I love Uniball!

Remember when I told you all about the fantastic new pen I got? Well... probably not, you'd have to be kind of sad to remember that.

But anyway, I did! Me and my Clipturn had some fantastic times together, writing up notes, not having to get out a different writing implement to switch between charting teeth in pencil and writing patient histories in pen.. and even charting gingivitis in red! My friends were in awe of my stationery superiority, and even my clinicians looked on admiringly as I flicked between ink and graphite with such grace. My 0.7mm writing looked so elegant, with the ink gliding along like a dream. Oh, it was bliss.

But then... tragedy struck. The black ink ran out - I could hardly believe it. So I took myself along to WHSmith to get refills - but to add salt to my wounds, they had NONE. That's right, the dons of stationery didn't stock them! And then -then! I tried turning the pen to black ink for old times sake -and the mechanism stuck. With disbelief, I investigated further - but the pen was unquestionably, unfairly, broken. Not even chocolate or kittens could console me. Not even chocolate kittens.

With a heavy heart, I researched the internets for help. I decided to contact the company directly - surely the manufacturers of this fine piece of engineering would help their biggest fan? Said I (via their 'contact us' form):

Enquiry: Would I be able to get a replacement and some refills for a Clipturn pen? This really was my favourite pen, but the mechanism broke within 2 months.

Just over a week later, I receieved a reply!

Dear [McPagal]
Thank you for your enquiry.

Both the Clipturn and it’s refills can be purchased online at: http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Uni

I hope this information is of use to you; if you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Many Thanks,
[Nice Lady]
Customer Services Administrator

Hmmm... this wasn't exactly what I wanted. I didn't think they understood the depths of my predicament!

Dear [Nice Lady],

Thank you for the info! I was actually wondering if Uniball could repair or replace the pen for me as I spent £8 on it only for it to break. It was extremely useful to me while it lasted, as a dental student I have to switch between ink & pencil a lot to write patient notes, and the red ink is excellent for certain types of charting. I recommended it to all my friends, and a lot of colleagues and staff were also very interested!

Thanks again,
[McPagal]

Then, I forgot about it. At this point I was getting by on cheap biros with inferior ink, lamenting what once was.

That was, until about 20 minutes ago when the post arrived.
'McPagal!' Shouted my mum (well, she didn't actually call me McPagal. My parents call me pagali sometimes, but not as a form of address), 'There's an interesting looking package for you!'.
'Meh, probably my contact lenses' I replied. But the package she handed to me wasn't a little brown box. Nor was it the squishy plastic of the t-shirts I ordered. I was, in fact, a jiffy bag with a label hand addressed to me - with a Uniball logo at the top!

Excited, I tore open the envelope, desperately hoping it wasn't a catalogue or some other anti-climax. And it wasn't.

Inside was none other than a Clipturn multifunction pen, a beautiful replacement of it's poor lamented brother. I could hardly believe my eyes, but as I ran around the room holding the pen aloft and shrieking, I noticed something else - refills! Yes, they'd even included extra ink, of both colours, inside! My happiness now complete, I checked the inside of the envelope to find a lovely handwritten note from Nice Lady herself:

I am not ashamed to admit that I nearly wept with joy.

After firing off an ecstatic 'thank you!', I decided to share the love with all of you. Everyone - buy Uniball products! They're amazing pens for amazing people!

Now I'm going, to spend some quality time with my new pen.