Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

  1. #1
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,367
    Thanks
    6,856
    Thanked 10,336 Times in 3,966 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    This is a bit of a long story that I will try to compress as much as I can.

    I made a personal decision to not buy any of the Montblanc Elixir inks, because I decided they were too expensive. However, my Montblanc WE Woolf had to go to Montblanc Hamburg because it leaked my Montblanc Hitchcock ink at the threads.

    It had to have a complete new barrel and piston etc and came to a total cost of £360. However, due to a misunderstanding about the fact that it would be a level 1 service and it turned out to be a level 2 service, my regular boutique paid the level 1 service fee and I had to pay £300 for the parts.

    Very sadly, when my Woolf arrived home it had a different looking nib than when it left. The tines were spread apart quite badly. Because I didn't want to go to the trouble of sending it back yet again, I very carefully crossed the tines over themselves a few times, and it looked much better. It didn't write exactly like it had written before, but it was close enough.

    I did feel aggrieved enough to compose an email to the Montblanc CEO and complain about the way my pen nib looked when my pen was returned to me.

    A very nice man replied on his behalf, refunded half of my original payment, and after failing to find me any remnants of Montblanc Hitchcock ink, asked me to choose any bottle of ink from their range in place of that one. I talked with the person at the boutique about whether I should choose an Elixir Pourpre as I really liked the look of the colour. He said I should definitely choose that ink.

    So my sealed bottle of Elixir Pourpre ink arrived. Sent directly from Hamburg.

    I uncapped my Woolf and filled it with that ink, straight into it's brand new barrel, feed, piston etc. It wrote beautifully and I loved it. I wrote a couple of letters with it.

    Four weeks later I uncapped it to write with it again. It had a huge bloom of purple mould all over the nib and feed. It looked like it had been growing for ages.

    Of course, I fired off an email to my new friend at Montblanc. He sent me special UPS packaging to return the pen and ink to him. UPS collected it from my home. Simple.

    The result is in. The Elixir Pourpre ink bottle contains contaminated pigments, that have contaminated my pen. My pen has been fixed free of charge, with replacement parts.

    He wants to know which ink I would prefer to have to replace the Elixir Pourpre.

    Just in case you are considering buying Elixir Pourpre ink, you have now been given information that maybe you didn't have before.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  2. The Following 12 Users Say Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    + Show/Hide list of the thanked

    Ahriman4891 (November 25th, 2019), amk (November 27th, 2019), aurore (December 16th, 2019), azkid (November 25th, 2019), bebox (November 25th, 2019), FredRydr (November 25th, 2019), Jon Szanto (November 25th, 2019), Lady Onogaro (November 25th, 2019), Marsilius (December 11th, 2019), Pterodactylus (November 25th, 2019), Sailor Kenshin (November 25th, 2019), Yazeh (December 21st, 2019)

  3. #2
    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Austria
    Posts
    3,885
    Thanks
    2,412
    Thanked 4,804 Times in 1,697 Posts
    Rep Power
    15

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Thanks, interesting story.
    I’m sorry that you faced such a bad experience with the support and the ink.


    Just to ensure that I understood it correctly, this was really mould, not nib crud which many of Orange/Red inks are prone to (and which also can look quite ugly and grow quite big).


    We share the same opinion, these inks are ridiculously prized and I would never ever buy a 50ml bottle for 60€.
    I can’t imagine what some crazy guys at Montblanc thought deciding the price of these inks (most likely some marketing/sales guys which went completely nuts) , obvious that it can’t have anything to do with quality and ingredients of the ink.

    Fortunately we can choose from thousands of more reasonable prized inks

  4. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Pterodactylus For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (November 25th, 2019), Marsilius (December 11th, 2019)

  5. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    157
    Thanks
    1,404
    Thanked 76 Times in 44 Posts
    Rep Power
    8

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    ...Just in case you are considering buying Elixir Pourpre ink, you have now been given information that maybe you didn't have before.
    I wasn't considering it but thanks for the write-up.

    Your troubles with the ink just show that the price is not really backed up by anything -- the ink components do not seem to be of higher quality/purity, and the production process is not particularly exacting (else the ink wouldn't end up contaminated). Agree with you and Pterodactylus that it's ridiculous.

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Ahriman4891 For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (November 25th, 2019), Marsilius (December 11th, 2019)

  7. #4
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,367
    Thanks
    6,856
    Thanked 10,336 Times in 3,966 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    Thanks, interesting story.
    I’m sorry that you faced such a bad experience with the support and the ink.


    Just to ensure that I understood it correctly, this was really mould, not nib crud which many of Orange/Red inks are prone to (and which also can look quite ugly and grow quite big).


    We share the same opinion, these inks are ridiculously prized and I would never ever buy a 50ml bottle for 60€.
    I can’t imagine what some crazy guys at Montblanc thought deciding the price of these inks (most likely some marketing/sales guys which went completely nuts) , obvious that it can’t have anything to do with quality and ingredients of the ink.

    Fortunately we can choose from thousands of more reasonable prized inks
    Oh yes it was really mould. Not just ink crud on the nib. A large bloom of mould all over the nib and feed and edge of the section where the nib & feed go into the pen. Even after I cleaned it all off with a cotton bud, the pen still wouldn't write at all despite there being plenty of ink left in there.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    Marsilius (December 11th, 2019)

  9. #5
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    6,605
    Thanks
    7,789
    Thanked 11,015 Times in 4,003 Posts
    Rep Power
    22

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    My takeaway from this is not about the ink. It is about how one of - if not the - most prestigious pen brands treated your pen initially, returning it in such poor condition after charging a very high sum. It may be just on principle, but it is that kind of attitude from the corporate entity that may be the reason that among hundreds of pens I still don't own an MB. It just pisses me off that they are so cavalier.

