Bought A Fake Safari...

[arcadeflow]

  On 5/21/2015 at 11:21 PM, Sailor Kenshin said:

Amazon is usually very good about refunds, even with third-party stuff.

 

Yeah, but still, why bother with them when you can get the real deal without trouble and support the owners of shops that keep our passion alive? And their price is good and they allow you to pick any color and nib you want, some shops will sell these pens with specialty nibs like the italics that are not available from factory. I keep spreading the word.

[KBeezie]

I would report to Amazon regardless, not just because they might help resolve your problem, but counterfeits are illegal in most countries (especially the one that Amazon operates out of) and it's a crime that should be reported so that the resellers can no longer sell there (or just make it annoying for them to have to come up with a new seller identity).

 

But far as where to get them. If you're already paying the normal 28~30 price tag for the safari, there are plenty of 'authorized' retailers to choose from.

[synerr]

I just bought my first 2 Safaris, from seemingly large two stationery pushers, both off amazon in F NIB:

A Vista from this storefront:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?marketplaceID=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&me=A294G2PN8TMVR8&merchant=A294G2PN8TMVR8&redirect=true

 

And an Umbra from this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?marketplaceID=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&me=A2OOUO0JUR7N0I&merchant=A2OOUO0JUR7N0I&redirect=true

 

They both look pretty legit but having seen some pretty impressive counterfeits on Ali Express and not having anything to compare against I am going a bit paranoid. The construction is rock solid and the injection survives scrutiny under an eye loupe.

 

Under eye loupe it was possible to notice that the slit is slightly off centre to the hole especially on the vista.

 

However, note worthy is that both pens did not come with any printed instructions or cardboard box but rather a pretty slim card box.

 

Any thoughts?

http://synerr.com/lamy/plainbox.jpg

Edited May 24, 2015 by synerr

[Sailor Kenshin]

  On 5/22/2015 at 11:13 PM, arcadeflow said:

Yeah, but still, why bother with them when you can get the real deal without trouble and support the owners of shops that keep our passion alive? And their price is good and they allow you to pick any color and nib you want, some shops will sell these pens with specialty nibs like the italics that are not available from factory. I keep spreading the word.

Because I have Amazon Prime and I wanted to.

 

And I agree...OP should have reported the fake. Amazon also does not want to be in the business of selling counterfeits.

[FrankvK]

  On 5/24/2015 at 12:11 PM, synerr said:

I just bought my first 2 Safaris, from seemingly large two stationery pushers, both off amazon in F NIB:

 

A Vista from this storefront:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?marketplaceID=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&me=A294G2PN8TMVR8&merchant=A294G2PN8TMVR8&redirect=true

 

And an Umbra from this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?marketplaceID=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&me=A2OOUO0JUR7N0I&merchant=A2OOUO0JUR7N0I&redirect=true

 

They both look pretty legit but having seen some pretty impressive counterfeits on Ali Express and not having anything to compare against I am going a bit paranoid. The construction is rock solid and the injection survives scrutiny under an eye loupe.

 

Under eye loupe it was possible to notice that the slit is slightly off centre to the hole especially on the vista.

 

However, note worthy is that both pens did not come with any printed instructions or cardboard box but rather a pretty slim card box.

 

Any thoughts?

 

http://synerr.com/lamy/plainbox.jpg

This is the packaging pens often come in from Lamy to the retailer.

The retailer ' should' pack it in a retail box when sending / selling it to the customer, you

[synerr]

  On 5/24/2015 at 5:56 PM, FrankvK said:

This is the packaging pens often come in from Lamy to the retailer.

The retailer ' should' pack it in a retail box when sending / selling it to the customer, you

 

Cool. I suppose in the great scheme of things that's a good thing then :-) Appreciated.

[jpnyc]

Synerr: if you're really paranoid about them being fake, the easiest thing to judge from off pictures alone is the nib. The breather hole on every fake I've seen is in the wrong place.

[synerr]

  On 5/24/2015 at 7:11 PM, jpnyc said:

Synerr: if you're really paranoid about them being fake, the easiest thing to judge from off pictures alone is the nib. The breather hole on every fake I've seen is in the wrong place.

 

Thanks for the tip. As I don't have a known good/bad to compare you wouldn't have to have the 'correct' dimensions I can compare against?

[welch]

I'd agree the suggestion above: buy from a real pen / stationery store. In addition to Goulet's and Jetpens, there are the good old pen shops. In the US, try Fountain Pen Hospital, Fahrney's in DC, VanNess in Little Rock. I bought a few Safaris from Art Brown's the all time great, but now gone, store in mid-town Manhattan.

 

I don't know stores in other countries, aside from The Writing Desk (UK) and Akkerman's (Den Haag...Nederlanders: note the correct spelling!). Also Jetpens ()US) and Cult Pens (UK).

 

My experience: the price at physical stores" is not much different from the price on-line. If on-line is half the store-price, skip it.

 

If you are near a "real pen store", you can open the box an look at the Safari. Try the grip (I hate the grip, but that's me).

[synerr]

Here's the off centric slit on the Vista. Tempted to return it at this point.

