Mont Blanc service/repair costs post-Brexit

[Emver]

My 1980s 146 probably needs a new barrel so I'm considering sending it back to MB.  It was unused for around 20 years and the piston had stuck. The piston is now free, thanks to Pen Nut, but it seems that the inside of the barrel has corroded where the piston was stuck.  The cap assembly, nib and ebonite feed all seem perfect, so a new barrel should restore the pen to original (ish) condition. I don't know whether my piston is compatible with new replacement barrels, so perhaps MB would replace that as well.

 

I've spoken to a few local MB agents, all of whom had different ideas of the likely cost. The only thing they agreed on was that the delay would be at least 3 months!

 

After much trawling around the MB website I eventually came across a page detailing service costs.  My interpretation is that a service costs either £48 or £68, with barrel replacement falling into the £68 category.  My question is are these prices reliable and have they been affected by Brexit?  The MB website isn't the slickest in the world, so has it been updated since Brexit?  I want to avoid a situation where the pen reaches Hamburg and MB tell me that the price has increased considerably, in which case I have to choose between paying an uneconomic repair cost or paying around £30 to have the pen returned.  I have emailed MB who said that they can't give me a price without seeing the pen, not unreasonably, but they failed to confirm that those are still the basic service prices.

 

So has anybody had any post-Brexit experience of MB servicing?  Are those prices still current and are there any additional charges (VAT or import duties) involved in importing to either Germany or the UK?

[Karmachanic]

For your consideration.

Buy (for example) a barrel and have a UK restorer replace it. That way you don't run the risk of MB replacing your ebonite feed. Plus you'll get your pen back sooner.

 

[Emver]

30 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

For your consideration.

Buy (for example) a barrel and have a UK restorer replace it. That way you don't run the risk of MB replacing your ebonite feed. Plus you'll get your pen back sooner.

 

Where do I buy a barrel?  MB will not supply parts to any UK repairer so the only option is a used one from ebay which is likely to cost more than a MB service. I also run the risk of it not being compatible with either my nib/feed or my piston assembly.

 

Another option might be to cut my losses and sell the pen as it is, but I'm reluctant to part with it.

[Karmachanic]

There's currently two listed on the site linked in my post. Click on "Buy"

[Emver]

Thank you for you suggestion Karmachanic, I've just emailed Stephen to ask if he thinks it will be compatible with my slightly earlier pen.

[Rowbo]

A 'modern' 146 cap, as advertised, may not fit. My older 146 (split ebonite, mono nib, Germany, no s/n) has a four start thread - a single turn between threads engaging and cap fully closed. My 'modern' 146 has a three-start thread - one and a quarter turns needed. The caps are not interchangeable.

[Parker51]

4 hours ago, Emver said:

My 1980s 146 probably needs a new barrel so I'm considering sending it back to MB.  It was unused for around 20 years and the piston had stuck. The piston is now free, thanks to Pen Nut, but it seems that the inside of the barrel has corroded where the piston was stuck.  The cap assembly, nib and ebonite feed all seem perfect, so a new barrel should restore the pen to original (ish) condition. I don't know whether my piston is compatible with new replacement barrels, so perhaps MB would replace that as well.

 

I've spoken to a few local MB agents, all of whom had different ideas of the likely cost. The only thing they agreed on was that the delay would be at least 3 months!

 

After much trawling around the MB website I eventually came across a page detailing service costs.  My interpretation is that a service costs either £48 or £68, with barrel replacement falling into the £68 category.  My question is are these prices reliable and have they been affected by Brexit?  The MB website isn't the slickest in the world, so has it been updated since Brexit?  I want to avoid a situation where the pen reaches Hamburg and MB tell me that the price has increased considerably, in which case I have to choose between paying an uneconomic repair cost or paying around £30 to have the pen returned.  I have emailed MB who said that they can't give me a price without seeing the pen, not unreasonably, but they failed to confirm that those are still the basic service prices.

 

So has anybody had any post-Brexit experience of MB servicing?  Are those prices still current and are there any additional charges (VAT or import duties) involved in importing to either Germany or the UK?

