Kickstarter

Hey backers,

As many of you know, the bulk of the second run pens were shipped last weekend and the rest on Monday. Hopefully most of these make it to your before Christmas. 

However, there are around 30 orders that have still not shipped due to lack of address or problems with the address. I will try and ship any I can today and contact you if your info is not correct.

I have been getting a lot of “where is my pen?” emails. If you have not yet received your pen, check your email for a shipping notification (Search for “Ian Schon has sent you a package” in your email). If the tracking info says Jamaica NY for an international backer, that means it has passed through customs and I can no longer track it. Shipping outside of the US has been taking anywhere from 2-5 weeks depending on customs and where you are located. Please be patient! If you have not gotten your pen and have not received a shipping notification please send an email to penprojectshipping@gmail.com and I will look into it for you.

I am sorry for any lack of communication over the past few months. My kickstarter inbox has been quite full of messages and some get lost in the chaos. If I haven’t gotten back to your inquiry or message please send an email to penprojectshipping@gmail.com. 

That’s all for now. Some final updates, thoughts on the process and project, valuable lessons and upcoming projects to come (perhaps a pen with knurling and clip?). Hope you all like your pens, looking forward to hearing your feedback. Thanks for all your support. 

 -Ian Schon 

Now for something completely different. Starting this Christmas, Ball and Buck, a local “All American” store found on Newbery Street (Boston), will be carrying the pens exclusively (in store and on the web) under my new brand Schon Dsgn. To launch this collaboration (and another collaboration of theirs) they are holding a holiday party this Thursday. I am extending this invitation to all backers and would love to meet some of you there and thank you personally for helping me with this project. Details --- http://ballandbuckholiday.eventbrite.com/

Thanks for being patient everyone.  

Quick update

Supplies are arriving this week to the shop where the pens will be finished and post processed. This has taken longer than expected, but I want to be sure that every pen that gets shipped out is free of imperfections. I have spared no expense in this process and am working as hard as I can to get the pens done in order to finish shipping the first run and start shipping the second run. This has been a great learning experience and I thank you all for being so patient. Best case, all the supplies are in early next week and they start processing and shipping batches back to me late next week. As soon as I get pens in I will start fulfilling orders. On my end, all the ink, set screws, packaging, and shipping supplies are ready for when these pens come in. Once shipping starts again I will post another update and keep everyone up to date on the process. 

An hour ago I sent out address surveys to those of you in the second run. Please fill these out by the end of this week so I can start preparing labels for shipments. 

 Thanks everyone!  

First Run Update-

First things first, my apologies for any frustrations and disappointments in getting the pens to you. Despite best intentions and hard work, delays regrettably occurred. Your support and patience as I worked through this process was gratefully appreciated. GOOD NEWS: Right now I have shipped all but 80 orders from the first run. BAD NEWS: As I neared the end of the first run, I noticed some of the parts had retained some residual production oil and dark spots due to inefficient cleaning. These pens were set aside as I assembled and packed the orders. Currently they are being reprocessed with cleaning and refinishing to complete the first run. As a result of this inconvenience, the pen processing has been improved and some valuable lessons have been learned. The second run pens will benefit from this production efficiency and will be shipped as soon as they get back from being finishing. Again, sorry for the delay.

There are also several backers who have not given me shipping info, or have given me incorrect shipping info. I will be contacting these backers shortly to correct the deficiencies .

Second Run Update- The pen bodies and caps are done! As of Monday they will be packed up and sent out to be finished and cleaned. Originally I had hoped to start shipping in the next few days and was on schedule, but want to make sure that I don’t run into the same issue I had during this past run. The pens will likely start shipping in two to three weeks. Thankfully, due to the help of some engineering students and friends I have been contracting, these pens will be shipped much quicker than the first run. I will continue to post shipping updates to the comments section, the Facebook page and the blog. Looking forward to moving into this second pen shipment phase. Please forgive me for starting to ship later than intended. I promise they are worth the wait.

I know some of you are upset that you have not received your pens at this point, but please bear with me. Kickstarter is not an online store, but a crowd funding platform. With this territory comes unforeseen delays and refining of process as time goes on. This is an incredible learning experience, and every step of the way is teaching me new things. After this project, future projects will run much smoother due to the valuable lessons learned through this process. I really appreciate all the positive feedback and encouragement.

Note: Once pens are shipped, there is not much to do about delays or lost packages. If you are an international backer, tracking stops after it leaves America and though sometimes stressful, it may take a very long time to arrive at your doorstep. Shipping times have been reported from 2-4 weeks for international pens, but this all depends on the location and the customs.

Thanks everyone!