Experiences With Martemodena

[welcmhm]

 

You've had one good transaction with them. If you have problems with the next one, contacting them might be a better idea. Posting every issue here serves little purpose and seems unfair to a retailer who is known for excellent service and productsYou

You're right, I definitely should (and would) take up any issues in any future transactions directly with them. I was just saying that I would post any issues here so that the community would have a better sense of how good or bad of a retailer Martemodena is.

[PhyPen]

Can anyone who previously had to deal with DHL customs junk please expand on how you dealt with DHL to get it resolved? Mine's been sitting in NY Customs for 5 days now and can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone.

Edited February 16, 2016 by PhyPen

[Lam1]

Can anyone who previously had to deal with DHL customs junk please expand on how you dealt with DHL to get it resolved? Mine's been sitting in NY Customs for 5 days now and can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone.

 

I don't know exactly what is happening in your case. With me what happened was that someone saw "fountain pen" in the receipt and immediately said that "because it is a pen it must be imported formally" (her words) and send me some forms that asked for what kind of chemicals I was importing. I tried to argue with her, over email, to no avail. Then I called in and explained to a very nice young lady that to fill those forms I would have to lie, since there were no chemicals, and as soon as I pointed out that the receipt clearly mentioned that the pen was empty, she cleared everything up and I got the pen the next day.

 

This whole "can't bring ink into the country" is a DHL mess, two weeks ago I received a package of inks (declared to be inks) from Akkerman without any problems. But, apparently because of DHL, Martemodena is not sending inks to the USA. If you read the fine letters they explicitly say that those pens that are on auction and come with ink will be shipped without the ink to the USA.

 

I hope you get your situation resolved soon. I myself may have to deal with this again, as a M805 just landed in the country on its way to me. We'll see how it goes...

[freeboy]

customs... smh I keep have pens and other cough items cough enter and so far no customs snags ... good luck

[welcmhm]

You're right, I definitely should (and would) take up any issues in any future transactions directly with them. I was just saying that I would post any issues here so that the community would have a better sense of how good or bad of a retailer Martemodena is.

[welcmhm]

I just received my second pen from Martemodena. The auction was won on February 14, 2016 and I received it today, the 17th. Amazingly quick turnaround. I've only dipped it (since I intend to have a nibmeister stub it), but the pen appears to write extremely well.

[Lam1]

I just received my second pen from Martemodena. The auction was won on February 14, 2016 and I received it today, the 17th. Amazingly quick turnaround. I've only dipped it (since I intend to have a nibmeister stub it), but the pen appears to write extremely well.

 

Same with me: won it on February 14 and it is here on the 17th.

Interesting thing is that even though they say that they will not send the ink to the US, this one came with ink.

I'm very pleased.

[freeboy]

us customs is odd.. good luck

[Barkingpig]

 

Same with me: won it on February 14 and it is here on the 17th.

Interesting thing is that even though they say that they will not send the ink to the US, this one came with ink.

I'm very pleased.

Mine also came in the boxed set including the bottle of Delta ink. At least it was blue instead of the black which came with my Dolce Vita. (I was unaware of their policy of not including ink in the package.)

[welcmhm]

Mine also came in the boxed set including the bottle of Delta ink. At least it was blue instead of the black which came with my Dolce Vita. (I was unaware of their policy of not including ink in the package.)

Both mine also came with ink. I'm not a big black user, and now I've got two bottles of Edelstein Onyx that I'm not sure what to do with. I asked if I could get a different color, but only black.

[Lam1]

Mine also came in the boxed set including the bottle of Delta ink. At least it was blue instead of the black which came with my Dolce Vita. (I was unaware of their policy of not including ink in the package.)

 

Yeah, I was also unaware of this, but it is written in their shipping policies. But, apparently they are not really following it.

 

I'm also not a big fan of black inks, but I don't mind receiving a bottle of Edelstein .

[StrawberryJam]

 

Yeah, I was also unaware of this, but it is written in their shipping policies. But, apparently they are not really following it.

 

I'm also not a big fan of black inks, but I don't mind receiving a bottle of Edelstein .

 

I have always gotten Delta ink with pens that would normally ship with them (i.e., the higher end models). Too bad they only have Delta black .

 

But MM is great, and I've never had an issue with DHL. I don't know if anyone has ever gotten hit with a customs charge by DHL before though? I try to keep my orders under $300 USD to avoid any customs flag, as I've heard that DHL is one of the pickier carriers for customs. (Not sure if that is true in practice, only what I have heard.)

