Zeno Marx
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2010
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A short story made long. Brevity is not one of my virtues. I'm working on it, but not in this moment...
I used to only order from Pipes and Cigars. It wasn't out of loyalty, but pure economics and habit. I tend to order tobacco once a year during the big sales in August or around the winter holidays, and I prefer to make one big purchase from a single business. It's not the best way to operate, but it's how I tobacco dance. As prices at P&C began to jump, and then a couple years ago when there was some confusion with the taxes applied to my order (they just couldn't explain it until the representative did some research), I went digging for the first time in years. It was a long time coming, but ignorance will do that to you.
I'd never ordered from Tobacco Pipes. Honestly, I think I might have only stumbled upon them once or twice a long time ago. I think I bothered this time because I heard they sold 5LB bags at big discounts, and that got me curious. So last year, I made my annual order and changed my step by going with them. I don't know how they stack up against other outfits in other regards, but their prices on Stokkebye and Sutliff are significantly lower.
So, I made my big order with them again. I needed something small to put me over the free shipping cap, so I grabbed a Legend cob for $8. My other couple of Legends have been nicely done pipes, especially for the money. This one was not. There was a crack in the shank that I think they sloppily glued shut at the factory, and inside the bowl, said shank wood was barely beveled, making for this large tube of wood taking up 1/4 of the chamber and leaving these large slots on each side of it where tobacco would surely never burn and get smoked.
I always tell people to return things they aren't satisfied with, and though I should immediately take that same medicine, I was going back and forth about asking for an exchange over an $8 pipe. Should I just carve the dang inside the bowl out and call it a day? I can be VERY indecisive about things, so rather than hem-hawing for weeks and then surprising Tobacco Pipes with a complaint, I thought I'd start the ball rolling and simply email them, explaining my dissatisfaction and start the ball rolling in case I decided to ask for an exchange or refund. I didn't ask for anything. It was purely "this is what is going on. no need to do anything right now. I'm not sure how I feel about it."
Within two hours, I received two emails from Tobacco Pipes: 1) apologizing for not checking it before they shipped and to watch out for a little something in the mail 2) a shipping notice that they'd sent a Legend cob, no cost to me.
I feel this kind of customer service was how everyone operated when I grew up, but I rarely encounter it anymore. If anything goes wrong, it's always some kind of hassle. There are always questions asked. With Tobacco Pipes, no question was asked.
ps- when did the Legend cob go from being a billiard to an acorn?
I used to only order from Pipes and Cigars. It wasn't out of loyalty, but pure economics and habit. I tend to order tobacco once a year during the big sales in August or around the winter holidays, and I prefer to make one big purchase from a single business. It's not the best way to operate, but it's how I tobacco dance. As prices at P&C began to jump, and then a couple years ago when there was some confusion with the taxes applied to my order (they just couldn't explain it until the representative did some research), I went digging for the first time in years. It was a long time coming, but ignorance will do that to you.
I'd never ordered from Tobacco Pipes. Honestly, I think I might have only stumbled upon them once or twice a long time ago. I think I bothered this time because I heard they sold 5LB bags at big discounts, and that got me curious. So last year, I made my annual order and changed my step by going with them. I don't know how they stack up against other outfits in other regards, but their prices on Stokkebye and Sutliff are significantly lower.
So, I made my big order with them again. I needed something small to put me over the free shipping cap, so I grabbed a Legend cob for $8. My other couple of Legends have been nicely done pipes, especially for the money. This one was not. There was a crack in the shank that I think they sloppily glued shut at the factory, and inside the bowl, said shank wood was barely beveled, making for this large tube of wood taking up 1/4 of the chamber and leaving these large slots on each side of it where tobacco would surely never burn and get smoked.
I always tell people to return things they aren't satisfied with, and though I should immediately take that same medicine, I was going back and forth about asking for an exchange over an $8 pipe. Should I just carve the dang inside the bowl out and call it a day? I can be VERY indecisive about things, so rather than hem-hawing for weeks and then surprising Tobacco Pipes with a complaint, I thought I'd start the ball rolling and simply email them, explaining my dissatisfaction and start the ball rolling in case I decided to ask for an exchange or refund. I didn't ask for anything. It was purely "this is what is going on. no need to do anything right now. I'm not sure how I feel about it."
Within two hours, I received two emails from Tobacco Pipes: 1) apologizing for not checking it before they shipped and to watch out for a little something in the mail 2) a shipping notice that they'd sent a Legend cob, no cost to me.
I feel this kind of customer service was how everyone operated when I grew up, but I rarely encounter it anymore. If anything goes wrong, it's always some kind of hassle. There are always questions asked. With Tobacco Pipes, no question was asked.
ps- when did the Legend cob go from being a billiard to an acorn?
