Pelikan 605?

Txiasaeia wrote:
Arrgh! This whole business with Levenger is getting extremely
frustrating! The price for the pen is great, no complaints, but they
were originally going to ship it to me by FedEx Ground which has a
huge brokerage fee once it gets into Canada (about $25 USD plus duty,
cuz Pelikans aren't made in the US). I called two days ago and asked

I had a similar unpleasant experience with my first order from Levenger
in the US which was shipped to Finland through Fedex.
The extra cost was outrageously high compared to the price of the pen
even though Levenger cut me a deal on the shipping costs because
initially they quoted about ten times the amount which had had me very
worried (because I was afraid this was going to be charged to my credit
card).

I can get any packet that comes in the mail through customs myself, I
wouldn't have wanted to use Fedex at all, but Levenger insists on it.

Eventually I bicycled more than 10 km to the Fedex office in a hard to
find place near Helsinki Airport in order to get my packet in a
reasonable amount of time.
Fedex may be OK for companies, but private persons don't have somebody
sitting at home waiting to accept packages during office hours.

The customs post office is in the city, a lot easier to reach and a
notice is sent home in the mail. In some cases a mail packet totally
passes by customs without charges and goes to the local post office,
which is within sight from my home, but 'We only use Fedex'.

It was very unpleasant dealing with Fedex and I have similar experiences
with other such carriers. The post office is best for private persons
and not a bit slower than all those carriers with fancy names. Anything
else introduces unnecessary expenses.
Europe is not in the boondocks. We have a very well operating postal system.

--
A.A.J. Raateland
Helsinki, Finland

Arjen Raateland wrote:
Txiasaeia wrote:

Arrgh! This whole business with Levenger is getting extremely
frustrating! The price for the pen is great, no complaints, but they
were originally going to ship it to me by FedEx Ground which has a
huge brokerage fee once it gets into Canada (about $25 USD plus duty,
cuz Pelikans aren't made in the US). I called two days ago and asked


I had a similar unpleasant experience with my first order from Levenger
in the US which was shipped to Finland through Fedex.
The extra cost was outrageously high compared to the price of the pen
even though Levenger cut me a deal on the shipping costs because
initially they quoted about ten times the amount which had had me very
worried (because I was afraid this was going to be charged to my credit
card).

I can get any packet that comes in the mail through customs myself, I
wouldn't have wanted to use Fedex at all, but Levenger insists on it.


I knew there was some reason why I'd never bought anything from
Levenger.

Michael, in NZ, frequent purchaser from the US

"Txiasaeia" wrote in message
om...


Let this be a lesson to all of you Americans out there shipping to
Canada: if you want to tick us off, ship via UPS Standard or FedEx
Ground - the brokerage fee for UPS Standard is $35 USD + a percentage
of the cost of the item (10% or so) + 7% GST, and the fee for FedEx is
$25 USD + 5% of the cost + 7% GST. Cost for USPS Priority? $5 CAD
surcharge + GST. That's it. Now you know


Don't you have a friend in the US who can receive it and forward it
to you as an early xmas present value under $25.???

pavane

Arjen Raateland wrote in message ...

I had a similar unpleasant experience with my first order from Levenger
in the US which was shipped to Finland through Fedex.
The extra cost was outrageously high compared to the price of the pen
even though Levenger cut me a deal on the shipping costs because
initially they quoted about ten times the amount which had had me very
worried (because I was afraid this was going to be charged to my credit
card).

I can get any packet that comes in the mail through customs myself, I
wouldn't have wanted to use Fedex at all, but Levenger insists on it.

Eventually I bicycled more than 10 km to the Fedex office in a hard to
find place near Helsinki Airport in order to get my packet in a
reasonable amount of time.
Fedex may be OK for companies, but private persons don't have somebody
sitting at home waiting to accept packages during office hours.

The customs post office is in the city, a lot easier to reach and a
notice is sent home in the mail. In some cases a mail packet totally
passes by customs without charges and goes to the local post office,
which is within sight from my home, but 'We only use Fedex'.

It was very unpleasant dealing with Fedex and I have similar experiences
with other such carriers. The post office is best for private persons
and not a bit slower than all those carriers with fancy names. Anything
else introduces unnecessary expenses.
Europe is not in the boondocks. We have a very well operating postal system.

Levenger says that they've had bad experiences with international USPS
orders, which is completely bizarre to me. I've had extremely
negative UPS and FedEx experiences before, but I've always had
excellent service from USPS and Canada Post (USPS transfers to Canada
Post when it's in the country).

Like I said, if the original customer rep had simply told me that USPS
wasn't available internationally, I would have upgraded to air mail
and not have to worry about brokerage fees. I really don't see how I
can be responsible for this mess. I have to keep on reminding myself
that the cost of the pen in the first place is terrific, though

Hopefully, since Levenger already collected GST (and overcharged me on
shipping while they were at it - charged me for air shipping but
shipped it via ground), I won't be gouged too deeply. But hey, I'll
wait until I get the pen & the final bill before I complain any more.
#16 on their FAQ page: "16. Does Levenger have a guarantee? We want
our products to delight you. If you are not satisfied for any reason,
please let us know and we'll make it right." If they truly mean this,
then I've got nothing to worry about. Satisfaction should be
contingent on the entire experience & not just the product, right?

