Smoking Pipes Customer Service

Sounds like they did the right thing. It's good to hear when customer service is performed correctly.

I've never had a bad experience with SPC.

I'm with Hierophant on this. I've never had a bad experience and they are always quick and responsive to resolve any issues.
Hell I asked them to take a look at a specific pipe as the picture on their site looked like it might have a fill and they had no problem checking on it promptly to verify that it was just a blemish in the picture.

+1 on Smoking Pipes even shipping to Canada.

They sent me a very nice Christmas card.

Smoking Pipes are tops in customer service. I live in SC and even though I have to pay taxes on my orders I usually will order from them first and customer service is a big reason.

I had a recent order that was sent without a tin of tobacco on the packing invoice. One phone call later I had the replacement tin on the way. Great customer service on the phone and online.

Hear hear! In customer service, SPC is second to none.

I nearly paid for shipping the other day until I noticed that the free shipping was not the default method and had to select it from the bottom of the options. From the sounds of it you did this and it still charged you. I'm glad they took care of it for you. SP.com has great customer service.

I'm surprised SP's free shipping isn't automated into the system. Their programming for the site is quite sophisticated and, for example, removes a pipe from a page as soon as it is bought, or within minutes. Other sites with free shipping over a certain price, without SP's level of automation, do grant the shipping as soon as an order reaches that level. But SP is great on customer service. They brought a pipe to a pipe show on spec for me to save me shipping, and granted me a little pipe show discount besides. Very nice.

Best in the business in my opinion.

I can vouch for their customer service, absolutely spot on.

I hat to be Scrooge about this, but I have pretty much given up on them. Pipes cost less when you buy them from Europe in Euros. Tobacco costs less at several places. They offer a nice discount on large numbers of cans, but rarely have those large numbers in stock. Orders often go out incorrectly filled. My biggest complaint is the pipe descriptions which are pure snake oil.

I'm surprised SP's free shipping isn't automated into the system. Their programming for the site is quite sophisticated and, for example, removes a pipe from a page as soon as it is bought, or within minutes. Other sites with free shipping over a certain price, without SP's level of automation, do grant the shipping as soon as an order reaches that level. But SP is great on customer service. They brought a pipe to a pipe show on spec for me to save me shipping, and granted me a little pipe show discount besides. Very nice.

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Yeah, it's actually two nifty bits of code that are conflicting that, very occasionally, lead to results that are slightly perverse. 1) We default to free shipping. 2) We default to whatever was selected previous orders by the user in question. In a small number of cases (like, really small, guys), #2 takes precedence over #1, but what was free before isn't free (for a sort of absurd number of reasons depending on the scenario: the shipping calculation code runs to thousands of lines), but something else now is, so it's defaulted to a paid shipping option because that was what was previously selected.
So, mso, it does do what you expect of it most of the time, but it's one of those middle areas where different things designed to make use of the site easier mean that it could be surprising or baffling if you're expecting the other to happen.
We've had assorted reports of irritation with this (as in, like the OP, people call in confused), but we're worried that if we flip precedence of those selections, we'll have a similar number of people confused the other direction.
And thanks everyone for your kind words.
Best,
Sykes

foggy, I have bought plenty of pipes over the years from SP, almost all were estate pieces and not once was the description anything but spot on. When you say snake oil that infers lying out right with purpose behind it. What descriptions are you looking at that are false?
Prices on tobacco that is in stock cheaper at other places, could you tell me who has lower prices. I just checked a popular tobacco Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake at PC and 4noggins and out of the big 3 SP has the lower price not including the discounts they offer which is 6% for ten tins and the others offer no discount.
I am not trying to be a dick but if I can save money on tobacco I will gladly do so.

I hat to be Scrooge about this, but I have pretty much given up on them. Pipes cost less when you buy them from Europe in Euros. Tobacco costs less at several places. They offer a nice discount on large numbers of cans, but rarely have those large numbers in stock. Orders often go out incorrectly filled. My biggest complaint is the pipe descriptions which are pure snake oil.

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I can understand your perspective about pipe pricing, slightly on the higher side.
But as far as customer service goes, they are the Best in the Business,

this I know for a fact.
And that goes for worldwide pipeshops,

they are simply the best.
I once purchased a Dunhill nosewarmer (classic 305 shape) from a shop in Italy, and was aghast to discover the pipe was misdrilled --- such a pipe most likely have never been listed by such a meticulous operation as Smoking Pipes because they do good quality inspections, they actually care and are concerned about upholding their bulletproof reputation --- Sykes himself took the time and trouble to go out of his way to resolve a problem that really wasn't his to begin with, for me and with that Italian-shop Dunhill, for which I am ever grateful and it was the finest example of customer service I've ever personally experienced, bar none, in any field.
Smoking Pipes is peerless as far as I'm concerned.
I'm not exactly a wealthy gent, but I give them all the business I can muster.
If they could somehow magically import Velvan Plug then I'd be a massive tobacco customer,

as it stands I'll continue to get my PPP from them and also jump up on the killer artisan selections they offer.



Smoking Pipes got big soul!

I have found that SPC has always been spot on with customer service! I send most of my business to them because no matter what happens they have always made it right for me. Peace of mind is hard to find and with SPC purchases I always have peace of mind.

Smokingpipes.com has always been flawless. Sorry to hear different, like foggy mentioned.