Pipes And Cigars .Com

[yazamitaz]

To me this is somewhat good news since they are less than 90 min from me and only about 10 min from my brother in law's house. Whenever we went there him and I would slip out and go grab a few cigars and usually fire one up there. I have never used CI for my pipe smoking yet as I thought there inventory was less than stellar. This move may change this.
I do hope for my Canadian brethren that the prices and shipping stay in line (or decrease) from what P&C offered. I know many of you used them.
Brian - if you see your stands I can always pick some up for you, but then you will have to come visit Philadelphia to get them
Cheers,
Dan ::

 

[brdavidson]

Thanks Dan! Oh darn an excuse for a road trip :D

 

[yazamitaz]

I know - dontcha just hate that

 

[admin]

I knew about this, but didn't publish any official word as it was implied to me that they didn't want to make a big thing of it. I don't have direct info, but the unofficial words I got says that CI bought P&C.
Russ is moving to PA to stay on full time. The former owner, Scott has a two year contract, which probably includes a non-compete. I think Bob G got a few weeks to stay on. Again, this is unofficial, but probably pretty close to the facts.
There is also the benefit of not having to charge NY residents the very high tobacco taxes.
Pennsylvania has ZERO tobacco tax. New York has a 75% tobacco tax.

 

[cynyr]

Can't blame ya, boss, things told in confidence should remain a confidence.

 

[05venturer]

Can't blame ya, boss, things told in confidence should remain a confidence.

+1 cynyr
Thanks Kevin

 

[allan]

I have buying from CI for many years; forced to because of my taxes in ny
Good for ny folks who would like to buy from P&C

 

[rickpal14]

Guys
Just got back from Habana Premium (P&C's B&M). Kevin's post hits all the main points.
My feeling is that if you are a local like me this is bad news as far as pipes/tobacco go. There were no tins, only a small amount of non H&H bulk (but I didn't look closely enough to be positive) and only basket pipes left on the floor. The 2 employees that were there knew me and I could tell that it was not a pleasant situation for them. They did tell me that the monthly pipe club meetings would continue but obviously sans Russ. :crying:
On the other hand, if you only had online contact with P&C as many of you are indicating things should only get better. As a NY resident myself the H&H tobacco (and all the rest) just got ALOT cheaper without the NYS taxes. At least there is some sort of silver lining to this.
I will still be stopping in as the lounge and all cigar related business remains.

 

[cigrmaster]

CI is making an obvious move to become a player in the pipe and pipe tobacco world. They probably figured they cannot get the inventory they need to compete with SP and 4noggins and PC so they decided to buy PC instead. I predict their pricing will go up somewhat to cover the cost of the sale. I could be wrong but I would not be surprised. I will be curious to see how they handle the excess business in regards to shipping, handling questions and keeping inventories up dated on their site. I hope that because they are now a bigger player, they can demand more inventory from the mfgs and there bye reducing the number of blends that are constantly out of stock. This could be a good thing for pipe smokers, or it could be a bad one, only time will tell. Luckily we still have 4noggins and Sp to buy from in case CI screws the pooch.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Any of you guys live in PA? I guess you will now have to pay your 6% state sales tax on P&C orders.

 

[matchstickman]

I had placed an order with P&C on Saturday knowing that my order wouldnt go out until at least today, and I took a gamble because the website said they had some HH Old Dark Fired in stock so I tried to snag two tins of it, but my order hasnt shipped yet and the website now says they are out of stock. I just emailed P&C about this and am waiting for a response. I wonder if this whole ordeal has affected the reflection of their online inventory. I didn't make any mention of this line of discussion the email I sent them but I cant help but wonder how this change will reflect in their online inventory.

 

[matchstickman]

Yes, absolutely. From what I've seen, P&C's system is far from perfect logistically, and I am being kind here.

Damn, thats really a bummer, I was looking to stockpile a little more Old Dark Fired. I also saw that they had some Hamborger Veermaster in stock so I tried to snag two tins of that too. Wonder what the odds are any of that order will get filled :? Oh well. Lessons learned I guess.

