What Was Your Biggest Disappointment With An Expensive Pen

[ac12]

Buying a Lamy 2000 based on other peoples recommendation without trying it myself first.

The L-2000 was/is too FAT and HEAVY for me to use as a regular use pen. This means writing a LOT, vs. just a half page or less. I tried to get used to the pen for 3 months, before I finally gave up on the pen.

[4lex]

Slightly disappointed in the Pelikan M 400 Café Creme. The nib needed some tweaking because it had a bad skipping problem at first (I could't tell whether it was because there was a problem or it was just that I wasn't used to a B nib). Had it worked on and it's much better now. Not my most expensive pen (especially since I saved a bit of dough buying from Rolf Thiel on Ebay, even with the extra shipping charges from Germany) and it's absolutely a dream otherwise. Gorgeous pen, perfect size and weight, and even a bit of springiness to the nib (yeah, on a steel nib...).

My two most expensive pens are also Pelikans, but those are both older/vintage. Those were not a disappointment at ALL....

But then, I tend to buy vintage and semi-vintage pens, and the nibs just tend to be better to start with. Okay, by the time I pay for the celluloid repairs on a Vac Shadow Wave it will be likely be my most expensive pen and since I haven't been able to really use it that's been a TOTAL disappointment. And another Shadow Wave that wasn't exactly cheap just doesn't fill well -- I've had it repaired (the second time was under warranty, about three months after I got it fixed) and it just doesn't hold a lot of ink for some reason. I keep wondering if I should have the breather tube replaced with a longer one, but that doesn't seem to be the problem -- it just doesn't take up ink the way it should (the repair person couldn't figure out what the problem was either).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I find vintage nibs better as well. Not on average, as I think that todays nibs on flagship Pelikan, Montblanc, Sailor and some other pens are very good, but some vintage nibs are just better then anything that is around today.

My personal favourite is 14K Broad on my Lamy 27. Although it is broad it really writes as a stub, is incredibly smooth with wonderful line variation and a touch of spring.

Buying a Lamy 2000 based on other peoples recommendation without trying it myself first. The L-2000 was/is too FAT and HEAVY for me to use as a regular use pen. This means writing a LOT, vs. just a half page or less. I tried to get used to the pen for 3 months, before I finally gave up on the pen.

 

I had the same experience with Lamy 2000. It is best to try the pen in brick and mortar store but sometimes I am just to lazy to take that 40 minute drive.

Edited December 29, 2015 by 4lex Mood

[Precise]

One of my very best pens is a Delta Dolcevita Federico with an F Fusion nib (steel with a patch of gold decoration). About $175 brand new from martemodena.

 

But it arrived with a bent nib and was unusable. But as I've written elsewhere, I really enjoy fixing things. And if the fix goes well, there's a satisfaction that comes from overcoming a problem. So then I may like the pen better than one that was perfect out of the box.

 

That's the case with this Dolcevita.

 

Alan

[flipper_gv]

The Omas Paragon Arco brown couldn't write at all. The medium nib was more like a western fine. The material wasn't aligned on the piston knob, body and cap.

Just poor attention to detail overall. A very disappointing experience.

[FLZapped]

I have a couple NOS pens that just insist on skipping no matter what.

Edited December 31, 2015 by FLZapped

[Munshi]

Conklin All American Tortoiseshell... It is not a super expensive pen, but it is not a cheap one either. I bought it in Los Angeles and brought it home in England. I was excited initially, but the nib was HORRID!... Skippy... scratchy!!! You name it! I had to send it to the renowned John Sorowka to get it fixed. It is now okay! It writes well, but when I thought about the money that I spent to get it fixed, I feel bad, because with the same amount I could have bought a nice Japanese pen, which I am sure would come with no problems!

[JBat]

The Omas Paragon Arco brown couldn't write at all. The medium nib was more like a western fine. The material wasn't aligned on the piston knob, body and cap.

 

Just poor attention to detail overall. A very disappointing experience.

I have an Arco Milord that has the same issue, the pattern on the barrel doesn't line up with the cap or the piston knob, which still disappoints me after 3 years of ownership. On the upside, the pen writes great and I use it all the time. I just don't think a pen with a pattern like the Arco should ever leave the factory like this. It's pretty obvious that it was designed to look like one solid piece when everything's all buttoned up.

