Another splurge and PLP buying experience

December 4

Had not bought pens since a couple of years. @K Singh @arun.upb enticed me to look at PLP pens. Used to drool over the photos posted by these two members and now got a chance to get them in India and bring to me in the UAE through someone. And started looking at their portal to place orders.

PLP Jumbo was my first attraction as Gama and ASA jumbos bought in the past but put to good use since last 2 years have relegated my Parkers, Pilots, Lamys, Sheaffer etc. to the storage. Never had laid hands on a premium acrylic and that too was winking at me. Then their PLP Classique for the unique look and Vivriti.

My carrier's travel plans got finalized and went back to PLP site. What I wanted were out of stock. Wrote to them and Satish promised to help me out. He agreed to make them ready by end of Nov. (of course last month) and get them shipped to my relatives. There was some delay in getting them ready but Satish got them done yesterday and informed me. Sent me the pics.

Since I don't live in India, making payments is a hassle as UPI does not work for us. Nor Google Pay in India since we need to link a phone number in India to the bank account. The only way is net banking or debit cards. In this case, since order was not on the portal only option became bank transfer. Here comes the twist. Somehow Satish's bank rejected my transfers to him yesterday. Informed him to check with his bank Tried today again and the same thing - transfer returned to my account. Now what to do. Satish said he will send me an alternative account to send him the money. Meanwhile, contacted my bank and they confirmed no UPI for NRI if the phone number linked to the account is not India number.

Waited for sometime before I called Satish on the phone. He said he was travelling and does not have the other account number handy. Would send it soon. Then he said he had arranged to send the pens already. I could not believe it. We have never seen each other, nor we had dealings before but he put trust on me and sent the pens so that they reach my relatives before they left to the UAE!!!! Soon I got the Indiapost tracking too!!!

After sometime Satish sent me the alternative bank account and the money was transferred.

More on the pens after I get them here. I chose to get them with Ambitous nibs to keep them all as Indian as possible (maybe acrylic or ebonite is imported??). Then Ambitious option is only ED. In fact I like ED now than other filling mechanisms. Wish I had known the silicone grease and priming trick when in school (>45 yrs back).I hated EDs but had no other choice but leaky pens and dirty hands and sighed at the sight of Hero, Parker, Shaeffer in the hands of my richer classmates . Now EDs are my favs.

More later....

December 5

Such beautiful pens 👍 The Demonstrator pens look so cool.

It's always super easy and convenient to deal with Mr.Satish. Can't say the same about some other Indian penmakers.

I wish I had switched to Eyedroppers early in the hobby. Better late than never though.

Look forward to your experience with these pens. Both my PLP pens were jowo threaded and I use them as Eyedroppers only 🙂

December 5

congratulations! the pens look beautiful.

December 10

I had no knowledge of this company until I saw a review of some of their pens on a YouTube video on TheWetPen channel. It didn't take long and I had to go take a look. And I was very glad I did. I placed an order and I now have 3 pens in 3 different models on the way. I prefer eyedroppers, at least for this initial order so these will all have Ambitious nibs. One of the pens will be the hooded nib variety and I am looking forward to that. The website seems to reflect what they have in stock so it is probably best to check and see what is available. The pens are offered, for the most part, with a cartridge/converter option. Checkout was not a problem and the site accepted multiple payment methods which makes it so much easier for international customers. I live in the US and trying to purchase ebonite pens from places like PLP is almost impossible due to lack of payment possibilities or extortionate shipping or the lack of internet capabilities. PLP has all of that going for them plus a great selection of pens, if they are in stock. Price and shipping will ensure another order in the next couple of months. Take a look and check out the website. Window shopping doesn't cost anything and you might like what you see.