Conid Delivery Time

[Betweenthelines]

Yes Johan is on vacation until August 27th and he is in charge of nibs.

[oldrifleman]

Isn't most of Europe on their August vacation?

Yes they are on vacation along with almost every other industrial company in Europe! Does every item from every company deliver perfectly, never happens! The thing that makes the difference is how the company deals with it. I have had nothing but a great experience with Conid! Yes there was an issue on one pen and they were over the top apologetic about it and worked to solve it!

I do not have a problem with someone providing a review, that is the service that should happen in an open society. I also expect them to also report back what the company does to resolve the issues.

[oldrifleman]

I feel I must jump in and give a little support to Conid. I have been a customer since the very first Bulkfiller in 2012, and have a small army of Conids that get an unrepresentatively large workload. I still believe, after seven years, that they are the best engineered, best manufactured, and most abusable pens ever made. Having met Werner, Johan and Francis on numerous occasions, I must also reiterate what outstanding gentlemen they are, and note how they have gone above and beyond for me, and many others over the years.

 

That said, a bit of context is probably necessary for those grumbling about the current state of affairs. Conid was born from passion by Werner as a weekend project using the tools of his (very large) machining company. After Francis invented the Bulkfiller, the sheer success of the project took them all by surprise, and though the quality of their pens suggests that they are a massive company, the whole shebang was pretty much run by a handful of people on their days off. I know that they were struggling to grow, and would not compromise their exacting quality, and that as a result there were backlogs to fulfil orders. Werner's main business was also doing too well - rich man's problems, to be sure, but it is unfair to expect a small business (producing such astonishing products) to function with the greased gears of the big boys many multiples of their size.

 

Understand that they are a small outfit. Have patience. Contact them directly if you can, and rest assured that their integrity will make everything right.

Nicely said! I also have a small stable of Conids and at least one is ALWAYS inked and in rotation. I eagerly await their next offerings!

[da vinci]

I bought my bulk filler from CONID at the London Pen Show 2 years ago and had my nib (a steel fine) tuned by Johann. It is probably the best writing nib I have. No delivery delay (sorry to rub it in). Unfortunately it appears CONID no longer attend the London Pen Show. I hope that changes as I would like to buy another pen with a tuned nib in person......

[EJLorie]

So far, I'm very frustrated with my overall Conid experience. I placed an order for a Kingsize on May 8th, with an August 8th delivery estimate. Its now been a month past the estimated delivery time and theres been zero proactive communication from Conid. Ive had 3 emails go completely ignored - full radio silence. Finally, after getting upset, I receive a generic response from Jonas with the same we dont know type answers, and blaming order levels with staffing issues. When I placed my initial order, they were very quick to respond and the customer service was stellar, but when the time to deliver came; Im having to give chase. Boutique or not, this is not acceptable. The excuse of growing queues shouldn't affect my order, unless they are moving those in front of my spot. The staffing problems seem to have been discussed here for a while now. A good company should be able to forecast production demands with current output, and identify staffing problems before it becomes crippling. Im sure their pen is amazing, and will become a loved/cherished addition to my collection when I eventually receive it. However, for the cost of this item, there needs to be better proactive customer service. I just want an honest answer on when my pen will be delivered to me. They were able to give an estimated production time when the order was placed, why cant they now give an estimate on the delay. A month, two moths, six months?! A customer shouldn't be made to feel like a problem or an inconvenience. Im hoping Conid understands that and if they cant fix the production problems, at least they should fix the customer service issues. You dont need to hire an engineer to answer emails and update client concerns.

Edited September 2, 2019 by EJLorie

[JulianR]

Don’t sweat it, Conid have gone quiet. I’m not expecting the Titanium comp nib now... damn. The wait continues.

To add on, the pen arrived yesterday. Mine was ordered 2 April 2019. Conid provided me with apparent gratis platinum nib, as the gold ones are held up I'm now told until December. Anyway, I'm happy with it - but mainly relieved that I won't be constantly obsessing about when it will arrive!