[cakibler]

Perhaps my first Rotring 1928 LE. It did not fill up well with the plunger filler mechanism and I ended up selling it. I subsequently purchased another because the pen is a really gorgeous pen. It too has the same issue with the filler. I will get it fixed when I have time and a bit more funds. The nib and feed write very nicely.

[max dog]

I've had far fewer issues with my more expensive pens as compared to my cheaper pens. You get what you pay for generally.

[Manalto]

Any pen that's a disappointment feels expensive to me because of the waste and annoyance. The Noodler 'Ahab' is the best example of this; I bought one after seeing reviews that praised it enthusiastically. It was only later that I learned you have to be a fountain pen repairman who's willing to rebuild the stupid thing in order to get it to do what it claims to do.

 

Interpreting the question as I believe you intended it, a couple of my higher-end pens (MB 146 and Pelikan 800) have been reliable but somewhat of a yawn - mild disappointments. Don't get me wrong, I'll take reliable over "interesting" every time. It's really bad PR for fountain pens (and a bit embarrassing) when someone notices that you're using one and then the next thing they see is you struggling to get it to write.

[4lex]

I've had far fewer issues with my more expensive pens as compared to my cheaper pens. You get what you pay for generally.

Interesting and yes, one would think so. I do agree that an average expensive pen will give you better writing experience than the cheap one. At least my experience with cheap Chinese pens is tempting me to agree with you.

But on the other hand, I never had a problem with Lamy Safari or even disposable pens like Pilot Petite1 or Pilot V pen. They always write "straight out of the box".

I am no expert but in 2015 i probably tried near twenty pens that cost $200 to $600 dollars. And maybe I am just unlucky but almost a third of them did not write well straight out of the box. Problems that I encountered include leaking, skipping and hard starts.

In my experience QC on an average expensive (for me) fountain pen is not as good as on Japanese disposable fountain pen. And this baffles me.

[Renfield]

If you buy a bic ballpoint ad it doest write it is a disappointment, so any pen that doesnt write to at least a mediocre level is disappointing.

 

When you step up to the £20+ range, they all should write out of the box. You might need to tweak the flow to suit your style, but beyond that is a fatal flaw.

 

Most of the pens i have bought needed some form of tweaking. Mostly just making them wetter so a little smoothing. This I know is personal preference, so I live with this. Not everyone likes a wet pen as I do.

 

But the one that gave me the most hassle was the Italix Parsons Essential. It was so dry, and the feed would dry up after a page or two, and I had to keep priming the feed. I cleaned and soaked it. I opened the tines, smoothed it to check for baby's bottom, tried different converters and cartridges. Inks from every manufacturer. Eventually I had to start taking a scalpel to the feed (numerous times) until eventually it writes. Still runs dry the odd time, but maybe once or twice per converter fill.

 

I find I need to adjust the feed on pretty much every pilot pen I have owned (78g, Metro, Prera, Custom Heritage 91) They all wrote ok, and never ran dry, but was just way too dry for me.

[katanankes]

Omas Paragon New Edition (2005): I was the first person to buy one in a store in Bologna. Pen leaked! Sent back for repair twice. Not used ever since.

 

Visconti Divina Maxi: the filling system is just ridiculous... I think they call it pull and turn, it is basically a converter fitted into the pen, you can turn only a small knob from the back and you never know if it has absorbed any ink. Aesthetically a magnificent pen, but the filling system made me hate it and I am not using it anymore.

[flipper_gv]

Omas Paragon New Edition (2005): I was the first person to buy one in a store in Bologna. Pen leaked! Sent back for repair twice. Not used ever since.

 

Visconti Divina Maxi: the filling system is just ridiculous... I think they call it pull and turn, it is basically a converter fitted into the pen, you can turn only a small knob from the back and you never know if it has absorbed any ink. Aesthetically a magnificent pen, but the filling system made me hate it and I am not using it anymore.

 

That's the reason I've never considered the Divina maxi.

 

Still looking forward an Opera Master one day.

[Arkanabar]

I was disappointed with my matte black "stealth" Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point. I think that it was both its weight and its limited ink capacity that caused me to just not use it. I didn't miss it when I gave it to my wife, and she didn't miss it when it was mislaid in a move. And I have since learned that pens can have too much girth for me. I was able to avoid disappointment with a Lamy 2000 by holding one in a B&M store, where I found out that the "ears" on the section annoyed me too much for me to ever buy one.

