Yeah ~ I was a little worried at first - but I have had my 3 pens for one year now, and all good so far. My mentality is that I bought these pens for a lot of money, and I love them - they are the best, and I'll keep them forever and they'll be the last pens I ever buy. If they start disintegrating, I'll fix them until they fall apart into dust ~ I lost my wallet as a child and it was traumatic, so I have never lost anything from my pockets since then.. I kept my pen(s) clipped to my pants pocket and it was all good for a while - now I keep them in a sunglasses case along with my 'wallet' clip, so it's all together, always with me The pen fell out of my pocket at a friend's place - and I was stressing out so much.. I contacted them asking - and they found it - I was so relieved,, so that should keep me in check for the next year or so **heart beating*** - n__n I've had what seems like hundreds of bic pens through the years, and they all magically disappear..