I am taking Montblanc to court

Hans Chan -

What I’m Reading

The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz comes recommended courtesy of Tim Ferriss.

Resource of the week

Most of you probably know about TED talks on YouTube, I’ve been watching their videos since 2009. I’ve recently been getting back into watching them. There’s almost certainly a talk there that will pique your interest. One very important thing that not many people know, is that TED and TEDx are different things, the vetting process and quality of TEDx talks are nowhere near the main TED talks. TEDx are independently run events and basically anyone who pays can say they’ve done a TEDx talk. So I tend to avoid these.

Quote

"I'd rather love a million times and have my heart broken every time than hold a permanently empty heart forever."

H.C. Paye

Thoughts

Taking Montblanc to Court

So a couple of weeks ago I issued court proceedings against Montblanc (more accurately a Montblanc Boutique). It should’ve been a trivial issue, my flex pen was railroading, meaning that when you press down on it, there is no ink flow in the middle bit. Long story short I sent it back to Germany for repairs, and it came back with the exact same issue after a 3 month wait, I called them up and asked for a refund and I got shouted at by the most patronising sales rep ever. I told them I would proceed with a court claim if they won’t refund me for a faulty product. The rep said 'do what you want' and put the phone down.

I later got a call from the store manager, who was quite smug. He gave me a spiel about how ‘Montblanc is an exchange-only brand etc, we won’t be able to do a refund, normally we have a one-month policy for exchanges but we’ll gladly extend this for you on this occasion’. How kind.

I replied with: ‘That’s ok, in that case, I’ll just follow the process’.

You could hear the smugness drain out of his voice. ‘Err what process might that be?’

I said ‘I’ve raised a court claim against this’.

‘In this case, we would be happy to provide you a refund’

I almost laughed at how quickly he folded. I was then subsequently contacted by the head of retail who was very keen to resolve the matter.

This does reinforce the lesson that it’s important to stick up for yourself and not let people bully you around. It’s sad but a lot of people tend to take advantage of others if they think there are no consequences. A lot of companies bank on the fact that most customers don’t know their rights or won’t take any action and feel like they can be bullies and get away with things.

So if you’re having issues of a similar nature, I’d highly recommend raising a money court claim, it took me about 10 minutes and the court fees are only £70 in my case. Don’t worry if you’re not keen on going to court. It’s really not as scary as it sounds. And the majority of the time, companies will do whatever they can to settle out of court because it costs them a lot more money, so it’s great leverage for you to have to compel them to do right by you.

Other Stuff

I saw a TikTok saying there is a high correlation between people who partake in endurance sports and those who have experienced trauma. While I don’t know how true this is or have seen any data, anecdotally I am inclined to believe it. Doing sports, like many other people in this situation really helps direct my attention elsewhere.

It feels like the one thing I can control in an out-of-control situation like when my girlfriend texted me this week telling me she was seeing someone else.

Doing sports gives that sense of overcoming and I think it’s a great coping mechanism in general. On the rowing machine for example, when my body is fighting against me, telling me to stop, I draw on some of that hurt to help push me through the physical pain. To a lesser extent, even just being active in general releases endorphins, and dopamine; hormones that have anti-depressant effects.

Another thing is that this TED talk was relatable where the speaker notes that it takes a lot longer than most people think to get over heartbreak. And it’s not productive to go back through every moment, micro analysing to pinpoint where things went wrong because the answer isn’t there, nothing will satisfy you.

So if you or anyone you know is going through something similar, feeling stressed or having a tough time, go for a run, jump on a rowing machine, go for a swim and be patient. Lots of people go through it all the time, it’s just natural and you’re not alone. There are positives, you can focus on other areas of your life to fill that space.

Hans