Conid Delivery Time

[LudVinPen]

 

 

• July 9: order (Minimalistica demonstrator, Ti BB nib ground as cursive italic) with estimated shipping October 15

I surely don’t want to disappoint you!

My Minimalistica was ordered end of may with estimated delivery end of august. Still not arrived...

Hopefully it will arrive very soon, just as yours!

[LudVinPen]

My Conid Minimalistica arrived today!

As expected There was a delay of almost two months... BUT as explained in a nicely mail there was a supplementary gift of a nice pen stand (as seen in the picture). Thanks!

 

Concerning the pen (most importantly), It's a real beauty! It lies nicely in my hand, and it really "flows" over the paper. This is my first titanium nib, and I really like it, especially the flexibility of the material. Quite a difference with a steel nib! It feels closer to my MB 164 gold nib.

 

I choosed a M nib, but the paper at work is rather of limited quality. So the writing is a little bit too broad (much better on quality paper, as on the paper block from Conid).

So I already ordered an extra F nib. Scheduled to ship around 5 December.......

 

In the meanwhile, VERY satisfied !

 

 

[rdicecio]

It is impossible to communicate with Conid. In the past two weeks, 2 inquiries by web form and 1 by email; no reply, other than their ridiculous automated replies. Also, they don't pick up the phone.

 

Any suggestions on how to go about canceling my order and obtaining a refund?

Edited October 29, 2019 by rdicecio

[como]

You'd probably be better off waiting to get the pen first then sell it. The way things are with Conid, I'd guess that your request would not be answered either.

It is impossible to communicate with Conid. In the past two weeks, 2 inquiries by web form and 1 by email; no reply, other than their ridiculous automated replies. Also, they don't pick up the phone.

 

Any suggestions on how to go about canceling my order and obtaining a refund?

[GOTO10]

Sorry to hear that you are so turned off by the lack of communication from Conid. While I agree the lack of communication on overdue deliveries looks very bad, I have hopes that the frustration will be worth it in the end.

 

My "we have not shipped on time" day is coming up next week and I've sent several emails asking to be let know when they think it would be shipped so I could adjust my expectations appropriately. I would think a short email giving the new ship date would placate quite a few annoyed customers but I have no insights into what their working conditions are like at the moment.

 

I had purchased my pen without a nib hoping that long lead times for Bock nibs was causing the shipment delays. I guess I'll know shortly.

 

I took a quick look through the terms of sale and do not see anything specifically about canceling an order. There is some language regarding being notified "within a reasonable time" if Grocon BVBA is unable to execute the order. The reasonable time is not defined as far as I can see. It does mention that the longest lead time for delivery from Grocon accepting the order is 120 days.

 

https://www.conidpen.com/terms-of-sale/

 

I hope that helps you, but based on all the other posts I've been able to find, a Conid is something worth waiting for regardless of the frustration.

 

 

It is impossible to communicate with Conid. In the past two weeks, 2 inquiries by web form and 1 by email; no reply, other than their ridiculous automated replies. Also, they don't pick up the phone.

 

Any suggestions on how to go about canceling my order and obtaining a refund?

 

[rdicecio]

Thank you como and GOTO10 for your input.

 

I had read the terms of sale. These reaffirm that Conid is not a reputable company:

• There is vague language about notifying "within a reasonable time." Contrast that with customers having to reach out to them instead and getting no reply.
• The terms of sale state that standard delivery time is 45 days and, under certain circumstances, it can take up to 120 days. For reference, if you were to place an order today, expected delivery is March 6, i.e., 127 days without factoring delays.

[james3paris]

It is impossible to communicate with Conid. In the past two weeks, 2 inquiries by web form and 1 by email; no reply, other than their ridiculous automated replies. Also, they don't pick up the phone.

 

Any suggestions on how to go about canceling my order and obtaining a refun

If you paid by paypal, I would file a complaint. If you did not, I contact the credit card company or bank used and explain your problem.

Edited November 1, 2019 by james3paris

[A Smug Dill]

If you paid by paypal, I would file a complaint. If you did not, I contact the credit card company or bank used and explain your problem.

Excellent suggestions, especially when dealing with sellers that are unresponsive!

