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Thread: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

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    Default Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    I have recently sold a Conway Stewart 27, not a glamorous pen by any pens, it was to a friend who wanted a low priced lever filled pen as a daily user.

    Before I sent it to him, I filled it with Waterman ink, wrote for a page, sent him a pic and from memory I enclosed the page of script with the pen.

    A few days later he came back to me, he could not get the pen to write a word. He had flushed the pen several times and then tried several inks and papers, nothing. He is not a pen noob and it was a pen he wanted - and wants.

    The pen came back, I filled it and used it, it was perfect, sent him a pic of the script, he could not understand it. I took the pen apart, everything was as it should be.

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    Senior Member carlos.q's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    The only logical explanation is that the pen did not want to leave your side...

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by carlos.q View Post
    The only logical explanation is that the pen did not want to leave your side...
    You might be right. For a long time it was my daily user and I liked the fact that it was not immaculate. Perhaps a sentient Pen!
    Last edited by RobJohnson; November 28th, 2020 at 11:42 AM.

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    Senior Member jar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    I wonder if he got the nib far enough in the ink to actually fill?

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    dneal (November 28th, 2020), Ole Juul (November 28th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by jar View Post
    I wonder if he got the nib far enough in the ink to actually fill?
    It must be something like that.

    Even with the tiniest amount of ink I would have thought that the tip would have some ink.

    Perhaps he held the pen at such a steep angle, but as I said he is not a novice.

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    He flushed the pen several times suggests that the pen was (at least) partially filled, otherwise even a relatively unexperienced user would have noticed the lack of discharge when emptying the pen.

    Does he roll the pen when he writes? Or write with a preternaturally low or high angle?

    To me it sounds less like a defective pen and more like cold feet...
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Chrissy (November 30th, 2020), Jon Szanto (November 28th, 2020), Ole Juul (November 28th, 2020)

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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Buyer's remorse rolled over into his false narrative leading to getting his money back?

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    Chrissy (November 30th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    He flushed the pen several times suggests that the pen was (at least) partially filled, otherwise even a relatively unexperienced user would have noticed the lack of discharge when emptying the pen.

    Does he roll the pen when he writes? Or write with a preternaturally low or high angle?

    To me it sounds less like a defective pen and more like cold feet...
    You could be right silver, perhaps the patina of my daily use of the pen was not what he wanted.

    I was thinking that he might be writing at almost 90 degrees, whereas I am around 30-40.

    A bit of buyers remorse, as you suggest

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    Member JulieParadise's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Several times have I encountered this phenomenon not with pens I sold, but with pens I recommended. Usually these feature flexy and/or very fine nibs.

    The most prominent nibs are Pilot Falcon and #5 and #10 size FA nibs. I can use these, esp. the FA-nibs, without any problems and with no modifications done to the feed to write fluently, perfectly mid-wet and without hard starts, unless I chose extremely dry inks. Others, that saw my pics of written stuff for ink musings got the respective pens and some complained bitterly that their pens are defect. In 5 cases already I was sent these pens only to find out that with one exception of a used FA that indeed had a clogged feed, all pens wrote perfectly for me but subpar for their owners.

    I do not recommend these pens anymore as I am already a bit sick about people getting back at me and blaming me or suggesting I must have tweaked these pens without wanting to confess.

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    A Smug Dill (November 30th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by A Smug Dill View Post
    I thought Pilot only made #10 and #15 FA nibs?
    Ooops, yeah, you are right, #10 and #15 FA nibs. I was confused by looking at my lovely #5 music nib in a Custom 74. Thank you for correcting that. ;-)

    I made a video some weeks ago with a Pilot CH 912 FA that was sent to me as possibly defect. I took this pen out of the package, scribbled some lines, found it working perfectly and then immediately shot this bad video to show the owner that the pen works perfectly, at least for me:

    https://youtu.be/xOfhk7DdVm0 (Video is not public, only access is by this link.)

    The ink was something blue from Diamine, with a bit old glimmer-shimmer-stuff in the feed. As you can see, this nib+plastic-feed(+ink)-combo works really well; I almost abused it by whooooOOo0oshing around fast, upside-down and sideways. The owner could not even write down what the pen & ink was in his letter ...

