Shmaa Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Backstory I like to enjoy a cigar every once and a while. Typically I will just go to a local shop and pick a few up. However, I have ordered them online once or twice so I decided to put in an order for a few combo deals from famous-smoke.com. My order came in on Friday, I opened the box and started checking out all the sticks. One of the combos was a 6 pack of Tubos. 3 Different brands, 2 each. One of the brands, Romeo Y Julieta, had mold on both cigars (not plume). Pretty Nasty... I also had a 5 pack of Makers Mark cigars. One of which had a big crack on the side down to the cap. (didn't really bother me, but I figured with the moldy ones I might as well get this replaced too). Service I took some pictures, sent an email to their customer service address and asked if they could be replaced. I received a reply that said I need to call their number and set up a return. I call the next day and tell the agent I have some moldy cigars I would like to have replaced. He tells me "these things happen", but then has trouble figuring out what to do so he puts me on hold for a minute or two. He comes back and says that I need to send back the entire 6 pack and the entire 5 pack for a return. Then they will refund my money and give me store credit. Then I will have to re-order everything. I am annoyed by this but, in a hurry so I ask him to e-mail me a shipping label and he says he will take care if it. I get increasingly annoyed by this solution and I have not yet received the shipping label so I send another email to the customer service address and ask that it be handled in a different manner. Now I am told I still need to send back the 6 pack because they want to make sure the other brands in the pack don't grow mold (all in self contained tubes), but they will go ahead and refund my cracked cigar. I decide to push it and ask that they schedule a pick up from my house. I am told I will have to call in again to make that happen. I call back today as I hadn't received the return label and I wanted them to schedule a pickup. I was told I will have the label in 5 minutes and they will check to see if they can schedule a pickup and get back to me. Wait till the end of the day and no call and no return label. I send another email to let them know I still had not received the return label. I am told they will forward my email to the supervisor so the label can be sent. A good while later the labels shows up in my inbox still no word on the pickup. If you made it this far... Should it be this difficult to have two moldy cigars replaced? I guess I expected them to say "throw the moldy cigars out and we'll send two new ones out for you." Now I'm debating, do I say fug it and send just the two moldy ones back and let them deal with it or send the whole 6 pack as they asked? I noticed they raised the price of the 6 pack already. /rant..pics below http://shmaa.site40.net/mold1.jpg http://shmaa.site40.net/mold2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10phone2 Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 chalk it up as a loss and go somewhere else if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 This past winter I bought a 20-pack sampler of cigars online, and almost half of them were dried the fuck out. I was mildly annoyed, but didn't spend much so I said fuck it and forgot about it. That mold on yours is pretty fucking gross though. It really shouldn't be such a difficult situation. If they want your business, they should quit dicking around and send you your shit, free of charge obviously. Hell if it were me working for that company, I would send you an extra cigar or two just as an apology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 PS - I think I got mine from famous smoke as well. I've heard good things about Cigars International and I'll probably go through them with my next online order. I love going to the local Tinder Box and picking out a few smokes, and the guys who work there are cool as fuck, but it's a bit pricy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Yes. If ordering online Cigars International only Thompson is so-so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC K9 Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Buy locally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmrmnhrm Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 If they keep dicking you around, dispute the charge with your CC company, include the moldy pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKilbourne Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Spend twice as much. Fixed that for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Whenever possible, call them vs emailing. It's easier to forget/ignore an email. When you call, calmly ask that you be transferred to a supervisor because you've tried numerous times with various customer service reps to have your issue resolved with no satisfaction. Typically CSRs have little to no power to do anything beyond their scripted responses/actions. Supervisors can do things like tell you to throw the moldy ones out and just get you new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big A Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Are you sure its not Plume? If its plume, whip it off and smoke um.... http://www.virgilave.com/cigar101/cigarmold.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 that is not plume, that is mold. Mold can be wiped off though and then the cigar can be smoked as long as the mold has not made it to the foot of the cigar (open end). I have also gotten plenty of moldy foot cigars and returned them with ZERO issues. Who did you buy from? Famous? I have never ordered from them so I cannot speak to their quality of service. Every time I have cigar issues an online retailer (CI or JR) they normally give me MORE than I asked for ,..... (IE - keep the 2 moldy and the 18or23 good ones and here's a free box or 5-pack). This should never be a "deal with it" situation because they can easily turn the cigars back in to the MFG and receive credit. BTW, I shop online and locally for cigars. I support local B&M's because we need a place to smoke and the people can sometimes be great. I shop online when I'm looking for specifics and rarities. I promote that you do both as long as you don't forget the little guys. And finally, If you are going to shop locally.... the only place you should be going is Governors Smoke Shop. Smartest dudes around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRed Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Wow that sucks. I only buy my cigars from Cigars International. While I try to support the local smoke shops, hard to deal with their inflated prices when you can get them so much cheaper online. If I need a cigar and can't wait for CI's shiping, I will stop in Tinder Box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Thompson is always good for me just don't pay for shipping. Every 4-5 e-mails you get says "free shipping". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Thompson is always good for me just don't pay for shipping. Every 4-5 e-mails you get says "free shipping". I just don't like Thompson because they send me tons of junk mail and are slow as shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 I just don't like Thompson because they send me tons of junk mail and are slow as shit. True story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Yeah, CI is optimal. Google "CI free shipping link" and pick a criteria so that you only see results that are less than 1 month old..... They put out a new free shipping link monthly as a promo to new potential buyers that takes you to their website (But you can hound them off the internet)... yet you see a stripe across the toolbar that says "free shipping". PLUS, they ship from PA so your order is at your door in two days. OR follow this thread... they update it when the new one pops. http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19381&page=11 You are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 hey OP, did you call Famous back and demand service? What is the resolution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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