Bad Experience With Smoking Pipes

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americaman

Part of the Furniture Now
May 1, 2019
943
3,098
Los Angeles, CA
First off, I really like Smoking Pipes (I have spent lots of money there due to my TAD, and became a Bronze member last summer) and I will likely be shopping there again in the future. But for now, I am a bit sour and disappointed.
I have only had two bad experiences with Smoking Pipes. One was last summer when I was sent a Peterson with multiple blemishes, and they explained to me on the phone that they have a policy where the customer has to pay for their own return shipping. Weird policy, but no big deal. The second bad experience was the following.
I was on Smoking Pipes and decided to browse through their new shipment of pipes. I was in the market for a simple bent stem pipe for some summer Virginia smoking. There were several Vauens that were affordable and I saw one with a bent stem that I liked. Here was the description:
“Vauen: Basic Sandblasted Bent Egg
Despite being a German marque, Vauen's designs often take cues from other shaping schools, as this bent Egg can attest. On display here, we find the fullness of proportion commonly displayed by pieces of the Italian school, with the smoothness of form and poised disposition commonly associated with the Danish.”

Ok, sounds good. The “sandblasted” in the title I assumed was a mistake, because the description then talks about the pipe’s “smoothness” and how it looks “Danish.” The pipe certainly looked like a Danish style to me, and it also looked like an egg shape to me. In addition, their website says: “The pipe you see is the pipe you receive.” I added the pipe to my cart and purchased it. The pipe was $57.38. The original posting has been removed, but here is a picture of the pipe in my receipt:
B0vs4os.jpg

The next morning I got an email saying that they had made a mistake, and the pipe was the wrong price. Turns out the pipe was a more expensive Vauen, and was mispriced. Long story short, Smoking Pipes said they would not be shipping the pipe, and offered me the pipe that they meant to put in there. I replied thanking them for the information but also saying that I was disappointed, and asked why they couldn’t just ship the pipe. I had already purchased it and they made the mistake, so why couldn’t they own up to it like most businesses do? (Amazon accidentally just put up a $13,000 camera lens and a $5,000 camera kit for $94 on Prime Day, and honored their mistake and shipped them to the customers.) I also pointed out to Smoking Pipes that their website says: “The pipe you see is the pipe you receive.” I asked them to stand by their word.
Smoking Pipes replied and said that they made a mistake yet they would not be shipping the pipe, but they did offer me a 15% discount. This only brought the pipe down to $182.79. The same pipe is on Tobaccopipes.com for $172.05. I asked them to just cancel my order and give me a refund.
Anyways, I was disappointed by this experience, but it’s not the end of the world. What do you guys think? In your experience do you expect a business to own up to their mistake, or do you more so sympathize with the mistakes employees make? Cheers.

 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,440
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Ehhhh....
On the one hand, it would have been a nice gesture for them to send you the pipe. But expecting them to eat a $130 mistake seems like a lot for me. While Smoking Pipes is big for the pipe and tobacco industry, it isn't Amazon. I'd probably just take the 15% and roll with it. I think I'd be satisfied with that. If it really bothers you, maybe shop elsewhere for a bit.
Just my 2 doblones.

 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,378
70,055
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Mistakes happen. Shit happens. I think Smoking Pipes did the right thing. I also think offering you a 15% discount was an admission of the mistake, so it happens.
I've been in the middle of a transaction and the pipe disappeared from my cart. Again, stuff happens.

 

redglow

Lifer
Jan 7, 2019
1,822
4,043
Michigan
I'd let it go. Mistakes happen. Overall, I've had nothing but great experiences there. So, that makes up for a rare mistake in my mind.
I deal with thousands of customers and stuff does go awry occasionally. I'm grateful when my customers understand.

 

canadianpuffer

Can't Leave
Oct 8, 2017
300
463
Ya I’m kinda in your side here. They made the mistake, they should honour it. It’s a good lesson on quality control. I’m a silver member and have had only one or two issues with them over my many transactions, they were handled with what I would expect. Sorry for you experience. SPC may not be as big as amazon, but the customer base is a tight knit community, and pipe smokers particular people. Why risk a life time of business over something that is their error?

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
It depends. Amazon CAN afford to to own up to a multi-thousand dollar error, but not everyone has bottomless pockets. If you were buying an item from me, as a small business struggling to get by, I couldn't afford to 'own up' to a mistaken label over $100. I'd certainly apologise profusely and try to make up for it as much as I could but I wouldn't go into debt or other financial dire straits over a customer's infatuation with a cherished item. Customers want understanding —fair enough, but they should be willing to be understanding too.

