Bad Experience With Montblanc Repair Service

[arcfide]

It sounds to me based on what they are saying that they are mostly interested in fighting knock-offs and infringements, which they are well known for being very aggressive at, especially their comment about the clip. I suspect they are operating on internal policies that try to identify and then discourage the repair of copies, with the lack of a serial number likely being one of those cases. 

[vintagefplover]

7 hours ago, arcfide said:

It sounds to me based on what they are saying that they are mostly interested in fighting knock-offs and infringements, which they are well known for being very aggressive at, especially their comment about the clip. I suspect they are operating on internal policies that try to identify and then discourage the repair of copies, with the lack of a serial number likely being one of those cases. 

In this case, I believe that they do need to realise that they once produced pens without serial numbers and provide service for their older products. Serial numbers only appeared around the 1990s. 

[vintagefplover]

20 hours ago, JCC123 said:

This reminds me of the situation with high-end Swiss timepieces. They quote a flat rate for service. Some brands like Omega will comp you on replacement parts and only occasionally charging for them. Others will charge based on the whim of the watchmaker that happened to be working on your watch.

 

Since Blancpain doesn't expressly say that they will provide all parts for free under their flat rate structure, I would imagine they have similar policies. That it's the whim/discretion of the technician that happens to work on your pen. You may have just gotten unlucky your second time around.

I certainly agree, the fine print of the repair flat rate chart says that the repair charge is still dependent on the technical feasibility, leaving them the possibility to charge people more expensive than what is listed. 

[CemPenUser]

Very interesting but confusing for those needing service. I have a late 1980s MB 149 in excellent shape except for a broken black plastic spiral in the piston filler system. I believe that filler system was redesigned thirty years ago to an all brass one. Do they have technicians to repair it as is or can it be swapped out to the new system?

 

Charlie

[A Smug Dill]

1 minute ago, CemPenUser said:

Do they have technicians to repair it as is or can it be swapped out to the new system?

 

I think you'll have to ask Montblanc, in the first instance. Who (else) knows who is in the employ of the company today, or will take on specialised outsourced repair work on its behalf?

 

I'm confident Montblanc's customer service will respond to you promptly and courteously, since you're the owner of one of its products as well as someone who will prospectively spend money with the company for repair service.

 

If the official and authoritative answer isn't what you'd like to hear, only then perhaps the need to look elsewhere for an alternative solution may arise, once you get over the setback should you choose to react to it negatively, which need not be the case.

[Karmachanic]

5 hours ago, CemPenUser said:

broken black plastic spiral in the piston filler system

 

Replacement helix here: https://pentooling.com/partsmontblanc.html

[Dione]

7 hours ago, CemPenUser said:

Very interesting but confusing for those needing service. I have a late 1980s MB 149 in excellent shape except for a broken black plastic spiral in the piston filler system. I believe that filler system was redesigned thirty years ago to an all brass one. Do they have technicians to repair it as is or can it be swapped out to the new system?

 

Charlie

If you send it to Montblanc it will be swapped out to the new system but when you say all brass the black plastic spiral is still black plastic, not brass. The part that changed to brass is the rest of the piston assembly at the top of the barrel. Late 80's is when they changed over (when the wall came down) but they used up their old stock first. If your piston screw threads are plastic then they would come back as brass.

[Karmachanic]

I'd buy the helix linked above and have a recognized repairer do the job.  Who knows what parts MB will arbitrarily choose to replace with contemporary parts.

[Dione]

39 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

I'd buy the helix linked above and have a recognized repairer do the job.  Who knows what parts MB will arbitrarily choose to replace with contemporary parts.

I would not. I would rather have Montblanc do it for less since I know their helix will be the authentic article and they will replace the piston assembly and barrel if necessary without increasing the price. Apples and oranges.

[empliau]

I am cautious about MB repair - I sent a 149 for a new barrel (car accident, long story) and it came back with a plastic feed rather than the original ebonite.  Nothing happened to the nib or feed during the accident.  They update the parts whether you want them to or not.  Since the pen was a present from my late parents, I wanted it as close to original as possible, so I sourced a vintage ebonite feed and had it installed.  

 

Of course if you are happy to have them update everything (I believe the nib is an exception) then it's a great place to send it.

[A Smug Dill]

5 minutes ago, empliau said:

Of course if you are happy to have them update everything (I believe the nib is an exception) then it's a great place to send it.

 

I imagine sending a pen to Montblanc for repair is less like ‘restoration’ but more akin to having it ‘refurbished’, or at least that would be Montblanc repair service's primary goal: returning to you a guaranteed, functioning refurbished writing instrument, as opposed to preserving and remedying the original components that need work. All for an arguably low price considering the extent of the refurb work on the whole.

