Akkerman Inks From The Netherlands

[USMCMom]

Well, your experience certainly will keep me from purchasing from them. I thought that wire transfer and all the hoops that involves was too much trouble anyway. I'm surprised that they don't have PayPal or some payment method that is easier for customers. Very disappointing.

[WOBentley]

My wire transfer did go through in two days (although it was also over a weekend so it was really Friday to Monday). However Paul told me they do now have a PayPal account (I actually used it to add something to my order) so that may well be a future option.

Dave

Edited February 9, 2011 by WOBentley

[welch]

Our European friends may understand better if we tell them that our wire transfer processes are significantly affected by a piece of legislation called The Patriot Act. Suffice it to say that it adds things to and limits the process in ways that I don't believe bankers would have written.

 

Patriot Act has no impact on this

 

 

 

Silly me. I thought these people knew what they were talking about.

As with so much legislation written in haste, remarkably little thought is given as to what will be achieved, and at what cost to normal, legit activity. The money laundering legislation in this country makes it remarkably difficult for anyone who doesn't hold a passport or driving licence (a surprisingly large number of people) to open any bank account, leaving them at a distinct disadvantage, and, worst case scenario, open to abuse by loan sharks and the like. Yet the intended targets of the legislation have remarkably little difficulty sidestepping it.

 

Ironically, one bank employee opined to me that the fact that she'd been able to refuse a perfectly kosher potential customer the opportunity to open a bank account somehow 'proved' the legislation was working. Unless... (curse the thought!) perhaps our legislators are so wedded to a 'no pain, no gain' philosophy, they deliberately create laws which will force the honest to suffer inconvenience and indignity, alongside the blameworthy; how else can they prove they're 'doing something'? :bonk:

 

I retired from SWIFT about a month ago, so I can explain, in excruciating detail, how banks move money but, unfortunately, cannot help Sam untangle his transfer. I'll keep this short, although I could go on and on about payments...I did it for eleven years.

 

- Anti-money Laundering (AML) legislation has been around a long time.

 

- Each bank has a software plug-in that checks every transfer against a "bad list" that the AML vendor updates.

 

- In the US, a bank is required to block any transfer to an entity found on the AML list. In some circumstances, the bank is required to confiscate the money and turn it over to the Treasury Department

 

- In the US, all money transfers over a certain amount -- maybe $10,000 -- must be reported to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

 

- Corporations are forbidden to do business with anyone on the bad list, such as a drug cartel, the Mafia, or a terrorist front organization

 

- Regardless of the Patriot Act, which applies only to US bank branches, and which was passed about 2002, banks dislike opening accounts for people they cannot trust.

 

- European banks began a "Know your customer" (KYC) campaign almost ten years ago. US banks have followed.

 

- All banks would love to get a piece of personal cross-border payments business, which is dominated by Western Union. "Guest workers" go to a country and wire money home to their families. This is cumbersome when the guest worker has to open a bank account. In this case, it appears that the bank's KYC policy conflicts with a branch's eagerness to open an account.

 

- Paypal is a handy way for a retail business to receive payments.

 

- Incidentally, the CFTC, a part of the Agriculture Department, regulates the futures industry. It has nothing to do with inter-bank payments. Why is CFTC under Agriculture? One, the futures business grew out of hedging and betting on wheat and "hog bellies", and, two the futures market likes it that way.

 

That's enough on payments.

Edited February 9, 2011 by welch

[saintsimon]

Well, your experience certainly will keep me from purchasing from them. I thought that wire transfer and all the hoops that involves was too much trouble anyway. I'm surprised that they don't have PayPal or some payment method that is easier for customers. Very disappointing.

Their business seems to be regionally focused, which doesn't require Paypal for easy electronic transactions (even thewritingdesk.co.uk doesn't offer Paypal payments, it cuts to much into profit margins). Overseas business seems to be the exception for Akkerman. But they learn quickly, as WOBentley writes below:

 

My wire transfer did go through in two days (although it was also over a weekend so it was really Friday to Monday). However Paul told me they do now have a PayPal account (I actually used it to add something to my order) so that may well be a future option.

Dave

 

 

 

[saintsimon]

Wonder what is the most accurate English translation of the colors in red below. You can see their swab samples here, but in person they are a whole other rich character and color

 

ANAHUAC

ANDRINOPLE

--> proper noun, Turkish city

AURORA

--> same in English, no? But looking at the colour swab, I don't get the association

BAIKAL

--> proper noun, lake

BLEU ATLANTIQUE (Atlantic Blue)

BLEU AZUR (Azure Blue)

BLEU EQUINOXE 6

--> Equinox Blue (like the night sky on the equinox, maybe?)

