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A Fuente Short Story on auction!

Famous Smoke Shop said:
Click here!!

This is my first post to this forum. Thought I'd start it off with a bang.

Cheers!!

Humberto
Famous Smoke Shop
:)
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Who was the other Famous Smoke Shop guy?

Member No.: 678 to be exact.
 
jaxstraww said:
Famous Smoke Shop said:
Click here!!

This is my first post to this forum. Thought I'd start it off with a bang.

Cheers!!

Humberto
Famous Smoke Shop
:)
Click to expand...
Who was the other Famous Smoke Shop guy?
Click to expand...
Not sure, but they definitely represent the same shop. I'm not passing judgement, just letting folks know that FSS has a history here.

Cheers,
Dixie
 
For those of us, like me, who are too lazy to go back and read those entire threads, can someone summarize? It looks like the issue was eventually resolved favorably?
 
As I recall in my old age (:p)....

BOTL Quote1 Aug 19:
Bought a 9-stick sampler pack from a well-known online retailer. Included in the pack were 2 Cohiba Robustos. Both have numerous little tiny, light-colored, round holes in the wrapper and what appears to be brown "dust" within the cello.
None of the other sticks appear to have the same problems.
I've never had a beetle problem before in my life. Does this sound to you FOGs like my first time with these little bas@#*ds?
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BOTL Quote2:
Venting time. This is long - my apologies in advance.
I called the famous online retailer that I bought these little pieces of cr#* from, and I talked to customer service. They were willing to credit me a total of $4.43 for the 2 bummer cigars. I pointed out that they were selling these very same cigars, as singles, on their website for $10.80 EACH. I said I made my purchase decision based on the value that these two Cohibas added to the overall package. I asked them to ship me two cigars of comparable price and quantity instead of some cheap credit. They said no way.
So here's what I'm left with. Seven much less desirable and less expensive cigars that I end up paying $15.52 for. Some deal, eh?
So if you're an online retailer, here's how to get rid of your bug-infested stock. Throw it into a specially priced sampler pack. If the customer doesn't notice, you're not out anything. If the customer catches it and complains, issue him a minor little credit, and you've still gotten rid of your worthless sticks.
And the self-promotion on the site says "We don't consider it a sale unless the customer is completely satisfied." Yeah, right...
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FSS Fake ID Quote:
Has anyone heard from Customer Service explaining their actions? I got to tell you if someone called and told me they only wanted 2 more of the most expensive cigars in the pack because they had beetles I would wonder why they didn't want all the cigars replaced. IF there were beetles in 2 of the pack I wouldn't chance keeping the rest of them in my humidor. The cigars in that pack have been together for a while IF there were beetles what are the odds the beetles hadn't spread? Try going into any store and if there is a price cut on something and you want a replacement or a return try getting the full price. CUT ME A BREAK!!!!!!!! You paid 19.00 for 9 cigars and want 20.00 for 2 cigars?? GET OVER IT!
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FSS: Quote Sep 4
OK... I have some things to say about this whole scenario. And I am not "some underling who needs management approval". This annoys me so much, I am writing this post on my own personal time.

I have read this entire thread...

First, and foremost, why did Mr Porter not contact us DIRECTLY when he got his cigars that were smashed? Instead of dealing with it like a GROWNUP and contacting customer service, he came whining to you all, who have NO CONTROL over the outcome! Dumb way to handle a problem, I think! All the rest of you have NO BUSINESS BUTTING IN. Even though where you choose to make a purchase is certainly your own decision.

Second, what Debi said is correct, if there were beetles in the cigars they would not have infested only the TWO MOST EXPENSIVE CIGARS in the bunch. They would have infested all of them! Why didn't Mr Porter ask for a whole new replacement?

Third, the other cigars in that sampler were far from "worthless" as he implies. They are all premium cigars. La Gloria, Sancho Panza - far from your bargain bundles! Normally, that sampler retails for around $60. He got an excellent deal.

Fourth, he was warned in advance that single cigars tend to get damaged in shipping - which is exactly why they are not normally sent!

Fifth, Mr DeLoach, did you ever mention that YOU got a response to the e-mail you sent to our customer service department? No.

Sixth, FSS has been in business since 1939, which is longer than some of you "gentlemen" (I use this term loosely) have even been on this Earth. FSS has maintained high standards and reputation from the beginning. Your assumptions are frankly insulting.

Finally, you are all griping over a $20 purchase. Why don't you use your collective bitching power toward something useful and productive - like writing your Congressmen. With all the pending legislation, in a few more years it will be impossible to even GET a premium cigar for $20, much less 9 of them! That is, if you can even smoke them in the city your in, with restaurant and public bans!
Jeez! For crying out loud, make your battles the important ones!
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Resolution Nov 7:
got the new 9-pack sampler shipped to my by Fedex Overnight. Then I got a personal email from the president of the company.
I guess I'm going to put them back on my "Okay" list.
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That about sums it up (winus the surplus drama).

Cheers,
Dixie
 
What happened to the "nice guy" image you used to roll with here Bo? You’re startin' to put a scare in me! :( Shall we call you Mr. Bo from now on? :p I think someone needs a hug. :love: :sign: :sign:
 
All dealings I've ever had with Famous-Smoke Shop were nothing but great. FAST shipment, great cigars, always have what I want in stock and you'd be hard pressed to beat their prices.

