SmokingPipes.com killed VIP’s

[Ahi Ka]

This is either the best or worst current thread on the forum. I just can’t decide which.

 

[Sappspuh]

K

I'll chime in. I've been buying from Sykes for nearly 30 years. 100% reliable. I don't pay attention to the badges. I buy from Ernie as well @ watch City... because he's a neighbor, and he's hilarious. And Peretti because they have a nicer staff nowadays. I've never had a problem with these outfits. I had a teeny tiny issue with smoking pipes a few years back. They kept sending me the wrong cigars. I was dealing with the most charming woman there in customer service and I tell you they sent the wrong cigars...twice. She and I had a laugh. She never charged me for the wrong shipments...and didn't ask for them back. Third shipment they got it right. And the prices...they are fine. Service matters.

sanity

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Do you think I’m in the wrong for expecting an apology for the lack of packaging? If it was 100 tins would it make the premise more compelling? I feel even if it was 1 tin that was packaged like this it would warrant an apology. It’s not about the money, it’s about the premise

You're lucky it's him and not me. I would have told you to shove the dented tins where the sun don't shine. Get a life pal and fight battles worth fighting.

 

[Scrapyard Ape]

This thread is too civil.

*spits and throws a chair*

 

[wyfbane]

You should just be happy you can afford to buy tobacco. I haven't seen Silver status in years. lol

 

[Sappspuh]

You're lucky it's him and not me. I would have told you to shove the dented tins where the sun don't shine. Get a life pal and fight battles worth fighting.

Wow, interesting how you flipped from your first response of “take care of this guy” to your current mob mentality lingo. Do you have a brain of your own or are you so easily brainwashed by the mob of his comment buddies. If you had received this package as it was packaged you would not have purchased from him again and you would have been pissed. I’ve seen you talk about your horror stories with pipes and cigars. Make it look good now that the fella has a bunch of buddies on here helping him out in the comments.

 

[georged]

 

[Servant King]

I just can’t decide which.

Another six pages of this should do the trick.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Another six pages of this should do the trick.

Well at least that will give me something to read until secret Santa

 

[Servant King]

Well at least that will give me something to read until secret Santa

Which year?

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Great read!

Really gets you thinking about the hard questions surrounding customer/business relations.

Why do I hate Walmart, but shop there every month?

Why am I afraid to be nice to customers?

I had a great friend and mentor who taught me to be a salesman. He used to always say two things, I can hear him plain as day...

"Never kiss a mudfish on the ass"

&

"Sometimes you just gotta pucker up and kiss a mudfish on the ass"


Somehow both are true...

Bottome line: this thread is making me ruminate.

 

[Groot5225]

Woah! This thread got derailed.

The previous perks were nice, but it’s a new world, and they have to pivot to maintain their financial health to continue their operations. I say this because SP has been exceptionally good to me with their customer service, which you don’t get anywhere else.

As for Nova, I have heard a lot of great things about you guys, the newcomers. I am excited that we have another online shop after we lost cup of Joe's and Tobaccopipes.

For the guy upset about two tins, come on, it’s two. I know you are trying to start a cellar, but come on, this guy is trying to kick off a new online tobacco store. I get you are upset, but we are a small community and should support each other and maybe take small hits from the small new guys getting adjusted to this new venture. Especially with all these releases and drops happening in August, it’s a lot of work, and he is trying to do right by you.

Okay, that’s long enough, haha, let’s be kind.

 

[Brendan]

K

sanity

Get some?

 

[sardonicus87]

Honestly, I never really took advantage of the perks either. I mean, if I was a huge Savinelli fan and had to have a new one every year or something, like I know at least one person on here collects their Christmas pipe every year... then maybe perks like that would be enticing, but they're not for me.

If the perks were something like, preferential treatment of some kind like, maybe getting to jump a few places in the "email me when this is back in stock" line might be something, but such a perk existing might piss off and lose them more customers and sales than what they'd gain from "whales" buying enough to stay in that level of VIP.

Now, appreciation cards and that stuff, I don't really care. You're a business, I give you money, you give me a product, we're done. Sending me a card is just giving me trash I have to toss. I'll never in my life understand how anyone gets a bunch of fee-fees over a non-person corporation/company telling them they appreciate their business—I know a lot of people do, and I'm not saying there's something wrong with it, just that I don't understand it at all, and never will, and it's weird to me, it's just PR, and yet some even cry about it when they get the card that it isn't signed or personalized or something.

Like yes, generally speaking, it is nice to be appreciated... I just don't think a 1:1 business transaction warrants expressing any "appreciation". It's not like I did anything for them or they did anything for me, like they didn't come to my house and help me on a project.

Frankly, even the expectation of appreciation is just beyond bizarre to me. I could understand it if I was a significant source of income for them, like I am one of a handful that does so much business that it makes it easier for them to stay afloat. And sure, "every bit counts"... kind of, but it's not like it'll break their bank if they lost me as a customer.