[JungleJim]

4 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I imagine sending a pen to Montblanc for repair is less like ‘restoration’ but more akin to having it ‘refurbished’, or at least that would be Montblanc repair service's primary goal: returning to you a guaranteed, functioning refurbished writing instrument, as opposed to preserving and remedying the original components that need work. All for an arguably low price considering the extent of the refurb work on the whole.

 

+1     I imagine Montblanc is very much like Rolex in that they really don't care about the "vintage" aspect of the parts. When you send your pen/watch in it will be updated with brand new parts so that everything is guaranteed to work correctly during the new warranty period they give you. Their name and reputation is on the line and they won't risk it with older parts.

 

I remember a story from the watchforums of someone sending in an old Rolex Submariner to the factory for an overhaul, where the original dial had aged to a beautiful tropical brown and the hour spots a dark yellow. Rolex replaced it with with a brand new dial.

 

 

[bunnspecial]

MB will turn a wreck into a perfectly serviceable pen for nominal cost. They do so by basically fitting your old nib(and I think clip) to a new body/cap.

 

At the same time, I like my one piece barrels and ebonite feeds. If I can't fix it myself and the pen only needs a piston seal or some other available part, I'll always go independent rather than have MB effectively send me a new pen.

 

They don't stock parts for older models, which means that repairs can cascade. A broken spindle means replacement of the complete piston assembly. The current piston assembly may not fit in the old barrel. The ebonite feed won't fit the new nib collar properly, and the old collar won't fit the new body. The old cap won't screw onto the body(I think the threading was changed in maybe the 90s?). That's why you effectively get a new pen rather than your old one being repaired.

[Uncial]

3 hours ago, JungleJim said:

 

+1     I imagine Montblanc is very much like Rolex in that they really don't care about the "vintage" aspect of the parts. When you send your pen/watch in it will be updated with brand new parts so that everything is guaranteed to work correctly during the new warranty period they give you. Their name and reputation is on the line and they won't risk it with older parts.

 

I remember a story from the watchforums of someone sending in an old Rolex Submariner to the factory for an overhaul, where the original dial had aged to a beautiful tropical brown and the hour spots a dark yellow. Rolex replaced it with with a brand new dial.

 

 

Omega and Patek do the same thing.

[bunnspecial]

4 hours ago, Uncial said:

Omega and Patek do the same thing.

 

I'm dreading my next service on my Datejust I wear every day.

 

I've been using a great independent up in New Jersey. He told me, however, that I think in 2022 Rolex is going to cut off independent parts for the caliber 3035, as well as case parts(crowns, crystals, etc) for any watch that uses it. He had to quit taking any 3035 based watches last year because he's also required to offer a 2 year warranty, so I went ahead and sent it preemptively. I had a broken bracelet link back at the beginning of the summer that he fortunately was able to replace, but I think that will be it.

 

I'm really concerned about sending it to Rolex with the dial on it now. It is a diamond dial, but a few people(including my guy in New Jersey) have told me that it is in fact a genuine Rolex diamond dial and not an aftermarket. The issue is, as I understand it, if I send it to their service center and it did not originally ship with the diamond dial, they would replace it with one correct to what shipped on the watch(which if not diamond would probably be a plain champagne baton dial) even though the dial is a Rolex part. I'd get charged for that, and I've heard mixed answers as to whether or not they'd even return the dial

on it now if they replaced it.

 

Unfortunately, any future service that requires parts will have to go to the factory.

 

The guy I use now returns EVERY SINGLE part he replaces to me. The last service, he replaced the crown, crown tube, crystal, and back gasket, and all the old ones were in the repair envelope. The broken bracelet link came back to me. I like this, and everything he returns gets tucked in the bottom of the box. I don't think Rolex does this...

 

[como]

If one is into vintage, sending vintage to Montblanc repair center is not the best way. It’s not their focus. Same goes with vintage pens, cars, watches. You don’t send a vintage Mustang to a Ford dealer. You go to a garage whose mechanic knows what he is doing. It’s a different world. You get involved with nibmeisters, pen restorers, and also learn to do it yourself. If you just want to have a functional pen again, you can get in touch with Montblanc. They do what they can but it’s not guaranteed. If you don’t want them to swap anything without your permission, it’s best to tell them so in advance.

[A Smug Dill]

42 minutes ago, como said:

They do what they can but it’s not guaranteed.

 

I'm sure Montblanc guarantees the quality and functional outcome of its repair service work. How the customer would like his/her pen repaired or restored is something else, something irrelevant, to the service the company is offering; having one's wishes and preferences ‘respected’ as part of the commercial engagement is what isn't guaranteed.

[Karmachanic]

24 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I'm sure Montblanc guarantee

 

I understood @como's intention, and didn't need the "auto correct", but thanks anyway.