Colorado Pen Company

[krom101]

Hi, have any members of the forum done business with the above company in the near past? I had a rather strange experience with them recently, (my very first purchase from them), and I'm curious to know if it was just me, or did I catch somebody on a bad day. My story is I ordered some bottles of ink, (one Waterman, one Penguin, and one Mont Blanc.). Their communication to me was quite good, as they notified me as to shipping date, and then emailed me a tracking number. So far so good. When I got the package, and the invoice, the Mont Blanc ink was listed as back-ordered, and my credit card was shown as credited for that charge, which had apparently already been made. I emailed them immediately and questioned their methodology. I suggested that if something is backordered, the buyer should be given the option of how to proceed with the order. 1- The order could be held until the backordered item is in stock. 2-The order could be shipped, as is. 3-The backordered item could be shipped at a later date, (but I opined that in this case, the extra shipping charge should be paid by the vendor). But I stated that the decision should have been mine, and as it seemed that the Mont Blanc ink was simply excised from the order, I told them that I was less then satisfied. I received back a flaming email that would have done a newsgroup proud. After thoroughly trashing me, the writer turned his wrath onto Mont Blanc. After stating that they, (Colorado Pen) was the largest Mont Blanc dealer in the U.S., he launched into an absolute tirade about Mont Blanc treating their vendors poorly and doing whatever they felt like doing when it came to resupply of essentials. Very nasty stuff. He added that I was being removed from their catalogue mailing list immediately. And not that I really care about any of the above, but in my 60+ years I have never gotten a letter like this. Perhaps it was my fault, and I inadvertantly pushed his buttons, I just do not know, so I ask for the experience of others in this group. Anything like this ever happen to you from this vendor? P.S. 48 hours after the first package I received the bottle of Mont Blanc black, that I had ordered in the first place. With no additional shipping charges, but without any email notification or tracking number. And no additional comments either.

Krom

[ethernautrix]

Wow, sounds like someone was having a very bad day.

 

Your inquiry should not have elicited such a response. (I'm going to assume that your inquiry was polite. But no! Even so! Even if your tone was angry, a professional salesperson should not unleash all his frustration on you.)

 

Weird.

 

Given what you've told us, I'd say it's not you.

[FredRydr]

I agree. A bad day. But without an explanation or apology, I'd let it go and just never shop there again.

 

I suspect the salesman regrets what he wrote, because if it ends up on the internet, he's damaged his firm's reputation. That's the trouble with instant written communication like email.

 

Fred

Edited September 11, 2008 by FredRydr

[jmkeuning]

Wow. That's crazy!

[penpimperLV]

That's terrible! I'm sorry that happened to you and the salesperson was so rude to you. Regardless of Montblanc's failure in refilling their backstock, that was Colorado's error, not Montblanc's as you were not directly dealing with the vendor - that is their responsibility. They shouldn't have charged you for an item that was backordered and should have given you another alternative like you said. That is an example of extremely poor customer service. If I were you I would never do business with them again. Thanks for the heads up. Feedback like this will be extremely helpful once I get my business up and running someday. I know if you were my client I would NEVER treat you like that!

 

P.S. They are not still affiliated with Paradise Pen, are they? Just curious.

Edited September 11, 2008 by penpimperLV

[krom101]

  penpimperLV said:

That's terrible! I'm sorry that happened to you and the salesperson was so rude to you. Regardless of Montblanc's failure in refilling their backstock, that was Colorado's error, not Montblanc's as you were not directly dealing with the vendor - that is their responsibility. They shouldn't have charged you for an item that was backordered and should have given you another alternative like you said. That is an example of extremely poor customer service. If I were you I would never do business with them again. Thanks for the heads up. Feedback like this will be extremely helpful once I get my business up and running someday. I know if you were my client I would NEVER treat you like that!

 

P.S. They are not still affiliated with Paradise Pen, are they? Just curious.

