So, Has Anyone's Twsbi Not Broken?

[brandonweng0426]

Mine got a little problem(leaky grip), but you can always send it back and ask them to get it fixed. I had sent my 580 back 2 times, they didn't make me pay for anything.

(I live in Taiwan, so it's really easy find a dealer to do that for me)

[Mannyonpil]

I am a few weeks in and no problems as of yet.

[pokermind]

My 540 smoke cap snapped at the cap ring just the other day

And I was really getting to like this pen.

Emailed TWSBI, awaiting response.

[Mannyonpil]

My 580 is still doing well. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[Cyber6]

I have (had):

 

• 2 - 530
• 4 - 540
• 5 - 580 (2 Diamond, 2 Diamond LE, 1 Rose Gold)
• 1 - mini

 

This is between me and my teenage girls (2 girls)

 

ALL the 540 have broken in one way or another. Cap, barrel, feed, neck.. sigh. Surprisingly, the 530 (oldest) are holding fine. The 580 are the newest one, so I won't know until more years have passed.

 

 

I believe there was a severe design flaw on the 540.

 

 

 

C.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Cyber6

[ScienceChick]

Update: Two 580s, one Mini - all in use for over a year, zero problems. I do think that the problems with the 530s and 540s have mostly been resolved in subsequent pens.

 

I've only had the Eco about a month but nothing bad has happened. I hope I haven't jinxed myself.

 

Edited for clarity

Edited October 9, 2015 by ScienceChick

[dunc3862]

Two Twist's...a mini and a 580. The bigger 580 is broken at the cap.

 

[NewPenMan]

Any circumstances to share, dunc?

[Blue_Moon]

Two Twist's...a mini and a 580. The bigger 580 is broken at the cap.

 

 

 

Any circumstances to share, dunc?

 

It's kinda just the way it is with many TWSBIs.

[JonSzanto]

I used my original 540 all day, and my Mini for a while this morning. Both appear, still, unbroken. It's ridiculous.

[mhosea]

Sold my Amber 540. Thought everything was cool. Packaged it up in its original packaging right after snapping pictures. Shipped it. The buyer got it and unscrewed the cap. The cap band stayed on the pen because the plastic broke where it meets the cap band. Only thing I can figure is that I stressed it there by a little side-to-side wiggle when posting and unposting. No idea why it came apart in transit (maybe just exposure to vibration). So passes another 540.

Edited November 16, 2015 by mhosea

[besynes]

So ... I have a Diamond Mini Clear (EF) (bought direct from TWSBI in April, 2013), plus the 580AL Silver (EF) and the wonderfully functional TWSBI ink bottle (from Jetpens in May, 2015). In a strange way, my experience seems to capture the range of experiences with this pen maker.

 

The good:

 

1) excellent writers right out of the box: smooth, plus a bit of nice feedback. Never a hard start; skipping almost non-existent. I use both pens daily.

2) well-proportioned, nice capacity, and simple yet attractive designs

3) tremendous value for piston fillers

4) No problems with the 580AL whatsoever--I love it. Both pens behave well with all kinds of ink, too.

 

The bad:

 

1) despite careful treatment (stored in cases, no dropping, no over-tightening of components, routine cleanings), my Mini developed the dreaded barrel cracks; then later, a gasket issue.

 

The perfect:

 

1) Philip Wang at TWSBI sent me a replacement barrel--very quickly, and for free.

2) When I had a second issue with the same pen (the gasket detached from the piston and was stuck in the up position, immune to ultrasonic and other extraction techniques), Mr. Wang requested that I send him the entire pen. Less than a week later I had a pristine and perfectly functioning Mini--again, for free.

 

We do not live in a perfect world. All we can ask from each other is to make things right when things go wrong. Obviously we know that plenty of people do not do this. But TWSBI does. I am very happy to buy and use their pens, and to interact with them as a company.

[Icywolfe]

On my 700 the rubber oring somehow snapped on the inside stick and there was crack forming on the end the pen. Also those issued caused the cap to be flooded with ink.

 

While the Mini Rose gold.... nothing has broke.

 

My luck was 50%

[abstract49]

Vac 700, which I don't use a lot, and a Diamond 580, which I use daily. No cracks or any other problems.

