Conid not taking orders...

[sniper777]

Until May 1st.... I guess the demand was too high. They also politely told anyone with open orders emails are going to be difficult to return.

[silverlifter]

This has been brewing for the better part of 2019.

The demand was simply too much for the firm, essentially a side gig, to keep up. Hopefully, they will build an operation that is better able to scale in future.

[Robert]

The email from Conid indicated current orders for 253 Bulkfillers. They offer other models, too, but no mention of order numbers for non-Bulkfillers.

It seems business is good at Conid and, to an extent, they've become collective victims of their own success. I wish them well.

[silverlifter]

All Conids are bulkfillers*, so that is the total number of outstanding orders.

Kingsize, Regular, Minimalistica, Slimline, Giraffe are the different models, but each uses the same filling system.

[Robert]

You are correct (I checked the website just now). Thanks for the clarification.

[Fountainbel]

Hi Conid friends!
Good news :Conid twill restart accepting orders as from September 2020
The Covid 19 pandemic has - and still is- seriously in Belgium which delayed the elimination of their backlog
They have started production of the parts , assuring shorter delivery times in the future
Keep you safe and healthy !.
Best regards,
Francis

[Marsilius]

Hi Conid friends!
Good news :Conid twill restart accepting orders as from September 2020
The Covid 19 pandemic has been seriously in Belgium which delayed the elimination of their backlog
They have started production of the parts , assuring shorter delivery times in the future.
Best regards,
Francis
Well wishes are being sent to you and all of the Conid folks, Francis!

[SleeperService]

Amazing news. Thanks for the update, Francis!

[WLSpec]

Hi Conid friends!
Good news :Conid twill restart accepting orders as from September 2020
The Covid 19 pandemic has - and still is- seriously in Belgium which delayed the elimination of their backlog
They have started production of the parts , assuring shorter delivery times in the future
Keep you safe and healthy !.
Best regards,
Francis

Thank you for the update! I am eager and excited...

[SleeperService]

Apologies for sounding like an impatient fool, but does anyone have any guess as to when in September Conid will be back? I’ve still not heard anything from their official newsletter...
Obviously it takes as long as it takes, but the anticipation is starting to hurt.

[Kaputnik]

I guess I should feel lucky that I don't want this specific thing, although I've looked at them and see the appeal. But so much is on hold right now. Whatever we want, we're getting a prolonged lesson in patience.

[FredRydr]

Apologies for sounding like an impatient fool, but does anyone have any guess as to when in September Conid will be back? I’ve still not heard anything from their official newsletter... Obviously it takes as long as it takes, but the anticipation is starting to hurt.
Without information, a guess is just a guess. They haven't replied to email. I just hope their acrylics have not been exposed to the infestation of destructive Sumatran resin beetle colonies spreading across western Europe.

[Chuck Naill]

In the meantine, other pens are avaialble in case you have a pent up novel that just needs to be put to pen and paper. :)

[RatedRKhan]

September is almost over now... and no word from Conid. Is everything okay over there?

[FredRydr]

It does make me wonder about the health of Conid and Werner's business. I've sent two emails to Conid since it closed in 2019 wanting information about a nib, and both have gone unanswered.

[Jon Szanto]

It does make me wonder about the health of Conid and Werner's business. I've sent two emails to Conid since it closed in 2019 wanting information about a nib, and both have gone unanswered.

What business is healthy that doesn't answer direct correspondence? Outside of the personal health of every member of the business team, apart from whether they can manufacture and ship pens, surely one would want to stay in contact with their customer base, or make a clean break with it. Limbo is the worst address for a business to take up residence.

[Eciton]

I had exchanged a few emails with Conid not just as a repeat customer but as a reviewer of three of their models for ukfountainpens.com. I sent them an email a few weeks ago in that capacity, just asking for anything to break the radio silence. No reply at all.

[piscov]

I had exchanged a few emails with Conid not just as a repeat customer but as a reviewer of three of their models for ukfountainpens.com. I sent them an email a few weeks ago in that capacity, just asking for anything to break the radio silence. No reply at all.Have you tried emailing Francis?

Enviado do meu Mi 9T Pro através do Tapatalk

[SleeperService]

Conid’s site looks like it’s down today...ready for a refresh?

[AlecG]

the message looks more like a: "you did not pay your fees, we warned you":

The account which is hosting this domain has been temporarily disabled.
If you are the owner of this account, please check your e-mail and contact support or your sales representative.

[FredRydr]

the message looks more like a: "you did not pay your fees, we warned you":

The account which is hosting this domain has been temporarily disabled.
If you are the owner of this account, please check your e-mail and contact support or your sales representative.

On Safari to access https://www.conidpen.com, I get:


56227

[AlecG]

That is right, safari is warning you that the SSL certificate isn't valid, but if you click trough the warnings you'll get the message I've posted.



the message looks more like a: "you did not pay your fees, we warned you":

The account which is hosting this domain has been temporarily disabled.
If you are the owner of this account, please check your e-mail and contact support or your sales representative.

