8% of 279 verified Pilot Custom 823owners don't recommend it — based on real owner comments from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
For balance: 72% recommend it. This page collects the complaints so you know what you're signing up for — read the full owner report for both sides. How we score
“I personally didn't love it enough for the price. It's a thick pen, so you have to like something a little girthier in your hand, and I didn't love the vacuum feed, either.”— Travels4Food on Reddit
“I had issues with mine. I unscrewed the end cap, rinsed the nib with slightly soapy water and the Signature nib was still inconsistent regardless of position on the page.”— tsfkingsport on Reddit
“I have owned an 823, mostly due to the fan service it got. It is, without a shadow of doubt, a lovely pen. It is also, absolutely, over hyped.”— AndWhereToNow on Reddit
“I like the vac filling system when I'm flying because it travels really well, but over all it is probably my least favorite filling system.”— damnredbeard on Reddit
“the one I got was disappointing, the F nib had way too much feedback for my liking and it wrote incredibly dry and the nib was too stiff”— HornayGermanHalberd on Reddit
“I’ve been disappointed with my 823s. I’ve looked at the nibs with a loupe and the tines on both are too tight, and so write too dryly.”— ponyduder on Reddit
“My 823 F refuses to write when the nib is pushed forward. Have to put extra pressure just to get it to even write normally.”— Levaporub on Reddit
“any more luxury Pilot pens I buy have a skipping issue when I'm writing with them, and the 823 was the biggest culprit.”— wkamper on Reddit
“i too do not understand the hype behind this pen lol, my steel faber castells are smoother than this.”— 0xss on Reddit
“I'm still having dry starts and lots of skipping on downstrokes. It's not at all pleasurable to use.”— Svhr67 on Reddit
“The flow isn’t that great on these pens and they don’t deal with thicker inks very well.”— PopularSweet3420 on Reddit
“Bought 2 and sold them both. I find the distance between the fine and medium too great”— starsofalgonquin on Reddit
Not complaints — practical notes from owners that didn't affect the score.
“That’s a smooth one! Enjoy! I got mine a couple of months ago. https://preview.redd.it/ecfak91gpmvh1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69cbe68e0916268227da21ca8aceadedda3c5270”— Zealousideal-You5467 on Reddit
“That doesn’t make the 823 a bad pen (it’s not), but I think it leads to confirmation bias by users who aren’t familiar with or have extensively used better or more expensive pens.”— T-51bender on Reddit
“These are totally different pens because the Pilot is a vac-fill. If you need a large ink capacity, do the Pilot. If you want lots of pretty colors in cartridge form, do the Sailor.”— louparsons on Reddit
“Actually, rest assured that paying more won’t get you a better writing pen than the 823. Maybe a nibmeister could achieve that, but not a better nib. The 823 is as good as it gets”— Decumulate on Reddit
“Agreed. It is just a smaller pen, but almost the same writing experience. And 74 is c/c too, that means easier clean up. 823 kinds voids the warranty if you unscrew the grip section.”— NagNawed on Reddit
“The Custom 823 does not have a blind cap. These are blind caps. https://preview.redd.it/tl4r7lclgvgh1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77aab4332ac1f2aadfe918858ebdfbd7b53f5e25”— Recent_Average_2072 on Reddit
“The 743 uses the same nib as your 823. If you end up liking the Waverly, you could always swap the nibs and sell the 743 with your swapped M nib if you end up not wanting to keep it.”— labratpip on Reddit
“I just brought mine to a nibmeister today. He’s going to grind it from a medium to a medium fine. It should take about a week and I’m very exited, like getting an entirely new pen!”— JurBroek on Reddit