Twsbi: In Case You Have Problem With Your Twsbi Pen

[Strombomboli]

It's a strange thing with these TWSBIs, isn't it? You don't want to give up on them even if they don't work as you would like them to. I like all the pens I use daily, I like them with their peculiarities, but the only one I really love and can't get enough of is the TWSBI.

 

That's except for my oldest one, of course, which was my only one for a very long time; that one is like family. Perfect family, because it never let me down, never! (It's a Pelikan Silvexa 21 with an OBB gold nib.)

[alc3261]

I got 2 replacement nib units sent from Taiwan, no hassle at all.

No change, nothing. My pens are now 100%

Not sure why I had no trouble when other people have had to jump through hoops?

[moylek]

  On 5/23/2013 at 12:22 AM, alc3261 said:

I got 2 replacement nib units sent from Taiwan, no hassle at all.

No change, nothing. My pens are now 100%

Not sure why I had no trouble when other people have had to jump through hoops?

 

You did have to pay to ship the units back to Taiwan, though - yes?

[alc3261]

  On 5/23/2013 at 2:08 PM, moylek said:

 

You did have to pay to ship the units back to Taiwan, though - yes?

No, I still have the original nibs. They did not ask for anything back, they just shipped me the replacement nib units totally free after 1 email.

[moylek]

  On 5/23/2013 at 2:18 PM, alc3261 said:

No, I still have the original nibs. They did not ask for anything back, they just shipped me the replacement nib units totally free after 1 email.

 

!

 

I evidently need a cuter icon or something.

[AAN]

Seems TWSBIs customer care is as consistent as its quality control.

[moylek]

  On 5/23/2013 at 4:28 PM, AAN said:

Seems TWSBIs customer care is as consistent as its quality control.

 

I actually went back to re-read my last message from Philip Wang to make sure that I didn't misunderstand or misremember.

 

 

  Quote

 

On 2013-04-30, at 9:42 AM, Philip Wang <twsbiinc@gmail.com> wrote:

If you really cant figure it out you can always send it to me and I will fix it for you. Here is the address just in case:

 

 

 

Seems pretty clear that I have to pay to send the units back.

[msolok]

And here is my major beef with TWSBI about this. I understand that sometimes things slip through QC and arrive in a non-functioning state. That is acceptable to me.

 

What is unacceptable is a company that provides different answers and solutions to different customers. Some customers are instantly offered new nib units sent out at no cost to them. Others, such as myself, basically get called a liar and what I have reported is incorrect and can't happen because of their 'stringent' QC process. And then there are others whom don't even receive an answer from the company. I have heard TWSBI being touted as having the best customer service, yet this sort of thing is going on. It's unacceptable and complete rubbish.

 

After my work trying to resolve the issues with my TWSBI nibs, I still have some issues.

 

I am going to send another email to TWSBI asking for an explanation. I want to know how the company can so blatantly ignore some customers but look after others so well. I also want to know why Speedy started this thread but has now abandoned those in it who continue to have issues.

 

I agree with AAN here. TWSBI's customer care is as hit and miss as their products themselves.

[mhguda]

Well, msolok, and AAN too, I want to say thank you again. Because of the issues the two of you brought to our attention, I, in an out-of-the-beaten-path location, am steering clear of TWSBI, even though I was seriously considering getting a VAC 700.

I hope you sort it all out, but even if not, that you do continue to tell us of developments. It is just as important to know what goes wrong as what goes right.

[Timeline]

Glad I read this thread, I can scratch TWSBI off my list to buy.

[Strombomboli]

No, don't scratch them off your list. It seems to be a drag having to deal with their customer service, but not always. More importantly, though, they are lovely pens. I had to fiddlle around a little with my 580, but now it's my favourite pen!

[Harlequin]

Yeah, I agree that scratching them off of your list based on a severe minority of people with bad experiences, as compared to the vast throngs who have nothing but praise for the pen and company, may be shortsighted. EVERY pen brand has isolated problems- and they are still having those issues (be they customer service, manufacturing, etc.)- 80 years into their existence*. TWSBI is a 5 yr old company, so it is to be expected. I think the best course is to see if you like the pen when and if you choose to get one. If not, the service becomes almost a moot point.

 

*I picked a number, you can substitute any number of years you want.

[msolok]

So, I have exchanged a few more emails with TWSBI since I last posted. A quick rundown of the emails is:

 

I sent them a email asking why some people seem to get preferential treatment and nib units sent to them at no cost, yet others had to foot the costs (even is TWSBI is willing to foot half the bill) to send pens back to them. I also pointed out this thread and illustrated and the issues people on this forum and some others have been reporting they are having.

 

I got a ranting email back from TWSBI (in which they accused me of ranting) saying that I keep changing the subject and going off on tangents (but this was the first time I had mentioned the forums or other peoples issues) and not talking about my pens (although I ONLY mentioned my pens in the other emails to TWSBI). It was mentioned that they only send out replacement nib units in cases where they:

'knew of some problem with the nib already. Thats why we didn't need the customer to send back the old one. There were specific nibs that we knew of that did not perform as well, so without question, we switched the nib for the customer once we were able to identify those nibs from email with those customers.' (Did TWSBI really just say they are sending out known defective nibs???)

