What would you do?

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What would you do?

  • Send a couple of refills at no charge

    Votes: 33 73.3%

  • Offer a refund on pen

    Votes: 3 6.7%

  • Explain the differences of pen weights and send refills

    Votes: 9 20.0%

  • Nothing

    Votes: 2 4.4%
  • Total voters
    45
  • Poll closed .
alankulwicki7

alankulwicki7

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
1,644
Location
Vadnais Heights, MN
Hey all,
I received this email from a customer today. Just wondering what you would do. I have a couple of ideas but wanted some input....

I purchased a pen from you at the City Hall craft sale near Christmas 2014. The Schmitt refill didn't last very long & I recently tried to buy another one at Office Max on your recommendation. They no longer carry this refill & I don't know where to buy one & am hoping you can tell me. I paid $70 for your pen & have been disappointed in it as its too heavy for my hand even tho I leave the cap off when I use it.
I lost your business card & just found it again. I bought the pen specifically to get the Schmitt ink.
It's the smoothest I've ever used. Why don't you put the Schmitt refill in a lighter weight pen?
I first tried it out at a craft sale you were at a couple years ago & liked it so much.
It took a long time before I was able to find you again. Here is my address, please contact me.
I'll appreciate it very much.

I believe this person bought a JR Gent pen from me. I did some weighing and the JR Gent weighs 42 grams with cap and 25 grams with out cap. A Sierra style pen weighs about 42 grams. I don't have a huge variety of styles so I think the JR Gent will likely be the lightest rollerball I carry.
 
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Do you have another refill? Maybe sell it to him at cost?

What kind of pen did he buy? (I am sure you remember.........NOT)
For me, after a year I wouldn't take his complaint to seriously. Help him if you can.

Good luck.
 
I would send a refill or two and a link to where they can buy them as good customer service. Since they tried the pen out before they bought it, the weight issue is not something for you to solve with that pen. It doesn't sound like they are asking you for a new pen IMHO.
If you do not carry a lighter rollerballl, you could politely inform them that it is the lightest pen you make with that refill.
You could also see if one of your friends on here makes a lighter pen with that refill and point your customer in that direction.
 
I voted to send a few refills gratis. However, no matter how fastidious I am with returning the gap immediately to the pen, I can't get ANY RB refills to last more than 10 or so hours of writing over two weeks (I can't get the Schneider's or Hauser's to last more than 2 hours). They all dry out or become thin and scratchy. I "warn" all of my customers and gift recipients about this orally and in writing. This practice doesn't mean they will be happy or buy from me again, but my conscience is clear. I also tell them that the price/value of the pen had little to nothing to do with the refill. Again, it may all fall on deaf ears - buy I have no trouble sleeping. :-).

Before I started giving away all of my stick refills, I used to include it with then pen as an extra.
 
I would send him one refill for free as a goodwill gesture and give him your retail prices for future refill purchases. I would also offer to research lighter pens for him if he'd like to purchase another one from you. I'm sure you could find a kit / blank combo that would weigh less than a Jr Gent. A Churchill using a low density wood turned down relatively straight to the components with a simple spray lacquer or Pen's Plus finish should cut the weight significantly. I would let him buy it on a trial basis, with full refund if he didn't like it.

While I would do everything within reason to service a customer after a sale, I would not offer a refund after using the pen for more than a year. It should take less than a month to realize the pen was too heavy for him.
 
Send him a refill or two and a link to where he can get more. Try to avoid a long conversations about the weight of different pens unless he asks. If you try to initiate the conversation he will probably take it as excuses.
 
TonyL said:
I voted to send a few refills gratis. However, no matter how fastidious I am with returning the gap immediately to the pen, I can't get ANY RB refills to last more than 10 or so hours of writing over two weeks (I can't get the Schneider's or Hauser's to last more than 2 hours). They all dry out or become thin and scratchy. I "warn" all of my customers and gift recipients about this orally and in writing. This practice doesn't mean they will be happy or buy from me again, but my conscience is clear. I also tell them that the price/value of the pen had little to nothing to do with the refill. Again, it may all fall on deaf ears - buy I have no trouble sleeping. :-).

Before I started giving away all of my stick refills, I used to include it with then pen as an extra.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter how beautiful the pen is if it doesn't work.
 
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