[penseroso]

This is all very sad and unnecessary. There seems almost universal agreement that Conid pens are wonderful, beautifully designed and made. Nobody wants the quality compromised. I do not understand why, when an order goes through, Conid do not specify a much later date for delivery than they anticipate. Most would have to be happy with this (I have waited 18 months for a Hakase, a half deposit in advance) and it would cut down on the nagging emails on late delivery. If the customer doesn’t want to wait, well too bad, order cancelled. If the pen is finished early, everybody is happy. If I order a pen now and Conid say ‘delivery by December 2020’, then fine. I will forget about it until the end of November next year. Maybe I will get it in June: great.

 

But lack of communication is counter-productive. It adds to email traffic, irritation and, potentially, loss of business. Some useful suggestions have been made in these posts, all sensible and not necessarily costly. An admin officer would be a useful first start – engineers shouldn’t be writing emails if they are not able to fulfil orders on time. Properly trained and on site, s/he could answer 90% of queries, immediately.

 

And then there is the problem with faults and, yes, there are always glitches and problems. I have a simple one and Conid have suggested a simple solution but have done nothing about it, so I don’t use the pen. Like most Conid customers here, I will continue to buy their pens. But it would be a shame if, to meet demand, they compromised quality. That would be really sad.

 

We all wish them well and want them to continue to succeed. They need to be careful they don’t become their own worst enemy. Final note: thank you, Conid, for some great pens.

[penzel_washinkton]

They should just stop taking orders temporarily to avoid further swelling of their backlog at this point, since the wait time is almost similar to waiting for a custom pen.

[Karmachanic]

Conid is a small boutique operation. There has never been a time when one did not have to wait for delivery. The boutique manufacturing capacity remains the same, but demand has increased. None of this is a secret.

 

If one wants a Conid pen patience is required. If one is not prepared to be patient, there are other places to purchase fountain pens. But not Bulkfillers.

 

Accept conditions as they are and be happy. Refuse to accept conditions as they are and be miserable. Your choice.

 

Yes. I have a pen on order.

[penzel_washinkton]

Conid is a small boutique operation. There has never been a time when one did not have to wait for delivery. The boutique manufacturing capacity remains the same, but demand has increased. None of this is a secret.

 

If one wants a Conid pen patience is required. If one is not prepared to be patient, there are other places to purchase fountain pens. But not Bulkfillers.

 

No one is disputing the fact that they are a small boutique operations with limited production capacity. But is it really an excuse for the lack of communication? Don't want to be the guy that hammers in the same issues again and again but just to clarify to you that the issue here is not the long wait time.

 

Previous post by me is just a thought I had because it seems they are struggling to keep up with their demand.

[A Smug Dill]

Accept conditions as they are and be happy. Refuse to accept conditions as they are and be miserable. Your choice.

 

Are the conditions clearly stated by Conid prior to accepting a customer order? And what is the recourse for when Conid fails to satisfy the conditions it stipulated?

 

If Conid promises to have a pen produced and ready for shipment in N days from order acceptance, and then (N+1) days pass and Conid has not finished the pen, then the least it could be reasonably expected to do is:

• proactively notify its customer that it has failed (note: past tense, and not just projected to fail) to meet the target date;
• respond promptly to said customer's enquiry and/or feedback;
• apologise without reservation; and
• either ask for more time (with a definite finish date) that it would require to finish the pen as a top production priority, or offer the customer a no-strings-attached to cancel the order and get it refunded because Conid failed to deliver.

unless the conditions of sale include both:

• the wait is actually indefinite, irrespective of any (initial or revised) estimates given by Conid; and
• the customer has no right to cancel orders that are late with regard to the estimates.

I strongly believe in product purchasers and service users having to accept the conditions of sale/service, but when the suppliers fail to fulfil the conditions they unilaterally set in the first place, there is no reason to advocate not smacking those suppliers hard for their failure, at least embarrassing them "publicly" (which translates to "in social media" these days), and possibly by cancelling the orders and getting them fully refunded even if the suppliers had already sunk some effort into attempting to fulfil the orders and will therefore incur a financial loss for their missteps.

