Pipes and Cigars Online Store. Never Again.

[scuffler]

Beware of Pipes and Cigars, or DBA Cigars Bethlehem. I ordered a pipe and two tins of tobacco. They did not process it for a while so that made me wonder why since most online retailers have a quick turn around. Next a girl calls me and wow she was out of it. Sounded like an air head space case if you know what I mean. Totally unprofessional and could not answer simple questions.
Lots of double talk. Anyway I paid extra for priority shipping which is 2 to 3 days. The girl that called me asked me lots of questions to verify the order which was strange. I usually order something online and it goes through without any hassle. Anyway this girl said it will have to ship UPS when it goes out and can take 6 days! Needless to say I was very taken back. I paid extra to have it in 2 or 3 days and she was trying to down grade my shipment method and she actually said she would upgrade it for no charge. LOL
I asked for a manager and she said um no one is available. What no manager or offer for a call back! Also They do not update the customer with an email or anything and no communication unless you go to their very basic website and find something.
I then said I wanted to cancel my order. And she in a very low voices said ok sure. She started to laugh. I have never dealt with a more unprofessional company and will never do business with them again. I am now watching out for my credit card to make sure it canceled and they don't try to charge me. Pipes and Cigars lost all credibility with me. They are not the type of company I want having my personal information. I am ready to call my credit card company if anything strange goes on. I would think they would go out of business if they keep operating their company in such a unprofessional way. Anyone else dealt with them. I think I get more professionalism when I go to a gas station convenience store.

 

[didimauw]

Be sure to check out our sponsors here! There is a reason we trust them enough to be sponsors!

 

[warren]

As always, buyer beware. You can risk your moneys or do the research. It's always the buyer's choice. Are you by chance referencing Cigars International? I can't find a Cigars Bethlehem on the net listed. I am just curious.

 

[Hillcrest]

I tried to order from them over a year or more ago. They tried to put a charge through that did not match my order total. My bank rejected it. They tried three more times using three different amounts that did not match my order (while i was on the phone). My bank rejected the orders. I spoke to the owner... turns out they moved their billing and payments to a service company. That service company was in Belize. My bank's cc fraud department program wouldn't accept the charge. I had to cancel the order. I haven't ordered since so I do not know how things are done today. I do get their catalogs once a month in the mail and can't stop them. I now mainly/only buy from Sp.Com and Sp.eu site sponsors. No problems there. 2 day delivery.

 

[fireground_piper]

It’s been a bit since they got someone here! I need to check what my over/under was.

 

[sablebrush52]

Interesting. I never had a single problem with P&C, except for the crappy packing. But crappy packing isn't unique to P&C. My interactions on the phone were always completely professional. Delivery was always faultless. Of course, it's been a few years so who knows what changes have transpired in the interim.

If they charge your credit card just file a dispute and your credit card provider will take care of it. I had to do that a few years ago with Esterval's and everything worked out great.

 

[Hutch Piper]

I’ve never had an issue with them either (except for relatively slow shipping), but I also keep my orders very simple with them (I usually just take them up on their 20% Peterson tins sales).

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

Sorry to hear this. When I started with the pipe three years ago, I placed three or four orders with P&C. Stocked up on tobacco during some good sales. Never a problem. Received prompt emails when order placed and shipped. Always a quick turnaround time. On one order I purchased a MM cob and some tins of tobacco, and they sent the wrong model pipe. I emailed them to let them know and they immediately sent out the correct pipe and told me to keep the wrong one. Not a big deal, but it saved me time not having to return it. As with sablebrush52, it has been a few years since doing business with them.

 

[RL Bucktails]

I have had 4 orders with them and no issue so far.

 

[tobakenist]

We are lucky in the UK, great online tobacconists, never had a problem, can't praise them enough.

