A Question in Customer Service
- Thread starter minfarshaw
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I think you should drive to Missouri and find the guy who sold the seed to the farmer who grew the corn. Kick his ass, then the farmers. Then go straight to MM find the guy who assembled the pipe. Kick his ass. Then the handler, packer, shipper, trucker, receiver, stocker, sales rep, phone rep, internet sales manager, mailman...
WOW. You have a lot of ass-kicking to do. :lol:
WOW. You have a lot of ass-kicking to do. :lol:
It certainly does sound like it. There were definitely things that I should have done different. Lesson learned.
MM knows what it takes to keep it's customer base. P&C does not. P&C simply gave MM a chance to shine while making themselves the goat in this matter. Not a good business decision. P&C could just as easily made themselves appear as though they care about their customers. They gained nothing by pushing the problem down the "food" chain. Especially when it would have been so easy to make themselves the "hero" instead of the "goat."
This is more about P&C's actions than minfarshaw's complaint. MM gains in stature, minfarshaw gets satisfaction and P&C loses a customer or two.
This is more about P&C's actions than minfarshaw's complaint. MM gains in stature, minfarshaw gets satisfaction and P&C loses a customer or two.
minfarshaw, I am late to the party on this one, but as I suspected would be the case MM took care of you. The previous advice to call P&C directly was correct. You are much more likely to make headway on the phone.
I ordered P&C 3 pipes for $59.00 deal. As I've recounted before, they sent me 3 identical pipes - same shape, shade, finish, size, etc. Carbon copies. P&C told me tough luck. I still felt burned and called back a few weeks later, hoping to get a different agent. The second agent listened to me, which was more than the first did. He offered to send me makeup gift, with a new order. So, I order about $100 of tobaccos. Comes the new package. The included "gift" was a one oz sample of some non-nondescript blend, that retailers throw in with orders.
Dealing with P&C reminds me of trying to deal with a Carnival grifter. You never get your money back but they'll cut you a deal for just a dollar more.
In fairness, their prices are good but not always the best. I will still buy from them but if I can get the same thing anywhere else for close to their price, I buy from the alternate vendor. If it wasn't for Russ Ouellette, I probably wouldn't deal with them at all.
I haven't yet found an online vendor whose prices, service and selection is so superior, that I will give them my business exclusively. This probably saves me money because I feel free to shop for the best deal. Most of the time I end up buying based on price from SmokingPipes, 4Noggins, Mars, or P&C. With the exception of Mars, I've established some personal contacts with each of the vendors. If I encounter a problem, I know that I can call Rich at 4Noggins or Jeremy at SmokingPipes or Marilynn at MM or Dave at Briarworks. They aren't my friends and but I know I'll get respect and will be heard, rather than having some nameless customer service rep parrot a script back at me.
I'm going to digest Briarblues comments. I may change my modus operandi.
Dealing with P&C reminds me of trying to deal with a Carnival grifter. You never get your money back but they'll cut you a deal for just a dollar more.
In fairness, their prices are good but not always the best. I will still buy from them but if I can get the same thing anywhere else for close to their price, I buy from the alternate vendor. If it wasn't for Russ Ouellette, I probably wouldn't deal with them at all.
I haven't yet found an online vendor whose prices, service and selection is so superior, that I will give them my business exclusively. This probably saves me money because I feel free to shop for the best deal. Most of the time I end up buying based on price from SmokingPipes, 4Noggins, Mars, or P&C. With the exception of Mars, I've established some personal contacts with each of the vendors. If I encounter a problem, I know that I can call Rich at 4Noggins or Jeremy at SmokingPipes or Marilynn at MM or Dave at Briarworks. They aren't my friends and but I know I'll get respect and will be heard, rather than having some nameless customer service rep parrot a script back at me.
I'm going to digest Briarblues comments. I may change my modus operandi.
Ok here's the update if you are interested. MM will be sending me a new freehand and a new stem with instructions on how to pry the old stem so I can replace the damaged one and still be able to smoke the pipe. Very generous. From now on my cobs will be bought directly from them.
WOW! What a flurry of excitement over one of our pipes! As always, we were more than happy to take care of the issue of the cracked shank. However, I would like to make one clarification: our pipes are INEXPENSIVE, not CHEAP.
LOL
We always recommend using a glue, like Elmer's, when we think it will fix a problem, but we do this mainly so that someone can keep the pipe while we send them a new one.