 

gerryp

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 8, 2018
704
2,368
56
Arabi, LA
Earlier this year I ordered some Black Irish X from them, and a short time later they told me that they were out of it. The rep apologized and said that they sell out faster than they can keep track of online. Later I ordered another "in-stock" item, Brown Twist Sliced, as a replacement. Wouldn't ya know, they didn't really have that one either. I was a little irritated because I didn't think it should be that difficult to keep track of your merchandise and voiced my displeasure via a couple less-than-cordial e-mails Just for grins, I just now put "Real Time Inventory Management System" in the Googler and it returned 232,000,000 results, so it looks like plenty of other people are familiar with the concept.
Anyway I felt like an a-hole for making a mountain out of a molehill and ended up apologizing to Steve the rep. I've continued ordering from Smokingpipes, including an order for a cob and a tin of Black Frigate 10 minutes ago. I'm looking forward to that Black Frigate, I understand it has a pretty big following around here...
TL/DR: I like Smokingpipes.com, but I don't think they're the most organized business out there.

 

canadianpuffer

Can't Leave
Oct 8, 2017
300
463
We have to remember smoking pipes is the amazon of our hobby. They own C&D, Peterson pipes, and have a European office now. I think the argument that it would hurt their bottom line to let a factory pipe go below cost is hogwash. I’m thinking the original post is about principle - that is what I was on side of. I’ve received the wrong order before and have been told to keep it as The reshipment was an inconvenience, and had it replaced.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,065
Carmel Valley, CA
(Amazon accidentally just put up a $13,000 camera lens and a $5,000 camera kit for $94 on Prime Day, and honored their mistake and shipped them to the customers.) I also pointed out to Smoking Pipes that their website says: “The pipe you see is the pipe you receive.” I asked them to stand by their word.
Even if the Amazon blurb is true/correct, it's a tiny fraction of a thousandth of one percent of their income. And it pays back in free advertising on the scale Laudisi can only dream of. A $120 mistake is probably tens of thousands of times larger to them than the Goliath.
Ironically perhaps, as you didn't receive the pipe, it can't be the one you saw.
Sorry your troubles, but you've been inconvenienced, not robbed.

 

gatorlope

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 5, 2019
503
196
South Florida
Thinking small doesn’t do for big business and it doesn’t pay to be short with customers who have long memories.

Especially when word of mouth might be their best advertisement.

 

tkcolo

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 30, 2018
240
328
51
Granby, CO
Obvious mistake is obvious mistake. LOL at your Amazon comparison. They are a small company doing a great job. Would it make you happy to get a stupid good deal, and have them dock the pay of the person that did the listing?

 

shaneireland

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 14, 2014
135
922
Conway, SC
www.smokingpipes.com
Anyways, I was disappointed by this experience, but it’s not the end of the world. What do you guys think? In your experience do you expect a business to own up to their mistake, or do you more so sympathize with the mistakes employees make? Cheers.
I'm so sorry to hear about this frustrating situation, and I'm sorry that you were further disappointed by the resolution we offered.
I've looked into this mixup and I wanted to clarify that the price and description were for a Vauen Basic Sandblasted 4300. The issue is that at some point in our process, photos of a different pipe were uploaded to product number 002-457-3922. The pipe that was pictured hasn't been made available on the website yet (the same photos were uploaded to the correct product listing as well as 002-457-3922). This sort of mixup can happen with two products that have sequential product numbers, or with two pipes that are being listed on the website at the same time, but something else happened here; the products numbers aren't sequential and one of the two pipes hasn't been listed on the website yet. I'm going to figure out what did happen, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an error we should have caught sooner.
Would you be willing to shoot me either a message, or an email? I would very much appreciate the opportunity to find a solution that you're happy with.
Shane.Ireland@smokingpipes.com

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
I'd say suck it up buttercup.
Ok, sounds good. The “sandblasted” in the title I assumed was a mistake, because the description then talks about the pipe’s “smoothness” and how it looks “Danish.”
Ever heard of picking up the phone? Or see "Ask a Question About this Pipe" on every listing?
The pipe certainly looked like a Danish style to me, and it also looked like an egg shape to me.
An Author/Bent Apple is an Egg?
I'm obviously not part of SP Customer Service.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,340
The pipe you see is the pipe you receive
That's what I would hold them to or take my business elsewhere. I've noticed a few listing errors over the past months and have called them out on them via email. Sounds like a case of being stretched too thin and losing the ability to manage fine details like they once did.

 

gatorlope

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 5, 2019
503
196
South Florida
It’s good to see that Shane Ireland joined us.

I think he understands that when they say that “the customer is always right “, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually correct so much as that they are happy & satisfied with their experience.

Those are the customers that come back and help you build your business. :puffy:

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
Sorry [for] your troubles, but you've been inconvenienced, not robbed.
A thousand times this. ^^^^
The SP.com people are, on the Galactic Scale of Human Decency, a rock-solid 10. Always have been and doubtless always will be.
This entire thread is bullshit, imo. Mistakes happen. Trying to leverage one into a windfall on a public forum isn't just bad form, it has an avaricious, opportunistic smell.
:evil:

 
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