Smokingpipes.com - How To Win A Customer For Life

[robwoodall]

A couple of weeks ago, I bought two Ropp pipes on sale at Smokingpipes.com, a bent-stemmed Bulldog, and a horn-stemmed Rhodesian. I loved the Bulldog, but the Rhodesian had a restriction in the stem, near the button, making the smoke exit sideways and the draw just too tight. I posted about both, and discussed some possible ways to repair the Rhodesian.
Long story short - I was contacted almost immediately by Smokingpipes, they paid for return shipping, fixed the minor defect, and re-drilled the whole bit for a generally more open draw, then mailed it back to me. I got it UPS yesterday. I'm smoking it now, and I'm very, very pleased.
Now, I may never buy as many pipes as some of you serious collectors but, where do you think I'm gonna go for my next purchase? This is a company I can feel good about giving my money to.
Kudos!

 

[jackswilling]

They get a fair amount of my $$$. I like all the vendor/sponsors I have used.

 

[plugugly]

They are top notch!
Plugugly

 

[ben88]

Amen to that

 

[iamn8]

Always glad to hear of good experiences. Unfortunately they currently receive a large portion on my monthly income. They're dealers I tell you!!! They're drug pushers!!

 

[tarak]

I'm a fan of them as well.

 

[cortezattic]

What a great story about great service!

I think all the site sponsors here deserve high marks. :clap:

 

[seacaptain]

Yep, nothing but great experiences with them. I had a popped tin on my last order and they sent me another one and told me to keep the popped tin and enjoy it on them.

 

[mso489]

Yes, SPC is first rate. They brought a pipe to a pipe show on spec, and saved me shipping and gave me a show discount besides. Another time, when a gift item got there late, they gave me my next shipping free. They want your business and they act accordingly, but more than that, they do it with good feeling. They are focused and know how to make things right.

 

[tobyducote]

Very good

 

[hugodrax]

They get my business simply because they have never made a mistake in any of my orders.

 

[pylorns]

Some of the best shipping and customer service out there. 4noggins too while I'm at it.

 

[jpberg]

Early in their online days, my usual order was a pound bag of Commonwealth. One box showed up with said Commonwealth, along with a pretty fancy two piece tamper (not ordered). I looked the tamper up at the site, it was a Tsuge, and fairly expensive. I emailed Sykes and told him of the error and asked what shipping method he preferred that I ship it back by. His response was that it was their error, and I should keep and enjoy it with his compliments.
Needless to say, he has gotten his money back several times over.

 

[pipesdownunder]

That's great service!

 

[foggymountain]

When I discovered the online pipe world I was a good customer of theirs. Since then I have drifted elsewhere. My beefs include their misleading sales pitches (everything is great, rare, and/or wondrous), lack of adequate tobacco stock* and overpriced pipes+. Also a sloppy filling of orders which were sometimes wrong.

*Their tobacco prices are only competitive when you buy 25 cans, and they never have 25 cans of my favorite tobacco.

+I now get pipes directly from Europe at big savings, often hundreds less.

 

[perlasca]

Some of the best shipping and customer service out there. 4noggins too while I'm at it.

I could not agree more, they are the best in the business in my opinion. I won't shop any where else.

 

[rsavage]

I love smoking pipes. Are they're members on here that represent smoking pipes? I have a suggestion. For us Canucks in the great white north. I know I would like to see an option on their site that has a 200 gram option for bulk tobacco. Because 8 oz is 227 grams and Us Canucks will get hit by a hefty duty bill.

 

[marcel]

Wow, I bought a Ropp bent-stemmed Bulldog and it too had some kind of obstruction in the stem. But I had to pay to send the pipe back to Smoking Pipes.

 

[rcstan]

 a 200 gram option for bulk tobacco

Well, you could order 7 oz, 4oz + 2oz + 1 oz ...... you won't get the 8oz price break, but you'll stay in the 200g ballpark. And you'll make the shipping crew work a little harder, making three baggies instead of one :mrgreen:

 

[peckinpahhombre]

rsavage, I wouldnt worry about it. Even if you could order 200g SP would still put 8 oz on the shipping label. They don't sseem understand that crazy metric system that every country in the world except the US and two African dicatorships use. In my experience you have about the same odds of getting dinged with duty whether you order 200g or 8 oz. In fact, if you order bulk I believe your odds of getting dinged are lower because the declaration of value should be much lower than, say, ordering 4 tins, and you are more likely to fly under the radar.
CORRECTION; Only one of the other two non-metric countries is in Africa (i.e. Liberia); the other is in Asia (i.e. Myanmar).