As there will be a charge for the repair, there would be taxes per the appropriate UK government website: “Calculation of duties: chargeable repairs and replacements

If a charge is made to repair or replace goods, duty is due on the repair costs only.

Repair costs include the total payment for the work carried out, plus inward freight and insurance charges. Outward freight or other transport costs are excluded, unless they are payable to the repairer as a condition of having the repair or replacement carried out.

The amount paid for repair, or for the replacement goods, must not be influenced by any relationship between the parties involved or offset against any other transactions between the two parties.

Calculation of duties: non-commercial repairs

Non-commercial goods which have been repaired outside the UK are treated for duty purposes in the same way as any other OP goods. If the repair is made free of charge under warranty, no duty is due on the repair costs. The importer must produce the warranty document at re importation.”

 

Another question however is will Montblanc have you send the pen to an agent in the UK who will send it on to Germany for repair, or will you be required to send it directly to Germany. It likely would cost the same in regard to taxes, but it would change who would handle the paperwork, with a UK agent being the easiest with domestic mail and then a straight fee which would include tax while otherwise would involve forms, fees and added taxes. A third possibility would be for Momtblanc to have an agent in Northern Ireland, in which case it would be both domestic mail for you and different and presumably lower taxes per the separation agreement (domestic VAT only I suspect).

 

[Rowbo]

Please ignore my previous post! Those threads are on the section not the barrel.

 

There may be other compatibility issues.

[CS388]

It has been a few years since I sent in a pen for a service, so not post Brexit.

It used to be three levels of basic service, at three fixed prices, but recent posts, in this forum, suggest that the pricing structure may have changed? Yes, they need to see the pen to quote accurately.

Re taxes and postage: I never had that issue. I would take the pens to the Montblanc shop in London and they did the rest. I would collect them from the same shop, some weeks later. Most of them had been to Hamburg and back.

 

17 hours ago, Emver said:

My 1980s 146 probably needs a new barrel so I'm considering sending it back to MB.  It was unused for around 20 years and the piston had stuck. The piston is now free, thanks to Pen Nut, but it seems that the inside of the barrel has corroded where the piston was stuck.  The cap assembly, nib and ebonite feed all seem perfect, so a new barrel should restore the pen to original (ish) condition. I don't know whether my piston is compatible with new replacement barrels, so perhaps MB would replace that as well.

 

Yes, they will likely replace eveything, except the nib.

I've had a similar period 146 serviced - came back with original nib and cap, everything else was new.

(I was surprised the old cap fitted the new body, but it's a good fit.)

If the pen is working well, I wouldn't worry about internal marking, on the barrel.

Personal choice, ymmv.

 

17 hours ago, Emver said:

I've spoken to a few local MB agents, all of whom had different ideas of the likely cost.

 

Odd. Did they not mention service levels and fixed pricing?

 

Good luck.

[Dione]

14 hours ago, Parker51 said:

If a charge is made to repair or replace goods, duty is due on the repair costs only.

Isn't a repair just a taxable service? Therefore tax would apply at whatever the normal rate is. Duty is different and I can't find a duty code for a repair service. 😕

 

@CS388 Because the US Texas service center has closed US customers now need to use MyJewelleryRepair who currently seem to be adding on quite a few other fees of their own.

[Karmachanic]

2020 edition:

 

Preislisten-Online-Chart-2020-WI-UK.pdf

[LWJ2]

I recently sent my 146 to Montblanc for a similar problem, the charge was US$119.25 for Level 2 service:

 

Service: $99.00

Shipping: $15.00

Local Tax: $5.25

 

I found Montblanc's prices quite reasonable; for comparison Ron Zorn at Main Street Pens charges

US$55 to replace a broken diaphragm and perform basic overhaul on a Parker 51.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

On 9/8/2021 at 6:49 PM, CS388 said:

Odd. Did they not mention service levels and fixed pricing?

