I've been buying pen making supplies from Penn State for 10 years. I always order online, and that has worked very well for me. On the several occasions where there has been a problem with my order, usually a part missing from a kit, I have always called and the matter has been resolved to my satisfaction, immediately. So, no complaints from me on their customer service. When it comes to responding to emails, I've never tried that with Penn State, but I have with several of the other suppliers we all deal with, including several who are regulars on this forum. I can't remember one time when I've received a response to an email. That includes the sites that invite an email, for example, when an item is not in stock and the invitation is to contact me when the item is back in stock. In their defense, often we're dealing with "mom and pop" businesses who are just trying to keep their heads above order processing orders in a timely way.