P&C Doubles Prices on Esoterica Bags

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ram74

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 7, 2013
242
355
LMAO, this the best thread this forum has had in a very long time! How nice of Rich not to implement a 100% price increase due to the cost of making a phone call. LOL!

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
57,309
67
Sarasota Florida
craig, the only reason Ted posted on this thread was because his company was being attacked, he had every right to post what he did. You must be the unluckiest person in the world, 2 out of 3 orders not right. I had 53 orders in the last year and a few months and only 2 had the wrong Wessex tins as part of a larger order. In both cases, I was immediately sent a UPS call tag and problem was solved. Ask peck how many hundreds of orders he has had with no problems. You are bitching because they asked you to pick out a different tin to get the free shipping, how is that their fault? Stuff is out of stock all the time, you could have waited for it to come back, or picked another tin, you think they should have just waived the rule about having to spend 95.00 to get free shipping just for you? Think about that for a minute, imagine if they set a precedent an allowed you to do that, how many people would then be asking for the same treatment?
rich has every right to post on this thread as he is a paying advertiser and a very large reason that we have a forum to hang out and post on. If it were not for people like Rich, we would have no place to bitch and moan. lol
I respect the fact that you are defending PC as I had been doing the exact same thing on multiple sites as well as here. I would have gone on defending them and preaching patience while they got their inventory issues worked out, however this latest episode has shown me that they are just another corporate giant, who only cares about a few extra dollars and not the good will of their customers. They have had no increase in their costs regarding Esoterica blends, they are taking advantage of market conditions which makes them greedy to my eyes, not smart business people. The amount of money that they might get from the doubling of the price will never make up for the bad press and loss of customers they are getting now.
I guarantee I have spent more with PC over the last year than most on this site and no one was defending them more when the take over happened and the issues became public, but for me enough is enough. I am a loyal person when I feel it is justified, it takes a lot for someone to lose my loyalty but PC has done exactly that. I don't even buy Esoterica blends from them so this increase doesn't effect me at all, but I have certain principles that I stand by. I will not support a company that I feel takes advantage of people even if it does not effect me. I think however it is wrong of you to go after SP and 4noggins just because you don't like how PC is being treated.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
57,309
67
Sarasota Florida
fitzy, thanks brother.
I just got off the phone wit PC as I needed to cancel my back orders with them, one was from July and I have waited long enough. SP has gotten in 6 deliveries of this specific blend in that time, so I know it is not the mfg.
I spoke with a nice young lady and told her that her company was getting all kinds of bad press because of this issue and that she should have the powers that be look into it. She told me that they had no idea a price increase was coming and that when the new shipment came in, the prices were doubled. She intimated that she and her fellow customer service reps were blind sided and were none to happy about it. She did say she would pass my message along.

 

olewaylon

Can't Leave
Oct 14, 2012
445
0
I have to give Harris credit. I've been following the P&C threads since the take over. Harris had been one of the several P&C apologists on this board. Everyone has got their limits, but Harris is not basing his on personal bias.
We all wanted P&C to get their shit together as its in all of our best interest. So far we've seen issues with P&C dropping the ball due to systematic or human error. The nature of loyal customers is to forgive these things. When P&C starts taking advantage of their customers and price gouging we tend to be less forgiving.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
462
I just checked my order history. I have had 556 orders with smokingpipes.com since October 16, 2012. Of those, three are still in transit. Of the 553 I have received, I have not had a single issue. Not one. That has been my experience. It doesn't prove anything, other than that I am a very happy customer. Others may have had a different experience and I can't speak to that. I do know that this is a pretty large sample size, and it means either I must be the luckiest bastard on the face of the earth or they have great customer service. And I just checked my ass and I don't see a horseshoe buried in there.

 

scrapyardape

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 9, 2013
260
0
Florida gulfcoast
TrainWreck1_zps4da8f3bf.gif


 

05venturer

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
1,622
2
Amery,WI
This thread is like a runaway train. Starting to get off course.
Edit: Didn't see scrapeyards post before I posted this, looks like we are on the same page. :crazy:

 

rmason

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 27, 2013
765
0
My feeling exactly scrapyard, I have nothing to add other than that.

~Ron

 

flakyjakey

Lifer
Aug 21, 2013
1,117
10
You gentlemen will not be surprised to learn that I have been following this thread from my side of the pond with a degree of amusement. Germain's 'Rich Dark Flake' (= 'Stonehaven', in my opinion) is readily available over here, and has not gone up in price!! "MUCH ado about nothing"??

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
57,309
67
Sarasota Florida
duckfat, maybe I should have used a better word than attacked, but now I am going to call bullshit on you. When did I say I ordered hundred of times. I told you around 50 did I not? Now I want you to show me the pics and order history proving you bought 700.00 pipes from them. I will go first and post my entire history with SP.
Order No. Date Ordered # of

Items Ordered Order Total Processed Tracking #

258343 11/14/2013 28 $236.38 Processed

255816 10/31/2013 1 $135.00 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374659297

254854 10/27/2013 25 $145.00 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374437697

249934 09/27/2013 25 $228.15 Shipped 1Z9YA2750372903847

249569 09/25/2013 25 $228.15 Shipped 1Z9YA2750372781845

248713 09/19/2013 25 $228.15 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374426734

248529 09/18/2013 25 $231.07 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373777796