[JulianR]

The EF titanium nib is a dream. Loving this pen.

[A Smug Dill]

Conid provided me with apparent gratis platinum nib, as the gold ones are held up I'm now told until December. Anyway, I'm happy with it - but mainly relieved that I won't be constantly obsessing about when it will arrive!

 

 

Just to be clear, did you mean Conid has provided you with a platinum nib, installed in the pen as shipped but considered logically separate from your purchase order, free of charge to tide you over until it can ship you the gold nib you originally ordered? Or did you mean it gave your pen a "free upgrade" to a platinum nib, without prior consultation with you or getting your approval, but now it considers your order has been fulfilled in its entirety and it doesn't owe you anything now?

[mulrich]

I don't want to diminish the experience of some of the prior commenters, excessive delays and poor communication shouldn't happen with such an expensive pen. But I also want to point out for those less familiar with Conid that these issues aren't necessarily typical. I've ordered a handful of Conids and all have shipped at or before their initial shipping estimates. Email communication can sometimes be a little slow but I've never waited more than a week for a response. Things may have changed since I last ordered (maybe demand has gone up a lot) or maybe I ordered during a slower season but my experiences have all been positive.

[EJLorie]

I don't want to diminish the experience of some of the prior commenters, excessive delays and poor communication shouldn't happen with such an expensive pen. But I also want to point out for those less familiar with Conid that these issues aren't necessarily typical. I've ordered a handful of Conids and all have shipped at or before their initial shipping estimates. Email communication can sometimes be a little slow but I've never waited more than a week for a response. Things may have changed since I last ordered (maybe demand has gone up a lot) or maybe I ordered during a slower season but my experiences have all been positive.

Ive heard great stories regarding Conid, and when I placed my order on May 4th it was a fantastic experience. In the weeks that followed, I was so engaged in the process and the anticipation, that I added two additional nibs in different grinds. The response times were great and I had every confidence that I was in great hands. However, as the delivery time approached, it all went belly up. Ive ordered and own some very hard-to-find pens - I have a Dorsal Fin v2, a Namiki Emperor in a BB, a few decapods, an Oldwin, etc. Ive encountered delays in delivery estimates before, and I think most of us are understanding of that. However, what is completely unacceptable is when a company blatantly ignores all customer emails for an entire month. If I have to chase you down with 3 separate messages over 4 weeks before you respond to tell me very generically that Ill get my pen eventually, something is very wrong. All companies undergo growing pains, but they forecast the growth and they build-in contingencies to manage the obstacles. It seems that none of that was done here. And, streamlining their production is great, but how about you start by hiring a basic office worker to handle customer service and order enquirers? You dont need to find someone with an engineering degree or who is a machinist to manage that. Im sincerely hoping that Conid turns my experience around, and that I can get my pen soon. At this point, Id settle for an honest estimate on the delay in where it doesnt seem like all control has been lost

Edited September 5, 2019 by EJLorie

[EJLorie]

Ive heard great stories regarding Conid, and when I placed my order on May 4th it was a fantastic experience. In the weeks that followed, I was so engaged in the process and the anticipation, that I added two additional nibs in different grinds. The response times were great and I had every confidence that I was in great hands. However, as the delivery time approached, it all went belly up. Ive ordered and own some very hard-to-find pens - I have a Dorsal Fin v2, a Namiki Emperor in a BB, a few decapods, an Oldwin, etc. Ive encountered delays in delivery estimates before, and I think most of us are understanding of that. However, what is completely unacceptable is when a company blatantly ignores all customer emails for an entire month. If I have to chase you down with 3 separate messages over 4 weeks before you respond to tell me very generically that Ill get my pen eventually, something is very wrong. All companies undergo growing pains, but they forecast the growth and they build-in contingencies to manage the obstacles. It seems that none of that was done here. And, streamlining their production is great, but how about you start by hiring a basic office worker to handle customer service and order enquirers? You dont need to find someone with an engineering degree or who is a machinist to manage that. Im sincerely hoping that Conid turns my experience around, and that I can get my pen soon. At this point, Id settle for an honest estimate on the delay in where it doesnt seem like all control has been lost.