On Safari to access ...., I get:

[notsim]

the fontoplumo conids are unavailable on the webshop as well

[Eciton]

I had exchanged a few emails with Conid not just as a repeat customer but as a reviewer of three of their models for ukfountainpens.com. I sent them an email a few weeks ago in that capacity, just asking for anything to break the radio silence. No reply at all.Have you tried emailing Francis?

Enviado do meu Mi 9T Pro através do Tapatalk


I hadn't been dealing with Francis and don't have his direct details, I'm afraid — it was Jonas and Koen I had been emailing.

[piscov]

I'll try to contact Francis

Best regards Vasco
Please visit www.penalusa.com

[RatedRKhan]

I contacted Conid and spoke with a very polite gentleman. I told him that I wasn’t going to speak on their behalf, but Conid is still an operating subsidiary of their parent company, and they are currently working with their isp to ge their website back up. I requested they send an email update out to their customers to let us know what their plans are. Hopefully they can agree to a date to when they want to open.

[SleeperService]

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

[SleeperService]

They’ve just put an update on their Facebook page.

[Eciton]

I contacted Conid and spoke with a very polite gentleman. I told him that I wasn’t going to speak on their behalf, but Conid is still an operating subsidiary of their parent company, and they are currently working with their isp to ge their website back up. I requested they send an email update out to their customers to let us know what their plans are. Hopefully they can agree to a date to when they want to open.


Thank you for doing this!

[FredRydr]

This is rather vague.

[mulrich]

They’ve just put an update on their Facebook page.

From the Facebook page:

"Dear Conid enthusiasts,
First and foremost, we hope every one of you has been safe and sound during the past (very challenging) months. The biggest challenge being the fight against the Covid-19/Corona crisis. Our main focus has been on the health and safety of not only our own, but also for the world population. Our mother company Komec Helsen is the main supplier for a pharmaceutical company and our full attention was required to ensure they would be able to keep on producing without failure. Thus we opted to postpone the restart of Conid.
We wanted to let everybody know that we have not been sitting still, on the contrary. The little time we had left for Conid we have used to work on the long term future of Conid. We have been working on a lot of aspects with the sole purpose of improving quality and consistency while reducing lead times. Before taking the “pause to restart” we made a couple promises and we intend to keep all of them, except one: restarting on May 1...
This date is postponed, but rest assured, we will be back and we will be back stronger than ever before.
We would like to express our gratitude for the vast amount of support and understanding that we received from all of you!
We also wish you and your loved ones a good health. Stay safe, stay strong!
The Conid team"

[AlecG]

​Good and not so good news.
I live close by at 50 minutes drive from Conid and had the audacity to phone him.
So I just spoke on the phone with Werner.
Really kind guy!

Not so good:
- They are still fully booked/overbooked with orders for their core business: CNC-producing close tolerance high quality parts and products for the process/medical industry.
- This year it is not to be expected that they will start producing fountain pens again.

Good:
- He was certain that they will start next year again.
- They really like this side business, it's a hobby that went out of control (and don't we all know that?!?). That is their main motivation, I think.
- A large amount of parts has been CNC produced and is ready for finishing and assembly (but not all parts that are needed for a pen are ready yet, so ordering a do-it-yourself-kit isn't possible. Sorry tried that 🙂 so that is a second reason to be sure they will get back.
- But Werner was also really sure they would be back, because they ordered a really large amount of their custom nibs at Bock. They received it in May last year just before Covid started to mess things up.
As nibs are an expensive investment, certainly when made to order with your own logo, they will again make the pens and sell nibs.


For me personally it's a difficult one. My daughter wrecked my Pilot 823. And although it is a particular ugly pen IMHO, it is a really good workhorse. So I will definitely buy a Kingsize titanium demonstrator
But the only pen I have left is a Lamy 2000 and I really like the looks, but it's too small and doesn't hold enough ink. Yet my frugal/minimalistic nature prevents me from ordering another Pilot 823 for just 6 or 9 months or so.
On the other hand, another 6 to 9 months with the Lamy 2k is really not something I look forward to.
Then again, I'm also not in a position to pay 2 or 3 time the MRSP on eBay/marketplaces.
​

[FredRydr]

​...I live close by at 50 minutes drive from Conid and had the audacity to phone him. So I just spoke on the phone with Werner....​
Thank you for taking the initiative and sharing what you learned.

[Jon Szanto]

In the SF Pen Posse group on Facebook, a couple of people reported speaking to a fellow at the SF show who had a 'CONID' table. He was not an official representative (hence my scare quotes), but is a longtime friend and fan. He said they most definitely intend on beginning production again, but all of their work and time has been involved with the production of ventilator machines and parts due to COVID. While this is a hobby aspect to the group/company, the indications from all reports were that they would return to making pens as soon as they were able. My impression is that this will always be a somewhat-organized side-effort and never a full-on company.