Twsbi Service Is Spectacular

[ek-hornbeck]

There are lots of reasons why I like TWSBI pens.

• One is their outrageous price/performance -- other pens of similar quality are an integer multiplier more expensive.
• They are attractive. That's a second-order effect, but it's a plus, if you spend a lot of time using a pen.
• They are quality pens: well balanced, feel good in the hand, and they write well.
• Yet, if I damage or lose one, I'm only out fifty bucks. So I'm willing to stick a TWSBI in my pocket when I head out to work in a coffee shop; I'm not frightened into leaving the pen in my office. This makes them pens that you use, not simply pens that you admire in a showcase.
• A major reason I use them is that they are designed to be disassembled. This is critical for me, because I use nano-pigment inks. The whole point of using a pen, for me, is permanence. But inks that are waterproof, resist organic solvents, don't bleach, don't fade under sunlight and are highly saturated in color imply more maintenance and cleaning, else they will clog up my pen. It's easy to strip a TWSBI down to its component parts once a year and flush them under running water, soak them overnight in Koh-i-noor pen cleaner, or drop them in an ultrasonic cleaner. In particular, being able to do this to the feed of the pen is really valuable. TWSBI pens are perfect for people who want to use nano-pigment inks.

But there's one more reason to buy a TWSBI pen: for $50, you get something like a personal relationship with the people at the company. It feels like the act of purchasing the pen bought you admittance to a private club. The service is incredible.

I sent the following email to TWSBI support this morning:

From: "E. K. Hornbeck"
To: twsbiinc@gmail.com
Subject: Seek spare parts for damaged pen
Date: Sat, 04 Feb 2017 10:42:50 -0500

I have a TWSBI 580, which I have enjoyed very much -- it 
is a *great* pen. Tonight, my five-year old child destroyed 
it: somehow, she managed to shove the cap on so hard it jumped 
over the threads, jammed on the barrel, and then sheared off 
at the metal ring on the lip of the cap.

Everything on the pen is perfectly fine except the barrel and 
the cap. This, to be clear, very much falls under the category 
of "not covered by warranty" -- my daughter is a destructive 
force who should rightly be classed as a weapon of mass destruction. 
Would it be possible for me to purchase a new barrel and cap?

Thank you.

Prof. E. K. Hornbeck

I sent this on a Saturday morning. I got the following reply:

From: Philip Wang <twsbiinc@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2017 07:44:03 -0800
Subject: Re: Seek spare parts for damaged pen
To: "E. K. Hornbeck"

E.K., no worries, what is your shipping address and phone number?  
We can send you a spare cap and barrel.  You just have to pay for 
shipping.

Note the time-stamp on Philip's message: that's a minute and thirteen seconds turnaround time.

$900 doesn't get you that kind of relationship with Montblanc or Pelikan. Or free parts. Just sayin'.

-E. K.

 

[Dufffader]

Same thing happened to me. And the reply came on the weekend and I received my replacement part within a week.

 

I would guess that TWSBI is small enough a small company where personal touch could still be possible. I don't see how a single or groups of persons in a large company could be empowered to do something similar. Although I hope TWSBI could continue this level of support, I also wish them well and that they would grow sustainably. Hopefully theres a spot in the middle where we could get this and still have great products for a long time to come.

[dcwaites]

I have one of the original pre-release TWSBI Diamond 530s that was offered to FPN members. As a pre-release model, it did have problems, but in each case, the lovely people at TWSBI have supplied the appropriate replacement parts with grace and promptness.

 

I only wish Lamy would replace the leaking section of my L2k with such service.

Lamy in Melbourne - are you listening???

[doggonecarl]

I sent my friend in London, England a TWSBI 580. Sadly, after a year, it started leaking from the section. I told him to send it TWSBI as I had heard nothing but good things about their customer service. For $8 (the cost of shipping to the UK), they sent him his pen back, functioning perfectly.

[PandP]

I am also very impressed with the fantastic customer service from TWSBI. I got a crack on my lovely Amber 540 and after contacting TWSBI to ask for help I got an almost instantaneous reply to say that they would send me the replacement barrel for free (just have to pay shipping). Absolutely over the moon as the 540 is my favourite and most used pen.

[Honeythief]

You're not wrong about the quality of service being very responsive. I've had to contact them twice about broken pens, and both times Philip has answered me within a couple of hours and offered a replacement part for the price of postage. The replacement parts arrived very quickly too.

 

It's unfortunate that I've needed to contact them twice (a cracked cap on a Diamond Mini, and a broken feed on a Diamond 580). I have recently noticed minor cracking around the screw top of an almost-new Vac Mini, too. I asked Philip a couple of times if there was anything I could do to prevent such damage from happening, or anything that I could be doing wrong that might cause it, and he just didn't respond to the question. Maybe he doesn't know the answer.

