Don't let the title confuse you, I've gotten lots of great things from Amazon before! (Sorry to all the small online businesses that compete with Amazon, but with the free two day shipping I get for being a student, what can I say?) However, there are a few things I don't think I'll order from Amazon again, namely ink or fountain pens.
Where did this decision come from? Well, I haven't bought any pens from Amazon but I did buy a bottle of ink. My first bottle of fountain pen ink ever (and it came with my first fountain pen too, I think you can guess what brand it was now XD). It was one of the 4.5oz Noodler's eyedropper bottles of Heart of Darkness, and it came with a free eyedropper Platinum Preppy. I love the pen and the ink, but let me tell you about the Amazon service.
So, I ordered it through Amazon using my student Amazon Prime edition (basically if you're a student and register your college email, you get free Two Day shipping [from certain sellers] and about $4 dollars for One Day shipping). The ink came quickly, but the box that the ink was in was a total wreck (sorry, I don't have pics). Basically, the eyedropper bulb at the top of the bottle had torn/cracked open, and about two to three mils of ink had dripped out into the box and onto the included pen and all the paperwork that comes with everything. Could it have been caused during shipping? Perhaps, but I don't think so. To my eyes, it appears that the ink had likely been stored in a hot warehouse somewhere, perhaps upside down (the bulb seems as if it had been, it's oddly misshapen and has taken a memory to that shape) where the heat and stress caused the rubber to break down. Either way, there was no sort of quality control when it left Amazon's warehouse (I don't think it was like this when it left Luxury Goods, the one who apparently packages Noodler's stuff, because I've gotten other things from Noodler's from small online businesses and they were in perfect condition.)
Did I send it back or complain? No, I didn't really care. I was happy to have my first ink and pen, and didn't want to deal with returns. However, now that I look at it, I wonder if the heat or something messed up the ink itself. Heart of Darkness is supposed to be a Bulletproof (waterproof, bleach-proof, and so on) and extremely black (based on what other people have said about their inks). Mine, unfortunately, seems to only be water resistant (it runs and smears when a wet brush it applied to add watercolor washes, even when let dry for days) and is "dark grey" at best (I've compared it to another person's HoD and mine is lighter). I still love the ink for it's quick drying time (less than ten seconds on Rhodia Dot Webbies), but I guess it wasn't like how I had expected.
This experience won't change my view on Noodler's inks (I love them), but it does change my view on where I get them. Even if places like The Goulet Pen Company charge me shipping (which makes the end cost a bit more), I'd rather order from these smaller places where I know they really care about me getting my product, and storing it well until it is sold. I'm not getting any sort of kickback at all (and I know I have no one signed up to watch my blog yet, but I'm posting this just for posterity sake), I'm just a loyal customer BECAUSE THEY DO THINGS RIGHT!
(Note: I am not affiliated with The Goulet Pen Company other than being a loyal customer.)
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