Pen shoppes:Attitude,quantity,etc

[amadeus06]

QUOTE (acfrery @ Mar 7 2007, 06:11 PM)

QUOTE (amadeus06 @ Mar 7 2007, 12:54 AM) -The Nonsensical: (AKA Retros) Nonsensicals are quite common. I usually get one at least twice a week. They look like the regular pen shopper, but with a small exception of a detail....they dont have sence. They will ask you. "But does the Dolce Vita come in pink?" and i will answer "No, ma'am they come in black resin with orange and sterling silver trimmings, and they come in black resin with an orange celluloid body and again a sterling silver trimming" to which they will reply, "does it come in a Pink trim?" and i will reply "no" and they will reply "what about an orange with pink?" to which i will blink in a stupifing trance and reply "no, see they make it in the dolce vita, and the soiree. One is orange with black, the other is black" To which the nonsensical customer will sigh in a manner of understanding and reply, "ah...but will they make it like navy blue?...with pink?...". I will scratch my nose and say "No" and she will say " oh ok, well if i get the black one can i get one with the MontBlanc logo on it?" Did you say it does not come in pink?   http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/images/delta_images/DE84340.jpg     Great analysis. Thanks a lot!   Alejandro Holy Monkey balls!   ROFL!   I actually used that as a ficticious example, i never actually had a customer ask for this specific color. I didnt know they made it though! lol, but i dont think thats the dolce vita, though it's very similar, isnt that from the passion collection? the come in that hot pink and baby poop yellow!   but it's true, people will ask me constantly for a color in a pen and i tell them they dont make it in that color and they will continue asking the same question over and over and over in different ways hoping to get a different answer.   The best example was when a customer came in and for the love of god could not understand that i couldnt get her a classique montblanc pen without the logo. "Could you special order one?" "no" "Can you engrave it off?" "no" "can you check your back room?" "sure but i wont have one"

Edited March 7, 2007 by amadeus06

[coolpenz]

Great breakdown, Amadeus! And thsoe type of shoppers can apply to almost any segment of retail. 100 years ago, when I worked in a bookstore, we'd get people we called "literary lions," who would ask, for example, "Yes, I"m looking for Grapes of Wrath by Jack London. My friend told me to get it." I'd try to point out, as diplomatically as possible, that while Jack London is a fine author, Grapes of Wrath was actually written by John Steinbeck, although his foiends might have called him Jack -haha... I'd then walk them over to the book and hand it to them, and get something like, "This isn't the book I want! Didn't I say Jack London?? You don't listen, do you?" Biting my tongue so hard it bled, I'd tell them, still diplomatically, that we don't carry the version by London. Then, of course, I was asked to order it, at which time I'd show them there was no listing for it in Books in Print; in fact there were no listings for that title other than Steinbeck. The usual response, "You guys suck. You don't have anything! I'm going to another store!"

And there were customers who wanted to talk books all day... Ah, the joys of retail....

 

Oh, yeah; pen shops. There are really only a few around here. Paradise Pen isn't snotty, but the staff, who is friendly enough and acceptable knowledgeable, seems to be more interested in serving those people (and there are a LOT of them) who come in to buy a "status" pen. Never mind the look or model; it's the name that counts. (And naturally, we all know which name is most often mentioned....). Or they want one that will go well with their suits or purse (can you tell I overhear a lot?). I kid you not on that last one. And most are of the "if it costs more it must be better" mentality, which just perpetuates the myths...

 

The others are either stationery or cigar stores that also carry some pens, but the folks there know their stuff more than you'd think. Not experts, but enough to suggest or NOT suggest a certain pen.

[Sharkle]

 

Hi! Another Bertram's Inkwell customer here. The staff at Bertram's in Baltimore are definitely P-E-N people, although one of them tends to herd me over to the Aurora counter . It is nice to spend time in a shop with a knowledgeable staff and some vintage pens to show. They have given me a few little things like refills for free before. Paradise Pen staff seems to vary a lot. I haven't been to many pen stores, quite honestly, but I have a brother in NYC, so next time I visit I'll check out Joon and FPH.

 

 

[georges zaslavsky]

Quite an interesting list Amadeus

[omasfan]

Here is my experience with a retailer that has been described as very friendly and fair in this thread. It was a rather negative one. Therefore:

1. I will not mention names here (guess for yourself)

2. I will not disabuse you of visiting this store and making your own experience

3. I will not want to start hate wars

 

Well, I was glad to discover this nice store in our city where such stores are rather rare despite 2 mio. people urban sprawl. Their prices are approx. 10-15% above what you would find on sites like worldlux or fountainpenhospital. That means, you pay more if you go to this store.

Since the guys really seem to know a lot about pens, I would enjoy going to their store AND I was willing to fork over the extra dough because I love having a neighborhood store with nice and real people. As time went buy, I left a lot of money at this store, and the owners as well as me came to know and appreciate each other and everything was fine.

Then, one day, I bought a rather expensive Italian celluloid pen. Unfortunately this pen leaked around the section. As I know now, this can be easily cured if you have Giovanni's non-hardening sealant for $6. Well, despite the fact that the guys at this said store are fountain pen nuts, they don't have such a sealant for in-store repairs, in fact they don't offer such repairs at all. That was my first disappointment, but I can understand this. They don't want to get their hands dirty and possibly damage (although unlikely in this case) an expensive pen.