    Edited to add: Thank you for your nice words about my posts & pics (mostly on FPN and Instagram.) ;-)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    At a Pelikan hub I had a strange experience with a Pelikan M1000. Every time the owner had it in their hand it skipped. It wrote perfectly for me all night and I tend to use a very light hand so fussy nibs usually display their problems easily for me.

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Interesting point Snoopy. There must be more to this than meets the eye. I have a Waterman that always squeaks when I write, I passed it to a friend and it was silent for him, I put it down to the fact that I rotate the pen a little as I write, perhaps the angle of the pen to the page also has an effect..

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by RobJohnson View Post
    Interesting point Snoopy. There must be more to this than meets the eye. I have a Waterman that always squeaks when I write, I passed it to a friend and it was silent for him, I put it down to the fact that I rotate the pen a little as I write, perhaps the angle of the pen to the page also has an effect..
    The angle of the pen to the page must have some sort of an effect.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Imagine someone demanding a refund for a bicycle because they were unable to stay upright while riding it.

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    azkid (November 30th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Imagine someone demanding a refund for a bicycle because they were unable to stay upright while riding it.
    I had someone who bought a bag of parts asking for a refund because he still had some parts left over after he had made three pens and someone else, a well known pen dealer, asked for a refund because he had made a bid with less than a minute to go and he had not had time to look at all the pics which showed a fault.

    Told him to keep the damn pen and I also gave him a full refund, he then complained about my attitude.

    You cannot win.

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    Stands on Feet (November 30th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by RobJohnson View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Imagine someone demanding a refund for a bicycle because they were unable to stay upright while riding it.
    I had someone who bought a bag of parts asking for a refund because he still had some parts left over after he had made three pens and someone else, a well known pen dealer, asked for a refund because he had made a bid with less than a minute to go and he had not had time to look at all the pics which showed a fault.

    Told him to keep the damn pen and I also gave him a full refund, he then complained about my attitude.

    You cannot win.
    Was that eBay? It's an important source of pens for me; I couldn't manage without it. At the same time it's the bane of my life with all the nonsense that goes on!

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    TFarnon (November 30th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Quote Originally Posted by eachan View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by RobJohnson View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Imagine someone demanding a refund for a bicycle because they were unable to stay upright while riding it.
    I had someone who bought a bag of parts asking for a refund because he still had some parts left over after he had made three pens and someone else, a well known pen dealer, asked for a refund because he had made a bid with less than a minute to go and he had not had time to look at all the pics which showed a fault.

    Told him to keep the damn pen and I also gave him a full refund, he then complained about my attitude.

    You cannot win.
    Was that eBay? It's an important source of pens for me; I couldn't manage without it. At the same time it's the bane of my life with all the nonsense that goes on!

    Ebay on both.

    You may have started trading after ebay started but buying pens and parts for anything was just so difficult, ebay is a great leveller and facilitator, and a PITA.

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    It could always be buyer's remorse, but it could be the way he's holding the pen. Newer pens often have generous, ball-shaped tipping that accommodates someone who tries to use the pen at a steep angle like a ballpoint/Bic pen. Some of the older pens write best held at a shallow angle and resist writing well when held like a Bic.

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    Perhaps these unhappy buyers/users expect the performance of a good gel rollerball like a Pilot G2 straight out of the package? I love my G2s for everyday scribbling--if I'm taking a class and need to take notes, for example, or working the daily crossword in the newspaper. But when I'm using a fountain pen, I take my time, and from my childhood experiences, I expect every fountain pen to have its own character and even quirks. I adapt my writing to the fountain pen I'm using. Some pens are wet, some are dry, some are flexy, some not. Sometimes I end up shaking a fountain pen, or tapping it, or fooling with the cartridge or filling system as I write. They aren't gel pens, any more than dip pens are fountain (or gel) pens, or crayons are pens. I guess I see using a fountain pen as using a medium that requires a little bit of attention and even mastery in order to achieve a given effect. I view writing with a fountain pen as a complex interplay between the pen, the nib, the ink and the paper. I guess not everyone sees things that way, and that's okay. That's why ball points and rollerballs were developed. People wanted something that wasn't so wonderfully interactive.

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    Detman101 (November 30th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Pen that worked for me but not the buyer

    I use a BP or roller ball more upright and an FP at a more shallow angle. This is not something I actually thought about. I looked at the nib and just assumed it would work better that way.

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