I consider them one of the big four along with Atlantic, JR's and CI ;)
 
JOE.M. said:
What happened to the "nice guy" image you used to roll with here Bo? You’re startin' to put a scare in me! :( Shall we call you Mr. Bo from now on? :p I think someone needs a hug. :love: :sign: :sign:
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I don't need a hug .......I'm all out of these :( (notice the FSS link ;))
http://www.famous-smoke.com/cigars/search/....cfm/inum/16016

Someone get me a box and OK, I'll play nice. :sign:

Cheers,
Dixie
 
When originally posted they were at a good price. Now jacked up past retail, which I'll never understand. It's not like SS are super hard to find.
 
gregor22 said:
Minimum Bid: $111.00
Quantity: 3 Boxes
  Bid Increment: $3.00
Starting Bid: $1.00
  Retail Price: $108.75

???
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As soon as FS started their Auctions they went off my Favorites list. They don't sell premium smokes anymore. They "Auction" them.

I'm surprised that the Manufactures let FS get away with "Auctioning" their premium cigars above MSRP.

From what I've been told Arturo Fuente & Padron frown upon Retailers selling above MSRP.

I guess FS has found a way to fly under the radar.
 
LOL...Not a good deal anymore FSS! I don't get why people don't shop around and price match. I feel sorry for that tool who is the winning bidder. :sign:
 
Wow..

I guess I have plenty of 'splainin to do here. Don't I?

Firstly:

I remember this whole fiasco. I was not directly involved but I did know about it. Nice sum-up, dixieland. But there's more to what happened than meets the eye. Since this issue has raised its ugly head again, I suppose I'm obligated to comment on it.

Although I didn't particularly agree with the wording from our customer service rep (Stephanie) in open-forum, regardless of whether she did it on her own time, I did understand her frustration. I distinctly remember that, out of literally thousands of identical value-priced samplers we had sold at that time, this was the one and only complaint we ever received about buggy Cohibas. And, if I remember correctly, we had simply asked the customer to return the sampler for an exchange, which he refused to do. If I also remember correctly, he was adamant about just getting the 2 Cohibas as a free replacement. Had he paid full price for them, it would not likely have been a problem. As a matter of fact, he could just as easily have purchased 2 new cigars at full price and returned the buggy ones for full credit!

Yet, after much deliberation, it seemed obvious we had a customer that, quite frankly, appeared to simply want 2 free cigars. But none of this means we never tried to appease him. It was only when FSS started to get flamed on this board that things turned ugly. If I may paraphrase Stephanie - "FSS has maintained high standards and reputation since 1939". Customer service is what we pride ourselves on. In this small and somewhat insignificant industry, it's what makes or breaks you. For the record, all that could have been done was done to take care of this problem. It was certainly a shame that things went as far as they did.

In closing, This 'response' to an already resolved issue is not intended to shed any bad light on anyone. It's merely an explanation for events, as I remember them, from a very long time ago. In the end, I believe it was resolved appropriately although I also believe the resolve took far too long.

Secondly:

dixieland, I can't twist anyone's arm to buy you a box of La Perla Torpedos. But I waived my magic wand and put them at a sale price till the end of today. Maybe that'll motivate someone.

Thirdly:

We placed these three boxes of Short Stories on auction starting at $1 as a test. The auction is running for a total of 3 days. We might as well have put it up for an hour because I couldn't imagine how quickly and aggressively people started bidding. We'll be doing similar tests on a variety of products just about every day.

And lastly:

I hope I answered any questions you have. All this thinking, typing, spell-checking and editing has made me quite tired. Nevertheless, I'm here to answer more.

Cheers!!

Humberto
(Now the 'official' Famous Smoke Shop guy.)
 
Thanks for your input. :) :thumbs:

Perhaps YOU should have handeled it from the begining :) That's definitely a step in the correct direction ;)




....and a final quote from the fiasco [from the almighty Mr. BO :p]:
For me, in all honesty, if a company screws up, but goes out of their way to rectify the situation, I will go out of my way to keep giving them my business.
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Cheers,
Dixie
 
Dixie:

I appreciate the praise. But I'm not officially in the customer service department. I'm the company's buyer and cigar auctioneer. And I've also appointed myself as a voice for Famous Smoke Shop in the online community. I've spent a lot of time building a reputation over at HP and you'll be seeing more of me here.

Humberto
 
Thanks, Humberto, for your input. I personally like the fact that we have another vendor on the board to communicate with. I too ordered this sampler, and one of the sticks appeared to have beetle problems. I tossed it out and froze the others. Eight nice sticks for $20 was still a good deal.

Gregor
 
Thanks for the heads up, gregor.

There's an old customer service quote I picked up along time ago which will always hold true.

"Unhappy customers rarely complain. They just walk away."

For this reason alone, oddly enough, we love legitimate complaints. They help us grow and find ways to continually improve and re-invent ourselves while working things out with customers we hate to lose.

With that said, it really would have been to everyone's benefit if you had called us about the bugs in your cigars. Regardless of whether you expected a resolution, we really do react to that sort of thing.

Nevertheless, I'm glad the other 8 cigars were to your liking.

Cheers!!

Humberto
 
Ahh that's more like it! After reading the "other" FSS thread I (mentally) scratched the company off my list. After reading this thread, it's back on and highlighted. :p
 
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