Part 2 of Internationals sold to me as Centennials

[lowks]

For those so inclined part one is here: https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread...size-as-Inters

So, the developments are here:



I am speechless and flabbergasted. All, I can say is, if you guys ever visit Malaysia and want to buy some fountain pens from here, don't ever go to these guys!

[Jon Szanto]

You may have some reasons to be pissed off at the dealer. However, you did:

• purchase a pen without really knowing what you were buying
• purchase a pen without getting a receipt along with it
• turn down an offer to return the product for a full refund.

I get that you feel maligned in this deal, but you took great risks in your transaction. You keep saying you "wanted a Centennial" but it doesn't appear you spent any time knowing exactly what a Centennial was, or how it compared to the similar pens. Yes, they seemed to transact in an unprofessional manner and you were sold an incorrectly labeled/named pen. Nonetheless, you accepted that pen and you did so without any proof of the sale via a receipt. If I had someone on the phone say "bring it back and we'll refund the money" I would have done that right away instead of spending more time making videos.

I hope it works out. I think you need to focus on getting your money back and move on without focusing on who is right or wrong - there will be time for that AFTER you have your refund. In the future, be a little more sensible when making a significant purchase. This one had warning signs written all over it.

[lowks]

You may have some reasons to be pissed off at the dealer. However, you did:

• purchase a pen without really knowing what you were buying
• purchase a pen without getting a receipt along with it
• turn down an offer to return the product for a full refund.

I get that you feel maligned in this deal, but you took great risks in your transaction. You keep saying you "wanted a Centennial" but it doesn't appear you spent any time knowing exactly what a Centennial was, or how it compared to the similar pens. Yes, they seemed to transact in an unprofessional manner and you were sold an incorrectly labeled/named pen. Nonetheless, you accepted that pen and you did so without any proof of the sale via a receipt. If I had someone on the phone say "bring it back and we'll refund the money" I would have done that right away instead of spending more time making videos.

I hope it works out. I think you need to focus on getting your money back and move on without focusing on who is right or wrong - there will be time for that AFTER you have your refund. In the future, be a little more sensible when making a significant purchase. This one had warning signs written all over it.

Probably rewatch the video again. They promised a refund, but then went quiet, I was agreeable to that, just that they raised my hopes then went quiet again, hence the name of the video "got duped again". What I refused to do was to make the journey down to their shop again which is a far way off from my house. I took all the "risks" with this transaction because I have known the owner of the shop (KSGill) for quite a long time and have bought quite a few pens from. I accept for fault for letting my guard down for this particular time, but I was unprepared to get duped by a long time contact.

[Jon Szanto]

Probably rewatch the video again. They promised a refund, but then went quiet, I was agreeable to that, just that they raised my hopes then went quiet again, hence the name of the video "got duped again"

No, I'm not going to watch that all over again. Did you NOT say that they offered a refund but that YOU didn't want to drive 40km or something? Man, if it was me, I would get them on the phone and tell them "I am coming to the shop tomorrow at [name a time] and I expect a full refund of my purchase price. I will have the pen in the same condition as when I purchased it." This isn't a situation where you can sit back and wait, YOU need to take action. Rants may make you feel better but you are no closer to a refund. The worst part is that while they may be jerks, you don't have a lot going for your side of things with no proof of purchase. I wish you luck, but you need to take charge.

ETA: I see you edited the post some more as my reply was being made. Nonetheless, in spite of the distance you should make the trip, confront this person you've dealt with for a long time, and get the refund you deserve.

[lowks]

Probably rewatch the video again. They promised a refund, but then went quiet, I was agreeable to that, just that they raised my hopes then went quiet again, hence the name of the video "got duped again"

No, I'm not going to watch that all over again. Did you NOT say that they offered a refund but that YOU didn't want to drive 40km or something? Man, if it was me, I would get them on the phone and tell them "I am coming to the shop tomorrow at [name a time] and I expect a full refund of my purchase price. I will have the pen in the same condition as when I purchased it." This isn't a situation where you can sit back and wait, YOU need to take action. Rants may make you feel better but you are no closer to a refund. The worst part is that while they may be jerks, you don't have a lot going for your side of things with no proof of purchase. I wish you luck, but you need to take charge.

ETA: I see you edited the post some more as my reply was being made. Nonetheless, in spite of the distance you should make the trip, confront this person you've dealt with for a long time, and get the refund you deserve.

Yeah, I will, I guess you are right focus on what is important get the money back. Just feel burned and pissed. Thanks for laying it out straight.

[Jon Szanto]

Yeah, I will, I guess you are right focus on what is important get the money back. Just feel burned and pissed. Thanks for laying it out straight.

Man, my best to you. I didn't want you to be really bummed out at what I had to say, but I'm glad you took it in the right spirit. A lot of times we all just sing Kumbaya and pat each other on the back, and I know that (personally) I really like it when a friend turns to me and tells me what I *really* need to hear. I sympathize with you, Lowks, I know it isn't fun. Just take a couple of deep breaths and take care of this business. My very best wishes however you choose to move forward!

[stub]

You may have some reasons to be pissed off at the dealer. However, you did:

purchase a pen without really knowing what you were buying

Remember the pre-internet days when one could maybe become reasonably knowledgeable about pens (generally) but perhaps miss the (let's be honest) rather difficult to discern small visual differences between a Centennial and International (difference obvious to someone who has held and used both but very difficult if you haven't) and still trust that your local dealer (who, after all, handles a vastly larger number of pens than you do and has, presumably vastly more resources and experience than you could), would not screw you over and use their expertise to steer you in the right direction? I love this late stage capitalism where the buyer has all the responsibilities.

The difference between an International and a Centennial is hard to know and really you should expect a long time pen dealer to know this cold. Should the buyer also bone up, sure, buyer beware. Indeed the reseach was lacking, but you should reasonably a pen shop has some expertise and honesty, especially for a repeat customer?

but hey but in the spirit of the day, ALL SIDES MAN, ALL SIDES.

Still, A lot of knowledgable pen folks who have never actually handled the 2 modern Duofolds would be unable to say which is which just given a single item to identify. Admittedly this is a really, almost worse case senario. I can't think of another pen that comes in 2 sizes like this that is that difficult to tell apart without a comparison.

I find fault on both sides but more so on the retailler. They are supposed to be experts. If you sell X as X it better be X and not Y.

purchase a pen without getting a receipt along with it

That right there is a critical buyer misstep. You can't quibble with that.

turn down an offer to return the product for a full refund.

Yes. But the offer of a refund was rescinded when it was acknowledged that there was no receipt.

My sympathies are trying to be with Lowkster here (how could it not with that shirt!?), he knows a little about pens, and was treated shabbily by a place where he was presumably a repeat buyer, but not getting a receipt is really the mistake here.

& getting a receipt is, and has always been rule #1.

But, hopefully the pens all write well and all is not lost.

[lowks]

An update: Today "magically" the rep from the shop came back to me and said they have prepared a cheque for a full refund of the pen by Tuesday next week. I hope this is the silver lining that I have been looking for. stub, thanks for liking my shirt too , yes and lesson learned after this, receipts all the time irrespective of how long I have known the retailer.