Interesting P&C customer service expeience.

About 3 weeks ago, I found Penzance available at P&C. Stonehaven was not available so to get free shipping I ordered 17.5 oz of "Rattray's 7 Reserve" (can't have too much of this in the cellar). Received the box to find the Penzance as I expected and a big ziplock bag of the 7 Reserve that was so dry it would crunch in my hand and I could shake dust out it. I sent it back thinking I would get a fresh batch or a refund. They sent the same bag back to me with a couple of disposable cigar humidipacs in it. Still dry as a bone. Rather than send it back again, I took a shot at re-hydrating it. Spread it out in some huge stainless bowls and covered with wet towels for about 12 hours and although a little better, it was still quite dry. I am afraid to wet it anymore for fear of mold. I jarred it up and will hope for the best in the months to come.

After expressing my dis-satisfaction on their site, we went back & forth and lastly I received the following reply:

"Thank you for contacting Pipes & Cigars. We are sorry you received another dry manufacturer’s sealed bag. We have made our Merchandising Team aware of the issue so they can contact the distributor. We can process another exchange for the tobacco, but again, it would need to be the same blend which may have the same issue."

Here's a picture of the "Manufacturer's sealed bag"


So, in other words, they can send me another bag of dried out baccy, but it will like be just as bad. If I hadn't have tried to re-wet it myself, I would have stopped payment on the CC and sent it back. No more bulk from P&C. BTW, I have spent over $1,500 with them in the past year.

It took me three people over 6 weeks to correct a pipe I bought. First they didn't send me a international pipe smoking day goodie box as was on my receipt and confirmation email. Then a week later they said they finally got everything together to send to me. Then the pipe I bought (a nording) had a huge chunk missing from the shank. As if they didn't even take a second to look at the pipe from nording or shipping out the door. It was my one and only experience and I will never do business with them again.

I hate to say it but reading your story doesn't surprise me at all. Everyone I talked with over there all acted like me contacting them was wasting their time. Tons of amazing people out there who want my pipe business and I'll gladly give it to them simy because they are good decent people running good decent shops.

I can't imagine that it would be difficult to give a new bag the old "Squeeze Test" prior to re-shipping, or even examining the existing stock. Considering that they're not the only fish in the sea, I hope they fix this for you.

I can't say that I've had an issue with them personally, so I'm definitely curious as to how they would handle an issue like this.

Blue_2 said:

Considering that they're not the only fish in the sea, I hope they fix this for you.
I can't say that I've had an issue with them personally, so I'm definitely curious as to how they would handle an issue like this.

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I think they have made it clear that they have done all they plan to do. I have tried to fix the problem myself by re-wetting the tobacco, so they won't accept it as a return. I can't blame them for that. Lesson learned. I am just surprised that they didn't look at my purchase history. I wouldn't lose a customer like me over a $65 bag of tobacco.

I don't order from P&C unless I either have to, or they have a legitimately good deal.

You're not the first, nor likely the last, to have major issues with them.

This place had an interesting suggestion of using an iron to steam the tobacco: http://m.wikihow.com/Rehydrate-Stale-Tobacco

If you even like rehydrated tobacco. It never tastes right to me.

Personally, I'd post my experience on Russ Ouellette's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/russ.ouellette?ref=ts&fref=ts
im pretty sure he'd intervene and take care of it. If not, I'd post my experience on several of the pipe Facebook pages to get my experience out there for the world to see.
My two pennies,
Mike

If it were me, I'd call them and INSIST on speaking to the owner, co-owner, head customer service manager... i.e. someone with REAL authority. I'd explain the situation and the substantial amount you've spent there in the past year. I'd state what I thought was fair treatment and see how he handles it. If you don't receive satisfaction I'd let him know that at every opportunity you will post your negative experience on facebook and every pipe forum you could find. But that's just me. Good luck.

I've never had dealings with P&C but a "manufactures sealed bag" being dry is no fault of P&C.

Perhaps they could have refunded your money and you could have bought something else. But if it is coming from the manufacture, via a distributor, dry as a bone in a sealed bag... then it's not P&C's fault. They didn't package it or store it.

They said they will let the distributor know of the quality issues, which is probably all they can do.

As far as how much money you spend there.....Does that make you a better customer than the guy that just buys pipe cleaners? Should you be treated any differently than the guy that just bought one cigar?

The money you spent is irrelevant to them. They can't and shouldn't treat you any differently than any other customer. It's simply not good business practice to change your company polices based on how much money each customer spends.



You can offer to trade the tobacco here on the Stock Exchange. There might be someone willing to go to the extreme to try and re-hydrate it.

Toothpick said:

I've never had dealings with P&C but a "manufactures sealed bag" being dry is no fault of P&C.

Perhaps they could have refunded your money and you could have bought something else. But if it is coming from the manufacture, via a distributor, dry as a bone in a sealed bag... then it's not P&C's fault. They didn't package it or store it.

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That was part of the point of his story, Jason. It was a bulk order that arrived in the P&C zip-top bag, not a sealed bag from the manufacturer.

I've had no difficulty with P&C, and I've ordered a good amount of bulk from them. I'll keep this in mind in the future, though. I really ought to do more business with the excellent B&M I have in town, anyhow.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course. Here are a few of mine.

