My last order with Famous Smokes...

[CigarGavin]

I have a little vent to put out there with the Brothers... sorry in advance.

In June of last year (6/2011) I placed my first order with Famous Smokes/Cigar Auctioneer.

In the last 18 months between the 2 sites I have spent exactly $1,742.39 (USD); mostly on dailies and "deals" when they come along.

The last order I placed I took a chance on a "blind cigar sampler" of 5 sticks on sale for 45 dollars.

The sampler had 3-4 daily smokers and a Davidoff Millennium Churchill, which was cracked and damaged. The first un-smokeable stick I have ever got from the site.

I have NEVER had a problem or called Famous ever, in literally hundreds of sticks.

I called them to let them know that they sent me a "bad" stick, but that it wasn't worth it to me to send the one stick back to them.

The woman assured me that they would take care of it, and that she would send right over to customer serivce.

After a short wait I was told that the warehouse would be made aware of the situation, and to double check the inventory.

The man also offered me a $7.00 dollar credit on my account, which was "the retail price of that cigar"...

Now, I didn't want anything from them at all, but when I heard that I had to say "really??"

Maybe I'm the only one here that finds that a little odd, and If so that is totally fine. But coming from a customer that has an average order in the hundreds and has never called your company for anything, period; that seemed like a slap in the face.

Needless to say Famous has lost my business from here going forward.

Thanks for letting me vent brothers.

Gavin

 

[Tobacco Giant]

I'm a little confused....what were you expecting other than a replacement cigar or a credit to your account for the value of the cigar?

Edit - and perhaps an apology?

 

[topmstr]

maybe im missing the point...

-you got your first bad stick. happens to everyone from any vendor sooner or later.
-brought to their attention
-no compensation expected
-refunded 78% of what you paid for it
-complaining and loss of customer?


Granted it was a pricy stick, but when divided in the sampler it was only 9 bucks. Could you go into more specifics on what upset you?

 

[Fitze55]

I am having trouble understanding your frustration.

It sounds like you felt the restitution offered to you was lacking as it was not proportionate to the volume of your order history?

Looking in a vacuum it seems reasonable for a vendor to offer a refund for the damaged product equal to its value.

I am probably missing something.

 

[CO Smokes]

Maybe he means that the retail price of a davidoff MB is not $7.00...

 

[CigarGavin]

Again,"if I'm the only one that finds it odd, that's fine". I didn't want anything in return. The samplers value was made up primarily by that one stick (4 other dailies, one of which being a CAO La Traviata doesn't exactly make 45 bucks) and then being told the retail price of the stick was 7 bucks seemed a little odd.

 

[CigarGavin]

Was more of a "moment" thing, not upset just puzzled. Sorry too upset anyone with it.

 

[CO Smokes]

I totally agree with you Gavin

 

[CigarGavin]

You guys are right was only about 9 a stick, more upset with the bad buying call lol which we all face one time or another... Lets be friends again


.... Anyone want a davidoff millennium Churchill lol

 

[Hoshneer]

I can see your point a little. Its one of those things where Famous is pretty much the Walmart of cigars. I get good deals but dont really expect top notch service.

 

[CasualStogie]

Last time I got a damaged stick from a vendor, I sent a quick email and they had a new one in the mail to replace it within the next couple of days. I'm with ya Gavin, I would have liked to hear about at least a little more effort to rectify the situation other than them just giving you a "credit." That, to me, just seems like the easy way out for the company- leaving the customer to actually solve the problem on their own when they're not the one who messed up. Whereas your experience with them has been more than largely positive and I would say don't warrant a gripe over one stick, the implications of their portrayed attitude through this transaction are that they don't care about you as a customer and are not willing to go the extra mile to take care of you despite your valuable customer history. If it were me, this implication would also be frustrating. So I say: one damaged stick out of hundreds- no problem. Lack of interest in taking it upon themselves to send you another and/or go the extra mile to rectify the issue and make sure you're satisfied with the solution- small problem. I say small because it's obviously not the end of the world (as you obviously know as well). However, when there are other cigar companies who would go to greater lengths to solve the same problem, I too would choose them over famous after an experience like this. I see where you're coming from and second your motion of "really?"

 

[sean]

The last time I got anything from CigAuctioneer was when I won a four pack of LP No9 and two 9s showed up with two T52s... customer service said that I needed to send back the 52s (on my own dime) along with the 9s and that they'd send me my 9's when they received their sticks back... I got pissed at the idea that if I didn't like what they sent me, I had to pay to send ALL THE STICKS back when they were the ones in the wrong.

Whatevers... It just reinforced my love for our sponsors.

 

[StogieNinja]

It does seem odd for them to offer you $7 on a 5pack sampler that cost $45. I would have expected at least $9? ($45/5) It also seems odd that they say the retail price on that stick is $7, when they're listing it for $22. So yeah... I can see why you're annoyed.


That being said, Famous, along with CI, and the other huge stores, really could give a flying fig about a $1,000 a year customer. We're a drop in the bucket to them. That's why I generally speaking only use them for the Monster and cBid deals, and take my ordinary purchases to smaller vendors I know and trust (cigarplace, podman, nice ash/cayp, etc)

 

[Tobacco Giant]

Was more of a "moment" thing, not upset just puzzled. Sorry too upset anyone with it.

Hey man, don't worry about it, I didn't realize the Davidoff was such a pricey stick.

 

[Zen Smoker222]

It does seem odd for them to offer you $7 on a 5pack sampler that cost $45. I would have expected at least $9? ($45/5) It also seems odd that they say the retail price on that stick is $7, when they're listing it for $22. So yeah... I can see why you're annoyed.


That being said, Famous, along with CI, and the other huge stores, really could give a flying fig about a $1,000 a year customer. We're a drop in the bucket to them. That's why I generally speaking only use them for the Monster and cBid deals, and take my ordinary purchases to smaller vendors I know and trust (cigarplace, podman, nice ash/cayp, etc)

Couldn't agree more...wow I just had the best absolute experience with my first order from tobacco locker called talked to Bill the owner twice for around 20 min at the least (my rambling mainly haha) but I pointed out some things that were priced incorrect .....boxes for 26 of 100 dollar a box smokes and he said ill compensate you for being honest and finding them wow!!! All in all best experience ever and was all about being friendly and chatting and making sure I was happy plus he even asked about becoming a site sponsor sorry just had ta add some happy happy to the famous B.S.