4Noggins score

[Blackhorse]

uh, I was just happy to get something I liked while looking for something else. I guess I shouldn't post about that. Didn't expect the bashing! We have other threads for that...

No, you did nothing wrong at all. It was a clear hijack.

 

[History Prof 1861]

Sorry I didn’t mean to hijack the thread.

 

[Blackhorse]

Sorry I didn’t mean to hijack the thread.

Oh, we all do it on occasion. Threads seem to have a life of their own...they’re born, they grow, they change direction, they die. It just feels bad when a well intentioned thread turns ugly...cutting and slashing like a John Carpenter movie. Ooh! There’s a cyber punk horror movie in there somewhere!

 

[Deleted member 4028]

Having second thoughts about this whole thing. Everyone has experiences with this or that vendor that are good, or great or...yeah, not so much. It’s a shame when one customer has a string of poor experiences certainly. But nobody’s perfect, not even close. I just don’t like a “bash fest”. What IS good is for some poor bloke to realize he’s not the only one it’s happening to. But we can likely ALL pull up some unsavory story or stories. Stuff happens...nobody likes it...you, me OR the vendor. To me it’s more what a vendor does after the fact. If you don’t like a certain site, feel you’ve been treated badly there...vote with your proverbial feet...go elsewhere. I’ve done that on a few occasions. Hope I don’t have to again. We’ll see.

Sure, absolutely. But incidents are happening more and more. I have had issues with smokingpipes.com more than once. A few examples : I see a gap between the stem and the shank on a pipe. I send an email asking if it's a trick of the light or is there a gap? They say no, no, it's flush. When I get the pipe, there is a gap, it's not flush. Another time, I order a Stanwell, there is a very ugly discoloration on the acrylic stem. It's easily visible under minimal light so they can't have missed it. But it's not visible on the website and it's not mentioned. So I had to return the pipe. Then I ordered a meerschaum and there was this thing partially blocking the stem's airway. I could never remove it or get a proper smoke out of it. So, 3 strikes, you're out.
Speaking of story, here's another one. How about an order I placed in GB for some Condor and Walnut Flake (now Original Flake). I received Mac Baren Navy Flake in lieu of the Walnut. Contacted the seller, joined pics and asked for the tobacco I ordered. The person says our apologies, I am sending you right away the Mac Baren Navy Flake, can you send back the tobacco (2 packs). I say nooooo, don't send that again (did she read my email? Did she look at the pics?), send what I ordered, the Walnut Flake. I am told they don't sell Walnut Flake, what I ordered is Navy Flake. I have to explain that Walnut Flake is now Original Flake and that they do sell it (I join the link to their website showing a pic of the WF) and that it's what I ordered, thus what I want. I'm told ok, would you mind sending back the tobacco? As there is no mention of reimbursing my shipping fees, I say sure, are you going to reimburse my shipping costs? I get told I'll have to ask, I'll get back to you ASAP.
So: 1. they screw up, 2. they tell me what I want doesn't exist, 3. I have to fight with them to prove it does, 4. they ask I send back the tobacco (which I'm ok with, so long as I don't have to pay for it as it's their mistake) but they are unsure as to if they are going to assume the costs.
I told myself enough of this and sent a reply saying never mind, don't send the tobacco, I'll keep the Navy Flake.
It's not a bashing fest, it's today's growing reality. People work somewhere and don't even know their products. On top of that, when they screw up, the customer is accountable for assuming costs he doesn't have to assume to get what he ordered in the first place. This is without counting that I end up with 100g of Navy Flake that cost me more than twice the price in the US and it's not even in a tin.  :roll:
No, it's not bashing, mate. It's simple facts.

 

[Blackhorse]

Yup Davy. Everybody has sad stories of grievous woe due to heinous actions by vendors. You, the other guys, me too. Non delivery, bad item, the wrong items, not knowing the stock, a month to get a refund, two months to get a refund, and more. Interestingly, to me, I currently have two refund issues and a non-delivery claim going on with various online vendors. As I’ve said, stuff happens.

But my point, or attempted point, is more to try and get this thread back to its initial track. I guess I didn’t help much. Neither is this post helping much.

I’m a member on some boards that totally disallow hijacks. If someone posts a hijack on a thread...that post is simply cut. Their Mod is gleefully ruthless. There are no comments and no explanations. Offending posts simply disappear. Here at BoB there seems to be a kind of odd affection for hijacking. Of course verbally we deplore it, but if it’s creative and festive in either a positive or negative way...maybe it provides relief needed by the masses...or something. Whatever. Plus, if I excised hijacking posts I’ll bet there would be about 25% less content on the site...and I’d have to read each and every post. WAY too much effort for lazy me. Of course, I would never engage in hijacking.  Ahem. Pay no attention to that Mod behind the curtain.

I think I’ve had my ration of coffee this morning. Better cut back a bit.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I reckon in a written, conversational situation like this, you can demand focus. Maybe it is me, but I've had few enjoyable and fruitful conversations in life when it didn't get off-track, meander, and usually arrive somewhere else. Um...that's casual conversation. Unless the purpose is purely for reference and creating a quasi-wiki situation, I kind of think of that sort of focused rigidity to be both undesirable and also a little unfriendly. Micromanaging conversations? If so, ultimately, folks with control issues. And isn't it also a lot antisocial?

