[RESOLVED] Negative experience with Tommy Ly

[kwahoo]

A while ago I bought a vintage Conway Stewart from Tommy Ly, who is clearly active in restoring many pens. It wasn't drawing ink properly, so I sent it back and he offered to let me exchange for another pen of similar value, in this case a Pelikan. This quickly turned out to leak large amounts of ink at random times. He and I agreed that I would try for a little while to pinpoint where the leak was coming from, and that he would refund me if necessary. But I couldn't find the problem and made a number of messes. I've emailed him several times over the last several months to ask for the refund he promised, but he does not even respond, even though it's clear from his website that he's active, selling additional pens.

This is the first negative review I've ever left.

kwahoo

[Edit: Admin note] View Tommy's first of several responses beginning with post #5. -dannzeman

[Jon Szanto]

Might help to include a link to his site (though I'll go Google it now).

[kwahoo]

Might help to include a link to his site (though I'll go Google it now).

Tommy's Vintage Penis on blogspot - but he also lists pens in various other places.

/K

[Jon Szanto]

Tommy's Vintage Penis on blogspot - but he also lists pens in various other places.

/K

I hope you'll understand, but I just had to quote that. For posterity.

Also, since you seem to be somewhat new to FPG: Dan, the admin, does like to hear from the other party as well. Unlike FPN, there isn't a problem with you mentioning the seller who has given you a bad time, but the Market Watch forum isn't just to slag on people, but to get some input (and hopefully dialog) to assess the situation. To all of us out here, you could just be some disgruntled guy, or you could have a perfectly valid point. I hope more light will be shed on the subject, and maybe Tommy Ly will weigh in himself.

[pokermon919]

1. The Conway Stewart that you sent back is drawing ink up fine, so if that was your problem when there isn't one I should've never offered to let you trade for another pen.
2. You stated that it was leaky, but now you say it's not drawing ink up. Liars often don't remember their own lies, but that's fine.
3. I offered to trade a pen for the supposedly problematic Conway Stewart or a refund. You had your eye on a Pelikan 140, and I said we can do an even trade.
4. You tell me the Pelikan 140 you got is also leaking, but I have tested it before sending it to you because you claim the first pen was problematic, and I didn't want to leave it to chance that the next pen will also give you trouble.

Sorry but when I was testing the pen before selling it it didn't have any leaking issues. It actually didn't have any issues at all. While my girlfriend was reading this rant of yours because she's curious, I was playing around with the Conway Stewart that you returned. It draws and expels ink fine with no problems(what do ya know huh). I completely ignored your emails after a while because to be honest I don't have time to deal with false problems while you get your whirl trying all kinds of vintage pens. I have many happy customers and many happy repeat customers. If I can't fix a pen I throw it in the parts bin instead of selling it like there is nothing wrong with it. You can go make all the claims you want about me, but if I didn't honestly think you were pulling my leg telling me every pen has problems can you trade it in for another I would actually take you seriously. But I don't because of my stated reasons.

I've refunded a few people because of various reasons. Some because the package got lost during an international shipment, and one or two where they were not satisfied. Not because the pen was leaking or it didn't work, but because what I consider a Fine they consider an XF or something similar where it is subjective, and I say no problem, mail me the pen back, and as soon as I get it back I'll refund on paypal. Which I do. But I CHOSE to ignore your emails and your threats because I have reason to believe you're just wasting my time while getting a kick out of trying all these wonderful vintage pens.

[pokermon919]

I just took this video of the very same pen you said gave you leaking trouble, or trouble drawing up ink. Sorry for the lighting, I just decided to do this on my girlfriend's table because she wanted to test the pen out herself. Keep in mind she did a page of scribbling before this and there was no problems at all. It's a Conway Stewart 84 Red with Gold Veins. I haven't done anything to the pen since getting it back from you. I totally forgot about this pen, and now I will resell it.

