Ratnam Ball Pen Company

[Manekpardiwalla]

Hi

 

Has any one had a challenging experience communicating with the above company ? I have ordered a No42 fountain pen sometime in November but it has still not arrived. Inspite of repeated emails and reminders there seems to be no reply. My advance cheque has been duly deposited by them and has realized so I am sure the company exists.

 

Can anyone on the forum help me to get them to write back if you know them in any capacity. All my written correspondences have been addressed to Mr. Ramanamurthy as of now and are getting to be extremely one sided(I write but I get no reply).

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Regards

[matteob]

That is worrying...

 

Join the club. He actually has my money too for a pen but has not bothered to reply either. I finally got a message about pricing after leaving a one star review on their facebook page. I have tried ringing them but the guy who answered the phone did not even understand "Dr Ramanamurthy please" in English. The Facebook page is run by the owner or Ratnam's nephew and he does seem nice and responsive. I will give it another few weeks then send a message via him through Facebook.

 

I know Dr Ramanamurthy is in his 70s but how long does it take to answer an Email. His nephew says he has English so that's not a problem. Maybe he is ill but he was fit enough to go down to Western Union and take my cash. Let's hope the quality of the pen, if and when I get it, redeems them: not impressed. I hope I get my pen.I paid Western Union too so don't think I have any buyer protection. A painful lesson if I do not get my pen

 

If you want good customer service try Guider Pen Works next time. I will ask Mehandiratta to chase them up for us.

Edited January 3, 2017 by matteob

[Seele]

It seems my experience with Ratnam Ballpen Co (AKA Ratnamson) was not unique: we had several email exchanges regarding ordering a few pens and then all of a sudden, nothing.

[mehandiratta]

They are bad with exchanges and there seems to be communication problem from their side...

I also sent spoke with them verbally and finalized the order... with picture exchanges over the email ...

this happened with me in November and I am still awaiting the final quote and account no.

 

I've dealt with them in the past and never had an issue with them ... I am sure there must have been some trouble at their end... I will try to connect with them today again

[viju]

Too bad... there's no excuse for not replying to emails and any sort of communication especially after receiving payment. They are in business for long, probably longer than any other manufacturer currently in India and I sincerely hope all of you receive your pen soon.

[Manekpardiwalla]

Agree with you Viju.

I feel cheated. There is a pattern here, post the initial correspondence replies stopped coming, I sent the cheque Inspite of that, the cheque was also accompanied by a handwritten letter, cheque was deposited and realized, a few more emails were written from my end hoping for a reply but none have come upto now.

 

Not too sure how one can take money and still not be in a position to reply back.

[Manekpardiwalla]

Any Pen shops in mumbai where I can buy good indian pens ? Would Apsara at flora fountain be a good Pitt stop for me ?

 

Which pen's made in India are value for money ? This time I would rather go to a shop, choose, pay and bring one back in my pocket rather than pay upfront and be at the mercy or someone.

 

Regards

 

Manek.

[matteob]

Manekpardiwalla: try Guider Pens also in Rajahmundry. The owner Mr Rao is honest, will send you pictures of what he has to offer and you can decide what you want. He ships immediately and replies to emails fast as well. Also ASA pens online and Ranga are good vendors who can be trusted.

 

I am not going to upset myself chasing Ratnam now (the nephew who runs the facebook page has stopped replying too). I paid them £55 for a number 15 pen with 14k nib. I am not rich and can't afford to just lose that kind of money but I am going to be prepared to write it off.As Viju has said they seem to have a long and proud heritage. What leads them to refuse fo communicate with customers and therefore tarnish that (by discussion on an international forum) is beyond me. Maybe Mr Rajahmundry is sick, I hope not sincerely but he must have some staff?

Edited January 6, 2017 by matteob

[Lelouch]

I also have not had much luck with trying to arrange a pen from them over the past year. After having read some reviews of their pens on here I decided that I very much would like a gold nib supreme in the mottled brown (there is a review on here and it looks beautiful in it) as well as a gold nibbed 42 (as reviewed by Hari, though perhaps not a silver one, at least not right away). I dream of those pens someday, both tô help support one of the pen industry who still makes their own pens and gold nibs pretty much by hand,but also tô own a piece of fountain pen history (as I see it anyway). I had purchased a black supreme with a steel nib from AshishWahklu in the classifieds and found the shape and quality of construction to be impressive (though I replaced the feed with the kanwrite/FPR/Noodlers feed and a vintage Warranted #6 14kt flexible nib) and it has become a frequently used pen in my regular rotation.

 

The difficulties experienced with attempting to communicate with them are what has kept me from ordering those pens.

 

I will keep my attention on this conversation, hopefully things will work out well for those of you who have paid for pens. I look forward to things turning out for the best

[mehandiratta]

I plan to visit Rajahmundry myself and get at least 5 of the pens... with handmade gold conical nibs...

[matteob]

If he will actually make one for you. I have tried ringing but have not made myself understood, emails ignored, facebook messaged ignored. Thing is the pen looks great, I would like one and I don't want to upset anyone. I will send a chaser at the end of the month but if no reply and no pen his name will be mud to me and I will not hesitate to tell others of my disatisfaction.

 

I paid as soon as he sent the request.

Edited January 9, 2017 by matteob

[Lelouch]

I plan to visit Rajahmundry myself and get at least 5 of the pens... with handmade gold conical nibs...

I hope that things work out for you and you get yours. Maybe if you are met with success, I will resume my attempts.

[matteob]

And when you go Vaibhav tell him that there are two chaps called Manek and Matthew whose money he had who would like what they paid for.

[mehandiratta]

And when you go Vaibhav tell him that there are two chaps called Manek and Matthew whose money he had who would like what they paid for.

Sure

[matteob]

I managed this morning to get Doctor Rajahmundry on the phone. He said delays were due to holiday season and my order will be sent the day after tomorrow. Let us see shall we...

[Seele]

I managed this morning to get Doctor Rajahmundry on the phone. He said delays were due to holiday season and my order will be sent the day after tomorrow. Let us see shall we...

 

matteob,

 

Fingers crossed for you! Let us know how it pans out.

[PenPaper52]

I managed this morning to get Doctor Rajahmundry on the phone. He said delays were due to holiday season and my order will be sent the day after tomorrow. Let us see shall we...

matteob,

 

That is good news! Some businesses were closed for the holidays.

Please keep us posted.

[ak2k5]

Nice the problem is solved. But it was inexcusable of them to totally ignore every attempt for contact so far. Emails are not closed on holidays

[ak2k5]

And since you are looking for indian pens try FOSFOR...amazing pens

[matteob]

Hi yes I looked at Fosfor and they are lovely but a little expensive for me right now. He also has a long waiting list and I think it is a bit cheeky for him to charge extra to skip the queue. I wonder what holidays he means in India as Guider have been operating and contactable.