I've never had an issue with ordering tobacco from P&C, but it has been a while, since they always seem to be out of either my cigars of choice or tobacco that I am looking for. But, my problem with ordering pipes from them is that they don't show you the exact pipe you will be getting. Maybe one factory pipe represents the whole lot of them in stock (or maybe not in stock). I think some of their pipes are the genuine pipe you will get in the higher end of pipes, but Smokingpipes always shows you the exact pipe. There's no question what you will get or whether it is in stock.
Now, I don't want to sound like a fanboy of theirs. Smokingpipes is a top notch company to deal with, and they do still support this forum. So, if I sound like a bootlicker, let the chips fall where they may. Supporting us being able to chat like this means a lot to me.