 

[Blackhorse]

Zeno - as I tried to indicate, this site has been pretty friendly to hijacking.  There’s no malice involved so no harm, no foul. And yes, I don’t think rigidity serves anyone except the rigid. I don’t think that describes any of us.

So...did I ever tell you about buying some Bloody Mary Mix from a state run liquor store that was both rancid and way past shelf pull date? I took it back with the three day old receipt and was met with rudeness and abuse...accused of trying to cheat the store. Wow. Even though I wanted to throw a firebomb through their front window I calmly told the owner who was berating me that his refusal to take back a $4 bottle of mixer had just cost him a lifetime of future business. Not a very wise decision on his part. (Even though I buy like one or two bottles of hard liquor a year.) Honestly, I was calm and polite...he threw me out of his store. I filed a formal complaint...reported him to the state board that controls the system.  Have no idea what happened. Probably nothing. I still have daydreams about that firebomb on occasion. What’s stopping me from following through? The death penalty.

 

[D.L.Ruth]

I still have daydreams about that firebomb on occasion. What’s stopping me from following through? The death penalty.

HA and they say that capital punishment doesn't deter crime

 

[Ozark Wizard]

:fpalm:

(I do like the Benjamin Hartwell Signature Flake, regardless. Thanks 4Noggins)

 

[Brewdude]

:fpalm:

(I do like the Benjamin Hartwell Signature Flake, regardless. Thanks 4Noggins)

And that is indeed the salient point after all (getting back on topic).




Cheers,

RR

 

[Deleted member 4028]

Yeah, true, this was about Benjamin Hartwell. Glad you liked it, Wiz'.
Sorry guys, I think I may have gotten slightly carried away. Then, I had a lot of coffee too this morning.

 

[Blackhorse]

To quote Brendan Frazier from his more than slightly bizarre role in “George of the Jungle”...


JAVA JAVA JAVA JAVA JAVA  

 

[huffelpuff]

Lol hijacks happen.

Ozzy my man that was an incredible stroke of luck! And to score 2 tins wow. It pays to be vigalint in checking the websites guys you never know you might just find Esoterica for sale somewhere.

Jim

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Interestingly, and on the topic of Benny Hartwell tobaccos, it looks like 4Noggins just added the verbiage "This is New Stock, made in its entirety by Sutliff Tobacco" to the descriptions of each Hartwell blend.

Anyway, it's nice to see them being honest about where these are coming from, especially since TR.com has them all listed as discontinued which of course would lead one to believe that they've magically ran into some New Old-stock McC blends.

 

[Blackhorse]

Interestingly, and on the topic of Benny Hartwell tobaccos, it looks like 4Noggins just added the verbiage "This is New Stock, made in its entirety by Sutliff Tobacco" to the descriptions of each Hartwell blend.

Anyway, it's nice to see them being honest about where these are coming from, especially since TR.com has them all listed as discontinued which of course would lead one to believe that they've magically ran into some New Old-stock McC blends.

It’s the old JR song...”Found under an old tarp on a hidden pallet in an unused warehouse by accident...”. :cheers:

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I am interested in knowing how close Sutliff came to matching the McClelland B Hartwell Signature.

Is it drip, or is it Taster's Choice?

 

[Brewdude]

Ozzie

Just to be clear - this is the McC production and not the Sutliff, right? I didn't even realize that Sutliff had taken up the production of it until a few posts ago!

I am interested in knowing how close Sutliff came to matching the McClelland B Hartwell Signature.

Is it drip, or is it Taster's Choice?

Cheers,

RR

 

[Ozark Wizard]

My tins are dated 2017. I don't recall the additional text on 4Noggin's site when I made my purchase, but I did just notice the price is substantially lower than what I was charged. At the beginning of the month, should there be some left, I hope to purchase more so I can do a comparison. What the hey, right?

 

[KevinM]

Re: consignment tins and pricing. In an open market, the seller names a price, and the buyer gets to keep his money or take the goods home. No one’s making anyone do anything. I’d say the only Q is the split between the seller and the consigner. (Right word?) My guess is that many of the ridiculously big money sales go to pipers in China. They’re not going to poor, aged retirees in Wyoming who yearn for one last bowl of the original Balkan Sobranie before passing on.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Ok, after careful consideration I have decided that the earlier version, to use Chris's analogy of coffee, is like fresh ground dark roast, and the new version is like a feshly opened can of drip.

Imagine if you took Sutliff's RC-1, heated it and pressed it. That's what I'm thinking about the new version. And instead of a pop top of broken thick cut flakes, it's now in a standardized round twist top, a Dunhill-esque paper wrapper with the gold teardrop sticky tab, enclosing two rows of thin, perfectly cut flakes that bring to mind Mac Baren offering. The smell of the old stuff was typical of the McClelland Christmas Cheer or 40th anniversary. The new stuff smells like, well, basic tobacco. The new Sutliff's Crumble Kake stuff smells closer to a decent matured red than the new Benjamin Hartwell Signature Blend. I'm going to sit on the other tin I didn't open for a decade or so, and stove the open one to see if that changes things.

What my experience has been with red ginnies is that it needs time before it's topped, cased or played with. Time to rest and break down a bit. The issue with that is one must be willing to store it carefully and rotate it. It seems that no one is doing that these days. There's no money in stocking shelves and sitting on products.