pipe elitism

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vaperfavour

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iI once experienced what i call pipe elitism. i was enquiring about a high grade pipe from a very reputable dealer about the possibility of getting a specific shape from a high grade Danish pipemaker and i was told that there was no way i would ever get one of these pipes, that i would have to be a collector! The person who i was talking to had the attitude of ' your to young to afford this pipe.' I dont understand this elitism in the world of pipes and tobaccos. ii would think that since i am younger, that would make this dealer MORE prone to help me in my collection goals, since statistically i will be collecting longer than someone of greater years. At the time this was quite disconcerting and it has made me determined to NEVER buy from this dealer ever again!! Its his loss cause i am doing quite well, thank you very much!! Nowadays i have found a few dealers very ready and willing to take time to help seperate me from my money in the fashion i like to, namely pipes and tobaccos. :lol: :lol: are their any fellow pipesmokers out there who have experienced the same thing?
 
I can’t say that I have quite the same experience other than about half the time when I go into either my favorite tobacco shop and there is a new employee or at a new shop I either get the "I’m gonna follow you around and make sure you don’t steal something cause I know you can’t afford it" or I walk in the door and the first thing I hear is "we don’t sell blunts or cheap cigars" or some other older customer walks in and my money is no longer good enough for service. Granted this happens less and less as I get older but it still bugs me. I can’t understand how some shops plan to stay in business if they don’t reach out to younger folk.
In all fairness I have had some really good experiences and had bend over backward service.
BTW I am happy to say I have found none of this at BoB and it means a lot to me as a young inexperienced pipe smoker.
As a side note, I find this attitude of aloofness at gun shops as well. If there was ever a time when young folk needed firearm education its now, ok no more of this rubber room soap boxin. ;)
Dan
 
Regarding carvers selling to collectors, some of them have long lists of custom ordered pipes or a waiting list of whatever the carver makes. Does not hurt to contact the carver directly or through a shop in his own country.
 
this has never happened to me till recently, at a old boston pipe shop that shall remain nameless.. i was so aggravated by the way i was treated i spent a few hundred bucks just to prove something, which is stupid i know but i wasn't thinking clearly.. i have mostly a cigar background and you see alot of the elitist BS from the "cigar guys" not so much the vendors. all my limited experience with pipe and tobacco vendors and guys has been very positive except for the above mentioned 1 time.
 
This may or may not be right or wrong but I do think these shops and employee's name should be made public till the word gets back to the owners and see what they do about it.. That is only my opinion!!!
 
frankluke":owcqpsqt said:
this has never happened to me till recently, at a old boston pipe shop that shall remain nameless.. i was so aggravated by the way i was treated i spent a few hundred bucks just to prove something, which is stupid i know but i wasn't thinking clearly.. i have mostly a cigar background and you see alot of the elitist BS from the "cigar guys" not so much the vendors. all my limited experience with pipe and tobacco vendors and guys has been very positive except for the above mentioned 1 time.
I'm all to aquainted with "the old Boston pipe shop" that you're refering to! Don't feel bad, they treat everyone who comes in their doors in that fashion! Even those folks who do spend considerably on pipes! It's the reason that while in the city I no longer bother going there and prefer watch city in Framingham. The shop you speak of has a very bad reputation among baystate smokers and it's widely recognized by all of us that it just plain sucks!

Best,
Dock
 
D.J. Perry":tjb1k0d6 said:
frankluke":tjb1k0d6 said:
this has never happened to me till recently, at a old boston pipe shop that shall remain nameless.. i was so aggravated by the way i was treated i spent a few hundred bucks just to prove something, which is stupid i know but i wasn't thinking clearly.. i have mostly a cigar background and you see alot of the elitist BS from the "cigar guys" not so much the vendors. all my limited experience with pipe and tobacco vendors and guys has been very positive except for the above mentioned 1 time.
I'm all to aquainted with "the old Boston pipe shop" that you're refering to! Don't feel bad, they treat everyone who comes in their doors in that fashion! Even those folks who do spend considerably on pipes! It's the reason that while in the city I no longer bother going there and prefer watch city in Framingham. The shop you speak of has a very bad reputation among baystate smokers and it's widely recognized by all of us that it just plain sucks!

Best,
Dock

i wasn't aware they treated most like that. i'll never spend a nickle in there again, to many other good tobacconist like ernie.
 
