Montblanc charges for repairs at fixed flat rates. For cleaning and overhauling a used Meisterstück with no parts replaced, the lowest band was charged in 2012, shown on the invoice as flat rate 1, at 42 euros including VAT and return carriage. Higher figures, and amounts up to about 130 euros are quoted, apply to work in which components have to be replaced or the body and fittings refinished. What is binding is always the estimate the factory draws up after inspection; the work is only carried out once that amount has been paid in advance, so the repair can still be declined after the quotation.
The pen is best sent straight to the service department in Hamburg. Handing it in at a dealer or a boutique is possible, but lengthens the journey and may incur additional handling and carriage costs. Doing the job yourself soon reaches its limits: if ink has stood in the pen for years, even a bath of several weeks in water is often not enough, because dried residues are lodged in the feed and on the piston seal. A typical sign of this is a pen that only writes while you wind the piston forward and push ink through by hand.