I wanted to let everyone know about an amazing experience that I had with Luca at tabaccheriacorti.com.
Back in September 2018, I was in the market for a couple of Castello pipes as I had sold several of my other pipes to help pay for some higher end pipes. I found his site and saw that he had great prices on Castellos, but he didn't have what I was looking for at the time (Sea Rock KKKK 19; Natural Virgin KKKK 55). I sent him an email and asked him about the shapes and he quickly responded and told me that he would call Franco at Castello to see if they had any (he is only about 30mins away from Castello's shop). He got back to me and told me that they did not have any, but if I could wait a few days, then they would make them for me. Twelve days later I had both pipes in my hand!
Fast forward to today and I had just finished a bowl in the Virgin 55 and after clearing out the tobacco ash, I noticed some really bright, white ash around the airway as I was using the pipe cleaner. After I cleared out the ash, I noticed that there was clear evidence of the beginnings of a burnout around the airway. Now I am very careful with new pipes and have a fairly slow cadence (a full bowl in that pipe lasts me about 2 hours), so I did not think that this was due to operator error. I took pictures of the damage and sent Luca a note with the pictures.
Castello has a one year warranty against burnouts on their American website, but seeing as I bought this online from an Italian shop, I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. But Luca emailed me within 20mins and told me that he would send the pictures to Franco and they would come up with a solution.
Another 15mins later and he told me that they would be sending me a new pipe and for me to keep the current one because they did not want me to incur the extra cost of shipping the pipe back to Italy! Luca said that if I wanted, I could just choose a pipe from his site that was of equal value (or if more, then I would just pay the difference) and I would only have to pay for the shipping from Italy to the US. Or if I wanted, I could request a new Natural KKKK 55 and Castello would make a new one for me. He said that he and Franco just wanted me to be happy with my pipe.
He told me to take my time and decide, even pointed me to some new pipes on his site and told me to take my pick.
I just had to share this because there are so many horror stories concerning customer service these days that I felt the need to share my experience that I had with Luca and Castello.
I love my Castello pipes, but before they were just really nice pipes. Now I see just how they and their retailer friends stand behind their product and I can honestly say that I will only buy Castellos from Luca, and I will probably buy mostly Castello pipes from now on.
Back in September 2018, I was in the market for a couple of Castello pipes as I had sold several of my other pipes to help pay for some higher end pipes. I found his site and saw that he had great prices on Castellos, but he didn't have what I was looking for at the time (Sea Rock KKKK 19; Natural Virgin KKKK 55). I sent him an email and asked him about the shapes and he quickly responded and told me that he would call Franco at Castello to see if they had any (he is only about 30mins away from Castello's shop). He got back to me and told me that they did not have any, but if I could wait a few days, then they would make them for me. Twelve days later I had both pipes in my hand!
Fast forward to today and I had just finished a bowl in the Virgin 55 and after clearing out the tobacco ash, I noticed some really bright, white ash around the airway as I was using the pipe cleaner. After I cleared out the ash, I noticed that there was clear evidence of the beginnings of a burnout around the airway. Now I am very careful with new pipes and have a fairly slow cadence (a full bowl in that pipe lasts me about 2 hours), so I did not think that this was due to operator error. I took pictures of the damage and sent Luca a note with the pictures.
Castello has a one year warranty against burnouts on their American website, but seeing as I bought this online from an Italian shop, I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. But Luca emailed me within 20mins and told me that he would send the pictures to Franco and they would come up with a solution.
Another 15mins later and he told me that they would be sending me a new pipe and for me to keep the current one because they did not want me to incur the extra cost of shipping the pipe back to Italy! Luca said that if I wanted, I could just choose a pipe from his site that was of equal value (or if more, then I would just pay the difference) and I would only have to pay for the shipping from Italy to the US. Or if I wanted, I could request a new Natural KKKK 55 and Castello would make a new one for me. He said that he and Franco just wanted me to be happy with my pipe.
He told me to take my time and decide, even pointed me to some new pipes on his site and told me to take my pick.
I just had to share this because there are so many horror stories concerning customer service these days that I felt the need to share my experience that I had with Luca and Castello.
I love my Castello pipes, but before they were just really nice pipes. Now I see just how they and their retailer friends stand behind their product and I can honestly say that I will only buy Castellos from Luca, and I will probably buy mostly Castello pipes from now on.
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