[Karmachanic]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/348034-conid-delivery-time/?p=4231145

[Karmachanic]

Dear Conid fans,

I've just contacted Conid and they are fully aware of their dragging delivery time problem.

Conid sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience which is mainly caused by the fact they are since 4 months completely overwhelmed with orders and the inherent mails concerning delivery time.

Conid realizes they have to expand their technical staff and is consequently anxiously searching for hiring dedicated people to expand their team.

Given the high quality standards applied by Conid this proved to be a difficult task.

Further on Conid is also in the process to automate the production process further to shorten delivery.

Please be assured Conid will do al they can in putting the dragging delivery problems to bed within a 3-4 months period.

In the mean time Conid appreciates your patience, although the actual problems Conid will do all they can allowing you to get your pen as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Francis

[peroride]

@EJLorie Sorry to hear of the frustrating experience and thank you for sharing your perspective which helps manage expectations. Like you, my initial communications were great, but in light of the recent demand, I fully expect radio silence until they are ready.

 

I had a great chat with Al Shinogle, a big fan and travelling unpaid marketeer. If you're ever at a pen show when Mr. Shinogle is sharing his joy, it's infectious. (hey Conid, this guy is terrific, treat him well! ) He sold all his high end stuff and went full Conid nib and all. He was so helpful with questions and generous to handle his personal collection and get a real feel of these instruments in person. Komec is their main line to churn out high precision parts and well ; Conid pens are more of the custom innovative end for this small team. Yeah, that does not excuse the improvements needed on the soft skills with customers but I have yet to find a thread where Conid did not deliver and I trust them to do.

If it is any consolation, they pause on making pens to send email (more recently and the last one took not 1 but 2 months I'd had giving up hope as a non-customer but Jonas did reply back with a nice answer and apology) and they are fully aware of the demand. Really, really! 10 months ago SREBrown, a known reviewer on YouTube noted long wait times in his review and less than optimal communications. Add to this recent thread, I'd assume to take the estimated ship date with a grain of salt and pad in another quarter. They are busy, hopefully finishing up recent pent up demand. I'd be more concerned if quality suffers on the mad rush to fulfillment like the nib example in the thread. That would not help their reputation.

 

Good craft takes time. (I like other fans have been waiting since 2016 for another custom non-FP product, to lend perspective) Like other boutiquey type brands, say Nakaya, I'm glad there are still folks who want to create something special, especially a unique well crafted fountain pen.

 

So dear @EJLorie when you do get your bulkfiller, please do share your opinion of it.

 

In light of your fabulous collection, I wonder if new upstart Conid is worthy in with the traditional craft. Such perspectives are always helpful! Thank you

[A Smug Dill]

Good craft takes time.

Demand management, capacity management, work queue management and expectation management are logically separate from the craft of producing an item ordered. It's not a matter of it takes n layers of urushi and r minutes to apply each one with a brush, q days for each layer to cure, and then p hours to perform the final polishing steps, so that there is a lower bound to end-to-end production time that just cannot be rushed.

 

(I like other fans have been waiting since 2016 for another custom non-FP product, to lend perspective) Like other boutiquey type brands, say Nakaya, I'm glad there are still folks who want to create something special, especially a unique well crafted fountain pen.