Does its name start with a P and rhyme with spaghetti? :rabbit:

Seriously, that kid of behavior should never be allowed (or tolerated). Just because someone comes in looking a certain way doesn't mean a serious purchase is out of the question. When did it become good business to discourage a potentially noteworthy sale just because someone doesn't look a certain way or isn't a certain age? Silly.
 
vaperfavour":05jjtpy2 said:
iI once experienced what i call pipe elitism. i was enquiring about a high grade pipe from a very reputable dealer about the possibility of getting a specific shape from a high grade Danish pipemaker and i was told that there was no way i would ever get one of these pipes, that i would have to be a collector! The person who i was talking to had the attitude of ' your to young to afford this pipe.' I dont understand this elitism in the world of pipes and tobaccos. ii would think that since i am younger, that would make this dealer MORE prone to help me in my collection goals, since statistically i will be collecting longer than someone of greater years. At the time this was quite disconcerting and it has made me determined to NEVER buy from this dealer ever again!! Its his loss cause i am doing quite well, thank you very much!! Nowadays i have found a few dealers very ready and willing to take time to help seperate me from my money in the fashion i like to, namely pipes and tobaccos. :lol: :lol: are their any fellow pipesmokers out there who have experienced the same thing?
I think that it really depends on the individual, dealer that is. Most of them I know are very nice and helpful. In fact, some of the nicest folks I know are in the pipe culture. On the other hand as with anything in life there are a few jerks.

My experience with pipe snobbery is usually with tobacco. I catch a lot of flack from the tobacco snobs that believe that in order to be good a tobacco has to come from one of the high grade "micro blenders" so to speak, and/or has to cost a certain dollar amount; just because what is considered a "drug store" blend happens to be the most satisfying blend on the planet to me. Too bad on them. Eventually they come around and regret that they didn't start enjoying Walnut sooner.
 
I know that I won't deal with them at all. More than several years ago I called to make an order of 5 differant samples. The guy I dealt with was ina rush and very rude. I ordered it anyway. When it arrived 4 of the samples were the exact sme tobacco. I took it to the pipe club meeting to have several people try it and they said the same thing. All four were the same. I sent an email about it and of course I never got an answer. I haven't dealt with them since then and that was about 2000 or 2001. They need me more than I need them is the most polite way I can put it. Another way is that they are a bunch of holes on the south end of a north bound horse. They may have a few good blends but not any I would go out of my way in any manner to get!!!
 
I've noticed it from time to time. I ignore it. This seems to happen with every hobby/collectible/fad, what have you. I really notice it lately with beers, specifically craft brews/micro-brews. I like different types of beers, love trying them out and seeing how they are. If I like one enough, I'll keep a case in the fridge. But most times if I'm out and having a few beverages with friends, I drink Miller Lite, for several different reasons. I've been scoffed at by friends and strangers alike, I suppose for not having a "cultured beer palate", which is just plain elitist BS and makes me want to flog people with my empty beer glass. It's freaking beer, not a social status indicator. At the end of the day, it all ends up in the same sewage treatment hopper.
 
frankluke":is4ah9k6 said:
this has never happened to me till recently, at a old boston pipe shop that shall remain nameless.. i was so aggravated by the way i was treated i spent a few hundred bucks just to prove something, which is stupid i know but i wasn't thinking clearly.. i have mostly a cigar background and you see alot of the elitist BS from the "cigar guys" not so much the vendors. all my limited experience with pipe and tobacco vendors and guys has been very positive except for the above mentioned 1 time.
you're talking about Peretti's.

I go in there about once a week. They never seem to remember me. I tend to get carded often. Though if I go in and immediately ask for something like Dark Birdseye or their own Cuban mixture, or if I walk in smoking one of my high grades, I tend to get better service. They're great people if they open up. Sometimes I get good service anyways. But more often than not if I walk in smoking a no-name and dressed in my work clothes I get less attention.

These people are accustomed to younger customers buying basket pipes if pipes at all, and crap cigars, or strawberry tobacco, and I think it irks them to see the way pipe smoking in particular is trending, or seeing an abundance of people who don't smoke the "right" (read: more traditional) tobaccos... caught myself looking down on folks who smoke strawberry tobaccos there ;)

I would not avoid the shop but I would suggest it's best to get to brass tacks without too much idle chitchat when visiting that location.
 
read further and saw mention of Watch City. They have always been nice to me, and if you buy a plug the person I assume is Ernie seems eager to play with his antique plug cutter and will slice it for you. Very good atmosphere. Brookline News and Gifts is as good as it gets though. I like a lot of Peretti's tobaccos and I think they have a wealth of information, I don't think they suck at all. That's just Boston for ya. Like I said, brass tacks.
 
There are a couple of places around here that you receive the cold shoulder treatment from if you don't purchase something from them every time you visit. I tend not to go to those places much. One of them won't stock much pipe related inventory but then has an attitude towards pipe smokers if they come in and don't buy anything. I think they don't realize that if they would bite the bullet so to speak and invest in a little more pipe inventory that pipe smokers might do a little more buisness with them. The other side of the coin to that is that it is very hard for pipe B&M's to compete with the internet, but I know pipe smokers that would do business with them just to show local support also.
 
