Brands You Will Never Buy From

[luvpens]

Sadly the two brands I would never consider buying new pens from (i.e. modern) are the two biggest brands from years gone by - Sheaffer and Parker. Both have been reduced to selling stuff which must surely cause the illustrious founders of those companies to spin in their graves, squandering years of experience and goodwill to become (in my opinion) merely a brand applied to tat. Sad.

Quoting a much earlier post, but completely agree with this.

Sheaffer for example were always known and loved for the inlaid nibs, but now it's down to what? one model?

It's one occasion where I will actually be pleased if the Chinese do clones. Please clone some of the older Sheaffer's with inlaid nibs please......

[Freddy]

Personally, unequivocally....there is no pen brand that

I would not consider purchasing....

Obverse....there are some folks I would not consider

purchasing from....

 

Fred

Are you a Roundhead or Cavalier?

 

What! ~ John Cleese

[shawndp]

I tend to shy away from saying "never" as time is a great equalizer, but in as many years as I have been using FP's and as many as I have owned the short list would read

 

1) Edison - I can't think of a level that those pens appeal to me

2) Sheaffer - I used to love their pens in the late 90's but the new stuff just isn't all that

3) Monteverde - never tried one that I liked

 

The (dis)honourable mentions would be Stipula for their spotty QC, Conklin and Bic...

[Bookman]

I would be tempted to name Montblanc. I went into its Union Square/SF store a couple of years ago and the salesmen were mean to me.

 

 

Edit: To be perfectly fair, it was a bitter cold day, I was just getting over the flu, probably had a touch of fever left because I was shaking violently with chills, and I hadn't shaved in a week. I must have presented quite a sight. Mrs. Bookman says I kept my ski mask down over my face while I opened my trench coat. I admit the trench coat didn't help. But still. There's no need to be snotty.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Bookman

[Bklyn]

I guess it would be easier to list the names of the brands I actually would love to buy from. There are too many old and new manufacturers out there that are either too expensive or too ugly or too lousy or...

Limitation is bliss :-)

Agreed.

[Bklyn]

TWSBI. Just don't like it.

Noodler's - Do not have time or mindset to tinker. Does not work out of the box.

I have both pens. The TWSBI 580 with a bold nib is gorgeous. Just such a great writer. a great everyday pen. I have an Ahab with a noodles number 6 nib in bold. It is also such a great pen. The grip in my hand is wonderful. I hope you give them a try some day. You might be impressed.

[Bklyn]

I would be tempted to name Montblanc. I went into its Union Square/SF store a couple of years ago and the salesmen were mean to me.

 

 

Edit: To be perfectly fair, it was a bitter cold day, I was just getting over the flu, probably had a touch of fever left because I was shaking violently with chills, and I hadn't shaved in a week. I must have presented quite a sight. Mrs. Bookman says I kept my ski mask down over my face while I opened my trench coat. I admit the trench coat didn't help. But still. There's no need to be snotty.

Bookman, nothing wrong with a good trench coat opening after the flu as those MB folks can be a tad snotty.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Bklyn

[pajaro]

Bookman, nothing wrong with a good trench coat opening after the flu as those MB folks can be a tad snotty.

 

Every dealing I have had with MB reps has been very pleasant and businesslike. Even their lower end pens I have bought like the 144 have been better functioning pens than almost every other type I have used. So, by getting mad at MB you are denying yourself one of the best pen experiences.

[Yehenara]

Every Visconti I tried didn't sit with me, even the extremely well-received Homo Sapiens. Awful, awful style and awful, awful nibs. Aside from that, any modern Montblanc not the 146, Agatha Christie, Dostoevsky or Hemingway is terrible in my opinion, as are whatever remains of Parker, Sheaffer and Waterman.

[flipper_gv]

Dupont or Nakaya.

 

Same approach, just eastern vs western. Not a fan of the barrel and the cap being the main player in the pen.

[jthole]

Stipula for me, because of their quality control.

[jporos]

Faber Castell. I bought an Ambition pen and lost the cap. In order to get a replacement cap, I had to send the whole pen back to their service department. After a month or two, I e-mailed them to find out what was going on. They said that they only communicate by phone (what century are we in?) and that in addition to the cap, the nib was bent and had to be replaced/fixed. The pen was carefully wrapped and the nib was fine when i mailed it to them. I told them to keep the pen.

[grahamtillotson]

Interesting thread -- thanks. For me it would be Sheaffer, Parker, Stipula, Noodlers, and Aurora. The last one may be a surprise but for me every nib I've had, even on an 88, was bad out of the box. I got lucky with a Monteverde but would probably not go for another one of those. Absolute favorite lately is Delta -- always amazing out of the box for me every time. Pilot too.

 

Graham

[tragique]

Lamy. QC should not be so bad on a pen that costs $120+.

[FOUR X FOUR]

I don't care for Chinese pens, and I'm not real fond of most Domestic brands.

[gordonhooker]

I believe all fountain pens have their own appeal so after many years of using fountain pens I would say there is none I wouldn't buy if I had the disposable cash to do so, but there are outlets that I wouldn't buy through.

 

I am on my 3rd attempt to get 2 Jinhao X750's delivered from Hong Kong - if they don't arrive this time I will just update ebay with a negative feedback response and learn by experience. The seller has been most helpful in initially offering my money back but promised they would send it again and it should get here (Australia) the cost is under AU$15 so it not worth pushing the issue but I will warn others about the issue.

[DrDebG]

This has been a great topic to read through. The variety of responses was surprising to me.

 

I think we can all agree that a fountain pen is as very personal instrument, as is the ink that goes in the pen.

 

Honestly, I haven't tried them all, but I am not terribly impressed with Noodlers:

** I had a Noodler's Ahab and even with instruction, I could not get the *&^% thing to write. I sent it back to Goulet's, which they were very gracious about.

** I love some of the colors of Noodler's inks, but I find the formulations to be less than desirable. I purchased a bottle of Apache Sunset which everyone raves about. I tried it in many of my pens and loved it. The only problem was with my medium, broad and stub nibs (the majority of my pen collection). The ink took a very long time to dry and left a sticky residue on the paper that caused smearing. Also, it was almost impossible to clean from my pens. I really want to like Noodler's inks and have tried many others (Saguaro Wine, Eels, Baystate Blue, etc) and have not found one that I like the formulation of and has not been very difficult to clean out. YEAUCK!!!!!

 

I am also not impressed with the variable quality of Conklin pens. Out of the 5 or 6 I have tried, I only found one that worked for me.

[Bookman]

 

Every dealing I have had with MB reps has been very pleasant and businesslike. Even their lower end pens I have bought like the 144 have been better functioning pens than almost every other type I have used. So, by getting mad at MB you are denying yourself one of the best pen experiences.

 

I'm confident that this was Montblanc's loss. By getting snotty with me, it denied itself a Bookman experience.

[richardandtracy]

I have a few brands I'd like to add to this topic, that at the moment I'd not buy from:

1. Yiren/Bookworm. Older Chinese designs that are not up to current standards.
2. Guang Ming. Awful.
3. Huashilai. A Chinese manufacturer with no pretentions to quality except in their H3000 Pen.
4. Stipula. 100% of their pens I have bought (one) have been as bad as the above appaling Chinese brands for quality & writing ability. I shall never be suckered into a second.

Regards,

 

Richard.

[mmg122]

I like most modern and vintage pens and have quite a diverse collection (favorites being

Parker, Esterbrook, Pelikan, Wahl-Eversharp and Montblanc).

 

Pens I wouldn't take even for free include the new Conklin, the new Esterbrook and any Noodler pen. Actually, I wouldn't use those three brands even if paid.