Forgiveness is a personal choice. I certainly have no issue with your (and any other Conid customer, fan or otherwise) choice to forgive Conid's shortcomings and missteps, but I don't think it should extend to persuading others to also be forgiving instead of just watching them express their misgivings and possibly hammering Conid's reputation in social media (and I count FPN and other online discussion forums as social media) for something the company has not come out in the same channels to either apologise or defend its practices. Putting pressure on a commercial entity that has the potential to undermine its reputation, and subsequent demand for its products and services if it doesn't change its practices, is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

In light of your fabulous collection, I wonder if new upstart Conid is worthy in with the traditional craft. Such perspectives are always helpful! Thank you

I thought most fans of Conid are drawn to its products not for the craft or artistry, but simply innovation and engineering excellence — the latter implying precision in its product designs, operational plans and actual execution. It sounds to me Conid can certainly can improve on its planning and execution, and those things don't require either deep knowledge or love for the fountain pen "hobby"; any seasoned Programme/Project Manager in the engineering industry can help with that, and my understanding is that Conid is a subsidiary of Komec which is an engineering company. Why not just invite some highly paid corporate executive (or even just a relatively lowly-paid analyst) to come in and tell the folks at Conid just what's wrong and how to "fix" its processes (with a suitable injection of investment and taking some commercial risks)?

[mulrich]

Ive heard great stories regarding Conid, and when I placed my order on May 4th it was a fantastic experience. In the weeks that followed, I was so engaged in the process and the anticipation, that I added two additional nibs in different grinds. The response times were great and I had every confidence that I was in great hands. However, as the delivery time approached, it all went belly up. Ive ordered and own some very hard-to-find pens - I have a Dorsal Fin v2, a Namiki Emperor in a BB, a few decapods, an Oldwin, etc. Ive encountered delays in delivery estimates before, and I think most of us are understanding of that. However, what is completely unacceptable is when a company blatantly ignores all customer emails for an entire month. If I have to chase you down with 3 separate messages over 4 weeks before you respond to tell me very generically that Ill get my pen eventually, something is very wrong. All companies undergo growing pains, but they forecast the growth and they build-in contingencies to manage the obstacles. It seems that none of that was done here. And, streamlining their production is great, but how about you start by hiring a basic office worker to handle customer service and order enquirers? You dont need to find someone with an engineering degree or who is a machinist to manage that. Im sincerely hoping that Conid turns my experience around, and that I can get my pen soon. At this point, Id settle for an honest estimate on the delay in where it doesnt seem like all control has been lost

 

I wholly agree that the lack of communication you're experiencing is a big problem–I was just offering my experiences so people don't think Conid is completely terrible. It sounds like they've experienced a big increase in recent demand and did not adjust all of their internal processes to handle that growth (I'm sure this was compounded by summer holidays).

 

Hopefully your pen arrives soon and the pen is so great that you quickly forget about these issues (or at the very least, these issues don't bias you against the pen).

[Betweenthelines]

Just an update:

 

I received the TI nib sent by Conid as a replacement for the Ti stub that is hard starting, and it writes flawlessly, a very nicely ground stub with perfect flow. Am very happy with it and am even more happy I get to finally use this pen!!! The Gold EF won't be in stock until December but that's an issue on Bock's end.

[como]

Update: My Conid Kingsize Streamline Demo finally arrived on October 10th (originally estimated at the time of invoice August 15th). Very happy with the pen in general. Pleasantly surprised that my Broad 14k Rhodium-plated nib was soft and a bit springy, and ground to a wet smooth stub, exactly as I requested. I have been very patient. It's all good.

[oldrifleman]

Very Nice, I can see one of those in my future

[rdicecio]

My experience so far:

• July 9: order (Minimalistica demonstrator, Ti BB nib ground as cursive italic) with estimated shipping October 15
• July 15: pro forma invoice
• October 15: I inquire on the status of my order. From Conid's automated reply: Please do understand that we are currently overwhelmed due to the huge amount of orders as well as the holiday season where some of the Conid colleauges will enjoy a few days off. (emphasis added)

I have no doubt that Conid pens are masterpieces of engineering, but customer service is third rate.

Edited October 18, 2019 by rdicecio