What to do?

[Joe S.]

I have a very small pen business. It consists of a Facebook page and an Etsy page with only a few pens on it. I just got a message through FB saying:

"I have a pen--not worth a lot--I just like it. Can I send it to you for repair? It used to twist to allow the ballpoint to drop down for writing, now it won't. I figure you can put a new guts in and preserve the case I like? Let me know your mailing address. Thanks."

I've never had any dealings with this guy and I have no idea who he is (probably a friend of a fan). I would like to believe this is totally innocent, but it seems just the slightest bit suspicious to me. I don't have a PO box, but I see the appeal to having one now. Any ideas on what I should do?

Note: I'm pretty sure I can fix the pen, but I will get a picture of it first to be sure.

 

[mredburn]

One of the rules of repair. If YOU touch it, you own it forever. If anything breaks while your trying to repair it you get to fix it for free. If you screw it up you get to replace the pen for free. Make sure its a pen that you can get parts for and not something from the 1950s

 

[Joe S.]

I understand that and would replace it with a better pen without hesitation if it came to that. I'm starting to think that I'm not comfortable with this and probably won't do repairs on pens I didn't make until I get a PO box.

 

[SteveG]

Joe, you just slightly missed Mike's point about replacing a pen if you inadvertently damage it. The point is that it could be a vintage pen, maybe rare and difficult (read: expensive) to replace. You would want to know what you are getting into before jumping in, especially if you are not in the regular business of pen restoration.

 

[jsolie]

"I'm sorry, but I only service the pens that I make and sell."

 

[Joe S.]

Joe, you just slightly missed Mike's point about replacing a pen if you inadvertently damage it. The point is that it could be a vintage pen, maybe rare and difficult (read: expensive) to replace. You would want to know what you are getting into before jumping in, especially if you are not in the regular business of pen restoration.

Good point, I'll keep that in mind if I ever do get into repairs. I told him that I'm not currently doing repairs on pens I didn't make, and that I could make him a new pen that is similar if he wanted.

 

[sbell111]

In the very first post, Joe mentioned that he's going to ask for a pic to ensure that it was a pen that he could repair, so that's not an issue.

That leaves the issue of whether to repair pens made by someone else. That's an individual decision, but we don't hesitate to fix these pens. We charge the individual a nominal amount to cover necessary parts and explain that had he purchased the pen from us, any needed repair would have been free.

These repairs have led to more than a couple sales.