Really? Major pen deal on A might actually happen!

[Blackhorse]

While browsing some fountain pen offerings on Amazon some time ago I noticed a weird deal. A Burgundy Platinum President (fine) pen was up for sale via “Amazon Japan” for $96. Shipping from Japan, normally $18, was not being charged as a “special” of some kind. Normally the price on this pen varies depending on where it’s sold…Japan or USA…typically between $165 to over $300. You DON’T want to know what these things are priced at in Europe. It’s CRAZY! Anyway…I always check the posted shipping time on a deal. This one had a weird statement. It said something like “Item will likely ship in 4 to 6 weeks”. Oh my! So I immediately figure that after an order there would be a loooooong delay followed by the deal somehow evaporating. I’ve had it happen before. The same “Amazon Japan” vendor has offered subsequent identical pens for $165. Anyway I decided what the heck and placed the order. Good luck.

Imagine my surprise when I got a notice yesterday that pen had shipped from Japan and via a DHL text message they’re saying to expect delivery on Friday. OK by me. Ya win one every once in a while.

 

[Carlos]

Is it a real gold nib, or a steel plated? There's got to be a catch, right?

 

[Blackhorse]

Presidents are the flagship pen of the Platinum company and only ever have 18K solid gold nibs. It was stated as such in the product description and is easy to tell.

 

[Blackhorse]

I got a better story than that, too. On July 18 I ordered a Pilot Fountain Pen Custom 742, Black Body, STUB Nib (FKK-2000R-B-SU) via Amazon for $118. They’re now priced at $168…same vendor. It was delivered pretty much on time by UPS, but not to me. My text message alert goes off and it says “package delivered to front door”. I go look…zippo. Nada. Zilch. Don’t know if you’ve ever had that happen but UPS considers it properly delivered if their driver pushes the “delivered” button. And that’s it. It took me well over a week to go through UPS and the big online vendor both online and by phone to tell someone that it had been delivered to the wrong address. Finally I got an auto customer service phone system robot and was informed they had tracked it down and the package had incorrectly been marked as delivered when it had not been - and it was currently en route (absolute total crapola) and if I didn’t get it by the next day I could reconnect and would be granted a refund. Want to guess? Yup. It never showed. So I call back in and get shuffled off to India Customer Call Center where it took me 45 minutes go through the “dance of 1000 hoops” but ultimately was granted the refund…100%. Whew.

The punch line? A week later a neighbor that lives 5 houses up knocked on my door on her way to work and handed me my package. They had been on vacation and just gotten back and found my box behind a big flower pot on her porch. So… nice pen.

 

[Carlos]

Better buy a Lotto ticket!

 

[Blackhorse]

I think I’ve used all my luck up.

 

[Ranger107]

And of course you returned the refund, right??? LOL, just kidding.

 

[Blackhorse]

Sadly there was no official mechanism set up to accommodate that worthy goal. And they specifically told me if UPS didn’t deliver the wayward item by the next day, they would refund my payment. Which they didn’t…so they did. I’d say everything is right.

 

[eggman]

Nice pens blackhose. it’s hard to beat a good pilot.

 

[Blackhorse]

Agreed. Pilot, Sailor & Platinum are the big three for me.