Well, I called in and reported the leaking pen. The owner was very nice and said that he'd just go ahead and order a new one from his distributor. A week passes by and he doesn't call me. So I call him, and he says, he hasn't heard back from him. Ok, another week passes by. No update!

At the same time, I am at a very big pen show that takes place nearby. There is a merchant that offers the same pen for $150 less. Well, I am kind of shocked. Did I just spend $600 on a pen (that is still leaking) where I would have had to spend only $450?

I tell the pen show guy about my problems (by the way, an authorized dealer of that brand, not some dude). He tells me, that there is always the possibility to ask the guys at the store for a refund.

Hmmm, I went home thinking. No, I cannot do this. A deal is a deal. I've bought the pen for the higher price, and so a deal is a deal.

Well, another week goes by and the pen is still leaking (in fact, I've put it aside, I cannot use a leaking pen without staining my hands).

Those $150 begin to rankle with me. They rankle mightily. I finally give my said local dealer a call. And guess what he says: Just yesterday he talked to his distributor, and unfortunately the pen is discontinued. But he could send the pen to Italy for me. Well, I think, just yesterday, ahaaaaa, so, it took the guy three weeks to get in touch with his distributor to tell me this. And don't forget: I had to call my dealer three times. HE would NOT call back.

Well, at this moment I think, I am the customer, and if the dealer slacks, I don't want this pen go to Italy for 2 months. Plus, I could save the $150 (which is a lot of money). So I ask my local dealer for a refund, and he gladly does it, although he kind of pulls a sour face when he gives me the check for $600. I then buy this pen from the pen show guy and save my $150.

I want to stress that if the pen had been ok or that if the dealer would have taken care of it in a quicker and more decisive way, I would have NEVER asked to return a bought pen in order to buy it someplace else to save money. Do you think that was wrong? I don't think so.

 

So far, so good (or not). The story goes on. I got a Visconti Traveling Inkpot from the same local dealer that I had bought 2 months ago. The insert came loose all of a sudden, and that was a crystal-clear case where the warranty kicks in. I didn't want to but I went to the store another time in order to ask them about it. I still remembered the face the owner pulled when he gave me the $600 refund for the leaking pen. Well, they said they had already backordered the inkpots, and "as soon as it hits our door, we'll give you a call!". I was happy and went home. But weeks passed by and I never heard from them. Finally after 5 weeks I called them again, and the owner told me that "just yesterday" they had come in. What a coincidence. "Just yesterday" sounded familiar to me. When I had to wait for a response for the leaking pen, the distributor also had called "Just Yesterday". I got my inkpot and went home. I swore not to give it another try.

Well, I wanted to try a Diamine ink one day so bad, and I thought: Well, it's just a bottle of ink. Let's do it. Go to them, and you don't have to order online and wait. So I went ONE LAST TIME. Unfortunately, they were out of that specific color. But they promised me the following: "as soon as it hits our door, we'll give you a call!" Does this phrase ring familiar?

As you all can imagine, they never called me. The ink issue was three months ago. I know that Diamine had delays, but all retailers that I know have been supplied by now.

I know that these guys are "good people" in the common sense even if they have slacked. But why don't they take better care of their regulars? I WANTED to stick with them, WANTED to buy at their place. But since they never called me back on three different products, I must assume that they don't want to do business with me. That in mind, I cannot go to their store anymore without appearing "needy". If they don't want me, I'll happily shop someplace else. And honestly, after having shopped mostly online, I have gotten some really hot deals on gorgeous pens (also from our marketplace which is, by the way, awesome)

My local dealer has no advantage for me anymore. If I have problems with the pens I might as well just ship them myself to the distributors for warranty purposes. And I can find out the distributor's address myself, don't need the "friendly" retailer folks in my city to do that.

 

What still baffles me to this very day is, why they never made any effort with a really good customer who had bought a lot. They are not so busy to lose a customer easily and times are tough for all pen retailers.

Well, that was my little story. Thanks for reading.

 

(Edited for typos)

Edited March 7, 2007 by dupontfan

[Spongebob]

Sad story, dupont fan. Unfortunately, some sellers are only customer-oriented for the few moments you're in their face in the shop. I've had this experience with camera shops and even my last auto purchase. When you are there with your money you are their best friend..until something goes wrong.

 

I think you've come to the correct conclusion: vote with your feet (or mouse) and shop elsewhere. And no, you shouldn't feel bad about returning a defective product that they were not help with in favor of buying a properly working product somewhere else, regardless of the discount. This is something that took me years to understand but my wife does easily: If you're disatisfied for any reason, return it and move on.

 

Good luck

[Jazzbaby]

Amadeus, I think those same people shop in our store too. I work in a music shop, intruments, not CD's, & my normal job is ordering, but I do get my fair share of time at the front counter dealing with customers. Anyone who has never worked retail should try it even for just a day. You'll likely come away shaking your head & asking yourself if you ever act the same way. And probably become a smarter shopper for it, if only to avoid being pigeon-holed into those categories.