The Writing Desk Reviews 30

A further great experience with The Writing Desk. Very helpful and detailed advice from Anna on whether a particular Conway Stewart nib would fit my CS fountain pen, followed by rapid dispatch. New nib fits perfectly and writes wonderfully, thanks to Martin’s complimentary tuning service.

Anna and Martin at The Writing Desk have repaired my two Montblanc fountain pens & restored them to a super condition, despite my 8 or 10 years of day by day use.
Their service is excellent, and I've been very pleased with the time that the maintainance service took, the cost, email and getting them back to me.

Thank you for your kind help, it's very much appreciated.

Ed Moss

I was given a Kaweco fountain pen for Christmas by my wife, but was disappointed to learn from her that they were cartridge-only and weren't available with a fine nib. A quick online search showed that the information she had been given by the local retailer was incorrect, and - to my great pleasure - The Writing Desk were able to supply me with all I required to personalise the product to my taste. Anna and Martin were brilliant, prompt and provided the best wrapped package I have ever received....Congratulations...you have acquired a customer for life...

Bought a Lamy fountain pen for my niece. Although the courier company messed up with the delivery everything else was great and my niece loves the fountain pen. The Writing Desk people were helpful and understanding when the delivery went AWOL. I’d definitely buy from them again and use Royal Mail instead!

Some years ago, I bought an Edison Hudson from The Writing Desk and I absolutely LOVED writing with it. Sadly, I recently mislaid it so, after weeks of consideration, I decided to get a new fountain pen. I emailed with Anna but couldn't seem to settle on a pen. I then had a long telephone conversation with Martin who took into account the pen I had, spoke to me about the attributes of the new Edison pens i.e. size, length of the pen both capped and uncapped and their weight. With Anna and Martin's advice in mind, I eventually settled on an Edison Collier. It arrived promptly, very securely packaged and I absolutely love it. I cannot recommend The Writing Desk highly enough. Thank you Anna and Martin for all your help. I am going to enjoy many happy hours using my new Rock Candy.

Very knowledgeable and helpful. Many salespeople have their eye on closing a sale, even if it is not the best for the customer. With these folk I felt they were genuinely helping me to get the items I needed.

Shipping was next day from an afternoon order.

It doesn't get better than this.

Wonderful stockist of high quality writing implements and writing paper.

Couldn’t be more helpful - always happy to discuss what might work best. Expertise in making custom nib adjustments on fountain pens.

Very efficient in dispatching deliveries using quality couriers.

How business ought to be done!

Excellent company. They have a brilliant range of pens and accessories in all price ranges. Their customer service is always second to none - very accommodating and helpful. Have been an on-line customer of theirs for a while now and would certainly recommend them.

Fantastic company - amazing range of pens and inks and the customer service is out of this world. Always willing to find a solution/swap nibs around to give you the pen you want. I've only ever had one issue with them which was the wrong ink having been sent one week and another wrong one the following week. Both were replaced instantly and they let me keep the one I didn't ask for, in one case. Swiftly dealt with, no fuss. Lovely people to deal with and one of my favourite shops.

Therefore I couldn`t find a product in my country,I've placed order from Japan. It was amazing support when the parcel was lost. I don't write reviews usually but I decide to write this time.It was amazing experience highly recommend this shop for international shipping too.

I'm an addict I know, but visiting here is like visiting a hallowed place. I've shopped online, including buying my beloved Sailor Sapporo and the website/service is ace, but visiting...

Thankfully they were very lovely and I'm now saving up for (yet) another pen. :)

I originally bought my Pilot Capless from The Writing Desk, so when my toddler son getting his hands on it resulted in a lot of damage to the nib, I contacted them to ask for recommendations re getting it repaired. I hadn't realised that they do repairs in house.
Martin has done a beautiful job on the nib - in fact it's much smoother now than when I first purchased it! Communication with Anna re the repair was excellent also. Thank you both so much.

Very professional and informative response to my query. Excellent customer service, fantastic products and good selection of nibs. I would buy from this seller again.

Lovely products, very secure packaging, prompt delivery. Very satisfied, would highly recommend.

I have a bit of an addiction to stationary and finding, The Writing Desk is only going to fuel that addiction.

Good service...

I've now had a few orders delivered from The Writing Desk. The orders are dispatched quickly, wrapped securely and if you so wish, you can request to have your items sent in recycled packaging.

If you have a query, the staff respond quickly to emails.

An excellent selection of items at excellent prices.

Wish I'd discovered The Writing Desk years ago.

I've always had an excellent experience with Martin and Anna, at The Writing Desk, and their service is second to none. They're also very friendly, know their regular customers, and sort out any little difficulties that might arise, quickly and flexibly. If you have an interest in fountain pens, the level of service is so very important.
My last purchase was a Pelikan M400 (Medium Nib) which Martin ground to a Cursive Italic for me. Cutting a nib into an Italic or Cursive Italic, is harder than many people realise. Most custom ground nibs that I purchased previously finally ended up in the rubbish bin. The exception to this was nibs cut by the legendary John Mottishaw, in California. The Cursive Italic made for me by Martin was of a similar quality, and writes like a real dream. The line variation is excellent, yet using the nib is a very smooth experience.
It's a frequent misconception that you can make a good Italic nib simply by slicing of the front of the tip. You can't. It requires delicate reshaping of the nib. I was really pleased that Martin had done this so well, and the proof is in the usage. A good Cursive Italic that's easy to adapt to. I'm extremely pleased with it. When you ask for somebody to grind a nib into any form of Italic, you then have to hold your breath, waiting for what might come in the post! But I can see how Martin shaped the nib, and am confident to leave any other nibs in his care. I'm also know that if a nib cut didn't quite fit my style, it would be easily and happily tweaked by Martin, to get it just right.
Many thanks.

Yet another fabulous shopping experience with The Writing Desk. Thank you!

My online orders, including ink, have always been well packaged and arrived in 100% perfect condition.

Anna and Martin are very friendly and helpful, and they have a nice range of pens across the whole price range.

I purchased a Conway Stewart pen which writes very well and is very reliable.

I also took in a pen that I had been given as a gift (purchased elsewhere) which has sentimental value but was a bit dry and skippy. Martin was able to get it writing very nicely for me, which took him an hour or so while I went for a walk around the shops.

When you buy from here, it's not just a faceless robot picking a box off a shelf, or a work experience kid: you're dealing with friendly genuine experts who will make sure that the pen works for you. As somebody who actually writes with my pens, not just just has them in a case, that's very valuable, and this is a company that deserves your support.

Very happy with my purchases. Products arrived in perfect condition, very well packaged. Will be ordering from The Writing Desk again.