Filofaxes, Quality Control, and The Planner World

So, I posted part of this as a reply to a post on the Philofaxy Facebook page, but I also wanted to post it here as a blog post to get thoughts, as well. So bear with me as I'm thinking "aloud" here about quality control, Filofaxes, ring mechanisms and general planner stuff.

Here goes...I'm beginning to think that there isn't just one company at fault when it comes to binder issues such as ring mechanisms, and that it's just quality control everywhere. I don't thing the faulty issues can just be blamed on Pens and Leather or Goldspot or other retailers or necessarily Filofax themselves (although the customer service whether good or bad from each of these can certainly be blamed on them!)

I've had DayTimer, DayRunner, Franklin Covey and even Kate Spade planners with gapped and misaligned rings, too, but I think it is more often seen with we Filofax users because we actually get together and talk about it, or at least those of us who follow Philofaxy do. We take pride in our planners and even collect them--something I don't see other planner users doing to the extent we do. In fact, I for one never even looked at the rings of my old binders from these other brands at the time of purchase, but I went back and sure enough, these issues were there in some.

I'd say the majority of people buy planners for personal or business use without much thought to the planner's make and mechanism or whether or not it is in perfect working order. And while we also buy them for the same uses, we are a particular bunch who expects quality for our money (AS WE SHOULD). It may not necessarily bother the other buyers if there is something wrong as long as the binder still just works decently for the purpose they want, just as it actually may not bother many Filofax users who aren't part of our groups. This could also account for Filofax's 1% comment on the response from the petition several of us signed and sent to them. According to them, "Whilst there has been lots of comments about ring mechanism quality in the social community in recent months, we do believe that as a percentage of our total worldwide production, these issues amount to less than 1%." (See full post on Philofaxy.)

We as Filofax users among the Philofaxy group see our planners differently. Don't get me wrong, as I think we should see them differently and demand quality, but are we in the planner-buying minority as far as thinking about quality control? Maybe so, I have lots of friends who use different planners and have paid as much as we do for Filofaxes, but they see them as just a planner that is for the use it was made and don't worry about whether or not the rings are misaligned or gapped.

Of course, I absolutely think we need to keep on Filofax about quality control, and we should also keep on the retailers about quality control and customer service, but I worry that we are in the minority about all of this, so I wonder know fast Filofax will work on the issue. I hope, as rest of you do, that they get if fixed quickly and correctly, and I do not blame anyone who gets upset at getting a defective binder. I do sincerely thank Steve and the rest of the team from Philofaxy for always making sure to keep us updated on talks with Filofax and actually making some progress, and I thank Kate from The Life of the Perpetual Student for getting the petition together. I hope we can eventually make some progress with them.

These are seriously just random midnight thoughts, but with all the issues with every Filofax retailer and Filofax themselves, it just got me thinking. None of this post is meant to anger or offend anyone, and I apologize if it does. I just wanted to get my thoughts out there. Personally, I will continue to use my Filofaxes as I do love them, and I like their range better than other planning systems. I would like to try maybe a Mulberry or Louis Vuitton organizer eventually, but for now Filofax still makes me happy.

Happy Filofaxing!

Filofax Organization Tote

If any of you are on the Philofaxy website or facebook pages, you've probably seen the newly popular organization tote for Filofaxes. If you are into Filofaxes (like REALLY into them) like I am, you enjoy decorating them and having fun with them. Sometimes that obsession leads to other obsessions--washi tape, stamps, sticky notes, etc.--that prompt the need for an organization tote so you can organize your Filofax anywhere!! So, I went on a hunt to find one. I travelled through the seven levels of the Candy Cane Forest--wait, wrong journey... Ok, so I went to Hobby Lobby, Michaels (which is an hour away from me), and both Wal-marts in my town. I finally found it at the LAST Wal-Mart I went to, which is actually the closest store to me--go figure.  Anyway, I bought this great tote for $17 there, and immediately went home to set it up.  It really works great and I've actually got it next to me on the couch now.  I decided to make a video, which you can see below, about the tote and how I organize it.  Enjoy!

 

New Filofax Personal Finsbury in Antique Rose (and a small rant)

Filofax sales are entirely too easy to take advantage of....so of course, I got sucked into one.  They were having a huge 60% off sale on lots of binders, and who can resist, right?  I caved and purchased an antique rose personal finsbury.  So far I like it ok.  The color is really pretty, much darker than you see online. Here's the front of the binder...

You can sort of see that it is a little darker than it shows online.  It seems to be a very good quality leather, and the pattern is nice and different.

There are some paler spots and those somewhat show up in the picture but it doesn't bother me really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the leather is very, very stiff as you can see here.  When you open the binder, it doesn't stay flat, which is something I do like in my Filofaxes, so I'm not sure if this one will continue to be used as my main diary or if I will use it for something else.

It also doesn't lie flat when you open it up, even though I have my diary more towards the middle of the filofax.  It's not a huge inconvenience, but it is bothersome.

But the only real complaint I have is that one ring is misaligned, and I think another may be, also.  I almost don't want to even send it back (1) because it was so cheap and (2) because this will be the THIRD Filofax I would have sent back since like October.  I'm getting really peeved at their lack of quality control.  I've sent back an Ochre Malden and a Regency, both personal since then for exchanges, and I'm glad to say that the Malden did come back with good rings.  I'm not sure about the Regency yet as I only sent it back last week.  But it is my FAVORITE Filofax so I really hope the new one comes back ok.  But if not I still have my compact regency and another one on the way from the lovely Imy from Imysworld!  So I'm definitely not Filofax-poor.  But I am quite irritated.  I've used other systems before (Franklin Covey & Day-Timer) but I really, really like Filofax and want to stick with them, especially since I don't really like any FC binders other than an old Classic one I have, and I don't really want to go back to that size at the moment.  Oh, what to do!!!  Filofax, why can't you just get better?  I so want to love you whole-heartedly again!

Anyway, my rant is now over, sorry for those who didn't want to read it, but I had to get it off my chest. I hope you are enjoying my Filofax posts as they are quickly becoming a big part of my blog.  I promise some book reviews will come soon!