Bureau Direct Is Gone :-(

[A Smug Dill]

Sad news! Bureau Direct in the UK has just announced it has ceased trading.

 

http://bureaudirect-email.co.uk/_act/link.php?mId=P921591601281956156842030527415&tId=150024149

 

Jo and Dominic are good folk. I wish them the best in their future endeavours!

[Jamerelbe]

Was very sad to get this news in my inbox - I'm not buying a lot of pens these days, but the Bureau Direct folk sold me a fair few inks. Friendly, efficient service, very reasonable prices (including international shipping). I had no idea they were struggling to keep their virtual doors open, and am very sorry to see them go!

[senzen]

[Uncial]

That is very sad news.

[Tas]

[bbs]

Really sorry to hear this, they were great to deal with. I had just placed and order with them and was surprised to get an email over the weekend saying they couldn't fulfil it. Now it makes sense.

 

Honourable people, I was given a full refund. I wish them all the best for the future.

[JollyCynic]

I really enjoyed dealing with Jo, particularly. And I think Mishka used to come around here to show off new Lamy stuff. I stopped ordering from them in August or September due to stock shortages, though, and feel bad about it now. I'll have to spill some ink from time to time on Stationery Wednesday.

[LucasLCC]

Shocked to read the email this morning announcing that they've stopped trading. Bureau was my favourite store for stationery. I purchased a few Rhodia pads last week, and not sure where to go for my next ones...

 

I'll never forget when I visited their office a few years ago to stock up on pads, and was welcomed so warmly, and given some very nice freebies.

[bbs]

Really sorry to hear this, they were great to deal with. I had just placed and order with them and was surprised to get an email over the weekend saying they couldn't fulfil it. Now it makes sense.

 

Honourable people, I was given a full refund. I wish them all the best for the future.

Hmm, well just in case anyone is in the same situation as me, the refund was cancelled as there were no funds to pay it, no surprise.

 

Hoping PayPal can sort it out.

[Purplecate]

I wondered where this week's Stationery Wednesday email had got to, now I see why it didn't arrive. So sad to see a fine retailer close, I discovered so many things there - I'm looking at my pile of notebooks I got from them. I'll miss the newsletter too - it really brightened up midweek. Best wishes to Jo and Dominic.

[anemography]

Sterling being as bad as it has been can't make it easy for small companies importing pens in euro and yen.

 

Hopefully the other UK retailers survive Brexit ok

[dapprman]

Doubt it's much to do with the uncertainty about BREXIT. It was a bad X-mas for retail in general due to the present financial situation (which is still a legacy of not having the funds from the taxation of banks post the 2008 crash). I know other existing pen shops are finding it hard as well.

[4lex]

Lets avoid Brexit discussion please. FPN is no place to talk about religious issues.

Edited January 12, 2019 by vonManstein

[hilsedwards]

Hmm, well just in case anyone is in the same situation as me, the refund was cancelled as there were no funds to pay it, no surprise.

 

Hoping PayPal can sort it out.

I've had the same problem and Paypal assure me that a refund was paid, sadly it was not, and thus referred me back to Bureau Direct.

Hope you have better luck that i have!!!!

[bbs]

I've had the same problem and Paypal assure me that a refund was paid, sadly it was not, and thus referred me back to Bureau Direct.

Hope you have better luck that i have!!!!

Not so far! Hopefully if they don't refund us the credit card linked to it will.

 

I suppose it was a last desperate attempt to keep going but it's a shame a good offer was sent out just before they went under, leaving us in the lurch too. Hope your loss is not too big.

[nigelg]

Things don't look too hot for Paperchase either.

[Karmachanic]

All the more reason for us to support the remaining B&M shops.

[A Smug Dill]

All the more reason for us to support the remaining B&M shops.

Not when Kinokuniya in Sydney wants $54 for a 50ml bottle of Sailor kiwaguro pigment ink and $81 for a Pilot Prera demostrator with a CM nib. I forgot the name of the specialist pen shop up in Queen Victoria Building opposite Kinokuniya, but I do remember it pricing Pilot Vanishing Point models at over twice the price I acquired mine ordering from overseas (including shipping that I had to pay expressly for).

 

Buying things like Rhodia notepads from Officeworks (a large national chain) is a different matter; I like their stores and their policies, so I'm happy to shop there, but they don't carry much in terms of fountain pens and inks.

[Intensity]

I got their email announcement of the closing, but for some reason the website still works and has no indication of the store's closing. Misleading?

[dapprman]

From what people have posted above I suspect they were struggling for a while and hoping X-Mas would pull them through, but it was a bad year across the board in the UK. I wonder if the creditors were called in on them, which would have resulted in their having to lock up and hand over the keys - if the details of the website were inside, that would be it