Justpipes":au0xz0jr said:
vaperfavour":au0xz0jr said:
iI once experienced what i call pipe elitism. i was enquiring about a high grade pipe from a very reputable dealer about the possibility of getting a specific shape from a high grade Danish pipemaker and i was told that there was no way i would ever get one of these pipes, that i would have to be a collector! The person who i was talking to had the attitude of ' your to young to afford this pipe.' I dont understand this elitism in the world of pipes and tobaccos. ii would think that since i am younger, that would make this dealer MORE prone to help me in my collection goals, since statistically i will be collecting longer than someone of greater years. At the time this was quite disconcerting and it has made me determined to NEVER buy from this dealer ever again!! Its his loss cause i am doing quite well, thank you very much!! Nowadays i have found a few dealers very ready and willing to take time to help seperate me from my money in the fashion i like to, namely pipes and tobaccos. :lol: :lol: are their any fellow pipesmokers out there who have experienced the same thing?
I think that it really depends on the individual, dealer that is. Most of them I know are very nice and helpful. In fact, some of the nicest folks I know are in the pipe culture. On the other hand as with anything in life there are a few jerks.

My experience with pipe snobbery is usually with tobacco. I catch a lot of flack from the tobacco snobs that believe that in order to be good a tobacco has to come from one of the high grade "micro blenders" so to speak, and/or has to cost a certain dollar amount; just because what is considered a "drug store" blend happens to be the most satisfying blend on the planet to me. Too bad on them. Eventually they come around and regret that they didn't start enjoying Walnut sooner.
I would'nt let it bother me much Mark.There are lots of folks who think MacBaren's tobaccos are little more than pedestrian cased junk. I smoke Navy Flake nearly every day and still love it! I can afford to purchase damn near any tobacco that strikes my fancy but I prefer "NF" over any of them.Good for me that it's reasonably priced and plentiful!

It's important to know what you like.There's little need to be a "bandwagoner" who raves about any overly priced or out of production toabcco simply because it's the "in" weed or ultra exclusive...

Best,
Dock
 
D.J. Perry":82xptsf2 said:
I would'nt let it bother me much Mark.

Best,
Dock
I don't let it bother me at all! I just sieze every opportunity to put in a good word for Walnut. :lol:

Mainly just to aggrivate Thomas!
:lol!:
 
People act like they're still in junior high school because . . . they never left junior high school. Images and cliques and the rest of it are stuff they imprinted on and generalized.

So now they do it with pipes and tobaccos.

This is a surprise ?

Peon 'em.

Letting people like that spoil your mood is granting them an importance they don't merit.

:face:
 
The most important thing is to simply smoke what you like! If you enjoy Half & Half in a Dr.Grabow that's cool with me! I'm sure as hell not going to try to convert you into buying expensive well aged tobacco or hand made Danish pipes! What I like is what I like and that's fine. No one's going to convice me otherwise. I've smoked pipes from damn near every available pipe maker. I've sampled hundreds of tobaccos from sweet cherry aromatics to 50+ year old aged Balkan Sobranie and tons more in between.

I've found that I enjoy the characteristics of Danish and some American maker's pipes better than most Italian or English brands.Ideally they should be light in weight with a grp 3-4 sized bowl. Because I'm a fast smoker I prefer a flake tobacco,Macbaren's Navy Flake is smoked almost exclusively now.

A fellow Brother e-mailed me earlier this week to inquire as to wheather $800+ pipes smoke three times as well as a $300 pipe will. I had to say NO! In my experience they don't. I honestly believe that a well broken in Stanwell will smoke every bit as good as anything you could buy! I buy expensive pipes simply because I like their astetics and because I can....

Best,
Dock
 
Like it or not we all do it.

We claim we don't but we do, and I'm not just speaking pipes.

I don't shop at establishments that are run down and being managed by Goober. I don't call Mom&Pop chemical plants (yes they exist, by the thousands) because I fear I'll get screwed.
If I sold cars I don't think I'd go rushing out the door to 'sale' a car to every tom dick and harry that walks up. If I ran a jewelry store I'd be more prone to keep an eye on the guy 'baggin' than I would the model young republican.

Its wrong, but to some degree or another we all do it. The mange covered dog with 3 legs and ribs sticking out may be a nice dog and all but I think I'd rather pet the well groomed Collie.

I'm not suggesting anyone here besides me looks like a mange covered three legged dog. I've got lousy service and good service depending on how I looked at the time, that's life.

Most 'normal people' see pipes as a 'Old Man Thing' and cigars as a 'Fat Cat Thing'. The reason? It is, We (the under 50 crowd) are the oddballs not the norm.
I'll not dismiss the rudeness but there is a very valid reason they jerk out the Swisher Sweets and the Bourkim Riff Cherry, its what most guys our age ask for.
The greater abnormality is that we have all wound up at BoB and us youngins have found Fogs to take us in and put up with us.
 
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