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:
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.
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:
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.