Blundered? Oh yes, blundered badly it seems.

[Mark9117]

It's possible that you may have seen this thread:

http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread....have-blundered

My inexperience in this hobby has cost me a few dollars.

The piece in question arrived to day. Acutally, it was "pieces".

The ad stated “This pen is in very good condition. The only imperfection or sign of wear that I can find at all is that the plunger isn't flush with the barrel as there is a gap between the barrel and plunger when the plunger is as close to the barrel as I can get it; however, this might have something to do with the ink mechanism on this one as there is no ink in this pen. See pics. There are no scratches, dents, dings, cracks, or engravings.”

While that was all true, it was not the least of the pen's trouble.

A member here, kirchh, pointed out

This pen was a decent latter-'40s Sentinel Deluxe before someone tore off the gold filled band at the bottom of the cap.

And kirchh was correct. But that was not the least of the pen's trouble. Had I paid $10 for this pen, I might not be so inclined to open a beef over it, but I paid three times that much and I'm an unsatisfied customer.

Does anybody find fault with my judgement or plans in this matter?

Thank.

Mark

Likely because the cap was now too short for the pen, the nib and section were damaged. While the pen was sold in "good condition" and it arrived well packed in a small cardboard box, wrapped in bubble wrap and shipped in a very sturdy and amply sized USPS mailer, the nib was bent.



It was difficult to see in 2-dimensions, but up close and personal, it is most decidedly bent.



But that's not the least of the pen's trouble.

At some point, the section broke.



Hard to tell from the pics on eBay whether the section was broken prior to shipment, but I'm guessing that it was. Nevertheless, the condition of this pen does not appear consistent with the description in the ad. I plan to contact the seller and request a refund, for which I will send the parts I received back, unless they are unwanted. I will wait 72 hours for a reply before taking the matter up with eBay.

[mhosea]

Ouch on the last pic! Note that the upturn in the nib is correct, not a defect. The nib itself looks fine, not that it matters in this case. That broken outer sleeve on the nib+feed assembly is a deal-breaker, and from the gap in the last pic on the eBay listing, I'd say, yes, it was probably broken before shipment. I saw that gap before, but I know that the assembly threads in, and it just didn't occur to me that it might be broken there.

Personally, I think you have a good claim, but I wouldn't circumvent eBay's case system for 3 days. Pretty sure the seller can just agree to a return and be unharmed by the events if they so choose. The case system just formalizes and documents the exchange of information.

[tandaina]

Yeah those pens have their noses turned up like that. I just sold one that was in perfect condition, had been redone by Ron Zorn, it had that same little curve at the front. They all are like that. The broken section, *that* is an issue though.

[Mark9117]

Wow, really? I'm shocked and amazed that the nib isn't wrecked. I checked out the images at Richards Pens and they all look different:

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/nibs/triumph.htm

I suppose it differs from model-to-model and year-to-year.

At any rate, I'm opening a request with eBay. Being somewhat wizer than I was a week ago, perhaps I'll find a project pen I can do something with for a more reasonable amount of money.

I appreciate your input folks. The education is a wonderful thing.


Mark

[sloegin]

Try contacting the seller before opening a case with ebay, if you have not already done so. It gives the seller a chance to make things right without involving ebay.

[elaineb]

Richard Binder's page, third paragraph, talks about the "distinctive turned-up 'snub nose'", which is what you're seeing. The nib in the photo looks to be in good shape. I believe in fact that Binder bases his "Waverly" grind on this upturned nib shape, to make ultra fine nibs write more smoothly. Personally, I adore this generation of Triumph nibs.

[mhosea]

Try contacting the seller before opening a case with ebay, if you have not already done so. It gives the seller a chance to make things right without involving ebay.

Opening a case in the eBay resolution center isn't anything like opening a PayPal dispute. Opening a PayPal dispute is awakening a beast, but in contrast, the very first thing that happens when you open an eBay resolution center case is that you have to try to communicate with the seller. The resolution center tracks the back-and-forth, but eBay will not get involved if the buyer and seller "work it out".

"We always encourage our members to communicate with each other when there's a problem with a transaction. The first step is to contact the member through the Resolution Center and try to resolve the problem."

[sloegin]

Sure. One can also just contact the seller without going through the resolution center, which ebay still monitors/records.

[Mark9117]

So, here's the kind of masochistic glutton for punishment I am: I was contacted by the seller who agrees that there is a problem. She agreed to refund my purchase or offered me free shipping on another item.