I've had fewer disappointments with expensive pens than I've had with the relatively inexpensive options. They're in the $50-100 range, they should atleast be properly functional even if the aesthetics are not as high quality.

 

Pliot Prera: Flow was too low.

TWSBI: Dried up after a page.

Is that a TWSBI Vac 700? You have to open the knob a half-turn or a turn to let air into the barrel, if you're going to write a page or more.

 

In my experience QC on an average expensive (for me) fountain pen is not as good as on Japanese disposable fountain pen. And this baffles me.

It makes sense to me. The more you produce, the easier it is to run down common causes for quality variation and so correct them. Chevy's flagship Corvette never sells as well as their entry-level compact sedans, and always has significantly more problems per 1000 units.

[gordonhooker]

I found that the biggest disappointment was that the don't really improve your handwritingoals you can write just as poorly with an expensive pen as you can with a cheap one ☺

[Precise]

....

Interpreting the question as I believe you intended it, a couple of my higher-end pens (MB 146 and Pelikan 800) have been reliable but somewhat of a yawn ....

I've written on this forum that my Pelikan M800 is my most perfect pen. Although I tune and tweak most pens I acquire, I've never had reason to tweak this one. But I've also written that I rarely pick it up when I need to write something. I usually grab a pen that I've tweaked for the better. Perhaps I'm still seeking more tweaking opportunities.

 

I've also written on this forum that a big part of my fountain pen hobby is tuning and tweaking my pens. When a pen arrives in the mail, and isn't right, but I think I can make it right, I'm happy to have the opportunity to do what I enjoy doing.

 

Best,

Alan

[akustyk]

My biggest and only real disappointment with an expensive pen was a Waterman Carene. I think I gave this pen a chance, sending it for repair twice. Each time they replaced the entire section, but did not fix the problem.

 

The problem with the Carene was that it would run dry after a few sentences, with converter or cartridge, and no ink I tried fixed the issue.

 

Otherwise, all of my pens worked really well without tweaking.

[Piper 987]

My biggest and only real disappointment with an expensive pen was a Waterman Carene.

 

I purchased a Waterman Carene with a fine nib and it has been an excellent pen. That was fairly early in my fountain pen career. The disappointment I now feel is that I spent about $250 (CDN) on a pen that really doesn't write any better than many very inexpensive pens I've acquired.

 

I recently put a give-away Wality fine nib (Indian, I believe) into a Jinhao 159 that I paid all of about four dollars for and it writes beautifully. One of my favourite pens is the give-away Platinum Preppy that came with a 4.5 oz. bottle of Noddler's Heart of Darkness ink.

 

As much as I like the quality and feel of the Waterman Carene, a pen is simply a tool used to lay down ink. If it works well and it's cheap, that's good. If it works well and it's free, so much the better.

[pjford]

If you buy a bic ballpoint ad it doest write it is a disappointment, so any pen that doesnt write to at least a mediocre level is disappointing.

 

When you step up to the £20+ range, they all should write out of the box. You might need to tweak the flow to suit your style, but beyond that is a fatal flaw.

 

Most of the pens i have bought needed some form of tweaking. Mostly just making them wetter so a little smoothing. This I know is personal preference, so I live with this. Not everyone likes a wet pen as I do.

 

But the one that gave me the most hassle was the Italix Parsons Essential. It was so dry, and the feed would dry up after a page or two, and I had to keep priming the feed. I cleaned and soaked it. I opened the tines, smoothed it to check for baby's bottom, tried different converters and cartridges. Inks from every manufacturer. Eventually I had to start taking a scalpel to the feed (numerous times) until eventually it writes. Still runs dry the odd time, but maybe once or twice per converter fill.

 

I find I need to adjust the feed on pretty much every pilot pen I have owned (78g, Metro, Prera, Custom Heritage 91) They all wrote ok, and never ran dry, but was just way too dry for me.

Please email me with the original order reference, or post the pen back. We will repair or replace this pen regardless of how long you have owned it. This pen has a reputation of being free flowing and trouble free, I would like to try and restore your faith in this pen. MrPen