Then again, everyone thinks I'm stupid for hating Sweetwater's customer annoyance service of calling you 500 times after a $5 order to make sure you're satisfied and to wish you a happy holiday or ask how you're day is going. Like, we're not friends, I just bought some guitar pics, leave me alone.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I received a nice email from SP leading with touting the 15% off Dunhills, lol, and skipping over my Peterson question and indicating maybe they'll have targeted offers in the future. No big deal, you either order or you don't and I've had good experiences with SP in the past and good customer service. I've always supported individual carvers when I've had an itch to scratch from something custom and smaller shops for tobacco and/or pipes as well, just part of the mix.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Wow, interesting how you flipped from your first response of “take care of this guy” to your current mob mentality lingo. Do you have a brain of your own or are you so easily brainwashed by the mob of his comment buddies. If you had received this package as it was packaged you would not have purchased from him again and you would have been pissed. I’ve seen you talk about your horror stories with pipes and cigars. Make it look good now that the fella has a bunch of buddies on here helping him out in the comments.

I still think he should take care of you so you will stfu. Pragmatic decision. But I didn't flip because of the mob mentality, I just came to recognize what a whiney POS you are. What you are calling mob mentality is simply everyone seeing what a pathetic excuse for a human being you are.

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

My recent orders from nova have not gone well. Planning to do a psa on here soon so everyone knows. First order with them went great, packaged well, everything was smooth. Second order was worse than a bad pipes and cigars order. I picked up the box and the tins were all loosely rumbling around. I thought oh no here we go. I opened the package and almost no packaging material inside and most of the tins were all dented. I reached out to the owner Kyle and he assured me that they take packaging seriously and that the package was packaged well when it went out. I told him that it is impossible that this was packaged well before it went out bc there was almost no packaging material inside. He then told me he would send replacement tins and get me tracking right away. Then he sent a follow up email saying I need to send the tins back first and once he receives them he will send out the new ones. He then tried to convince me to jar the tins up. Then he blamed it on the tins being made cheaply these days lol. He continually reassured me it was not his fault and was trying to blame it on usps (Probably so he can get them to pay for his mistake). Not once would he take responsibility for the poor packaging. Note that the box itself was in perfect shape. It’s the worst customer service experience I have had since a pipes and cigars order 2 years ago. I buy from many vendors and in 15 years of pipe smoking have not had this bad of an experience except with pipes and cigars. But even pipes and cigars made the issue right.

Over the years I have received probably 4 or 5 dented tins from big retailers over the course of 2 or 3 orders. I opened the tins and the seal was always good. The tobacco was always fine so it went into jars. In my mind my options were to send an email to the retailer expressing my dissatisfaction for the minor inconvenience , or smoke a pipe. I always chose the latter.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Wow, interesting how you flipped from your first response of “take care of this guy” to your current mob mentality lingo. Do you have a brain of your own or are you so easily brainwashed by the mob of his comment buddies. If you had received this package as it was packaged you would not have purchased from him again and you would have been pissed. I’ve seen you talk about your horror stories with pipes and cigars. Make it look good now that the fella has a bunch of buddies on here helping him out in the comments.

Probably because as more information came to light, it became obvious you're just being difficult.

 

[Sobrbiker]

What a shit show.
@Sappspuh, print the label, request a pickup, send the tins back.
Then maybe you can contribute something worth reading to this forum.
I’d appreciate an apology for wasting a half hour of my life with your inane stubborn rant.

@Nova Pipes & Tobacco, thanks for doing what you do. I don’t buy a lot, but I’ll be back.

Regarding SPcom: I’ve spent a couple grand in as many years and all I’ve got to show for it is a bronze sticky. I could give a rat’s ass about the perks, bring back double digit free shipping!

 

[Sig]

What does the following here mean? “I’ll follow up with an email containing the tracking information on the two tins I’m sending you”. He then says “send the damaged tins at your earliest convenience” I never received a tracking label for the two tins he would send. I only received a follow up email several hours later stating that he would send the new tins once he receives the damaged ones.

“I was able to gather up two tins to send you as replacements. I'll follow up with an email containing your tracking information on the two tins I'll be sending you.I've attached a copy of your return label. Please send the two tins at your earliest convenience.

Just like his site says under "Returns, Refunds, and Exchanges".
"Refunds or exchanges at our discretion".
Did he say he would send it without you returning first? That's what you say.
But after further consideration, his DISCRETION was to get the tins returned first.
Like he said, this was his first issue out of hundreds of deliveries.
Is that an excuse? Not really.
But, after thinking about how bad of a business decision sending first is(sorry Kyle), he decided to use his discretion.
I understand you are more concerned about him not taking "responsibility" for improper packaging, but that's a 50/50 thing. If his hundreds of other transactions have went well, maybe it was just a fluke. I will absolutely guarantee Kyle did not purposely pack your box improperly, things happen. You have an easy fix, but your feelings were hurt and you want recognition. He has already apologized, offered a fix, and stayed in contact.
Some people just cant be satisfied.
In my opinion.
Oh, and he did actually take accountability. On his site it says YOU pay return shipping, unless, "the return is due to our error".