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MikeDub

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 26, 2022
261
781
SoCal
Not to get too far off topic, but what did you use to clean it? I’ve got a couple that are due for a deep clean and I’m not comfortable using the method I use for briars.

And I feel your pain - I’m collecting Neerup Harvest Moon pipes and the one I ordered said no filter but was definitely a filtered pipe. I have adaptors and it’s not the end of the world, but it’s still frustrating that it’s not advertised correctly
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
44,904
117,135
Update :

"Hello Duane,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I am so sorry that you received the pipe in that condition. That is not how we usually allow our pipes to be sent out.

We would like to make this right and offer you a 15% discount on a future pipe purchase. We can do this by noting your account and either retroactively applying the discount after the purchase or you can contact us about the purchase and I will note your account to be done at the time of the purchase.

Again I am sorry for the condition of the pipe and we will be forwarding your email to our restorations department to make them aware of this issue.

I hope that we can continue to have a great relationship with you. If there is anything else I can assist you with please do not hesitate to contact me."
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,610
Hmmm. Until i read their email, I thought they'd just given up on repeat business, intentionally or inadvertently. Now it sounds as if this is an actual muck-up and they regret the mistake. Maybe they haven't focused on the repeat business issue lately.

That's the thing about an outfit like SP. By the time they've corrected an error, you are even more devoted to shopping with them. It's just good business. I don't know if they are bidding for sainthood, but they are certainly selling a lot of merchandise. Other sellers take note. Pipes and pipe tobacco is a fairly small customer base over all, so sustaining customers is survival.
 

Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,717
32,134
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
I think this unclean meer is actually some specific marketing in an attempt to trigger the capt’s PAD and return custom. A special unit is dedicated to following his posts - no small feat considering they can’t do it automatically - and after noticing a massive shortfall in the last quarter of savinelli sales (I think this had to do with them committing the majority of their production line to Zulu/yatchsman shapes), they tried to snag him with a dirty meer and discount.
 

Merton

Lifer
Jul 8, 2020
1,039
2,786
Boston, Massachusetts
Update :

"Hello Duane,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I am so sorry that you received the pipe in that condition. That is not how we usually allow our pipes to be sent out.

We would like to make this right and offer you a 15% discount on a future pipe purchase. We can do this by noting your account and either retroactively applying the discount after the purchase or you can contact us about the purchase and I will note your account to be done at the time of the purchase.

Again I am sorry for the condition of the pipe and we will be forwarding your email to our restorations department to make them aware of this issue.

I hope that we can continue to have a great relationship with you. If there is anything else I can assist you with please do not hesitate to contact me."
Appreciate the email (and simply gobsmacked by the source) but "sorry and the pipe is on us" would have been more appropriate. It would also send a big cup of wake up to their estate dept. Not a reason to terminate a longstanding relationship which so many of us have with the vendor, but it did give me the creeeps.
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
6,022
16,335
If only Karl Wallenda hadn't made that one small mistake in 1978...

With 70 years experience high wire walking you'd think he'd have known better, right?

That's not how physical reality works (in this Universe, anyway). Perfection in performance is physically impossible. It can only be a goal.

And someone's worth on that score---or a company's---is determined by their track record (measured in percentage terms) and their intent.

I once returned an item to SP that had been misrepresented in a small (but important to me) way.

Not only was the situation resolved asap without drama or pushback of any kind, several months later at the Chicago show the person who'd made the mistake tracked me down and apologized personally.

No, I'm not shitting you.

That's the mindset there.
 

AroEnglish

Rehabilitant
Jan 7, 2020
5,150
15,141
#62
If only Karl Wallenda hadn't made that one small mistake in 1978...

With 70 years experience high wire walking you'd think he'd have known better, right?

That's not how physical reality works (in this Universe, anyway). Perfection in performance is physically impossible. It can only be a goal.

And someone's worth on that score---or a company's---is determined by their track record (measured in percentage terms) and their intent.

I once returned an item to SP that had been misrepresented in a small (but important to me) way.

Not only was the situation resolved asap without drama or pushback of any kind, several months later at the Chicago show the person who'd made the mistake tracked me down and apologized personally.

No, I'm not shitting you.

That's the mindset there.
What's the story about Karl Wallenda?
 

BarrelProof

Lifer
Mar 29, 2020
2,701
10,600
39
The Last Frontier
Sometimes their customer service is too good. I got a Tinsky once that I loved but it had a few small scratches in it. They wanted me to send it back to see if they could repair it. They decided that they couldn’t but then refused to give it back to me.

I get it, but I wanted that pipe. Regardless, I love them and will continue to do business with them. There are always going to be examples of errors because, at the end of the day, humans are still involved. It’s not the mistakes that define us, it’s how we handle them. They seem to always try to do the right thing and I can support them to that end.

There are certainly other retailers who, well, never mind…