 

My TWSBI pens are my daily favourites and I love using them enough to make the occasional faults tolerable, but it would be even nicer if they weren't faulty in the first place

[Inferno2Inferno]

I second this with an anecdote of mine: I received a TWSBI Eco in lime green with some nasty scuffing on the cap right out of the box. One quick email letter and POOF they sent me a replacement within two days. Definitely thankful for such great CS from such a great fountain pen company.

[dvalliere]

  On 2/21/2017 at 5:16 AM, Honeythief said:

I have recently noticed minor cracking around the screw top of an almost-new Vac Mini, too. I asked Philip a couple of times if there was anything I could do to prevent such damage from happening, or anything that I could be doing wrong that might cause it, and he just didn't respond to the question. Maybe he doesn't know the answer.

 

I just talked with Phillip today about a replacement barrel on my TWSBI Mini due to cracking all around the threads on the back end where the cap posts. He informed me that posting the cap tightly might contribute to that problem. I really don't think I close or post my pen tightly but I'll be sure to be extra delicate on posting in the future to see if that makes any difference. I hope this is helpful to you.

[abstract49]

I went too far in disassembly and took out the tiny nut holding the finial onto the cap, lost it (of course)! All my fault, but TWSBI sent me a whole new cap assembly in spite of my own negligence.

 

That's more than good customer service.

 

And! Neither of my 580s has cracked, nor has my Vac 700. All are still in perfect working order after several years for the first 580 and the Vac 700 (second 580 [Al] is only several months old).

[dojocho]

My TWSBI Diamond Mini goes with me together my Duofolds -that's how how wonderful a writer it is- and during a few years of usage my cap lip broke off.

I sent an email to Philip Wang on Friday evening and about 90 min later I received an answer from him stating that...you know what's coming don't you?... I just needed to mail my shipping adress and pay for the shipping costs. TWSBI would send me a new cap.

 

It just arrived Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof!

 

Funny thing is, both my students at school as sales personel in pen shops react to my nice TWSBI Mini. A few years ago, I had a student who never really cared about the Duofolds but when he saw my Mini he said 'Hey, that's a nice pen'.

 

regards,

Hugo

[Bluey]

If a company's customer service becomes a talking point such as those by Twsbi, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Visconti, that's not a good sign. If you buy a pen you should never have to find out what their customer service is like.

[Heldin]

  On 10/4/2017 at 11:27 AM, Bluey said:

If a company's customer service becomes a talking point such as those by Twsbi, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Visconti, that's not a good sign. If you buy a pen you should never have to find out what their customer service is like.

I completely agree with this.

 

Anyway, my experience is pretty different. I found the customer service people to be rude.

[marcelo]

I had a great experience with TWSBI CS too. Philip and Rebecca could not have been more responsive.

[Shaggy]

  On 10/4/2017 at 11:27 AM, Bluey said:

If a company's customer service becomes a talking point such as those by Twsbi, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Visconti, that's not a good sign. If you buy a pen you should never have to find out what their customer service is like.

I cosign.

 

We never talk about Pilot or Platinum or Sailor CS.

[Jamerelbe]

  On 10/23/2017 at 1:42 AM, Shaggy said:

I cosign.

 

We never talk about Pilot or Platinum or Sailor CS.

 

You couldn't possibly draw that conclusion from hanging around on these forums: TWSBI receives a higher volume of complaints than some other brands, to be sure, but Pilot and Platinum and Sailor pens have issues from time to time too.

[Almu]

  On 10/23/2017 at 12:35 PM, Jamerelbe said:

 

You couldn't possibly draw that conclusion from hanging around on these forums: TWSBI receives a higher volume of complaints than some other brands, to be sure, but Pilot and Platinum and Sailor pens have issues from time to time too.

 

+1. It's not hard to find complaints about any pen manufacturer, they all seem to have their own problems.

[marcelo]

  On 10/23/2017 at 3:40 PM, Almu said:

 

+1. It's not hard to find complaints about any pen manufacturer, they all seem to have their own problems.

I think the number of issues with TWSBI pens are due to a simple reason: several parts. And parts which costs must be kept down so they can offer such affordable nice pens.

[prashant.tikekar]

  On 10/4/2017 at 11:27 AM, Bluey said:

If a company's customer service becomes a talking point such as those by Twsbi, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Visconti, that's not a good sign. If you buy a pen you should never have to find out what their customer service is like.

I agree that you should never require customer service ideally. But knowing that if I require any broken part, I would get it at the cost of shipping ( usd 4 to 5) even after warranty period encourages me to use the pen daily. And TWSBI pens are perfect for me as EDC.