BLEU EQUINOXE 5

BLEU MEDITERRANEE (Mediterranean Blue)

BLEU PACIFIQUE (Pacific Blue)

BLEU ULTRAMARINE (Ultramarine)

BONNE ESPERANCE ? Good Hope ?

--> yes, as in "Cape of..", or the waters off the tip of Africa

BORDEAUX

BOSPHORE

BOTANY BAY

BOURGOGNE (Burgundy)

BYZANCE

--> Byzantium

CANNELLE (Cinnamon)

CASSIS

--> black currant

GRENAT (Garnet)

GRIS DE PAYNE

--> Payne's Grey, an artist's colour, blue-grey

HAVANE (Havana)

HEURE DOREE

--> Golden Hour, the last hour before sunset, great light for artists

INCA SOL

--> Inca Sun

INTI

--> proper noun, that sun head god you see on the Peruvian? Argentinian? flag

ITZAMNA

NOIR (Black)

OCONTO

OHLANGA

OLIFANTS

OMI OSUN

--> proper noun, river in Africa, I think

SEPIA

VIOLET

YALUMBA

 

 

 

Ha. Done without the google: highschool Geography Challenge was good for something. I think a lot of the rest might be proper nouns/place names, too.

 

Ryan.

- Bosphore is the French name for Bosp(h)orus, the straight connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, dividing Istanbul.

- Bordeaux is the French region which also gives Its name to that type of red wine. On FPN the names Bordeaux and Burgundy are often used synonymously, although these are different regions and different wines.

- Olifant is the Dutch name for Elephant.

Edited February 9, 2011 by saintsimon

[SamCapote]

(even thewritingdesk.co.uk doesn't offer Paypal payments, it cuts to much into profit margins).

 

However, http://www.diamineinks.co.uk does offer PayPal, and is why I have placed at least 6 orders with them to date, and none from The Writing Desk, despite their wonderful Colorama comparison feature. Go figure.

[saintsimon]

(even thewritingdesk.co.uk doesn't offer Paypal payments, it cuts to much into profit margins).

 

However, http://www.diamineinks.co.uk does offer PayPal, and is why I have placed at least 6 orders with them to date, and none from The Writing Desk, despite their wonderful Colorama comparison feature. Go figure.

 

I fully agree from a customer's perspective. I don't know if Rolf Thiel of missing-pen.de offers Paypal for overseas customers, but at least for his domestic sevice it is not necessary. He ships out orders of value under 50 € to known customers even before receiving the wire transfers.

A reason why small businesses don't like Paypal could be Paypal's unpredictable behavior as a business partner. Their easy and practical payment transaction service contrasts with their intransparent and arbitrary treatment of account holders. No business likes several weeks worth of payments or even accounts themselves being frozen because Paypal thinks there might be a problem.

[ClassicHippie]

On a side note, Akkerman has MB BRG cartridges for sale

[Professor Plume]

I can't seem to get my ink color selections in my cart at Akkerman. Has anyone had any luck purchasing with PayPal? I wish my Dutch were better. Thanks in advance for any tips.

[laureat]

Being Dutch, my Dutch is well enough to help out if I can....

 

The PW-Akkerman shop does not have a webshop on the site. It is a small specialized shop of 100 years old. Due to this special anniversary the are granted by her Majesty the title of "Koninklijk = Royal = Hofleverancier" Because it is such a Grand Olde Shop I guess they are rather conservative and therefor do NOT have a webshop. (They still write the bill with a fountainpen ) I guess they are surprised themselves for the international interest in the bottles but honored at the same time.

I phoned the shop for you and asked the staff how to help my FPN-mates in the rest of the world. The staff is taken by surprise due to interest in the inkbottles!

The advice is to sent Mr. Paul Rutte an e-mail with the colors of your choice, they are numbered and or the title of the color. He will respond to you all how to order your ink and how to pay by PayPal.

 

write your email to: info@pw-akkerman.nl

 

Does this provide any help?

Edited February 9, 2011 by laureat

[Professor Plume]

Thank you so very much for this useful information! I greatly appreciate it. Please let me know if I can ever help you with any pen and inks needs here in the U. S. It will be my pleasure.