One more thing: #11 on their faq page: "11. Does Levenger ship to
locations outside the U.S.? Levenger can ship world-wide. For all
international orders, except Canada, duties and taxes are the
responsibility of the recipient and will be billed by our carrier upon
delivery. Please Contact us for shipping charges to countries other
than the U.S. and Canada." Translated, it means to me that Levenger
is responsible for duties and taxes when stuff is shipped to Canada,
so I guess this means I won't have to pay after all. Hopefully FedEx
will agree.

thx for the heads up, just ordered mine yesterday



"Txiasaeia" wrote in message
om...
Well, Usenet's just too darn slow! Levenger is selling 605's right
now for $99.95 USD plus shipping. I didn't get a chance to try out
either the 400 or 600, but for this price, I figured I couldn't go
wrong. I went with the fine nib, so we'll see how it goes. Anyway,
terrific sale right now!

(Txiasaeia) wrote in message . com...
One more thing: #11 on their faq page: "11. Does Levenger ship to
locations outside the U.S.? Levenger can ship world-wide. For all
international orders, except Canada, duties and taxes are the
responsibility of the recipient and will be billed by our carrier upon
delivery. Please Contact us for shipping charges to countries other
than the U.S. and Canada." Translated, it means to me that Levenger
is responsible for duties and taxes when stuff is shipped to Canada,
so I guess this means I won't have to pay after all. Hopefully FedEx
will agree.

Hi there,

I order from Levenger's once in a while and I live in Canada. When you
receive the package from FedEx there should be no charges owing.
Levenger's should have charged you the GST and other applicable taxes.
The only problem I have had with them is that when I order online, the
shipping charge in the total is outrageous. I have sent e-mails to the
Cust. Service after I placed the order and they have credited my cc so
that the shipping cost is not outrageous. I agree that they should be
able to ship via USPS to Canada. I do that with lots of merchants I
buy stuff from in the US.

BTW, I wonder if they have a price drop gaurantee ... I bought the
Pelikan 605 for $149 last month and now it's $99 .... Aaaaargh! I hate
it when that happens.

Cheers,
Vivian

BTW, I wonder if they have a price drop gaurantee ... I bought the
Pelikan 605 for $149 last month and now it's $99 .... Aaaaargh! I hate
it when that happens.

Cheers,
Vivian

I've had a few occasions where a Levenger item has gone on sale from the time I
ordered it until I received it. I called and they adjusted my credit charges.
On one occasion I ordered a pen that went on sale a full month after I had
received it, they happily credited my account.... Levengers does not want to
lose a customer by their being hard-nosed over such a trivial matter,
especially when they've already made the decision to lower a price anyway.

A good practice with mail order/dot.com companys that you find yourself doing
repeat business with is to introduce yourself to the customer service
manager(s), whereas the vast majority will be happy to supply their personal
contact info, ie. email/phone-voice mail. Often the order department and
customer service clerks haven't the authority to make price adjustment
decisions but the customer service managers can.

Also, the reputable companys will forego the shipping charges when an item goes
on back order after they've taken your order, especially when it's a gift that
will arrive late... don't be ashamed to ask. Williams Sonoma is notorious for
taking orders when they don't actually have the item in stock. At a later date
you'll be notified that the item is on back order and they will ask if you
still want it... that's when to say yes if they'll forego the shipping charges
and they will say certainly. If it's a gift ask that they send correspondance
to the recipient to apprise them that the lateness was their fault, they'll be
happy to forward their apologies.

You'll be treated especially well if you happen to mention the Customer Service
managers name.


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

PENMART01 wrote:

I've had a few occasions where a Levenger item has gone on sale from the time I
ordered it until I received it. I called and they adjusted my credit charges.
On one occasion I ordered a pen that went on sale a full month after I had
received it, they happily credited my account.... Levengers does not want to
lose a customer by their being hard-nosed over such a trivial matter,
especially when they've already made the decision to lower a price anyway.


My experience with Levenger has been the same as Sheldon's. Once, I had
a phone mail order clerk volunteer to drive across town the next day to
check stock on an item they listed, but she did not show in inventory.
She called me back the next evening at home and verified that I still
wanted the item. I did, and she sent it 2nd day, because of the delay
in processing my order. I was so pleased that I wrote a letter with the
pen to the company to give her credit for good service. Within a week,
I received a handwritten note from Steve Leveen indicating that she
would receive a little bonus in her next paycheck, and he sent me some
little notional items from their catalog "because I had taken the time
to write." I looked up the retail prices of the four items---total was
25 dollars. I continue to do business with them. Received my new 605
FP and RB today.

Reuben who is a happy Levenger customer

vyap wrote:

BTW, I wonder if they have a price drop gaurantee ...


There's some good news and some bad news.

Bad news:
I inquired about that a few weeks ago and was told that they they
recently changed their cutoff on price drop guarantee to ten days.
I was disappointed.

Good news:
However, on the other hand, after the recent storm hit Florida, they
RUSH shipped out all items for the price of regular shipping to make up
for the inconvenience.

Nancy