4Noggins, The New Pipes & Cigars

[shermnatman]

This is a sad state of affairs.

How many mail-order houses and retail shops can we loose before it starts to affect the manufacturer/producers, and the wholesaling Distributors? These are the clear early-warning signs of when entire industries eventually collapse and vanish from our lives; unless corrected.

Dunhill: Done; Nat Sherman's: Done; D&R: Done; for the most part - e.g.: Picayune.

Who will be next? P&C?, 4Nogs?, Sutliff?, Middleton?, and, where will it end?

What then... What then?!? - Sherm Natman

 

[Thehogfatherpdx]

That’s a bummer to hear. I just made an order from them and no complaints. It’s too bad that’s not a consistent experience. Fwiw this is a doozy of a holiday seaso, maybe they’re just not managing to stay on top of their orders/inventory.

 

[Chasing Embers]

How many mail-order houses and retail shops can we loose before it starts to affect the manufacturer/producers, and the wholesaling Distributors?

Legislation will take care of that with online sales bans before it happens. A few states support the ban of out of state tobacco orders already. Just found out that SPC and TP are no longer shipping to Maine.

 

[Chasing Embers]

What then... What then?!?

I'll sit and smoke until they put me in the ground.

 

[boston]

Probably not easy to run a b&m shop with internet sales. No excuse for treating customers poorly, for sure, but...well things can be hard for the smaller shops. I have not purchased from this shop in some time. Boswell's and Smoking Pipes are my regular shops. But we do need more of the small businesses rather than fewer. Not easy being an entrepreneur. I'm not knocking the original poster for being upset. Not at all. But...I want to see the little guys survive. Hope the shop makes it good for you. Merry Christmas!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Probably not easy to run a b&m shop with internet sales. No excuse for treating customers poorly, for sure, but...well things can be hard for the smaller shops. I have not purchased from this shop in some time. Boswell's and Smoking Pipes are my regular shops. But we do need more of the small businesses rather than fewer. Not easy being an entrepreneur. I'm not knocking the original poster for being upset. Not at all. But...I want to see the little guys survive. Hope the shop makes it good for you. Merry Christmas!

I want all the B&Ms to survive but there's this Darwin thing. Companies with abysmal customer service should not survive. They are harmful to everyone. Mistakes get made by everyone. The issue I have isn't about a mistakes, its about gross negligence in failing to call a customer when 4 voice messages are left over a weeks period of time. If this poor providers business goes to other customer oriented companies, they are stronger. And can serve their customers better as a result.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Here's the other thing. Perhaps the owners at 4Noggins will either see this or be made aware of it. Perhaps it will motivate them to wake up and revise their customer service attitude. It's unlikely they'll change on their own and just ignoring their poor customer service sends the wrong message.

 

[shermnatman]

Here's the other thing. Perhaps the owners at 4Noggins will either see this or be made aware of it. Perhaps it will motivate them to wake up and revise their customer service attitude. It's unlikely they'll change on their own and just ignoring their poor customer service sends the wrong message.

You know it! When I was in business, the customer was everything; and, it was my mission to have each and everyone of them leave my place smiling, satisfied, and feeling as though they had a good, trusted friend looking out for their best interests.

Therefore, in my book, the business-owner who is not doing the same needs to do the world a favor, close his doors, and go work for someone else as a line-employee; because they do more damage then good to their life-line - their customer-base - who, ends up paying the price. Unfair, uncool, and un-patronized in my book! - Sherm Natman

 

[beefeater33]

 

[captpat]

I found some blends I like at very good prices at 4Noggins, however I think I'll pay a little more and send my order to SP.

I'd like for them to be successful, but life is too short for the kind on nonsense reported by @hoosierpipeguy

 

[briarbuck]

@hoosierpipeguy I know you look for shops.

Stopped by the Eastgate Jungle Jim's yesterday (on 275 East of Cincy). They are getting a pretty decent selection of Pipe in both bulk and tin.

Stokerbye bulk
F&T tins (they had Blackjack & others but no CVP etc)

+ Best Cigar selection in the City

Chris is the department manager. Good dude. If you ask him, he does hide stuff. I got a box of Sharks from him that he had hidden. lol

 

[Merton]

I used to buy from Rich all the time. Since the change in ownership it’s just trickier -

I get such great service from Watch City, Smokingpipes, Country Squire and Black Cat, I think I’m well covered!

Don't leave out Tobaccopipes which is very customer oriented

 

[stokesdale]

It's not the delay that is the big deal to me. It is the fact they haven't returned 4 messages I left over a 6 day period of time. And the fact they assumed I wanted a partial order (which I'm okay with but it's the principle of the matter).

