27.0 Why do people seem to hate Montblanc?

It's probably due to changes in the way Montblanc makes pens. Over the years, Montblanc has changed the composition of the "precious resin" they use to make the pen. Recent materials from which the pens are made have made the body of the pen prone to cracks when subjected to anything from mild to moderate stress. Many of the stories come from people who dropped their pens, or did something else to them that stressed the pen body.

I have a couple of recent vintage MontBlanc (models newer than 1990), and all of them work just fine. 'Course, I don't go around dropping them...

Montblanc hasn't done anything to reduce this perception -- in fact, they've recently reinforced it somewhat with their formal announcement that their pens cannot be promoted or sold over the Internet. This keeps them "exclusive"... and what that kind of exclusiveness gets ya is beyond me.Aside from resin composition, Montblanc simply has a better marketing department than most other pen companies. They've spent a lot of money on "presence": their pens are seen in ads for non-pen products, movies, tv shows, etc. The implication is that Montblanc is the "best you can buy". Their pens are reasonable quality, but, for the same money you actually can get better pens (both new and vintage). It is this "snob appeal" that seems to have done the most damage to Montblanc's reputation among pen owners.

Aside from that, Montblanc makes a good pen. If you have one and are satisfied with it, ignore the wars and just keep on writing.