Anyone Dealt With Retrodesk.com Recently?

[mike.jane]

Hello,

 

As someone who likes Indian pens, but does not live in India, a handful of online stores are of interest to me in that regard.

 

One of them is retrodesk.com. Currently they claim they are running limited stock. Really, they are only selling a handful of different pens.

Also, the website is not particularly wordy. (There's no FAQ, no shipping information, no 'About us' none of that ilk) I only found out about the price of shipping (beforehand) through posts here on fpn.

 

Nonetheless, I ordered a pen from them and it went through the regular channels of purchase: shopping cart, checkout, paypal, receiving a paypal receipt via email.

After that and ever since I have heard nothing from retrodesk ever. I figured doing it the quiet way might just be their personal style, unconventional, but who am I to judge.

 

Then, after two weeks -it's about 16 days now- (giving the pen some waiting time to actually possibly arrive), I decided to rather ask if everything had been achieved in order. I wrote to them on Oct. 3rd, Saturday (Today it's the 7th) and have not heard back yet.

 

So my question is this: Do any of you have experience with retrodesk.com? What were your dealings like? Was it done recently?

[Amit37]

I placed an order about a month and a half ago and never heard from them. The weeks after my purchase I sent them many emails but to no avail. I'm thinking that it was a lost purchase and supposing that they went out of business, but it is hard to tell. While the pen was "relatively" inexpensive, it's a shame that they didn't respond and or inform me if the pen was even in stock. Their website seemed a little shady at first, but I had heard of good reviews from others.

 

Time will tell...

[mike.jane]

I placed an order about a month and a half ago and never heard from them. The weeks after my purchase I sent them many emails but to no avail. I'm thinking that it was a lost purchase and supposing that they went out of business, but it is hard to tell. While the pen was "relatively" inexpensive, it's a shame that they didn't respond and or inform me if the pen was even in stock. Their website seemed a little shady at first, but I had heard of good reviews from others.

 

Time will tell...

Oh, dear.

Thank you for your response.

I hope you will receive the pen eventually, or at least can easily claim your money back. (I hear that works really well via paypal, but had never had to do any such thing)

 

Same goes for me as well. It's not a huge amount of money, so I'm not that worried, but I'd rather have the pen, hassle free and at all.

 

Time will tell.

[Amit37]

Oh, dear.

Thank you for your response.

I hope you will receive the pen eventually, or at least can easily claim your money back. (I hear that works really well via paypal, but had never had to do any such thing)

 

Same goes for me as well. It's not a huge amount of money, so I'm not that worried, but I'd rather have the pen, hassle free and at all.

 

Time will tell.

 

Is PayPal the one to contact for money back? I'm sure they would have a tough time contacting RetroDesk too haha.

[mike.jane]

I read here that it is best to request a refund from the seller first:

https://www.paypal.com/gb/webapps/helpcenter/helphub/article/?solutionId=FAQ2276&topicID=&m=ARA

This is possible for the seller to grant within 60 days of purchase.

 

After that, or if they refuse, or you are being ignored, you can open a dispute on paypal. Here is info:

https://www.paypal.com/gb/webapps/helpcenter/helphub/article/?solutionId=FAQ957&topicID=&m=ARA

You have 180 days time for that.

 

Then, after that, one might still 'escalate their dispute to a claim. Info here:

https://www.paypal.com/gb/webapps/helpcenter/helphub/article/?solutionId=FAQ1677&topicID=&m=ARA

 

 

Given, I have just picked up this information from the web and have no other experience with or knowledge about this.

Edited October 7, 2015 by mike.jane

[Amit37]

Thanks! That should help.

[mehandiratta]

Oops sorry for your loss...

[mike.jane]

To update on this:

It has been a (bit over a) week now since I first wrote to the person in charge at Retrodesk (using the email address on the site), I also wrote a second time a few days ago ( using the aforementioned address and the one that's on my paypal receipt) but it has all been to no avail; No reply in any form.

 

The order in question is now 21 days old. One might think that the pen is -and always has been- still on the way, but I have my doubts by now.