[rdicecio]

I contacted Conid again, asking them to cancel my order and to issue a refund. As usual, no answer other than the automated reply.

 

I contacted my credit card company and opened a dispute for my Conid charge from July 9.

 

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

[Doug C]

I contacted Conid again, asking them to cancel my order and to issue a refund. As usual, no answer other than the automated reply.

 

I contacted my credit card company and opened a dispute for my Conid charge from July 9.

 

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

I can certainly understand, but you will be missing out on a great pen.

 

 

Good luck...…...

[mulrich]

Not responding to emails is a problem that Conid needs to figure out. But despite the communication issues, I've never heard of them not completing an order (even if they are currently running late).

So if you aren't willing to wait (which is understandable) don't order a Conid right now (I'm sure they'll figure things out eventually). If you are willing to wait, place an order and you will eventually get a very high quality pen.

[A Smug Dill]

If you are willing to wait, place an order and you will eventually get a very high quality pen.

 

 

There's a difference between waiting for a definite period of time, i.e. "as soon as we accept your order, we'll put it into our production queue, and deliver within 183 days or sooner (but we can hold it until the 183rd day before dispatch if you prefer things to be set in stone); we won't disappoint, but if we fail to deliver, by all means smack us as hard as we deserve," and waiting indefinitely for an 'eventuality' on the basis of, "what we produce is in high demand and every piece is a work of art, so it'll take as long as it takes," which is unprofessional and goes against everything that can be construed as technical/engineering excellence.

 

If Mr Nagahara of Sailor (or, if you prefer, John Mottishaw of Nibs.com) was personally making the nibs, and being the one-and-only master happens to be the inevitable bottleneck in the production process, then I think the "artisan" mentality is fair enough and I'd be prepared to wait. But Conid is an engineering outfit and apparently loved by many for it, so I'd expect everything to be clinically precise — including scheduling, manufacturing and sourcing parts (e.g. nibs) that it doesn't produce in-house — in its production processes, if I were to spend its asking prices to order a pen from the company. From reading this thread, I don't think it's doing its utmost — irrespective of fluctuations and/or shortfalls in staffing levels, lower profitability by virtue of law of diminishing marginal returns to add resources to production in order to fulfil promises (and not just latent demand) by way of already-accepted orders, etc. — to protect its reputation, and not answering emails (let alone apologising for delays) is just making things worse.

[Karmachanic]

 

Are the conditions clearly stated by Conid prior to accepting a customer order? And what is the recourse for when Conid fails to satisfy the conditions it stipulated?

 

If Conid promises to have a pen produced and ready for shipment in N days from order acceptance, and then (N+1) days pass and Conid has not finished the pen, then the least it could be reasonably expected to do is:

• proactively notify its customer that it has failed (note: past tense, and not just projected to fail) to meet the target date;
• respond promptly to said customer's enquiry and/or feedback;
• apologise without reservation; and
• either ask for more time (with a definite finish date) that it would require to finish the pen as a top production priority, or offer the customer a no-strings-attached to cancel the order and get it refunded because Conid failed to deliver.

unless the conditions of sale include both:

• the wait is actually indefinite, irrespective of any (initial or revised) estimates given by Conid; and
• the customer has no right to cancel orders that are late with regard to the estimates.

I strongly believe in product purchasers and service users having to accept the conditions of sale/service, but when the suppliers fail to fulfil the conditions they unilaterally set in the first place, there is no reason to advocate not smacking those suppliers hard for their failure, at least embarrassing them "publicly" (which translates to "in social media" these days), and possibly by cancelling the orders and getting them fully refunded even if the suppliers had already sunk some effort into attempting to fulfil the orders and will therefore incur a financial loss for their missteps.

 

The swaying bamboo survives the storm.

[penzel_washinkton]

 

The swaying bamboo survives the storm.

 

Sorry friend, no intenton to offend but I would rather have my buying experience on a very expensive pen akin to a nice cool relaxing breeze instead of a storm

[Karmachanic]

How lovely it would be if life was a cool breeze.

Very expensive? Like the $43,000 Omas Gaia? Cheap compared to the $1,470,600 Aurora Diamante. Pretty soon we'll be talking real money!