Edit:
P.S.
I've got 5 pages of positive feedback on my FPN account. Only the first 4-5 transactions were requested by me to build some history on FPN when I was new. The rest was all from buyers that decided to post feedback on my profile page of their own free will, and because they were happy with their pen purchase/s from me.

[Tony Rex]

> Thank you for the heads up. I've threw in my side of the story if you're curious.
Â*> -Tommy

No worries mate. I bet it's not only me who's glad that you did.

Tony

[Jon Szanto]

Tommy, I don't know if it is worth your effort, but you might want to weigh in to the thread over at FPN. The same guy has raised the same objections over there, and you are getting slammed, even though you haven't been named. This is precisely when those rules suck.

[pokermon919]

Not worth my time. If things really get out of hand I'll just link to here with the video of the pen he returned.

[Jon Szanto]

Understood.

[dduran]

Threads like this, IMO, are helpful specially when both parties are given the opportunity to give their say. And to keep things like this fair and significant, let me throw a positive feedback from his other transactions--

I've read the thread and hope they'll be able to settle this soon but just want to share that, in my experience (about 5 pens already?), Tommy's a great seller and very easy to deal with. Never had a problem with communication. He gave his reasons why he didn't reply to the OP. It's up to you, reader, to make the call.

If I remember correctly, first dealt with him right when he was just starting (late last year) but haven't bought another pen til about 3 weeks ago.

[pokermon919]

Thanks for coming to my aid with real history. You were one of my first buyers, and prove that I have happy repeat customers as well. I'm not even sure if I should come out of the shadow on the FPN board.

[WirsPlm]

I don't know about FPN, but your posting the facts here was very helpful for me. Without buyers being able to name sellers (or vice versa!) it's so hard to tell where the truth lies. Since you posted openly here it's obvious that there's a fundamental disagreement in fact between you and the buyer, which puts everything up in the air again.

Anti name-and-shame rules hurt buyers and sellers both.

Although, I just had a thought. Could the problems be geographically-related? I know that very dry air will cause certain problems with fountain pens, There could be other conditions that make pens more prone to leak.

[pokermon919]

Oh yea, and I totally forgot to mention that when he bought the CS 84 this was in December of 2012. Then a few months later he wanted to exchange, and another few months after that he reports to me that the second pen also has problems. The time frame is important as well since I'm pretty sure most vintage pen sellers don't offer lifetime guarantees. I did what I can, but after receiving the CS 84 back, and can't see a leaking problem for the life of me, or see how its possible to have a problem drawing/expeling ink. It makes me very hesitant to even spend any more time (and shipping costs) going back and forth with Kwahoo. As a seller it is my last resort to say I refuse service to this guy because of my suspicions of falsifying problems with a pen to try until he is satisfied then to finally request a refund. In the youtube video it shows the CS 84 that Kwahoo orignally sent back because of problems, and it is writing fine without leaks for over a page. And in the end of the video I draw/expel ink easily and you can hear when its in the air the sac decompressing making a hissing sound.

The topic on FPN has been locked by a MOD, and I was thinking about coming out of the woodwork to defend myself, but since I wasn't named I didn't feel like it was even worth my time with someone that is falsifying problems with a pen, and a purchase from nearly a year ago. I got better things to do with my time/money then to try to satisfy a buyer when I find out the originally returned pen has no problems, and is now asking to return the second pen. I rest my case.

[kwahoo]

1. The Conway Stewart that you sent back is drawing ink up fine, so if that was your problem when there isn't one I should've never offered to let you trade for another pen.
2. You stated that it was leaky, but now you say it's not drawing ink up. Liars often don't remember their own lies, but that's fine.
3. I offered to trade a pen for the supposedly problematic Conway Stewart or a refund. You had your eye on a Pelikan 140, and I said we can do an even trade.
4. You tell me the Pelikan 140 you got is also leaking, but I have tested it before sending it to you because you claim the first pen was problematic, and I didn't want to leave it to chance that the next pen will also give you trouble.

