Apprentice Junior Gent Damage?

[Fibonacci]

I picked up a pile of the apprentice junior gents when they were on sale a little while back. I made a few to give away because I wanted to try them out, but of the five I passed out, four have now come back broken.

Has anyone else had this problem? I mainly gave them to engineers, so I expect them to be harder on them than a lot of people, but thus far I am somewhat concerned.

Three of them had the clips snap off at the bend and two of them had the threads snap and part of the centerband come out (one had both).

The clips don't really bother me. I know at least one of the guys always clips pens to his jeans pcoket and breaks the clips off all of his pens. Also, a pen without a clip is not a huge deal. For now, I have been just removing the broken rings and planning on putting in new clips the next time I order parts.

The threads bother me more. When I first got the kits, I was somewhat concerned that the whole centerband assembly was plastic. I understand the reasoning for plastic threads and the risk that goes along with them, so I went ahead and made/distributed them. Unfortunately, it is really hard to use a rollerball with a cap that won't go/stay on.

Is this just me? Or has anyone else been seeing this?

I am getting ready to order another box of kits, but am up in the air on these. They go together nicely/quickly and look really sharp, but if they are not durable, I don't really want to fight with them.

 

[pianomanpj]

I've always stayed away from "Apprentice" kits. Though I can't say with any certainty, I think the Apprentice kits are made in mainland China, while the Artisan kits are made in Taiwan. Different manufacturers with different tolerances and quality control. I'm not saying the Apprentice don't have a place in my shop; I use them for testing new ideas and prototypes. But when it comes to resale and gifts, I ALWAYS go with the highest quality available. YMMV

 

[Fibonacci]

I have had good experiences with some of the apprentice kits and bad luck with some of the more expenive lines.

My approach is generally based on the vendor more than the line. I am far more willing to try out new products from vendors that have a history of standing behind them. Exotics, CSUSA, and IPD get the majority of my business for that reason.

If there is a problem with the kit, I am confident that CSUSA will take care of it. I just don't want to hassle them if it is just me.

 

[renowb]

I have tried a few apprentice jr gents. I figured for $5.00, why not. I have not had any returned, but the feel of the parts just felt "cheap" to me, but you get what you pay for with cheap kits.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

I don't use the apprentice kits much just because I don't like the black threads at the back of the pen. Twice I have had to repair a capped pen because somebody has pulled the cap off instead of twisting it off. Normally when I see a broken or bent clip it was in a pants pocket or was hung up on something that was being carried. Both of the ones that were pulled apart were pulled apart at the store and the owner called me, told me what happened and asked if it was possible for me to fix. Now he takes the cap off and hands them to the customer separately. So far so good. When I carry a twist on cap pen and someone asks to borrow it I always remove the cap and hand them the pen. If you hold on to the cap you are more likely to get your pen back.

 

[BlackPearl]

I had the treads break on a Jr. Gent that my team gave to the CIO of our company. Talk about embarrassing.

I wound up making a new cap. I think it broke because I did not have it as straight as I should have when assembling the pen.

The sample I looked at had metal threads I was not happy that the kit I got had plastic.

 

[Sam@CSUSA]

I'm sorry to hear of the trouble you have been experiencing with the App Jr Gent pens. When we initially introduced the Apprentice version of this pen the threads were metal. We quickly noticed the plating around the writing tip getting scratched and were very displeased. Hence the change to plastic threads inside the cap. While each shipment of pens that arrive to us are checked for quality, unfortunately some bad threads do slip by unnoticed at times. We would be happy to send you some replacement threads right away. We can also get any clips replaced that you may need as well. Please call our customer service department (800-551-8876) and we will get them in the mail right away. Please let me know if there are any questions.

 

[biednick]

I bought 6 of these, and all 6 had threads break off.