The paint came off the chalk board onto the chalk. The whiteboard pen harshly stains clothing - I'm not sure whether or not this is written on the pen or any of the packaging. The nib of the whiteboard pen is easily pushed in.
Update
Because we had not retained enough of the toy for a refund, we contacted Melissa and Doug regarding the issues and we had a very pleasing response from them. With regards to what is relevant to this review, they said that no whiteboard pens are washable (I have seen some advertised as such in the past but to be fair none of them seem to be available now). Seems odd to put a feature on a toddler toy that requires something non-washable but still. They said that the issue with the paint was not typical of the product - it's not for me to say whether it is just ours that was faulty or whether there is a faulty batch etc. I suppose the best thing to do is to keep what is necessary for a return in case it goes wrong and then it is not a problem.