Sorry but when I was testing the pen before selling it it didn't have any leaking issues. It actually didn't have any issues at all. While my girlfriend was reading this rant of yours because she's curious, I was playing around with the Conway Stewart that you returned. It draws and expels ink fine with no problems(what do ya know huh). I completely ignored your emails after a while because to be honest I don't have time to deal with false problems while you get your whirl trying all kinds of vintage pens. I have many happy customers and many happy repeat customers. If I can't fix a pen I throw it in the parts bin instead of selling it like there is nothing wrong with it. You can go make all the claims you want about me, but if I didn't honestly think you were pulling my leg telling me every pen has problems can you trade it in for another I would actually take you seriously. But I don't because of my stated reasons.

I've refunded a few people because of various reasons. Some because the package got lost during an international shipment, and one or two where they were not satisfied. Not because the pen was leaking or it didn't work, but because what I consider a Fine they consider an XF or something similar where it is subjective, and I say no problem, mail me the pen back, and as soon as I get it back I'll refund on paypal. Which I do. But I CHOSE to ignore your emails and your threats because I have reason to believe you're just wasting my time while getting a kick out of trying all these wonderful vintage pens.

I'm glad to finally be able to discuss this with you, even if it had to be in a public forum. As for the Conway, you are mis-stating the issue. The problem was that that the ink feed is erratic. It filled fine and had good capacity, judging from what was expelled. The problem was that it writes for a little while, then stops feeding. I give it a firm shake and it writes a little while longer, then stops again. My wife observed the problem too. The problem was clearly explained in our emails. How long have you tried writing with it to verify that? You told me, when I reported the problem, that "you wrote a few sentences with and it seemed good, so I didn't quite catch that problem." If you tested it more extensively and couldn't reproduce the problem, why didn't you contact me?

As for the Pelikan, the leaking is erratic. That's what makes it hard to pin down. Writes fine for a couple days, then suddenly I find a puddle of ink. Would you like me to show you the mess it made in my pen tray, which left a permanent stain? Wish I could also show you the mess in my briefcase, but fortunately it was black ink in a black bag, and I didn't lose too many papers. But why did you tell me, when I reported the problem, to keep using the pen and you would help me troubleshoot, and that you would refund me if we couldn't solve the problem? I admit I was late in following up, but that seems no reason to stop responding or fail to honor what you told me.

I've been collecting pens for 10 years, and always had good relationships with sellers. I'm sure you're diligent, and I understand that with your volume, you might not be able to write with pens extensively enough to find these kinds of intermittent problems. But you represent them as working, and as a user, I need them to actually be usable. I wish we could have worked this out in a more amicable way.

I'm happy to let the forum opine on the best way to resolve this.

kwahoo

[dannzeman]

I'm happy to let the forum opine on the best way to resolve this.

kwahoo

This forum is not a court. We're not going to say what the solution is. You and the seller need to figure that out. If you want to take it back-channel now that you both are in contact, then do so.

Unless anyone not involved with this situation has questions to further clarify what's happened, please don't comment.

[kwahoo]

I bought the Conway on 12/31 and reported the problem on 1/5. Bought the Pelikan on 2/15 and reported that problem on Mar. 24 (I was traveling a lot in the meantime). You would have been justified in saying that one was too long in between, and I appreciate that you were initially helpful. I confess I then took a long time to try it off and on.

/K

[pokermon919]

Ok so the CS 84 wasn't leaking, and it wasn't a drawing/expeling ink problem, and now you're saying the feed of ink just stops causing ink starvation. What is it? Please look at your very first post.

[kwahoo]

And I just want to respond that the pen indeed writes fine for such a short period. But I'll wager that if you write half a dozen more lines, it will seize up.
/K

[pokermon919]

You do whatever you want. You're a grown adult and a free man. I've stated why I decided to ignore your emails after I couldn't find the same problem or problems that you said you had with the CS 84 which made me very hesitant to waste more time/money on this transaction which is quite dated.