Oxidation on a New Pipe

I've developed a tradition of trying to buy a new pipe whenever my wife and I travel. We recently went to New Orleans, and there was a B&M a few blocks from where we were staying on Magazine Street. But, the selection was scarce and consisted mainly of Petersons and an off-brand I had not heard of. I purchased a Peterson. After about 3 minutes of smoking it, it tasted very salty. I looked and the stem had basically turned green.
The owner of the shop agreed to give me store credit on a different pipe or he would take it home, buff it, and return it to me the next day. I walked out feeling like I had just made a $100+ mistake. When I got home, I cleaned the stem with Oxyclean and a Magic Eraser, and buffed with Tripoli and a clean buffing pad. It's fine now. But, I felt like I shouldn't have had to do that with a new pipe. Has anyone else had an experience like this?

Thanks, Roth. I assume this place doesn't sell many pipes. It was 99% focused on cigars with two closed display cases of pipes. Each had fluorescent lights at the top. So, the heat, light and New Orleans humidity probably contributed to it. All of the stems seems a little faded, especially the ones on the top shelf near the lights.