There's thousands of guys who use PnC almost exclusively, and who have never had a problem. These people speak up on these kinds of threads, I see it on facebook etc, and they speak up loud. So some percentage of PnC's transactions go okay. I feel (without any real evidence, cuz I'm a jerk) that these guys care most about getting 11 pounds of tobacco a month and saving 29 cents doing it. There are lots of these guys around. A similar question could be asked of Walmart - is the retail landscape better off without a place that sells poor quality stuff for low prices. And the user group who goes there will say "No, we NEED shoes for 20 bucks cuz our kids out grow them, we NEED cheap food." etc Which is how these places survive.
My annoyance at PnC is that it's just so wasteful, of time and resources. Hey we shipped you half your order in a giant box, the tins might be a bit banged up, but that's okay, we'll send you replacements when we fill the rest of your order. It's goofy. When I bought a pipe from them, (this is when they were still small), I emailed and asked about international shipping. Was told tersely "just use the website". So I did. And then the headaches started. I selected the single available shipping option, for 19 bucks or whatever, and then they didn't want to send a 300 dollar pipe out without insuring it, and it was gonna cost more, so 3 phone calls and 4 emails later, they managed to mail the thing after I gave 'em another 5 bucks or something, which is what I emailed and asked about in the first place. It was made clear to me that my living in some strange land (Canada mind you, not Moon Base 7) was really a huge pain for them, like... please don't make us do this again. Sir.
So I won't. No problem. My one rule in business is I cannot make you want to do business with me. Goes for lumber, goes for shoes, goes for groceries, and it sure as hell goes for pipes and tobacco. If you don't want to do business with me, I'm happy to oblige you. The consequence is that I'll publically "bash" you for the rest of my life by telling the exact truth about my transactions. I'm not mad at them, I can't say the world would be a better place without them. All I can say is my own experience was pretty poor, and I won't ever touch them again. People who repeatedly buy from them and repeatedly get short shipped or damaged goods.... well, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, right?
The landscape has changed a LOT in 20 years here. Laudisi is pushing to be a huge player, not quite a monopoly but they control a lot of stuff, lots of distribution, lots of branding. Good for them, if that's what they want. I don't love every product they sell, but the times I've had a problem with them (wrong pipe shipped one time for example) it was handled with class and no BS at all.
I think it sucks that Jeff at 4noggins is basically AFK. It seems like a few people can access him, but basically if you email 4noggins nothing happens, and it's because they get 9000 emails a day I'm sure. My thought is "okay hire someone to read those" but I don't run that business. (Nor do I get 9000 emails a day, I get about 5 and usually, usually manage to answer them. If I get 6 the wheels come off.)
You guys mostly won't remember Vegas Smokes. Holy suffering Jesus. The originally gong show of the internet pipe world.
So even PnC could be a lot worse than they are. They are bumbling, out of touch, strangely built, and apologistic (with as I say some really good people in certain spots, but just not the spots that matter in this case). But I don't think they are intentionally terrible at this point, I think they are just reluctant to make the changes that would better their service (having already made many changed). That's a money thing and nothing else. You want a custom fitted suit? Don't go to Walmart.