 

 

http://synerr.com/lamyvista.png

Edited May 25, 2015 by synerr

[KBeezie]

Can also see that off-centering here too.

 

[synerr]

  On 5/25/2015 at 1:14 PM, KBeezie said:

Can also see that off-centering here too.

 

 

Sent it back and ordered same from Cult Pens.

 

Regarless of whether it's fake or not that nib is pretty shoddy workmanship. The rest looks pretty ok though and quality plastic work.

Edited May 25, 2015 by synerr

[jpnyc]

Snyerr: It looks like I am too slow to be of use to you. However, I just took this picture from a link posted earlier in this thread:

 

http://imgsrc.baidu.com/forum/w%3D580/sign=d41e524d7b310a55c424defc87444387/2e75a3d3fd1f4134b422cdc0271f95cad0c85ee6.jpg

 

 

 

The fake that I had looked exactly like the middle picture. If you draw a horizontal line at the breather hole, it does not line up with the 'corners' where the nib transitions from a squared-off shape closer to the pen to the triangular taper toward the tip.

 

Your breather hole looked to be in the right place to me. Either the counterfeiters are doing a better job or yours was just a bad-QC authentic Lamy.

 

Edit: Link fixed?

Edited May 25, 2015 by jpnyc

[synerr]

  On 5/25/2015 at 4:22 PM, jpnyc said:

Snyerr: It looks like I am too slow to be of use to you. However, I just took this picture from a link posted earlier in this thread:

 

2e75a3d3fd1f4134b422cdc0271f95cad0c85ee6.jpg

 

 

The fake that I had looked exactly like the middle picture. If you draw a horizontal line at the breather hole, it does not line up with the 'corners' where the nib transitions from a squared-off shape closer to the pen to the triangular taper toward the tip.

 

Your breather hole looked to be in the right place to me. Either the counterfeiters are doing a better job or yours was just a bad-QC authentic Lamy.

 

Your image link is broken

 

I looked closely at the workmanship and either it's as good as the real thing or it is the real thing. The nib however should have not passed QA and for that reason alone I would have sent it back.

[jpnyc]

The forum is being oddly picky about copy-pasting image links. I think I fixed it.

[KBeezie]

  On 5/25/2015 at 7:40 PM, jpnyc said:

The forum is being oddly picky about copy-pasting image links. I think I fixed it.

Nope, still bad image, probably only shows up when you visited the site and have it cached.

Edited May 25, 2015 by KBeezie

[icemanh]

  On 5/25/2015 at 4:22 PM, jpnyc said:

Snyerr: It looks like I am too slow to be of use to you. However, I just took this picture from a link posted earlier in this thread:

 

http://imgsrc.baidu.com/forum/w%3D580/sign=d41e524d7b310a55c424defc87444387/2e75a3d3fd1f4134b422cdc0271f95cad0c85ee6.jpg

 

 

 

The fake that I had looked exactly like the middle picture. If you draw a horizontal line at the breather hole, it does not line up with the 'corners' where the nib transitions from a squared-off shape closer to the pen to the triangular taper toward the tip.

 

Your breather hole looked to be in the right place to me. Either the counterfeiters are doing a better job or yours was just a bad-QC authentic Lamy.

 

Edit: Link fixed?

 

I think you are referring to below post?

 

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2933849141

 

IMHO, synerr's nib looks genuine for me. It is because the distance between the hole and F is close to genuine one. (Left and right are geniune, middle is fake).

[synerr]

Thanks. I am convinced both pens are genuine article but still returned vista due to imho excess misalignment of slit to hole.

 

Tempted to get a knock off from China just to compare dimensions and materials.

[arcadeflow]

  On 5/26/2015 at 7:06 PM, synerr said:

Thanks. I am convinced both pens are genuine article but still returned vista due to imho excess misalignment of slit to hole.

 

Tempted to get a knock off from China just to compare dimensions and materials.

 

If you notice the above picture, the last nib is original and it has a misaligned slit too. Quality control in nibs is lacking nowadays. Sad. I have two great wet Lamy nibs with a wide slit that doesn't touch at the tip, and a pretty dry one that is very tight at the tip. It is a good idea for Lamy fans to order single nibs along their pens so they can choose the best ones and keep the others as backups, or either learn how to fix them or sell them for less for those that do know how to fix them.

[synerr]

  On 5/28/2015 at 1:52 AM, arcadeflow said:

 

If you notice the above picture, the last nib is original and it has a misaligned slit too. Quality control in nibs is lacking nowadays. Sad. I have two great wet Lamy nibs with a wide slit that doesn't touch at the tip, and a pretty dry one that is very tight at the tip. It is a good idea for Lamy fans to order single nibs along their pens so they can choose the best ones and keep the others as backups, or either learn how to fix them or sell them for less for those that do know how to fix them.

 

Yes, I noticed that. I am beyond certain that both the Vista and the Safari are original. And yes, the QA on the NIB seems disappointingly lacking. The slit on my Vista was far more off centric than shows up on the picture and is the reason I returned the pen.

 

The 2nd Vista I received (and the original Safari) are still a hairline off centric but nothing that I considered unacceptable.