247826 09/13/2013 17 $162.04 Shipped 1Z9YA2750372905050

247748 09/13/2013 25 $231.07 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373509398

246491 09/05/2013 25 $245.48 Shipped

246490 09/05/2013 15 $138.65 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374726295

245501 08/29/2013 9 $95.25 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374193709

244347 08/22/2013 11 $262.05 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373293273

239343 07/22/2013 1 $275.00 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374947690

237204 07/08/2013 13 $106.71 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374935194

235174 06/24/2013 25 $272.70 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374251995

234628 06/20/2013 10 $113.93 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373890225

234627 06/20/2013 25 $272.70 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373072930

233753 06/18/2013 11 $126.05 Shipped

230213 05/26/2013 40 $352.80 Shipped 1Z9YA2750372767094

229294 05/20/2013 15 $144.81 Shipped 1Z9YA2750372186220

226279 04/30/2013 20 $165.60 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373751929

224739 04/22/2013 40 $390.28 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373664158

223819 04/17/2013 4 $120.04 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373525683

223623 04/16/2013 12 $109.97 Shipped 1Z9YA2750374854067

218568 03/11/2013 11 $107.09 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373997781

216820 02/26/2013 10 $187.62 Shipped 1Z9YA2750372295157

216392 02/22/2013 11 $101.95 Shipped 1Z9YA2750373977329

215741 02/20/2013 12 $215.57 Shipped 1Z9YA2750367452862

209918 01/14/2013 15 $153.71 Shipped 1Z9YA2750367915755

208759 01/06/2013 23 $216.43 Shipped 1Z9YA2750366441321

206236 12/20/2012 9 $92.33 Shipped 1Z9YA2750368978249

205974 12/18/2012 20 $201.54 Shipped 1Z9YA2750366846448

205264 12/14/2012 14 $185.51 Shipped

204581 12/11/2012 13 $133.22 Shipped 1Z9YA2750367496851

204513 12/11/2012 20 $193.08 Shipped 1Z9YA2750368966994

204262 12/10/2012 25 $231.08 Shipped 1Z9YA2750367422788

203605 12/06/2012 44 $431.29 Shipped 1Z9YA2750367337755

203478 12/05/2012 25 $256.17 Shipped 1Z9YA2750368045149

203447 12/05/2012 45 $435.48 Shipped 1Z9YA2750366390985

203078 12/03/2012 35 $350.25 Shipped 1Z9YA2750366783524

202630 11/30/2012 30 $297.08 Shipped

201105 11/22/2012 43 $443.69 Shipped

192529 09/23/2012 1 $200.00 Shipped

187962 08/17/2012 4 $102.92 Shipped

181623 06/24/2012 18 $176.71 Shipped

 

dragonslayer

Lifer
Dec 28, 2012
1,026
9
Pittsburgh
Harris I know you've bought a ton from P&C and been a big advocate for them. You buy like most people, best price being a major factor. You and Peck (and others) buy large amounts and when you place an order it's big and they'll take great care of you. That's business 101. I know in my business's when certain people called they got the golden treatment because they made a difference on my bottom line. The SP problem was being put in a corner where they charged my CC and sent me an Email three days later telling me the item was out of stock. When I called and was told to pick another tin and they would hold my order until I did, or it came in. When I asked when, the answer was she didn't know and had no control of it. We are in way different situations in life as you know, and it bothered me that the CC charge was on hold unless I picked something else, with no ideal when it would be filled, which would have made a big difference. The only option given was to cancel the order. I'd never had that happen before and honestly was never talked to like that. I did call the next day and asked to talk to the manager, it may have been Ted I don't remember. But he did say that should not have happened, and he would talk to the girl. Both of us at that time never had been treated like that from P&C, and yes my orders are small and steady, and had been trying them. Bad luck, maybe but a good reason in my book not to buy from them. Now pipes, hands down they're the best and will do great into the future having branded themselves so well.
I just think it was inappropriate as he said, to highjack the thread and make a large post about his business. Same with Rich, I'm not bashing what he did only when and where he did it. You have a special relationship with Rich and probably Ted which is cool, but other than a couple others on the board, we don't. As I was just reminded many posters just +1 or repeat what someone else said or heard, not putting themselves out there. I'm passionate about the hobby first and want all my brothers to get the most tobacco they can before it starts to be too much for their budget.
Do I think that setting a small brand wide price increase across the board on something they make a few bucks on was a dumb move? Sure, the stock they're sitting on is the same everyone else is, and other than two they don't even sell that much. I've yet to see the new prices for this latest shipment of Stonehaven or Penzance online yet. So we'll see, like you, I don't smoke the stuff its just an investment in tobacco for us. On Ebay two "scalpers" just got $127 for Penzance which is crazy. Many of us know what a great return on investment tobacco is. We are going to clean up in less time than other commodities, whether it's profit or hedging against price increase. Hell gold took me 10 years to get the return we'll get in just a few, and I couldn't smoke it. Not to mention pipes, which your sitting on a gold mine :P That's where the big bucks will be in the future.
So the horse has been beaten enough, P&C's only hit was the loss of International sales bump and other than some hurt feelings, especially one person, there sales are going through the roof like all vendors with all the cellaring going on. 90+ percent of people buy on price, policy and make $100 orders. If I remember correctly they did 3 million pounds last year, I'm sure that's with cigars. So I'm peace out on this whole issue my friend, too much time and I've some gaming to do.

 
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