    I'm glad things seem to be sorted now for you, Chrissy.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

  10. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Jon Szanto For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (November 25th, 2019), Marsilius (December 11th, 2019), VertOlive (November 27th, 2019)

  11. #6
    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    616
    Thanks
    359
    Thanked 772 Times in 355 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    My takeaway from this is not about the ink. It is about how one of - if not the - most prestigious pen brands treated your pen initially, returning it in such poor condition after charging a very high sum.
    Not an excuse, but perhaps a (sketchy) rationale: they are the only pen company I can think of for whom the vast majority of their clientele don't actually use their pens for writing. They are gifts and desk ornaments, essentially.
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

  12. The Following User Says Thank You to silverlifter For This Useful Post:

    sjssf (November 25th, 2019)

  13. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    US
    Posts
    6,750
    Thanks
    642
    Thanked 897 Times in 689 Posts
    Rep Power
    11

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Glad you got it repaired, Chrissy.

  14. The Following User Says Thank You to Chuck Naill For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (November 25th, 2019)

  15. #8
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,367
    Thanks
    6,856
    Thanked 10,336 Times in 3,966 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    My takeaway from this is not about the ink. It is about how one of - if not the - most prestigious pen brands treated your pen initially, returning it in such poor condition after charging a very high sum. It may be just on principle, but it is that kind of attitude from the corporate entity that may be the reason that among hundreds of pens I still don't own an MB. It just pisses me off that they are so cavalier.

    I'm glad things seem to be sorted now for you, Chrissy.
    He did offer to fix my nib for me for free, but when I uncapped it my first instinct was to just fix it myself since it was so awful to see the nib with a gap between it's tines. I thought it would be a fairly straightforward fix, and it was.

    However, I agree with you. How can a company like Montblanc repair a pen then return it with a nib that has clearly not been checked and seen to be perfectly aligned? Whoever removed that nib from that pen surely should have seen they spread the tines apart. So how did it not get fixed? It beggars belief.

    There's another major cock-up that's happened now. When I returned it due to the mould problem, I gave them my holiday dates and said when it could not be returned and when it could.

    That's all been ignored. It's been dispatched and is arriving after we've left home. What a PITA. I should just ignore it and let them solve the problem.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  16. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    FredRydr (November 25th, 2019), Jon Szanto (November 25th, 2019), Marsilius (December 11th, 2019), Sailor Kenshin (November 26th, 2019)

  17. #9
    Senior Member SIR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    GB
    Posts
    1,635
    Thanks
    725
    Thanked 732 Times in 466 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Wasn't so long ago that MB was forced to recall/offer free exchanges of their Golden Yellow ink, the first iteration of which exhibited abnormal additions to bottle contents...

    personally, I would've been muy insulted by the mere half refund in respect of the unacceptable condition of the returned pen, and MB's idea of service 'levels' is insulting too - imagine the pen had been a current line in production, you'd have been better off just buying a new pen!

  18. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Chartres, France
    Posts
    1,137
    Thanks
    2,608
    Thanked 824 Times in 445 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Wow! Sixty euros for an ink? Most of my pens cost less than that!

  19. #11
    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Gulf of Mexico
    Posts
    3,886
    Thanks
    4,126
    Thanked 3,788 Times in 1,642 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    “To Mordor and Back” ! Thanks for the heads up!
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

  20. The Following User Says Thank You to VertOlive For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (November 28th, 2019)

  21. #12
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,367
    Thanks
    6,856
    Thanked 10,336 Times in 3,966 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Quote Originally Posted by SIR View Post
    Wasn't so long ago that MB was forced to recall/offer free exchanges of their Golden Yellow ink, the first iteration of which exhibited abnormal additions to bottle contents...

    personally, I would've been muy insulted by the mere half refund in respect of the unacceptable condition of the returned pen, and MB's idea of service 'levels' is insulting too - imagine the pen had been a current line in production, you'd have been better off just buying a new pen!
    I thought long and hard about this before I emailed the CEO. I was advised that the Woolf barrel and grip is all one part. This sounds like a bit of a stretch to me as there is a GP band in between them, but that's why the cost of replacement parts was higher than expected. Yes the total price is still too high, bearing in mind they didn't treat my nib carefully enough.
    Everything on the pen except for the cap and the nib was replaced, and it's a WE pen out of production.
    I asked for half of my payment to be refunded to me, and that's what they gave me. My Woolf nib was fine after I carefully adjusted it. Sadly, filling it with their ink made it unwell again. But those are the breaks.
    My fingers are crossed that I will see it again, and it will be in perfect condition and writing well.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  22. The Following User Says Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    Marsilius (December 11th, 2019)

  23. #13
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,367
    Thanks
    6,856
    Thanked 10,336 Times in 3,966 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: Oh Dear! Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink

    Latest update on Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink is that they do have a quality issue as a result of which they have blocked their entire stock.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  24. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    Ahriman4891 (December 14th, 2019), Marsilius (December 11th, 2019), Sailor Kenshin (December 12th, 2019)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •