Beware Fisher pens at Staples - ripoffs!!!

Starfish

Starfish

Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
1,256
Hi guys,

Thought you might be interested in this. I bought a "Fisher Space Pen" at Staples a while back, and received a faulty cartridge. I replaced the cartridge with a Fisher refill, and put the faulty cartridge in the Fisher package and sent it in for replacement.

Well guess what - I received a phone call from Fisher telling me that the cartridge I sent in was NOT a Fisher cartridge, but instead an "Eversharp" cartridge. It turns out that the pen I bought was not a Fisher Space Pen either, but an imitation.

Kudos to Fisher Space Pen for having the decency to call me up and tell me why they were sending back my cartridge without replacement. That was truly good customer service, and I will definitely be looking for a real Fisher product now!

Grrrrrr :mad: :mad: :mad: ripoffs really piss me off!

Matthew
 
That seems odd for a big chain like Staples. I just checked one of mine; both the pen and cartridge say Fisher. I bought two Bullet pens at Staples. Both came sealed with boxes in clamshell packages.
 
Hi Frank,

Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder now what's up with mine. The lady at Fisher told me the cartridge I sent in had >no< markings at all. I compared that to my current cartridge which has all of Fisher's information on the cartridge.

Mine too came in a sealed clamshell package.

I also told her the product number on the package - S400BCL. She said that Fisher has a 400BCL product, but not S400BCL.

Would you check yours and see what it says?

Thanks,

Matthew
 
Originally posted by Starfish
Would you check yours and see what it says?
Click to expand...
I threw away the packages when I bought the pens. One of the cartridges says RBJ5 #4 B 1/02 and the other says RBJ5 #5 B 1/02
 
That's weird, perhaps the lady at Fisher was mistaken. I bought one of these for my Dad a month ago - gave him a call and found out he has a Fisher cartridge in it as well.

I think another call to the Fisher company is in order - perhaps she was mistaken about the cartridge...

That'll teach me to post while in a foul mood :rolleyes:

Thanks,

Matthew
 
Mine is a Fisher cartridge too...

Staples also sells a knockoff version. Did the pen come with a small black box and a few papers?
 
Steven, mine came in a clamshell package with a small black box and and a mini-brochure inside the box. Mini-brochure has instructions for re-ordering cartridges. Astronaut on front of clamshell package with history on the back side.

Is that similar to yours?

Thanks,

Matthew
 
Mine says Fisher on the cartridge, the clamshell box and the brochure, it sure looks legit. Weird, maybe she was new.
 
Originally posted by Starfish
Steven, mine came in a clamshell package with a small black box and and a mini-brochure inside the box. Mini-brochure has instructions for re-ordering cartridges. Astronaut on front of clamshell package with history on the back side.
Click to expand...

Did the package say "Fisher" anywhere on it? I have bought 3 Fisher Bullets from Staples and the ink cartridge is indeed made by Fisher. O fthe 2 that I have currently the numbers on the cartridge are RBJ5 #3/8 2/02 (manufactured in Feb, 2002) & BK1 B#2 7/02 (manufactured in July 2002). It is possible that the pen could have been purchased and returned with an Eversharp refill and resold if it was in unused condition.
 
Yep, the package has Fisher written all over it. I'm sure now that I do have a Fisher pen; don't know how some other cartridge got into it but K.V.'s explanation is as good as any.

This will be a moot point anyway, as I plan to get a lacquered version soon. Either my wife will get it for my birthday, or I'll buy it! :)

Thanks all for your help,

Matthew
 
I got one of those "mystery" pens at Staples, too, and I don't like it. So far my Diplomat 0 Gravity has been a better pen at half the price.
 
Eversharp and Fisher cartridges are made by the same company, but they're different. It isn't just the lack of markings on the Eversharp cartridges; they're made different, visibly, and they don't work as well (IMHO, and apparently in the opinions of most but not all people who have tried both).
 
Forgive me for being a Fisher pen newbie... what makes these pens arguably the best? I looked for one today at Office Max, but they did not have them. I did see some knockoff cartridges though. How much does one of these pens cost?
thanks in advance,
Mongo
 
Here's the scoop. Most stores that I've been to carry both the Fishers and the Eversharps. The Fisher pens have a slightly rounder barrel and have a MUCH better fit and finish; however, they also cost more. The Eversharps which cost around 9 bucks or so are clampacked, have a thinner barrel, gunkier ink, and have a small metal piece in the top of the cap to prevent the roller ball from becoming depressed and releasing all of the ink (The Fisher's tolerances don't allow for this).
I hope this helps,
Matt
 
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