 

[solideogloria86]

Beware of pipes and cigars. or DBA Cigars Bethlehem. I ordered a pipe and two tins of tobacco. They did not process it for a while so that made me wonder why since most online retailers have a quick turn around. Next a girl calls me and wow she was out of it. Sounded like a air head space case if you know what I mean. Totally unprofessional and could not answer simple questions.
Lots of double talk. Anyway I paid extra for priority shipping which is 2 to 3 days. The girl that called me asked me lots of questions to verify the order which was strange. I usually order something online and it goes through without any hassle. Anyway this girl said it will have to ship ups when it goes out and can take 6 days! Needless to say I was very taken back. I paid extra to have it in 2 or 3 days and she was trying to down grade my shipment method and she actually said she would upgrade it for no charge. LOL
I asked for a manager and she said um no one is available. What no manager or offer for a call back! Also They do not update the customer with an email or anything and no communication unless you go to their very basic website and find something.
I then said I wanted to cancel my order. And she in a very low voices said ok sure. She started to laugh. I have never dealt with a more unprofessional company and will never do business with them again. I am now watching out for my credit card to make sure it canceled and they don't try to charge me. Pipes and Cigars lost all credibility with me. They are not the type of company I want having my personal information. I am ready to call my credit card company if anything strange goes on. I would think they would go out of business if they keep operating their company in such a unprofessional way. Anyone else dealt with them. I think I get more professionalism when I go to a gas station convenience store.

This was a very minor issue as far as P&C goes. Consider yourself lucky. Smokingpipes.com is where it's at.

 

[solideogloria86]

Here's a gem of a thread detailing a lovely interaction with Cigars International, P&C's parent company. You've got the right idea about keeping an eye on your credit card.

CI and PayPal: WTF? :: Pipe Tobacconists - B&M's and Internet Retailers

A few months ago, I got a call from CI informing me that I owed them money for an order that was placed, and shipped, last December. They had no invoice numbers and couldn't email any of the order information. After searching my records, I discovered that while I had indeed paid for the order...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Hillcrest]

Interesting. I never had a single problem with P&C, except for the crappy packing. But crappy packing isn't unique to P&C. My interactions on the phone were always completely professional. Delivery was always faultless. Of course, it's been a few years so who knows what changes have transpired in the interim.

If they charge your credit card just file a dispute and your credit card provider will take care of it. I had to do that a few years ago with Esterval's and everything worked out great.

My interactions were completely professional as well. The mystery that was never solved was why the attempted charges did not match the order total on the receipt. They were actually increasingly less. The issue I had was billing from Belize and it wasn't worth dealing with my bank and getting them approved. At a certain point you just walk away and go elsewhere. No harm/no foul. The owner was miffed as well.

 

[woodsroad]

The owner was miffed as well.

Pipes and Cigars and Cigars International are owned by STG, The Scandinavian Tobacco Group. They are the world’s largest manufacturer and retailer of cigars and pipe tobacco. I don’t know who it was that you spoke with, but it was certainly not the owner.

 

[warren]

A clearer thread title would have saved me my mortification. The first sentence only named "Cigars Bethleham". Me bad for reading the as, literally, Cigars Bethleham. Can't blame his teachers. Or . . . can I?

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I haven’t ordered from them for years. I’m mainly a Smokingpipes guy these days. Can’t recall ever having a negative experience with P&C though.
️

 

[Hillcrest]

Pipes and Cigars and Cigars International are owned by STG, The Scandinavian Tobacco Group. They are the world’s largest manufacturer and retailer of cigars and pipe tobacco. I don’t know who it was that you spoke with, but it was certainly not the owner.

You may be correct; I can't find my original post now. I spoke to an older gentleman in PA who said "we" and I may have misunderstood to think I was dealing with a family owned company. Still don't know why the different amounts though ...

 

[woodsroad]

You may be correct; I can't find my original post now. I spoke to an older gentleman in PA who said "we" and I may have misunderstood to think I was dealing with a family owned company. Still don't know why the different amounts though ...

The company is dysfunctional, that’s why.

 

[scuffler]

I will go with Smoking pipes from now on, also had good experience with cup o joes over the years.

 

[LeafErikson]

A few years ago my wife got me a Savinelli oceano pipe for Christmas from their website. I returned it unsmoked and it took them 8 months to refund the money back to our account... Needless to say I haven't made another purchase from them since.