[Freddy]

Freddy, on 18 Jan 2015 - 13:52, said:

Ooo....Ooo....

 

Have TWSBI first generation Diamond 530..five years old..540..580..and

Vac 700..no problemo..whatsoever..............................................................

 

Toody is listening to Yes I'm Ready..Terri Desario..next track..Just Remember

I Love You..Firefall....Louder..Francis Muldoon.....................................................

 

Fred

bacon beans and limousines

~ Will Rogers

listening to Satin Doll..Duke Ellington

 

Update....Still no problemo with any includin' the Eco that

I've been carryin' and usin'..................

 

Fred

rebalance your fortunes....divide your fortune....

~ Jacob Fugger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....Still..no problemo....Wednesday, December 30, 2015 12:43 PM

listening to Check to Cheek....Oscar Peterson Trio....

 

Fred

I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all....

[alexander_k]

My only casualty so far has been the cap of the Diamond 530. TWSBI was quick to replace it for a nominal fee, so all's well with my TWSBI pens.

[JonSzanto]

In a very short while (March 2016), my TWSBI 540 will be FIVE years old. Never one single problem. This last year I added a Mini, previously owned, to the collection; again, it has performed like a champ, and is one of my 3 EDC pens, transported in a Nock Co. case.

 

I have to think that there are a lot of people like me out there, who have TWSBI pens that just quietly do what a pen is supposed to do, month after month. Still probably the single best $50.00 pen purchase (new) I've ever made.

[Erik Dalton]

My problems have been with the TWISBI classics. These for some reason are my favorites for the way they fit in my hand. But, I have four. Two of them leak ink all over my fingers. I don't trust them anymore.

My 580's, vac700's, mini's are all perfect and a pleasure to write with.

[mhosea]

I have to think that there are a lot of people like me out there, who have TWSBI pens that just quietly do what a pen is supposed to do, month after month. Still probably the single best $50.00 pen purchase (new) I've ever made.

 

Failure rates are difficult to suss from the vantage point of an individual user. It's only the pattern that emerges from a lot of data that makes the case. A 1% failure rate would imply 99 TWSBIs that don't break (without being ill-treated) to every 1 that does. That might be OK. I don't really know what the industry standards are. I don't have the hundreds of pens that would be needed to decide whether 1 in a 100 is common. What I do know is that molded plastics have internal stresses, and occasionally there will be stress molded in where you really can't have it. So every now and again, a molded plastic pen is going to break without being mistreated in any way. The rate that this occurs is going to vary according to a large number of variables. Parker 61's are made of polystyrene and are notorious for cracking, for example, and Parker 51's, which are made of a different plastic, are not. But that doesn't mean a 61 is going to crack on you (if you're careful, at least), and it doesn't mean that 51 won't.

 

Suppose, however, that the failure rate is 10%, i.e. for every 90 TWSBI's that don't break (without being ill-treated), there are 10 that do. That, I think, would be a HUGE failure rate. What if it's 20%? That would mean roughly 80% of one-TWSBI pen owners would be out there scratching their heads about what folks are complaining about. Even if you bought 3 TWSBIs at that failure rate, you would have better than 50/50 odds of never having one crack. But that's still a huge failure rate! If that were the industry standard, I think I should be seeing at least of few of my other modern pens cracking spontaneously without me doing anything to deserve it. And yet, I don't see that, and I don't think a lot of people do. Even if the failure rate were 50%, I'm sure there would still be a lot of satisfied customers out there. It's a game of chance, and with the steady drone of complaints about cracking that I've seen over the years, I'm just not liking the odds.

 

That said, apparently customer support is good, so you're risking the hassle of having to follow up on it, I guess. Then, with a replacement pen in hand, you reach into that big urn and pull out another ball.

Edited December 31, 2015 by mhosea

[Freddy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....Still..no problemo....Wednesday, December 30, 2015 12:43 PM

listening to Chee*k to Cheek....Oscar Peterson Trio....

 

Fred

I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all....

 

Redacting: to remove C and replace with E.....

Yes, heaven, I'm in heaven. When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

I was born before: Chuck Yeager created the first sonic boom.....

Mohawk indian iron workers did their high wire act..and shut down the

69th street ferry.................................................................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2015 by Freddy