This may get a bit wordy, but stick with it, because I think it is a story worth telling.
I walk into my local B&M yesterday, and the first thing I see is a young man, maybe 3 or 4 years older than me, with a pipe hanging out of his mouth. "Nice pipe," I said. He replies, "Thank you." I said, "What kind of pipe is it?" "A Nording," he replies. I tell him I've never owned a Nording, but have heard good things about them. I take a whiff of his smoke, and it screams Latakia. This man has good taste. I ask him what tobacco he has, and he says, "I'm actually smoking two different tins right now. We sell them here." He takes the backpack he has behind the counter and produces a tin of Dunhill Royal Yacht and Dunhill Nightcap. He opens each to let me smell the tins, and I loved the smell of both. He got called off by a customer at this point.
I went to my B&M remembering that they sold pipe lighters at a good price, something with a side flame setup. I look around their pipe room and don't see any of the lighters I remembered, so I went upstairs to the cigar room. I see several of the lighters I was looking for in a display case. The older gentleman who runs the store was up in his office doing paperwork and he saw me looking at the lighters. He asked me, "You need any help young man?" I ask him, "Have you heard anything good or bad about these lighters here?" He comes out of his office and takes one in his hand. "I'll tell you this, I wouldn't sell them if I thought they were an inferior product," he says. He goes to light the lighter he pulled out, the one I wanted, only to find that it was out of fuel, so he filled it for me right there on the spot. He pointed out the features of the lighter, showed me how to refill it, and told me that the young guy downstairs used one of these lighters, and he says it works great. I ask him, "Do these lighters come with any kind of warantee?" He says to me, "The manufacturer probably has a warantee, but I'll tell you what: You ever have any problems with this lighter at all, you bring it back here and I will take care of it personally." I told him I would take the lighter, I shook his hand, thanked him, and went back downstairs and BSd with the young guy for a good hour about pipes and tobaccos. I eventually grabbed my lighter, a few packs of cleaners, shook his hand as well, and was on my way. I guess good old fashioned customer service does still exist, even in small town USA. By the way, here's a pic of the lighter I finally landed on. $22, and it works great so far.
I walk into my local B&M yesterday, and the first thing I see is a young man, maybe 3 or 4 years older than me, with a pipe hanging out of his mouth. "Nice pipe," I said. He replies, "Thank you." I said, "What kind of pipe is it?" "A Nording," he replies. I tell him I've never owned a Nording, but have heard good things about them. I take a whiff of his smoke, and it screams Latakia. This man has good taste. I ask him what tobacco he has, and he says, "I'm actually smoking two different tins right now. We sell them here." He takes the backpack he has behind the counter and produces a tin of Dunhill Royal Yacht and Dunhill Nightcap. He opens each to let me smell the tins, and I loved the smell of both. He got called off by a customer at this point.
I went to my B&M remembering that they sold pipe lighters at a good price, something with a side flame setup. I look around their pipe room and don't see any of the lighters I remembered, so I went upstairs to the cigar room. I see several of the lighters I was looking for in a display case. The older gentleman who runs the store was up in his office doing paperwork and he saw me looking at the lighters. He asked me, "You need any help young man?" I ask him, "Have you heard anything good or bad about these lighters here?" He comes out of his office and takes one in his hand. "I'll tell you this, I wouldn't sell them if I thought they were an inferior product," he says. He goes to light the lighter he pulled out, the one I wanted, only to find that it was out of fuel, so he filled it for me right there on the spot. He pointed out the features of the lighter, showed me how to refill it, and told me that the young guy downstairs used one of these lighters, and he says it works great. I ask him, "Do these lighters come with any kind of warantee?" He says to me, "The manufacturer probably has a warantee, but I'll tell you what: You ever have any problems with this lighter at all, you bring it back here and I will take care of it personally." I told him I would take the lighter, I shook his hand, thanked him, and went back downstairs and BSd with the young guy for a good hour about pipes and tobaccos. I eventually grabbed my lighter, a few packs of cleaners, shook his hand as well, and was on my way. I guess good old fashioned customer service does still exist, even in small town USA. By the way, here's a pic of the lighter I finally landed on. $22, and it works great so far.