I cannot answer your question regarding Paradise Pen, as I'm unaware of any connection. And NO, I have no intention of ever dealing with Colorado again. FYI, I did wait a couple of days for a "cooling off" period, and then emailed the gentleman back and told him that I intended sharing our email string directly with Mont Blanc, and added " I'm certain that they will find it every bit as enjoyable as I did". His two word response was "Thank You". Anyway, let me know when you have your own business up and running, as I'd like to give a new start-up any help that I can.

Krom

[Solomander]

I would be interested to see what happened if you got the e-mail address of the customer service supervisor or company president and forwarded your e-mail exchange to them.

 

Joel

[penpimperLV]

  krom101 said:

I cannot answer your question regarding Paradise Pen, as I'm unaware of any connection. And NO, I have no intention of ever dealing with Colorado again. FYI, I did wait a couple of days for a "cooling off" period, and then emailed the gentleman back and told him that I intended sharing our email string directly with Mont Blanc, and added " I'm certain that they will find it every bit as enjoyable as I did". His two word response was "Thank You". Anyway, let me know when you have your own business up and running, as I'd like to give a new start-up any help that I can.

Krom

 

Hi Krom,

Absolutely. Thank you for the encouragement!

 

[goodguy]

In few days I am planing to order the MB Shaw after reading your story I dont think I will bother calling them.

 

Thank you for sharing this with us.

[krom101]

  Solomander said:

I would be interested to see what happened if you got the e-mail address of the customer service supervisor or company president and forwarded your e-mail exchange to them.

 

Joel

Thank you for an excellent suggestion. I was just discussing this with my wife, (the brains of the outfit), as I was at sea about how to proceed in just the way you suggest. I was lost as to how I could copy the emails into another form, save them, and send them to anybody. The wife suggested simply printing out the email string, getting the corporate address for Colorado, and sending them a letter including the string, and sending it by snail mail. DUH! I'm 61 years old, today, and this obvious answer never occured to me.

Krom

[BP3]

  krom101 said:

I'm 61 years old, today.

Krom

 

Happy Birthday. I hope someone gave you a new pen.

 

[kaisede]

krom let us know how it turns out. I have deal with many pen venders but never have I experiance this kind of behavior.

 

andy

[krom101]

  BP3 said:

  krom101 said:

I'm 61 years old, today.

Krom

 

Happy Birthday. I hope someone gave you a new pen.

Not yet, but the day isn't quite over, (he says hopefully). Thank you for the kind sentiment, and I appreciate it more every year. But on a darker note, my enjoyment of my birthday kind of ended seven years ago, today. And I probably shouldn't have even mentioned that, as it doesn't belong in this forum. Sorry.

Krom

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I've also had such and such from them. We also had a whole thread about this some time back.

 

YMMV...No more comment

 

Dillon

Edited September 12, 2008 by Dillo

[FrankB]

The Colorado Pen Company filed for bankruptcy a few years back, perhaps 2000 or so. Pete Paradise, the president of CPC left the company main headquarters and let his board of directors have it. He took the remaining stores and renamed them "Paradise Pen" and continued business. CPC has remained a mail order enterprise, Paradise Pen has brick and mortar stores.

 

Both vendors have a reputation for charging full retail for their wares. My experience with Paradise Pen was their store in Austin, Texas. It was a CPC until the bankruptcy, then became Paradise Pen. In both iterations, the store had few people who knew writing instruments well. Their customer service was a sham, and I will say only that about it. Details will turn into a tirade. Suffice it to say, I do not do business with either entity, nor shall I ever.

[djrsf42]

  penpimperLV said:

  krom101 said:

I cannot answer your question regarding Paradise Pen, as I'm unaware of any connection. And NO, I have no intention of ever dealing with Colorado again. FYI, I did wait a couple of days for a "cooling off" period, and then emailed the gentleman back and told him that I intended sharing our email string directly with Mont Blanc, and added " I'm certain that they will find it every bit as enjoyable as I did". His two word response was "Thank You". Anyway, let me know when you have your own business up and running, as I'd like to give a new start-up any help that I can.

Krom

 

Hi Krom,

Absolutely. Thank you for the encouragement!

 

Yeah me too bra!