Edited February 18, 2016 by StrawberryJam

[Cordovian]

 

I have always gotten Delta ink with pens that would normally ship with them (i.e., the higher end models). Too bad they only have Delta black .

 

But MM is great, and I've never had an issue with DHL. I don't know if anyone has ever gotten hit with a customs charge by DHL before though? I try to keep my orders under $300 USD to avoid any customs flag, as I've heard that DHL is one of the pickier carriers for customs. (Not sure if that is true in practice, only what I have heard.)

 

Yeah, I got hit three times with customs fees over the last year or so. It seems like the cut-off for getting charged import tax is right around $240 but it also does not seem consistent.

 

I haven't had a pen held up by customs yet...knock on wood. I've read about other people having problems with customs in New York. My area is serviced by Chicago. Not sure if that's a factor or not.

[welcmhm]

 

Yeah, I got hit three times with customs fees over the last year or so. It seems like the cut-off for getting charged import tax is right around $240 but it also does not seem consistent.

 

I haven't had a pen held up by customs yet...knock on wood. I've read about other people having problems with customs in New York. My area is serviced by Chicago. Not sure if that's a factor or not.

There is definitely some luck of the draw. I'm serviced by Cincinnati and have made two purchases from Martemodena (each just about $400) and have not been charged import tax either time.

[masterguns]

 

Yeah, I got hit three times with customs fees over the last year or so. It seems like the cut-off for getting charged import tax is right around $240 but it also does not seem consistent.

 

I haven't had a pen held up by customs yet...knock on wood. I've read about other people having problems with customs in New York. My area is serviced by Chicago. Not sure if that's a factor or not.

 

I got hit with customs on a ~$220 purchase. New York port of entry.

[aardvarkbark]

I've received two pens from MM that cleared US customs reasonably quickly. Delivered by DHL without signature (though required), then received bill from DHL for customs fees.

 

I wish they'd ship EMS to US as other EU companies I buy from do. USPS delivery seems to somehow avoid all customs charges, and I've had consistent good results with their service.

[StrawberryJam]

I've received two pens from MM that cleared US customs reasonably quickly. Delivered by DHL without signature (though required), then received bill from DHL for customs fees.

 

Wow, how much later after delivery did the customs bill come? Hope I don't have anything waiting for me in the mail....

[Lam1]

 

I have always gotten Delta ink with pens that would normally ship with them (i.e., the higher end models). Too bad they only have Delta black .

 

But MM is great, and I've never had an issue with DHL. I don't know if anyone has ever gotten hit with a customs charge by DHL before though? I try to keep my orders under $300 USD to avoid any customs flag, as I've heard that DHL is one of the pickier carriers for customs. (Not sure if that is true in practice, only what I have heard.)

 

 

I actually don't mind paying the customs fees, as they are only fair. But, I don't know yet if I will have to pay for the two purchases I made from Martemodena, because the fees usually arrive later and the pens arrived in the last two weeks (so, it's too soon to tell).

 

My complaint is only about the use of DHL, because I have always had very poor service from them - destroyed packages, packages left in the parkway instead of the porch (almost "on the street", so very easy for someone to just take it), poor treatment from their employees, etc.. I know that other people had similar experiences to my last one, in which they wanted a chemical imports form to allow the pen to enter the country (and this is not customs, it is DHL that does not know what they are doing). So I would prefer if they used just about any other carrier.

 

I totally agree with you that Martemodena is great! My two experiences with them have been excellent, and I will buy from them again (as soon as I have money, since my pen purchases in the last month left me broke ).

[masterguns]

 

Wow, how much later after delivery did the customs bill come? Hope I don't have anything waiting for me in the mail....

 

My bill came about 1-2 weeks after delivery.

I don't mind paying customs either, but DHL goes too far IMHO. Besides the customs fee, one must also pay the DHL "service fee" that they charge to clear your item from customs on your behalf. If I remember correctly, they charged me something like $15.

[Bogon07]

DHL doesn't seem to have any problem with the small Delta ink bottles or cartridges included with the pen coming into Australia.

Mostly it is the usual black but some LE pens come with blue like the Hawaii.

 

All of my dealing with MM have been good and would recommend them.

Although the last was a bit delayed due to DHL loosing the consignment package within Europe.