LOL
We always recommend using a glue, like Elmer's, when we think it will fix a problem, but we do this mainly so that someone can keep the pipe while we send them a new one.
Momeerphil,
Sorry about that. I meant no offense. Inexpensive would have been the right word. LOL. But yeah your pipes are definitely awesome. Thanks for the great customer service.
Sorry about that. I meant no offense. Inexpensive would have been the right word. LOL. But yeah your pipes are definitely awesome. Thanks for the great customer service.
You're preaching to the choir Phil. I'd venture a guess to say that the vast majority of us enjoy your INEXPENSIVE pipes on a regular basis and have no issues with the product or the price.
Keep up the great work!
Well, Missouri Meerschaum certainly shines here. The other retailer, not so much. Bradley and Warren are spot on, here. I mean, some folks will still shop almost exclusively on price, but others won't. They'll shop where they're treated best.
Glad everything worked out for you minfarshaw. And I'm glad you mentioned that MM sells directly online -- now I know where to get my first cob.
Glad everything worked out for you minfarshaw. And I'm glad you mentioned that MM sells directly online -- now I know where to get my first cob.
For the record, P&C have refunded, replaced, and sent out whole pounds of tobaccos at my phone call complaint.
My experience is that they are the most kickass tobacco folks on the web on price and service. I hate to see pile on posts like this, especially with a company that I know has bent over backwards to make me a very happy customer. My guess is that these complaints all start with a lazy man's email.
That said, you guys have had threads that have lasted several pages venting how horrible they are. And, on this and other forums I see that they are generally the first company suggested when folks ask who to shop with, time after time.
I have no idea why I keep getting superior service with them and you guys keep getting the sucks. Every phone call that I've made to them, I feel like I am getting very personal one-on-one service. They never question me. They never have given the slightest inclination that I was not correct in everything I've said. But, then I've always known that to pick up the phone gives you far superior service than shooting a bland, no faced, lazy email.
My experience is that they are the most kickass tobacco folks on the web on price and service. I hate to see pile on posts like this, especially with a company that I know has bent over backwards to make me a very happy customer. My guess is that these complaints all start with a lazy man's email.
That said, you guys have had threads that have lasted several pages venting how horrible they are. And, on this and other forums I see that they are generally the first company suggested when folks ask who to shop with, time after time.
I have no idea why I keep getting superior service with them and you guys keep getting the sucks. Every phone call that I've made to them, I feel like I am getting very personal one-on-one service. They never question me. They never have given the slightest inclination that I was not correct in everything I've said. But, then I've always known that to pick up the phone gives you far superior service than shooting a bland, no faced, lazy email.
Very late on this thread but my thoughts really quickly.
Thanks to Kevin and the other Mods for not closing this thread. P&C are a huge supporter of the site and we have seen what happens to threads that knock sponsors. minfarshaw has done well to fairly address the supplier directly and factually. This is probably why this thread is still alive so hats off to you.
We have members here from both MM and P&C. We have heard from the former. I have never had a bad interaction with P&C. With that said I believe that they simply may have a possible poor choice for online customer service. These positions are SO important because they become the face of the company. I would estimate that rarely are these positions filled with highly qualified reps or someone the company actually would chose as its face.
Thanks to Kevin and the other Mods for not closing this thread. P&C are a huge supporter of the site and we have seen what happens to threads that knock sponsors. minfarshaw has done well to fairly address the supplier directly and factually. This is probably why this thread is still alive so hats off to you.
We have members here from both MM and P&C. We have heard from the former. I have never had a bad interaction with P&C. With that said I believe that they simply may have a possible poor choice for online customer service. These positions are SO important because they become the face of the company. I would estimate that rarely are these positions filled with highly qualified reps or someone the company actually would chose as its face.
Just because of momeerphil's post I'm going to order a "Cobbit" right now! It's great to have sponsors active in the forums.
Many people here express the opinion that emails are not good for customer service issues but as someone who does the vast majority of shopping online, I must say I have found the opposite to be true. Many etailers don't even provide a phone number these days and most answer customer emails promptly and helpfully. Pipestud is a perfect example of excellent customer service via email. I have also had great customer service via email from SPC. There seems to be a consensus that P&C are best dealt with by phone and I do not doubt it but it's very foreign for me to think I would need to call to get a different response than emailing. I would imagine this is to P&C's disadvantage and would be worth addressing. Most folks already love their prices, it could only be to their advantage to marry that to exceptional customer service regardless of how one chooses to contact them.
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