[dadoody]

  krom101 said:

Hi, have any members of the forum done business with the above company in the near past? I had a rather strange experience with them recently, (my very first purchase from them), and I'm curious to know if it was just me, or did I catch somebody on a bad day. My story is I ordered some bottles of ink, (one Waterman, one Penguin, and one Mont Blanc.). Their communication to me was quite good, as they notified me as to shipping date, and then emailed me a tracking number. So far so good. When I got the package, and the invoice, the Mont Blanc ink was listed as back-ordered, and my credit card was shown as credited for that charge, which had apparently already been made. I emailed them immediately and questioned their methodology. I suggested that if something is backordered, the buyer should be given the option of how to proceed with the order. 1- The order could be held until the backordered item is in stock. 2-The order could be shipped, as is. 3-The backordered item could be shipped at a later date, (but I opined that in this case, the extra shipping charge should be paid by the vendor). But I stated that the decision should have been mine, and as it seemed that the Mont Blanc ink was simply excised from the order, I told them that I was less then satisfied. I received back a flaming email that would have done a newsgroup proud. After thoroughly trashing me, the writer turned his wrath onto Mont Blanc. After stating that they, (Colorado Pen) was the largest Mont Blanc dealer in the U.S., he launched into an absolute tirade about Mont Blanc treating their vendors poorly and doing whatever they felt like doing when it came to resupply of essentials. Very nasty stuff. He added that I was being removed from their catalogue mailing list immediately. And not that I really care about any of the above, but in my 60+ years I have never gotten a letter like this. Perhaps it was my fault, and I inadvertantly pushed his buttons, I just do not know, so I ask for the experience of others in this group. Anything like this ever happen to you from this vendor? P.S. 48 hours after the first package I received the bottle of Mont Blanc black, that I had ordered in the first place. With no additional shipping charges, but without any email notification or tracking number. And no additional comments either.

Krom

 

This company is also operated as Paradise Pen Company. They have a shop at my local mall - South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. The storefront is very ritzy, and whenever I visited and asked questions, they seemed nice enough depending on the person working.

 

The money they spent decorating the place, and the types of pens they sell, it's like going to a Rolex store or some Jewelry store.

 

Their ink selection is low though. And they've an expensive place. I went in last week to see if they had any "Noodler's" ink, and they had 1 bottle only with a cracked lid and they charge $15 for it - well over retail for a 3oz bottle.

 

I have absolutely no idea how they make money actually...., whenever I walk by, I never see anyone buying anything.

Edited March 4, 2009 by dadoody

[thoddomas]

  krom101 said:

he launched into an absolute tirade about Mont Blanc treating their vendors poorly and doing whatever they felt like doing when it came to resupply of essentials. Very nasty stuff. He added that I was being removed from their catalogue mailing list immediately.

 

Wow, never treated any of my customers like that. That's shameful. I've been looking to see if anyone has had a bad experience dealing with our store, to find a story like yours. I'm glad to say I haven't found one yet, but we're not perfect either. We try to do the best we can, especially with difficult orders that have out-of-stock items, discontinued items and the like. I have thrown a manufacturer or two under the bus because they don't make our jobs any easier by not supplying the product in a timely manner. BUT I would never, ever remove my customer off the mailing list unless they asked.

On an aside, I did call Colorado once to verify a price match and it was like I woke someone up from a nap. So, I guess they are cranky.

[someonesdad]

krom101: It would be interesting if you could post your email(s) and the response(s); of course, edit out any private info. But, as long as it's factual, it is a useful record of a transaction and will stand a chance of correcting the company's or individual's behavior -- it might even elicit an apology. And it will perhaps influence the buying decisions of others. Gauging by the comments made by others on this thread, Colorado Pens is not a place most of us would want to do business with. And behavior like you described is especially stupid in a lousy economy and in a business that sells nonessentials.

[LuckyR]

It would not suprise me that a company that has gone bankrupt once already, that sells luxury goods at above market value in this economy might not be a bit less than cheery when met with a (very reasonable) customer complaint.

 

Look at it this way: you got your ink a few days late, the guy you EMailed will probably be unemployed in about 45 days.