 

[blendtobac]

There has been some speculation and commentary as to what my future and the future of PipesandCigars will be. I am part of the PipesandCigars family and always will be. PipesandCigars will be better than ever and my responsibilities will be growing exponentially.
What does all this mean for the PipeandCigars.com that customers have grown to love and trust through the years? Well, for starters it means that P&C is now supercharged! It’s fantastic to think that we’ll have even better access to products, the ability to keep the pricing of your favorite products down (in many cases even lower) and that our shipping speeds will be even faster.
When you look from just those 3 points of view I am sure you can understand my excitement for you, the company and myself. This change is still very new to all of us and for the most part we’re still in the planning phase. I simply cannot wait to announce to everyone our plans moving forward, the projects that we are working on, and most importantly, bringing you the finest products on the planet. Up to this point I’ve had small issues regarding supply chain and having to rely on others for many important components of our products. Now, all those limitations having been almost completely lifted, I can’t wait to get at it for you.

Stay Tuned,

Russ Ouellette
As a side note, as mentioned above, this has no effect on the two Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe locations in the Albany area.

 

[yazamitaz]

If Russ is excited then I am ecstatic

 

[brdavidson]

Russ, any idea if you will be offering international shipping, more specifically shipping to Canada?

 

[brewshooter]

Wow, looks like I got lucky. I placed an order early last week and it shipped within a day or so. I expect to receive the package today or tomorrow.
Sounds like Russ is excited and hopefully everything will play out well here.

 

[dhintonca]

I've just emailed PandC to ask about shipping since they've been bought. I got this response:
====================

Sadly, as of right now, we are not shipping outside of the United States. Recently between Taxes, tariffs, and customs, it has become an extreme issue. I apologize for the major inconvenience and we will continue to find ways to do so, and once we do, we will keep your international clients posted.
Respectfully Yours,

Sean Lamb

Pipes and Cigars

seanl@pipesandcigars.com

800-494-9144

=====================
Guess they've lost a ton of Canadians.

 

[lucky695]

Well, there are denying a buyout... here is an email stream from customer service that I had today. Notice how I sent it to Sarah, but Sean replied..
Because we are in the same fulfillment center, we share this with C.I as well as Cigar.com. This is basically the Mecca of Tobacco. We are all separate companies, but we share this massive facility.
Respectfully Yours,

Sean Lamb

Respectfully Yours,

Sean Lamb

Pipes and Cigars

slamb@pipesandcigars.com

800-494-9144
"Divine in hookas, glorious in a pipe

When tipp'd with amber, mellow, rich, and ripe;...

Yet thy true lovers more admire by far

Thy naked beauties - give me a cigar!"

~George Gordon, Lord Byron, The Island
To: 'seanl@pipesandcigars.com'

Subject: Re: tin and bulk tobacco
Then why does it have the exact same address as cigars international?
________________________________________

From: Sean L

Sent: Mon Apr 15 07:55:00 2013

Subject: RE: tin and bulk tobacco
Thanks for choosing Pipes and Cigars! Pipes and Cigars was not bought out, but we moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; this was mainly due to the friendly tax atmosphere regarding tobacco. Service will not change and should actually become more efficient and we move forward.
Sean Lamb

Pipes and Cigars.
To: 'Sarah Voss'

Subject: RE: tin and bulk tobacco
I have heard that P&C got bought out? How will this effect what we have known always as “Fast, Friendly, Expert Service.” Especially when it comes to pipes?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

once CI sees the number of customers P&C has overseas/outside the U.S., that will have impact on where CI goes on this.

Roth, I have to completely disagree with you here. I can assure you that CI already knows exactly what P&C's customer composition is - either that, or they are morons, and I doubt they are. Before any acquisition extensive due diligence would be undertaken on the numbers. I expect they know precisely from where the revenues and costs of the business are derived. This is not to say, of course, that they may bring it back if they see upside, but I think the decision they have made suggests that outcome isn't too likely, at least for the near term.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Recently between Taxes, tariffs, and customs, it has become an extreme issue.

And I'm not sure what in God's name this means. They aren't responsible for the taxes/tarrifs/customs - we are. They bill for shipping (and they bill more than it directly costs, I might add) and all international orders are expressly told that they are on their own re taxes/tarrifs/customs.
They do have to fill out a customs declaration to ship internationally, but from what I see this should be all automated. That said, I am sure they probably do incur incremental costs (figuring out postage/ dealing with a greater number of inquiries etc.) Maybe someone in the shipping industry could explain some factors that may be driving this decision. Maybe it is as simple as CI wanting to migrate their inventory onto a CI platform, and because CI doesn't ship internationally, it would be too expensive to reprogram the system to do so for the pipe side of the business,