Good you got a refund but after waiting a long enough period i would have to say they hell with it i'd rather have the pipe i wanted, since the money is technically already spent. He could have at least offered you the choice of an already made pipe and maybe a discount or something, just to make it all right.
after an experience like this, the pipe is worth less than nothing for many people. every time I'd touch or see that pipe, I'd remember this runaround. "I got f**ked with." There's no way I could enjoy it. I might as well have lit up cigars with that money, but at least if I did that and got a good cigar, I'd have a good memory of it.
Consuming is an interesting thing. In the old days, no matter how good the product, this would have buried a business, but in today's mindset, we're so used to be screwed with that it has reversed. We don't care if businesses screw with us, design products with planned obsolescence, and have crappy customer service because we want the product SO, SO badly. We can't seem to live without anything, and the consequence to that is gladly, and willfully, being taken advantage of.