'but everything you keep saying are argumentative words'

 

So I responded back saying this was the first time I broughy up about forums and other peoples issues, pointed out that they had offered to send me out replacement nibs and then backflipped on it, and that my email was pointing out others with issues and highlighting that there might be a problem. I also mentioned that I thought it was appalling for a company to explode at a customer for pointing out that there there might be some QC issues and it's a few people reporting the same issues now.

 

I got a further email back from TWSBI after this. In this email they said

'Again I repeat, every case is different. The ones that were sent nibs without them returning the old ones back to us was because we knew there was something wrong on our end with it in the first place.'

'There are no recalls or known defects on the pens you purchased'

 

So, again TWSBI seem to be indicating that they send out pens with known defects. These comments are, to me, a bit of a concern.

But in this same email TWSBI has also said that I only brought up 1 of the pens as having an issue, and then I changed my story to all 3 having issues so they want to be sure that there are issues.

 

So, I went back over our email history and I noted that I have indeed in EVERY email pointed out all 3 pens are having issues, not just 1. This includes the very first emails I sent to both TWSBI email address on 2 different dates.

So, needless to say I have responded to TWSBI quoting the parts where I clearly mentioned the 3 pens having issues.

 

I have just received a response from TWSBI which begins with:

'How much more are you going to complain. I cannot believe one person can complain this much. Its getting very irritating now for us to go back and forth.'

 

I'm not going to bother reading any more than that. Waste of my time, to be honest.

 

 

Honestly, in the space of the last day TWSBI has, in my eyes and opinon, gone from having average customer service (about what you would expect from most companies) to being one of the worst companies I have had to deal with. Honestly they have turned to being rude and making up stories and flip-flopping on their decisions. It's honestly, been quite amazing to read.

[vishwaskrishna]

Sad to see TWSBI putting the blame on you. Really cannot understand their customer service policy. I guess, only those living in US and Europe receive good service from them. Others might have to sort out whatever issues they have by themselves.

[AAN]

My opinion of TWSBI has changed over the course of my encounter with them and reading other people's experiences.

 

I, like a recent poster, was very keen to hang onto my TWSBI, despite the fact that neither nib worked properly. I believed that TWSBI had a vision to produce robust, innovative pens at a reasonable price. As part of this vision I believed they were eager to receive feedback from users so that their product could be constantly improved.

 

I emailed them in this spirit, not wanting anything but advice from them. My email was ignored. Twice.

After a third email expressing regret that no response had been forthcoming, I was told they hadn't received the first two emails. I sent it again with an explanation that the problem had been sorted by my UK retailer.

 

They requested a photo of the pen and spare nib. This presumably because they suspected that I was lying about the pen. They then told me to send it back to them registered mail for repair. I repeated that it did not need repair anymore.

 

It now seems to me that they are actually not interested in feedback at all, just in getting customers off their back as quickly as possible. Msolok, who bought his pens directly from them, has had terrible treatment from them. I personally am not consoled by other posts suggesting that all manufacturers have problems, or that I should use a pencil if I want a reliable writing implement. With customers who feel like this about things they buy, TWSBI can afford to be casual or dismissive, but it doesn't bode we'll for their future.

 

My initially very positive view of TWSBI has now become, sadly, a very jaded view. I would advise against buying anything from them.

[Strombomboli]

Whow. I've never heard of a company treating their customers like that.

 

I think, though, that they don't want to get customers off their back, but that they just never learned how to deal with customers, i.e., when turning from producing for others to producing under their own brand, they obviously didn't realize that in this case you have to deal directly with the customer aka real people.

Edited May 25, 2013 by Strombomboli

[Fabienne]

My 2 cents is that TWSBI has been sterling to me. They fixed my problems and I did send back a pen (580) at my expense to a US address and they sent me back not only the replacement for the nib in the pen but for another nib as well free. They paid for shipping back. I have no gripes with TWSBI and I dealt with them politely all the while.

[Federalist Pens]

I want to post a positive note here about TWSBI service!

 

I recently got a replacement section for my 530 Demo pen- the plastic section started to crack, and I wrote Speedy about it! TWSBI wrote back, gave me return instructions- and I got a new one! No issues- no worries!

 

Thanks for great service!!

 

Regards,

Frank

[mhguda]

From this end, it does seem to me that if you're in the USA, the experience is mostly good, but other places on the planet are much less sure of getting the positive experience. And since I'm in such a location, I prefer to not run the risk. I think both posters with the very negative experiences stayed correct in their dealings with TWSBI, even though I would not think it strange if they were to start sounding irritated - by rights, they were. Msolok got the short end of extremely rude, in my book, for standing up and demanding equal service. To be told off in such a way... If this is what TWSBI thinks of non-USA customers, I for one do not need to find out if this was a statistical fluke or standard policy from them. There are many other good pens out there.

[hari317]

Msolok, AAN, thanks for exposing the underbelly of the so called "stellar" TWSBI service, maybe only for the USA buyers. UK buyers appear to be adequately looked after by the retailers.