CI and PayPal: WTF?

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sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,708
2,993
Getting sent to collections can be serious, it can screw you up at the airport, all kinds of things, so my letter would have been a lot nastier than yours. What a bizarre way to do business. As this leaks out, lots of customers will drop.
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,411
9,779
Metro-Detroit
Contact a consumer protection attorney about a Fair Debt and Collection Practices Act claim. The FDCPA allows for attorney fees and statutory damages.

Since have documentation, it should take a quick demand letter (and then complaint when they don't respond). Once they lawyer up, it should be a quick settlement where your attorney gets paid and you get a nominal amount in your pocket (which would more than cover the cigars).

Pull your credit report too (for free) to see if they are wrongfully reporting. It may bolster your claim and damages.

Don't make the demand or file a complaint on your own. There is magic with a law firm letterhead, an attorney will be able to navigate the waters, and you never know where the ride will go.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,669
48,781
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I just contacted P & C customer service to ask them to close my account. Explained why, and erased payment data from my account settings, as well as other data.
It's no big deal at this point, because I'm no longer buying tobacco, and have enough accessories to last my potential lifetime. But even if that were not the case, such a bunch of bumblers represent too much of a security risk to maintain any sort of relationship, not to mention their attitude of customer disservice.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
12,644
20,162
SE PA USA
Jesse, thank you.

Everyone makes mistakes. The measure of customer service hinges on what happens next. The fact that I sent them the PayPal receipt showing that the order was paid for, and they chose to send my account to collections anyway, just shows the depth of disdain that they have for each and every one of their customers.

I'm not in any way suggesting that each and every one of you strongly consider never buying from Pipes and Cigars, CI, CigarBid or any other US subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco group. This is just my personal experience, and it has been simply awful.
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,669
48,781
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Jesse, thank you.

Everyone makes mistakes. The measure of customer service hinges on what happens next. The fact that I sent them the PayPal receipt showing that the order was paid for, and they chose to send my account to collections anyway, just shows the depth of disdain that they have for each and every one of their customers.

I'm not in any way suggesting that each and every one of you strongly consider never buying from Pipes and Cigars, CI, CigarBid or any other US subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco group. This is just my personal experience, and it has been simply awful.
Nor am I suggesting what anyone else should do. I'm simply relating what I decided to do.
 

ParkitoATL

Can't Leave
Mar 11, 2023
404
1,475
Atlanta, GA
I'm not in any way suggesting that each and every one of you strongly consider never buying from Pipes and Cigars, CI, CigarBid
I stopped buying from CigarBid because of the wildly variable shipping charges. I had a very long conversation with a customer service agent after three orders of the same size saw increased shipping charges with each order. She could provide no explanation so I stopped buying from them.

SmokingPipes does it right every single time. No reason to try and save a buck shopping anywhere else, plus they are right in SC so my orders always arrive in two days... except for the Altinay meer I bought last week, which has disappeared into USPS tracking purgatory. :mad:
 

Neo

Lurker
Oct 4, 2024
3
13
Houston
I was going over my PayPal monthly statement and noticed a monthly subscription for $17 in my account for a company I'd never heard of.

I wasn't aware of any goods or services I'd subscribed to so I immediately looked up the obscure company reference - turns out it is some mega corporation that owned a lot of tobacco companies, one of which is "Pipes and Cigars".

I went to the P&C website to find the subscription to cancel it. Guess what, no subscription found! So I filed with PayPal to halt the subscription and resolve the screw up. After communicating with P&C they denied my claim, so PayPal sided with P&C and refused a refund.

This wasn't one of their wacky magazine subscriptions they hang on every order, it was something I can't explain.

They may have attractive prices but I lost money dealing with them.
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,221
30,175
Carmel Valley, CA
Sorry to hear this. Please introduce yourself and put your location in your Profile!

How: Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down.