Out of curiousity, I browsed her other pens. I found a green striated Sheaffer Balance 350. It seems to be in quite decent shape. Has a bit of brassing on the back of the cap band, but looks to be pretty nice otherwise. All it needs is an exterior polish and possibly some work on the seals on the filler piston.

It would cost me an extra $5.00, but with free shipping, it's still less than $50.

This may work out, more or less, after all. I'll keep you posted.


Mark

[BrianMcQueen]

Just take the refund. The new striated green pen you're looking at is too expensive at the starting price. These can be gotten for $30 or less all the time on eBay, and without brassing issues like this one has.

See Exhibit A

[BrianMcQueen]

You can almost be certain that either this pen or this pen is going to end at less than 44 dollars. They are in better condition and the lever filler is going to be MUCH easier to restore.

[Chrissy]

Sure. One can also just contact the seller without going through the resolution center, which ebay still monitors/records.

One can just contact the seller without going through the resolution center, but ebay doesn't monitor or record it.

ebay recommend that you go through the resolution center though.

[Chrissy]

So, here's the kind of masochistic glutton for punishment I am: I was contacted by the seller who agrees that there is a problem. She agreed to refund my purchase or offered me free shipping on another item.

Out of curiousity, I browsed her other pens. I found a green striated Sheaffer Balance 350. It seems to be in quite decent shape. Has a bit of brassing on the back of the cap band, but looks to be pretty nice otherwise. All it needs is an exterior polish and possibly some work on the seals on the filler piston.

It would cost me an extra $5.00, but with free shipping, it's still less than $50.

This may work out, more or less, after all. I'll keep you posted.


Mark

I would just take the refund.

[Mark9117]

It's too


It may be too late. I've already replied to the message making the offer.

The quick searches I did on the pen showed me a lot of pens at well over $40. I'd just as soon have the pen now at a premium rather than wait and maybe have one come along at the better price.

If this pen is what it appears to be, I'm happy. If not it's another story. We'll see.

I have to say, I'm surprised and disappointed at the reliability of eBay sellers in this game. This is the second bad deal I've gotten into in the past few weeks. The first was a Parker Sonnet that I won and paid for only to have the seller back out without any contact. EBay made good on that deal, but this could be my last foray into pen auctions.

Thanks for the input though. I'll keep you posted on how this little gamble goes.

[Mark9117]

You can almost be certain that either this pen or this pen is going to end at less than 44 dollars. They are in better condition and the lever filler is going to be MUCH easier to restore.

Kind of hard to tell about the pen itself in those pics, but it looks pretty cool. And it seems to write well. I suspect it's an awesome value.

The pen I'm chasing is a Vac-fill, but a nice lever filler would be nice to have as well given a good vintage nib and a sac I can service myself.

I believe such a pen may have just made my must-have list.

Thanks Brian!

[kirchh]

Wow, really? I'm shocked and amazed that the nib isn't wrecked. I checked out the images at Richards Pens and they all look different:

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/nibs/triumph.htm

Actually it looks like this example at that very page:



--Daniel

[Mark9117]

Wow, really? I'm shocked and amazed that the nib isn't wrecked. I checked out the images at Richards Pens and they all look different:

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/nibs/triumph.htm

Actually it looks like this example at that very page:



--Daniel

I can kind of see that now that I know what it looks like in 3-d. In 2 dimensions it's not that easily spotted.

Thanks for all your input!

Mark

[mhosea]

I can kind of see that now that I know what it looks like in 3-d. In 2 dimensions it's not that easily spotted.

It is sometimes hard to tell, especially given the poor quality photos that one often sees on Ebay. Ironically, one thing I always look for is to see that the up-turn is actually present when it is supposed to be there. Occasionally somebody who doesn't know what they are doing will try to "fix" the problem, so one does see straightened out Triumph nibs. Seen it several times with Touchdown TM and Snorkels. It can be undone, restoring the up-turn, but the operation is not without risk, especially on the ones with thinner tines and long tipping.

[Mark9117]

Indeed. I can scrub off baby's bottom and smooth nibs, but any deeper trouble is clearly outside my modest skill set. I would like to learn to grind nibs someday. I've taken a serious liking to italic stubs.

I appreciate the input moose.

Mark

[mhosea]

I appreciate the input moose.

Ha. Had not seen my id "auto-corrected" before. Normally, I go by "Mike", but I kind of like the "Moose".