Monteverde Napa

[naimitsu]

In February of this year I purchased the Monteverde Napa in Ivory.
Right out of the box, it seemed big, but once you started writing with it, it wasn't as large as it first seemed. It came with a Medium nib, but I didn't want that, so I purchased a Goulet 1.1mm stub nib and swapped that in. The pen was good to go! The only issue I had with it was the fact that you had to get the threads lined up exactly right or the cap would not screw on. Not a big deal, but it did get annoying when you're in a hurry and the darn cap wouldn't go back on!

Then a couple of weeks ago the pen started coming apart. The portion of the view window that was pressed fit into the barrel slipped out while I was unscrewing it. Again, not a big deal. It felt somewhat secure when it went back in, so I could write with it. I just had to be careful about how I unscrewed the cap. A little bit of loctite and the back half of the pen stopped pulling out.

And then today, when I pulled it out of my carrier, the thing came apart in my hand. However, this time, it was obviously broken.
I call this picture, "Technical Difficulties".


I had the Impressa first, which I highly enjoy writing with and have not had a single construction issue with it. Granted it is a metal body, so there's less chance of a fatigue break like this.
I also just received my Conklin Stylograph, which is under the same corporation umbrella, just a higher price point (and hopefully higher quality) company. Now I am a little leery about the quality of their resin bodies.

Has anyone had any issues with their resin Monteverdes? If no, have you contacted the company about it? If so, how are they to work with?

[Lady Onogaro]

Wow! I had wanted one of these for ages, but the reviews of them have not been so good as far as writers. I had not heard of them coming apart like this, though.

[Neo]

I have no experience with this pen. YMMV, but as far as Monteverde customer service goes, I had purchased a tool pen with a defective nib. A call to customer service led to my expectation that a replacement nib section would be in the mail, instead they sent me an entire pen. Suggest to try giving them a call.

[naimitsu]

I have no experience with this pen. YMMV, but as far as Monteverde customer service goes, I had purchased a tool pen with a defective nib. A call to customer service led to my expectation that a replacement nib section would be in the mail, instead they sent me an entire pen. Suggest to try giving them a call.

Thanks, Neo. I was planning on calling them tomorrow.

[Sammyo]

This absolutely shocked me! I know for a fact that Naimitsu looks after her pens and is definitely not rough with them.
I'm sure that Monteverde will do the right thing, but this was unbelievable! Good luck with sorting it all out

[inlovewithjournals]

I own three Monteverde Primas and have never experienced any problems. I also have an Artista Crystal Demonstrator that has worked perfectly since purchase last November. I have never had cause to contact customer service. Best of luck and keep us posted.

[naimitsu]

So an update.
I called them on Thursday, April 16 and was told to send them a picture of the broken pen. The representative stated that she would call me back that day, but she did not. I had to call back today and was actually transferred directly to her and she apologized for not calling me back, though no reason for the lack of response was given.

After talking to her again and walking her through the problem. She thought it would thread back, but I had to explain to her where the break was.

She told me that I would need to send it in for repair along with the PDF repair form on Yafa's own website. She did inform me that it would be at least $11.95 for shipment of the pen back to me.

I will ship it back to them and see what they can do.

[Lady Onogaro]

I can't understand why it would cost $11.95 to ship the pen back. That's ridiculous. Bubble wrap and a tube don't cost that much, and the postal service gives you the shipping boxes for free.

[Crazyorange]

I can't understand why it would cost $11.95 to ship the pen back. That's ridiculous. Bubble wrap and a tube don't cost that much, and the postal service gives you the shipping boxes for free.

Shipping and fondling charges.

[naimitsu]

I can't understand why it would cost $11.95 to ship the pen back. That's ridiculous. Bubble wrap and a tube don't cost that much, and the postal service gives you the shipping boxes for free.

That was my thought exactly!

[naimitsu]

Update to this saga...
I received a new pen back from repair, which is basically what I was expecting as there was no way for them to actually repair the pen.

Unfortunately, this meant I got a new feed along with the pen, which is quite frankly a disappointment.
I had a Goulet 1.1mm nib in the old one and with the feed that was in that pen, the ink flowed beautifully and it make the pen a pleasure to write with.

Basically, to quote James Hunt in Rush, they've taken a "great piece of engineering and overnight turned it to a big huge stinking turd."

For one, the Goulet/Jowo #6 nib fit in the section without issue in the previous pen. Not so with the new one. The cutout for the nib is wider than the nib, so that means the Jowo no longer sits on the shelf without the feed to hold it in place.

Secondly, I have had nothing but hard starts and flow issues. It does not like the 1.1mm nib whatsoever, and the stingy flow made the nib write with an obnoxious scratch that wasn't as prevalent before.

And shipping. Their shipment method truly makes me question the $11+ they charge for every repair. The pen came in a cardboard box stuffed inside of a minimally padded envelope. I am amazed that USPS did not abuse the packaging and that it showed up intact. I have had sample ink vials shipped from the wonderful people at Goulet and Anderson Pens shipped to me better packaged than what I received from Yafa.

Also, they apparently tried to contact me only once to get my credit card information for payment of the shipment cost. This call was apparently lost during my phone switch, but I did not received any follow-up calls or emails regarding this. Which in the grand scheme of things is a whatever.
What truly annoyed me was the fact that when I called in to give them my CC information, they asked yet again how the pen broke, as if they were waiting for me to change my story and admit culpability of the breakage when it really was not my fault!

All-in-all, they were decent to work with, even with the bits of annoyances.
However, I now question the craftsmanship and durability of their products. Which really is a bummer as they also own Delta and Stipula, and those two brands have some interesting pens.

[sgtstretch]

Not sure on Stipula, but I don't think they own Delta, they are just the US distributor for Delta. If I'm wrong on that, someone please correct me.

But agreed on the question of Yafa's craftsmanship and durability. I have one Yafa produced pen, and I plan on keeping it at that.

[naimitsu]

Not sure on Stipula, but I don't think they own Delta, they are just the US distributor for Delta. If I'm wrong on that, someone please correct me.

But agreed on the question of Yafa's craftsmanship and durability. I have one Yafa produced pen, and I plan on keeping it at that.

Looks like you're right. Just saw this on Yafa's website: "Yafa Pen Company® is also the exclusive North American distributor for the prestigious Italian brands; Delta® and Stipula®"