wrong nib, was $70, but my dad got it for me anyway. I didn't know, my dad didn't know, and if the salesperson DID know, they didn't tell me. Completely not worth $70. Luckily it works. However, the nib is very scratchy and I still want to find the right nib! Anyway, to summarize this, my experience was on the verge of mediocre, probably just because it was Christmas-time and it was crowded. I am sure some other people have had much better experiences than me. I like the place, though!

 

~~K~~

[alvarez57]

QUOTE (georges zaslavsky @ Mar 4 2007, 10:31 PM)

QUOTE (alvarez57 @ Mar 4 2007, 10:16 PM) Here's Georges website translated in English  http://translate.google.com/translate?sour...stylos%2ecom%2f Kurt is familiarised with the THIS pen shop we were discussing a while ago. The owner has always been courteous to me and he knows I'm a regular but DO NOT spend big bucks there and knows I get my pens from the Internet. This is the guy I've helped get rid of his Montegrappas. His clerks are very nice younger ladies who have NO idea about fountain pens...and I don't think the owner knows much either . They are mainly a stationary store and I don't know much about paper myself. So, internet suits me better. The owner is a knowledgeable person perhaps you should read this article http://www.stylophilesonline.com/archive/jan03/05old.htm to see the talent, knowledge and good reputation of Mr Andre Mora can't be questionned. Mora stylos is not mainly a stationary store, they repair vintage pens and sell second hand pens something no other penshop in Paris does. Mora has 75 years of existence which in my personal opinion has more credibility than any huge feedback of an ebay seller. Also the shop has not many clerks but one clerk the son of Mr Mora or one of his nephews who also knows his pens perfectly. Sorry Georges, the pen shop I was referring to was not yours, but a local one in New Orleans! Sorry for the confusion!

Edited March 5, 2007 by alvarez57

[Bill]

My experiences with pen shops have been generally positive, I have visited and purchased from shops from Massachusetts to California and Michigan to Florida, about 15 shops so far. I have visited several of them multiple times.

 

Rerely have I not been pleasantly greeted or treated with respect. One of those was in a MB boutique, but enthusiasm can be contagious and I got a laugh out of the salesman before I left although he may have been happy because I left ). One was a new employee whose attitude did not match the rest of the staff. Another is a regular grump, but one who I can handle.

 

I'm not always on top of my game either. But there is a different between a "tire kicker" and a pen enthusiast who is grazing but will eventually but something.

 

Whether online or in person, if I am mistreated I will vote with my money. My repeat business and loyalty go to those who deserve it.

 

Bill

[Bill]

QUOTE (EventHorizon @ Mar 4 2007, 06:48 PM)

As for me, There is only one I go into and that's a place called Appointments in Cincinnati, Ohio. Great staff and always willing to help.

Yes. Attractive displays, knowlegeable staff. And, I assume, a good cleaning staff to mop up my drool

 

Bill

[Ben]

Appointments in Cincinnati is a few blocks from where I work. Doug and Lebron are good guys. They have the knowledge and enthusiasm to back up their customer service. My most recent visit involved bringing in some NOS Pilots from the 1970s, buying some ink, and inking both for the first time.

 

I purchased a bottle of Aurora Black at the shop. Lebron brought the bottle over to me at the counter, waited until I had the converters inserted in the pens, then unscrewed the bottle of ink for me, placed it on the counter, and gave me all the room and time I needed to fill the pens. He then handed me a cloth for the inked nibs and provided a pad of good paper for me. I got to try out the pens right away. I even asked him to write with them while they were brand new so we could discuss how the nibs felt, etc.

 

To me, that's good service.

[Srehman]

I've been over to a couple of Paradise Pen stores: one in Denver and another one at the Somerset in Troy, MI. Most of the salespeople have no clue about pens, though one lady at the Somerset PP seemed pretty good about it. Their customer service is not too good, though. I dipped a pen and thought it was working OK, but when I inked it at home, and found it was not working to my satisfaction, I was told to send it to Waterman.

[Jazzbaby]

Here in Calgary, AB, Can, the best pen store is Reid's Stationary. The last time I was in was right before Christmas & a Saturday. In spite of the place being packed like sardines, the staff was pleasant (if harried) & knowledgeable (young, no doubt part-time staff on duty but still good). They have a great selection ranging from the disposable FP & Bic BP to the very pricey & rare. Their prices are not too bad, although with a little more competition I would think they could be better still. They also have a pretty good selection of inks although I don't remember ever seeing any Private Reserve, but I buy that online anyway.

 

There is another store which does sell PR inks &, I asume, good pens, but they are in the downtown core & I have never set foot in the place because it's a big pain in the butt to get to. Maybe someone else can comment on that.

 

The main thing I want in a store, any store, is variety, good prices & knowledgeable staff. I don't even staff is grumpy; I just want my questions answered and a fair deal.

 

Jazz