Toothpick said:

I've never had dealings with P&C but a "manufactures sealed bag" being dry is no fault of P&C.

Perhaps they could have refunded your money and you could have bought something else. But if it is coming from the manufacture, via a distributor, dry as a bone in a sealed bag... then it's not P&C's fault. They didn't package it or store it.

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Maybe. Although the pictures in the original post seem to show a P&C bulk zip lock bag. Maybe my understanding of what a manufacturer sealed bag is, but that does not seem to fit the description.

As far as how much money you spend there.....Does that make you a better customer than the guy that just buys pipe cleaners? Should you be treated any differently than the guy that just bought one cigar?

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Better, no. More important long term to the company? Perhaps if past patronage habits continue forward. Good customer service policies would dictate that they strive to keep all customers coming back.

The money you spent is irrelevant to them.

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Disagree. May quibble about if the amount spent In the past should be a factor, but the fact that he is a past, repeat and current customer is relevant.

Try this

Put it in an airtight container with a small container of water and leave it for a week. I use a small container normally used for to-go sauces. I poked a few holes in the top. You are creating a humidor.

TexLaw said:

That was part of the point of his story, Jason. It was a bulk order that arrived in the P&C zip-top bag, not a sealed bag from the manufacturer.

I've had no difficulty with P&C, and I've ordered a good amount of bulk from them. I'll keep this in mind in the future, though. I really ought to do more business with the excellent B&M I have in town, anyhow.

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Gotcha. So the manufactures bag is questionable. I see now.

Toothpick said:

I've never had dealings with P&C but a "manufactures sealed bag" being dry is no fault of P&C.

Perhaps they could have refunded your money and you could have bought something else. But if it is coming from the manufacture, via a distributor, dry as a bone in a sealed bag... then it's not P&C's fault. They didn't package it or store it.

They said they will let the distributor know of the quality issues, which is probably all they can do.

As far as how much money you spend there.....Does that make you a better customer than the guy that just buys pipe cleaners? Should you be treated any differently than the guy that just bought one cigar?

The money you spent is irrelevant to them. They can't and shouldn't treat you any differently than any other customer. It's simply not good business practice to change your company polices based on how much money each customer spends.



You can offer to trade the tobacco here on the Stock Exchange. There might be someone willing to go to the extreme to try and re-hydrate it.

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Wow, I've worked in retail for many years, even in a sector considered to play it a bit tough with customers, but I'd have to disagree with you completely Toothpick. Standing behind what you choose to sell/distribute and maintaining an ongoing relationship with a customer are vitally important to any halfway competent retailer. At some point you dig in your heels with an overly demanding customer, but a reasonable repeat customer is the lifeblood of the business.

I don't think the significant amount of money spent makes this customer any more important, it simply shows he is a very serious and regular patron and ensuring his satisfaction with the purchase (if reasonable) is in the company's best interest (even if their profit on this transaction is minimized).

H4nk said:

Try this

Put it in an airtight container with a small container of water and leave it for a week. I use a small container normally used for to-go sauces. I poked a few holes in the top. You are creating a humidor.

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Interesting H4nk, you wouldn't happen to have a photo of this setup would you ?

$1,500 in the past year is a lot of ordering. Why did you choose P&C for all of that spending? Have those reasons been nullified by one failure? While I've been known to abandon business relationships for offenses like that, this is a case that I'd let slide and just remember not to order that blend from P&C again, along with leaving an honest review on P&C's page for that blend so that other people know to order it elsewhere.

I somehow missed the part that stated it was a resealed bag, or I just blocked it out. In that case I agree more could be done since it appears that P&C played a part in the re-distribution.

To my other point about money,
It's my opinion that by stating "I spent 1500" implies that you should be treated to a higher level of customer service than someone that spent less than you. How would you feel if a different customer had the same situation as yours but they gave him full credit, 2 new bags of any stock, and a back rub because he spent $5,000 with them.

So by my view the amount of money you spend at a business is irrelevant to the level of service you should expect. Unless, the business has some type of reward program that rewards customers for spending more. I know Best Buy used to offer longer returns for Black Reward card customers. I don't believe P&C does.

If they sent it back with humidifier coins in it, they knew there was something wrong with it period. In my opinion, and I doubt I'm alone on this, a retailer sending out product that they know to be faulty is a big customer service issue.

My last two orders from P&C have had problems. 10 tins of tobacco showed up dented (some seals broken) because they were too cheap or lazy to put enough filler/packing material in the box. The last order miraculously had a single tin of tobacco show up dented with the top edges bent in so far that it couldn't have possibly sealed. That was it, one tin and some other soft items that most likely wouldn't have dented a tin, and couldn't have possibly bent the sides in like that. I didn't bother contacting customer service on the second one.

The only things I'll order from P&C is stuff I can't get anywhere else. There are too many good companies out there for me to waste my time and money on them.

Toothpick said:

To my other point about money,
It's my opinion that by stating "I spent 1500" implies that you should be treated to a higher level of customer service than someone that spent less than you. How would you feel if a different customer had the same situation as yours but they gave him full credit, 2 new bags of any stock, and a back rub because he spent $5,000 with them.

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It's funny how perception works. I didn't take it as wanting special treatment based on the money spent. I took it as saying he couldn't be dismissed as a one time low dollar customer. Not that either should be treated any differently.