 

23 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

2020 edition:

 

Service Prices* Writing Instruments

…‹snip›…

*Subject to change as the exact price can only be given after detailed examination by an authorised retailer or service centre.

 

It would be stupid for Montblanc not to put an escape clause in there, and it would be careless for the individual customer not to take note of it (or, in fact, proactively look for it).

 

[timo]

I recently sent my MB vermeil doue legrand rollerball in for a service with MB as the barrel and cap top had been damaged. I sent the pen to the Bond Street MB store with a letter. It was sent to Hamburg by MB and I received an email outlining the costs before proceeding. This took around 3 weeks. £68 for the barrel (expected level 2 service) and an additional £95 for the vermeil top of the cap. The pen took 3 weeks to be repaired and was sent back to the Bond Street store. Once I settled the bill with them it was sent back in the post to me at no additional cost. Very happy with the experience. 

[Emver]

13 minutes ago, timo said:

I recently sent my MB vermeil doue legrand rollerball in for a service with MB as the barrel and cap top had been damaged. I sent the pen to the Bond Street MB store with a letter. It was sent to Hamburg by MB and I received an email outlining the costs before proceeding. This took around 3 weeks. £68 for the barrel (expected level 2 service) and an additional £95 for the vermeil top of the cap. The pen took 3 weeks to be repaired and was sent back to the Bond Street store. Once I settled the bill with them it was sent back in the post to me at no additional cost. Very happy with the experience. 

 

Thank you Timo.  How long ago was this? Presumably after the Brexit shambles/disaster?

[timo]

Ha yeah. I received the pen back last week. 

[timo]

Came back looking pristine. 

[The Mustard]

Pre Brexit MB used to allow you to book a UPS collection via their website, it was free and UPS invariably collected the next day. A week later MB would be in touch to confirm a quote and once payment was taken it would then be in the queue and returned a few weeks later.

 

That service no longer exists and one must go via an authorised dealer, I use Bruce at Wheelers in Loughborough who is superb (no affiliation, just a happy customer) and from the point of giving him the pen the process works the same, he subsequently provides the quote for the work required and I approve it and commit to that repair / service. Again the pen is returned in due course.

 

initially in 2021 there were massive problems with customs and many pens were held, I gather that that problem has now dissipated and all is flowing reasonably efficiently although MB seem to have a backlog that always lasts a few weeks.

 

Pre or post Brexit Mb’s service has always been very good although not the most timely,  I guess you say as you find….

[ParkerBeta]

On 9/9/2021 at 3:18 AM, LWJ2 said:

I recently sent my 146 to Montblanc for a similar problem, the charge was US$119.25 for Level 2 service:

 

Service: $99.00

Shipping: $15.00

Local Tax: $5.25

 

I found Montblanc's prices quite reasonable; for comparison Ron Zorn at Main Street Pens charges

US$55 to replace a broken diaphragm and perform basic overhaul on a Parker 51.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

Those are quite reasonable prices. May I ask when (approximately) this was?  I am trying to figure out if the rough doubling of prices that I have experienced since May is due to the switch to MyJewelryRepair. 

[Pen Nut]

Just as an update into what has occurred with this pen I include part of the mail sent to the owner and a few pictures looking inside the barrel :

 

I will keep it brief but yesterday I started some gentle cleaning of the barrel and when using a firm clinical type of cotton bud on the inside of the barrel it felt sort of rough for the last half of its length. I switched from loupe to optivisor but couldn't quite see what I was feeling.

 

I then swapped to the illuminated USB microscope and started to see what I was feeling, the lower half of the ink chamber wall is like sandpaper whilst the top half is as smooth as a new pen ! The piston floats down really well until it hits the lower half then struggles to overcome the abrasive nature of the inner wall.

 

Maybe the pen was left half full of ink over many many years which has then slowly attacked the surface ?

 

One of the pictures attached shows the ink window close up and the abrasions crazing you see are actually inside the pen window.

 

You will also see that there is a hairline crack visible and this is running through the ink window & threads. You cannot see this under normal light or without strong magnification but it is there.