You have a lovely country. I look forward to returning in the future. Again, many thanks for the trouble you took to get this information and post it so promptly. Very helpful!

 

All Best Wishes!

 

Professor Plume

 

(Margo)

[USMCMom]

YES!!! That's a big help and thank you so much!!

[mstone]

I suspect most Americans have been successfully wooed by MC/VISA/American Express having 'greased all the transactional skids' we encounter.

 

It goes beyond making it easier, and also includes limits to liability and other helpful features. The idea of sending cash for an international consumer purchase rather than using a credit card is (from the perspective of someone in US jurisdiction) a little nutty. Every time this comes up there's a bit of intercontinental "my system is better than yours", but it basically boils down to "different" and "that's just how it is"--there is no "better".

[WOBentley]

(even thewritingdesk.co.uk doesn't offer Paypal payments, it cuts to much into profit margins).

 

However, http://www.diamineinks.co.uk does offer PayPal, and is why I have placed at least 6 orders with them to date, and none from The Writing Desk, despite their wonderful Colorama comparison feature. Go figure.

 

I fully agree from a customer's perspective. I don't know if Rolf Thiel of missing-pen.de offers Paypal for overseas customers,

 

I just used PayPal last night for an ink order to Rolf. He still has some Visconti Glass ink bottles left in Black, Green and Sepia and shipping for 4 bottles from Germany to the US was a (at least I thought considering the cost of shipping these days) reasonable 10.90 euro.

[twdpens]

(even thewritingdesk.co.uk doesn't offer Paypal payments, it cuts to much into profit margins).

 

However, http://www.diamineinks.co.uk does offer PayPal, and is why I have placed at least 6 orders with them to date, and none from The Writing Desk, despite their wonderful Colorama comparison feature. Go figure.

 

Thank you for visiting our website . Whilst it is true that receiving payments by Paypal is much more expensive than other methods, this is not the reason why we do not offer this option. I won't go into the reasons here as such discussion is outside the scope of this topic.

 

Best regards,

 

Martin

[SamCapote]

(even thewritingdesk.co.uk doesn't offer Paypal payments, it cuts to much into profit margins).

 

However, http://www.diamineinks.co.uk does offer PayPal, and is why I have placed at least 6 orders with them to date, and none from The Writing Desk, despite their wonderful Colorama comparison feature. Go figure.

 

Thank you for visiting our website . Whilst it is true that receiving payments by Paypal is much more expensive than other methods, this is not the reason why we do not offer this option. I won't go into the reasons here as such discussion is outside the scope of this topic.

 

Best regards,

 

Martin

 

Martin, we all owe you a huge debt of gratitude for the Colorama service alone. I don't blame any merchant for not wanting to deal with PayPal. I just had my own "interesting experience" with them where I lost a dispute filed on the 44th day (deadline to file is 45 days) on an item that appeared to be lost in the mail from a European country after 2 full months (almost 10 weeks) had passed. It had a happy ending as the "missing" item suddenly arrived 2 days after I lost the dispute for non-received item.

 

The reason I lost my dispute after speaking with PayPal is it turns out that they have an unpublished rule where a seller only needs to show proof of delivery from: Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, or China (with Premier account). In all other countries, if the buyer never receives item, dispute is decided in buyers favor. The problems with this above rule besides the fact of not appearing anywhere I could find on PayPal's site, it also makes no difference if buyer pays for insurance. For a lost item, an unreputable seller from one of these countries could file a claim for insurance, receive the money, and still not have to turn that over to the seller. This applies also to Ebay transactions from those countries. You do still have recourse with your credit card which you should always use, and that was my next step.

[WOBentley]

[ You do still have recourse with your credit card which you should always use, and that was my next step.

Words of wisdom that I also live by...while not foolproof, I have, on the rare occasion I have had a dispute, been happy with the outcomes from dealing with my credit card company.

[saintsimon]

... Due to this special anniversary the are granted by her Majesty the title of "Koninklijk = Royal = Hofleverancier" ...

So the are Purveyors to the Royal Court now.

[SamCapote]

Interestingly enough, I just got a phone call from my bank. They reported to me that the money was being held at Akkerman's ABN AMRO Bank, N.V., and they had sent a request back to mine to confirm Akkerman's address before moving it into their account. My bank said they just responded back to ABN AMRO, so it should come through in next 1-2 business days.

[texaspenman]

For anyone interested, I'll be bringing out a product similar to this bottle within the next few months. This weekend the first prototype will be made. I'll let you know how things go!