Pen return

[Burt25]

Ive had my first customer message me with a problem with their pen and I have made and sold many - its a TM Kappa and it appears the threaded piece which is press fitted into the brass tube into which the section threads has come out of the brass tube.
Has anyone else had this happen? Should I just press it back in with a touch of CA glue or epoxy? Haven't received the pen back yet, but apparently the section is stuck tight in the lid (I suspect the lid has been majorly over-tightened?)

 

[alpha1]

Sounds to me like they have over tightened the cap then pulled it out of the tube trying get the cap off.

 

[Penpal]

Guessing is not the way to go,when it arrives it will be obvious mate.

Peter.

 

[fortress]

As Peter says Ian, once you have the pen back you will be able to assess the problem, can it be repaired? Would the customer be happy with a repair? Would you replace it, or send a refund?
I had a pen damaged in the post once, I replaced it and sent a refund, but that’s just me.

 

[silver]

[MENTION=1409]Burt25[/MENTION]

As Pete and John have said.

You can't half guess what's wrong or what has happened.

Before you do anything assess what can be done, if a repair then speak to the customer if a repair is suitable.

If you can't repair it, either offer a full refund or offer a replacement in similar materials to what you have made the last pen.

Advise the customer that you will work with them to resolve the issues, be it a full refund, repair or a replacement to suit the needs of the customer..

Whatever they have done it's something you have no way of proving what they have done, so by trying to prove they are wrong then it's best to keep a goood honest feed back on your after sales support rather than risk gaining negative feedback and loose potential customers..

But if that customer keeps coming back due to issues, then I would just offer a refund..

 

[Burt25]

[MENTION=1409]Burt25[/MENTION]

As Pete and John have said.

You can't half guess what's wrong or what has happened.

Before you do anything assess what can be done, if a repair then speak to the customer if a repair is suitable.

If you can't repair it, either offer a full refund or offer a replacement in similar materials to what you have made the last pen.

Advise the customer that you will work with them to resolve the issues, be it a full refund, repair or a replacement to suit the needs of the customer..

Whatever they have done it's something you have no way of proving what they have done, so by trying to prove they are wrong then it's best to keep a goood honest feed back on your after sales support rather than risk gaining negative feedback and loose potential customers..

But if that customer keeps coming back due to issues, then I would just offer a refund..

I haven't got the pen back yet- I'm just trying to figure out in my own mind how it could have come apart. I've already told the customer I will either reassemble the pen if possible or he will get a replacement. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this happen?

 

[flexi]

Been there had that.....Mine was a custom cast blank so no option to replace just repair.....I was honest about all faults and they were happy to have the damaged part replaced..... usually it's the black coupler that splits....so just knock the cap to bits and replace....a good set of pin punches and a rubber glove works for me

 

[PetrolP]

What a problem!
You have made a sale, keep the sale.
If solving the problem costs you, still do it.
You want to sell, don't be too ready to offer refunds, that's easy, and actually solves nothing.
The customer came to you to buy one of your pens, giving the money back means they don't have the pen and it was a bad experience.
Get a happy customer, and keep the money, that's one of the reasons you did this in the first place.
The origin of the problem probably is down to a heavy handed customer.
Solving it well, gives you integrity, and being someone attentive to do business with.

Hope it works out!
All the best
Peter

 

[rayf6604]

This is where terms and conditions can come in handy, although I never had any. The number of times someone would pick a pen up off the stand at fairs and try to open it any which way but the right way, and I’m thinking, watch what your doing. But it could be something simple like all pens guaranteed for x period of time, any defects due to faulty parts or workmanship we will offere x, any defects due to mistreatment are not covered by the guarantee, or something like that. It would be best practise even if buyers don’t keep it, at least, if in this instance you deem the fault to be mistreatment, you’ll know that they were given the t&c


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Mooney]

A lot of good sound advice there. When I started my business all those years ago I was given some sound advice, it was this.
Before you sell anything you make you have to sell yourself. Good customer service & good aftersales service is part of selling yourself. In 21 years of trading I only advertised once.

 

[silver]

I haven't got the pen back yet- I'm just trying to figure out in my own mind how it could have come apart. I've already told the customer I will either reassemble the pen if possible or he will get a replacement. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this happen?

Sorry.. Yes it does happens Ian, thankfully not often but more often than I would like..

As Mark said, it's a case of stripping it down.

I had quite a few original Gent fountain pens fail and that was down to the plastic incert in the cap (the threaded section) what I had to do was dismantle and then replace and rebuild with new parts.. I was lucky that I had a spare so needed to use up parts from a pen rendering that kit US..

I also had the same problem with the statesman kit as they had the same plastic fitting inside the cap.. it turned out to be a design change and at the time a lot of our American friends had a similar problem.. the answer to that was to put a little bit of CA glue on the cap just prior to building the kit up.. the only issue with that is dismantling is impossible if it breaks..

Since then when ordering pens kits I always keep a stock of the same kits just in case this happens again, if there are specials then I over order just to cover the spares situation..

So that has now got me ing.