Housing Issues
UPDATE 1/2/2022
We have been offering free housings and free shipping for faulty housings since the issue began many months ago. If there are any straggling errant housings still out there, we will still replace housings free of charge, but we will no longer offer free shipping. First Class shipping to most US states will be around $5. International shipping will depend upon the destination.
UPDATE 10/26/21
The housing issue seems to be completely resolved.
UPDATE 9/7/21
In addition to continuing the replacement of any faulty housings in the field, we are also in the process of replacing housings within our entire inventory. I am confident that the shipments we have received for the last 2-3 months have not contained faulty housings. However, we did not receive every tip size/plating with those shipments. Not being 100% sure of the age of every single nib within our current inventory, I feel that a completely clean slate is the best route.
An emergency shipment of housings is on the way from Germany now. We will use these to manually replace every housing at our facility. This could mean a process of at least a few weeks.
Orders may be shipped late due to this, but we will work through this on a case-by-case basis, communicating with each customer individually as required.
Additionally, I am currently working on a product alert for out-of-stock items. This should be finished very soon. So as out-of-stock items return, you can receive an email or SMS alert.
I would like to thank everyone for having patience. This entire situation has taken a lot longer to resolve than I would have liked. This is due to many items that were simply out of my and JoWo's control...
1. The entire JoWo factory was on vacation for a week.
2. The entire molding facility was on vacation the week after.
3. The primary engineer at the molder was on vacation for 2 weeks.
4. The time difference means about 2+ communications a day at best.
5. Mild language barriers.
6. Shipments coming from Germany take 1 week at best to arrive at our facility. They are usually 1-2 weeks and also require smooth customs clearance, which doesn't always happen.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. I will continue to add updates here as needed.
Brian at Meisternibs
UPDATE 8/30/21
Jowo has released a statement regarding the housing issues.
I will copy the statement below and add some comments afterward.
We have worked very intensively and in cooperation with the manufacturer of our housings to investigate the problem of cracks. We were able to identify the primary cause of this and we have also identified a solution.
We found that in a small percentage of housings, the plastic tended to break. As a result, the injection molding process was changed by the manufacturer so that this defect will no longer occur.
The primary cause of the issue was the operating temperature of the injection molder in a few production runs.
To help all customers with broken housings, we have decided to exchange/replace all affected housings.
Our distributors have received replacement housings from current production and will continue to exchange any errant housing in an uncomplicated and generous manner.
If you do not have a method to contact a distributor, we will exchange your housings directly, subject to photo inspection.
If this is the case, please contact us at the following e-mail address: housings@jowo-schreibfeder.de
For the exchange, please send us a photo of the broken housing along with a photo of the invoice or the unsuccessful communication with a distributor. Please also include your address for shipping.
Thank you for understanding. We will replace all errant housings as quickly as possible so that you can enjoy writing with your JoWo nib.
As we have future updates regarding this issue, we will be prompt to publish them.
On behalf of Meisternibs, I realize that a lot of people have been justifiably frustrated with this statement taking a while to be published. Please consider that August is a big vacation month in Germany with most businesses completely closing down. 3 weeks ago, all of JoWo was on vacation. 2 weeks ago, the injection molding company was on vacation. Then I recently learned that the primary engineer for the injection molding processes was also on vacation most of last week.
Considering that JoWo and the molding company could not convene until last week, I have not been disappointed with the timeline of this statement and wanted others to be aware of the reasons for the delay.
So at this point, it’s only a matter of identifying the errant housings and replacing them, as we have been doing and will continue to do. I will keep all updates posted here as required.
Brian at Meisternibs
UPDATE 8/16/21
On behalf of Meisternibs, I would like to recognize the issues that have been occurring with nib housings.
We truly appreciate all of the feedback from penmakers and consumers so that we can make the best decisions and offer the best products. We have been aware of and have considered all of these issues since they were initially reported.
In the beginning, this issue seemed to be isolated to a very small percentage of our nib housings. However, after receiving reports over the last 7 days (not only from penmakers but also from consumers) we now understand that this issue is larger than we had originally thought.
We believe that this issue is related to a few faulty batches during the injection molding process of nib housings. We also believe that the issue has already been addressed and fixed months ago and that no faulty housings are currently being shipped to our penmakers or consumers.
However, please understand that a faulty nib housing from our facility would have come from the overseas factory, then to us as a distributor, then to a penmaker, and then to the consumer. This period between manufacture and consumption means that faulty nib housings from months ago could still be out there.
Considering this, we have made sure that we have replacement housings available to all of our penmakers and consumers as needed. These housings are from the latest moldings that we have tested thoroughly. Anyone who possesses a faulty housing is welcome to request replacements at no charge from Meisternibs.
If this is the case, please email brian@meisternibs.com. Please include a photo of the problematic housing and a shipping address. If you can provide a photo, we will send you a replacement and we will cover the housing cost and shipping cost. If you cannot provide a photo, we will only ask you to cover shipping costs. Photos are preferred so that we can have as much information as possible regarding this issue. If you are an international customer I cannot promise free shipping, but we can certainly still figure out a solution.
The above verbiage outlines the most accurate information that we have as of today (8/16/21). As more updates are available, we will post them here.
Rest assured that we are working very hard on this issue to ensure quality control. If anyone has questions, I am always available at the email listed above, or you can use our contact form.
Lastly, I would like to address the "radio silence" that I fully understand has been frustrating. The truth of this matter is that I have never had a means for mass communications besides this website and emails. When Meisternibs began more than 12 years ago, social media wasn't exactly what it is today. Meisternibs caters primarily to penmakers. So when Meisternibs was formed, penmakers became quickly aware of us despite the lack of social media outlets. So even when social media became as large as it is today, we truly did not need it for visibility. Bottom line...I am (and always have been) available for all communications via email or the phone. As these issues have occurred, I believe that every penmaker will attest to fast responses and attention to their needs. I will kindly ask consumers to not confuse a lack of activity on social media with a position of indifference. I have always been available with fast responses via email to all customers, be it penmaker or consumer.
Thank you
Brian at Meisternibs