I agree 100%; that's why I like Smoking Pipes so much. Placed an order last Saturday and on Sunday I completely forgot to add something so I called them up...on Sunday mind you. They answered after only a couple of rings, the person was very nice. They actually didn't have in stock what I wanted to add so she kindly cancelled the order until they got it in and was able to reorder yesterday. They might be slightly more expensive on some things, and limited in offerings on others (cigars mostly), but I'll gladly deal with that for excellent customer service.

 

[kcghost]

Well, this sucks but sometimes you have to move on.

 

[chopper]

Rich clearly had 'derangement' issues.

I've had four orders from 4noggins over the last several months without issue.
He's answered my two emails.

The range of tobaccos is rather limited - I've often wondered if that's because they concentrate on their house blends?

Before the change of laws here in Australia re: importing tobacco without a license, I ordered through www.tobaccopipes.com Very good range of tobacco and excellent sales service.

 

[chopper]

Bad business practices from Marisa Tomei's cousin Jeff. Why does that sound familiar??

I've heard this before on another forum.
The consensus then was that Jeff is not related to Marisa Tomei, he just shares the same surname.

Does anyone know for certain either way?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I've heard this before on another forum.
The consensus then was that Jeff is not related to Marisa Tomei, he just shares the same surname.

Does anyone know for certain either way?

My faith forbids me from deception and I would not have posted otherwise.

Email from 4Noggins. :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

Happy retirement sir, you certainly helped a lot of tax gouged Canadian pipe smokers to enjoy their hobby at a good price, with an amazing pipe tobacco selection.

pipesmagazine.com

 

[chopper]

My faith forbids me from deception and I would not have posted otherwise.

Email from 4Noggins. :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

Happy retirement sir, you certainly helped a lot of tax gouged Canadian pipe smokers to enjoy their hobby at a good price, with an amazing pipe tobacco selection.

pipesmagazine.com

Thanks for the link.

Wasn't suggesting that you were intentionally bearing false witness.
As someone who's suffered from false allegations personally, I think it's only fair and reasonable to be 100% certain.

According to another link on that page [that you linked] to a NYP article, the Jeffrey E. Tomei in question is an attorney with an office on Staten Island.

4noggins Jeff Tomei was an aerospace engineer before he bought 4nogs.

Which makes my question a reasonable one; does anyone know for certain if 4nogs Jeff Tomei is the actress' cousin?

 

[unadoptedlamp]

I have a memory of an interview with Jeff Tomei that was posted on this site. Maybe even done for this site. In it, he said that there was no relation to the actress (and therefore, he is not the other Jeff Tomei/ lawyer/trickster).

I can remember the initial dog pile on this poor guy when he bought 4noggins. People accused him of being a fraud, criminal, etc. Such is the internet. People love to pile on and shit all over everything these days.

It was brutal.

And, apparently, completely false. But I don't remember reading about any retractions. People just put their hands in their pockets and whistle until what they said is forgotten.

Someone else could probably search and find that article here.

My experience with 4noggins has been top notch. Before Jeff bought it and after.

I have had to send e-mails to Jeff a few times and he has been very quick to respond.

Hoosier has obviously had bad service and I would also be annoyed in that circumstance. I've had the exact opposite experience and 4noggins is my go-to retailer for that reason. Customer service is hard to get perfect. Seems simple, and maybe it should be, but I think it is a difficult job to keep everyone satisfied and make the best decisions every time.

Best of luck getting it resolved.

p.s. Regarding the name thing, I think it's important to keep in mind that many people share the same name.

A friend of mine got arrested a few times during traffic stops for speeding as soon as his license was run. Guns drawn, screaming, handcuffs...

Eventually, it went a little something like this after he had pissed his pants and was in handcuffs:

"Sir, could you please check the description on that warrant?"

Police officer "Oh... shit."

Go ask any John Smith how things work out. I know one of those guys too. Probably got his handle from witness protection, but anyway, the point is, names aren't so unique. Best to ask first, if they'll return your e-mail.

 

[STP]

It's not the delay that is the big deal to me. It is the fact they haven't returned 4 messages I left over a 6 day period of time. And the fact they assumed I wanted a partial order (which I'm okay with but it's the principle of the matter).

Yeah, customer service is going down the drain everywhere. I realize that COVID has a lot to do with it, which is understandable, but it seems like it’s the new excuse for everything even if it’s unrelated.