I will wait a few more days and then consider an advanced step.

 

I will keep everyone posted.

Edited October 10, 2015 by mike.jane

[mhguda]

I ordered some pens from him I think two years ago. Same mechanism you describe. After three weeks or so with nothing arriving and no shipping notice, I wrote to him (there was an email at the site I think) and continued to hear nothing; however, within a few days, my Paypal payment was refunded in full. No message, just my money back, with no explanation.

If that did not work for you, I think you should file a dispute with Paypal and hope for the best. All he's got is pretty pictures.

[subbu68]

Just raise a query through Paypal. They give some time for seller to respond. If he does not respond escalate to a dispute and you'll get the money back. Be sure to do the second step on time.

 

That's what I did when I did not get my Magic Mouse Fixed from http://www.mmfixed.com . I got my money back though lost a little in exchange from USD to UAE Dirhams. It was worth a weekend lunch for us three!!

Edited October 10, 2015 by subbu68

[mike.jane]

To update on this:

 

- I did get the money back for my order. (I am describing it above)

- I did have to go the 'whole nine yards' with paypal though.

- I had tried for about 3 weeks before to contact the person in charge at retrdesk, but alas, nothing.

- Through the paypal process I also never received word from him personally.

 

So yeah, it's nice that I got my money back (after plenty of email wrting). The truth about this affair is now out there (through this thread) and retrodesk will just have to accept this.

 

Thank you everyone for your support.

[mehandiratta]

Is retro desk shut down now

[mhguda]

No, it is still there, offering a number of Walitys for sale. He does say he has limited stock and many pens are marked unavailable, but the site is unchanged from when I first went there and shopped, two or maybe three years ago?

[Lelouch]

That's a pity, I had hoped to purchase the 77D and some 52's from there. Oh well :'(

[zdeveric]

Is retro desk shut down now

Dear Mehandiratta,

Can you advice where one can buy Wality 52?

Best regards

Zoran

Edited January 8, 2016 by zdeveric

[prashant.tikekar]

Dear Mehandiratta,

Can you advice where one can buy Wality 52?

Best regards

Zoran

Try to get it from Mr. Subramanian, owner of ASA pens. You can contact him from emails / phone no listed on ASA pens website

[mhguda]

Some time ago, I saw some on Fountainpenrevolution's website, but no longer. Still, they might know where to find them...

[mehandiratta]

Dear Mehandiratta,

Can you advice where one can buy Wality 52?

Best regards

Zoran

52 PD... buy from ASAPENS...

[thatotherguy1]

I've heard that Retrodesk is out of business, or at least that they are no longer shipping orders.

 

I concur with the recommendation to go with ASA Pens. I ordered my Gama Raja from Mr. Subramanian and got it a few weeks later, no hassle, no issues. It took a while, but the thing was shipped free from the literal other side of the world, so I'm not going to complain.

 

I find that Fountain Pen Revolution's prices are rather high. I can usually find the pens I'm looking at(admittedly, I mainly look at Gamas and Walitys) for significantly cheaper, and without shipping fees to the U.S., from ASA.

[Lelouch]

I've heard that Retrodesk is out of business, or at least that they are no longer shipping orders.

 

I concur with the recommendation to go with ASA Pens. I ordered my Gama Raja from Mr. Subramanian and got it a few weeks later, no hassle, no issues. It took a while, but the thing was shipped free from the literal other side of the world, so I'm not going to complain.

 

I find that Fountain Pen Revolution's prices are rather high. I can usually find the pens I'm looking at(admittedly, I mainly look at Gamas and Walitys) for significantly cheaper, and without shipping fees to the U.S., from ASA.

I believe you are correct regarding retro desk. A pity, because there are some nice looking pens that it displays.

 

I too look for Wality/airmail pens through venues other than FPR, but I keep going back to FPR. There are a number of Wality and airmail pens on eBay, and some other sites.

 

Note that prices listed are in Philipino dollars, so please check the exchange rate for your currency.

http://www.pengrafik.com/product/airmail-wality/

 

Unfortunately, I haven't seen very many Wality/airmail pens on the ASA website.