ALERT: Cigars Shipping with Beetles!

[BrownDevil]

Sorry about your smokes Wilkey, that sucks.

Thanks for the pictures...your captions are always great to look at

Robert



PS: I'm still chuckling over the term "beetle shit" LOL

 

[Rob_k]

wow, thanks wilkey for the pics as i have never seen this. very educational. i can see how this would demolish a collection of smokes and turn them to dust. thanks again.

 

[Wurm]

Were there actual beatles in there also?

I saw no beetles out in the open. However, I did not take the cigar apart. I still may dissect this thing in the next day or so.

Wilkey

Try smoking one with beetles. I've always wondered how that would be.

First Moki and now Zee... what did you do Wilkey? Let these guys know that they are in your will? :sign:

 

[Infinity]

They did not respond to my email to cancel. I called and was told my package
had been shipped. They claim to have checked my package???
Said to just return the package when it arrives if I'm not happy.

Now I'm not sure whether I should open the package or just return it!

This can happen to the best of us (B&M's included). The point is - was the package inspected prior to shipping and the infestation happened on route OR, was it pre -packed and infested prior to shipping? They have to know that this will breed negative credibility so I will give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Brian

 

[NullSmurf]

Ok Wilkey, if you don't mind a minor threadjack, what would you do if you were one of "two guys"? How would you make it right with the cigar community?

First and foremost, I'd replace or refund ANY order that I received a complaint on.

In Brian's case, I'd make a 50% refund - just for goodwill. Brian, if you don't want to risk it, don't even break the seal. If you catch the shipper, refuse the delivery. In that case, I do a 100% refund, plus ship you a 5er of something just for your trouble.

 

[Infinity]

Ok Wilkey, if you don't mind a minor threadjack, what would you do if you were one of "two guys"? How would you make it right with the cigar community?

First and foremost, I'd replace or refund ANY order that I received a complaint on.

In Brian's case, I'd make a 50% refund - just for goodwill. Brian, if you don't want to risk it, don't even break the seal. If you catch the shipper, refuse the delivery. In that case, I do a 100% refund, plus ship you a 5er of something just for your trouble.

Bruce,

Well stated!

Their actions, positive or negative will affect future sales. In this case, IMO, they have more to lose than to gain.. The cigar community in CP and other forums packs a lot of power. In the same way that Wilkey's post encouraged me to rush to purchase a few sticks I would like to taste, the negative a BOTL has had to endure will move through the community like a wild fire. They can turn this around very quickly which will not only minimize the damage but also create goodwill and be seeing as a vendor that puts their customer first.

As with my previous post, I will give them the benefit of doubt, time will measure their actions.

Brian

 

[Ginseng]

Ok Wilkey, if you don't mind a minor threadjack, what would you do if you were one of "two guys"? How would you make it right with the cigar community?

First and foremost, I'd replace or refund ANY order that I received a complaint on.

In Brian's case, I'd make a 50% refund - just for goodwill. Brian, if you don't want to risk it, don't even break the seal. If you catch the shipper, refuse the delivery. In that case, I do a 100% refund, plus ship you a 5er of something just for your trouble.

Bruce,

That's a fair question.

2Guys do not maintain an online presence at any cigar BB that I''m aware of so it stands to reason that they might not appreciate the role these communities can play. I'm sure that retailers regard us in a broad range of ways. For some, the online community may be a small factor at best. For others, it might be more instrumental to their business.

So perhaps for 2Guys there is only one concern, that of doing right by the individual customer. In that respect, they have done fine by me on the post-sale/service side. They 1) offered a refund or replacement at my choice, 2) not require that I return the faulty merchandise to receive the refund. I should add that I did offer to return that cigars as long as they paid shipping and this was declined.

Of course, we understand that there is a second concern, doing right by the community. However, unless they're aware of this, they can't address it so on this point, I can't fault them.

As an aside, my confidence in them would have been bolstered if they had attempted to get some details regarding the nature of the damage. This would have shown some curiosity and concern. But then again, maybe all cigar merchants are experienced enough with beetle issues to regard it differently from the rest of us.

Retailers are in a tough spot. In all respects, their business hinges on personal relations. It may makes sense to blanket refund any complaint, but I think there might be good in trying to ascertain the details of the dissatisfaction if at all possible.

Wilkey

 

[Two Guys Smoke Shop]

First - MY APOLOGIES to anyone especially Ginseng (Wilkey). My name is David Garofalo, President and Founder of Two Guys Smoke Shop and www.2GuysSmokeShop.com on the web. In my 20 years as a retailer I have never seen anything like that. WHOOLY $%^&! I heard the story of the call returning the cigars and awaited to see the exact problem. When the guys told me about the picture on this site - well, I was outraged. What the hell happened. We open the boxes ourselves and re-packaged the cigars in the zip bag to create the deal. Every cigar is touched by our employees from their original boxes and re-packaged to assure this does not happen. WHY SO CHEAP? Because we buy them all and get good deals (so we think) and pass it on. When there is a close-out on a brand we not only inspect before buying, we inspect after buying and before the check clears. When you see a close-out broken up by us and by other volume buyers this is the reason, to assure this does not happen. It would be easier to sell them in their origal boxes without the labor cost to re-package but you never know what could be in those closed close-out boxes, especially from a vendor you don't do a lot of business with. This is not in any way an excuse (there is no excuse) for that package delivered to you. I only hope for my quality control it happened on the hot UPS truck, but I honestly can't imagine that could happen in just a few days. Anyway - sorry for the long post but I feel my reputation is at stake and we all work very hard every day to try and keep a good reputation. As Always, everything is guarenteed with us, and I'd like to say it will never happen again but that can never be certain, I just hope it takes at least another 20 years before I ever see anything like that again. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES TO ANYONE INVOLED.

David Garofalo

 

[Infinity]

First - MY APOLOGIES to anyone especially Ginseng (Wilkey). My name is David Garofalo, President and Founder of Two Guys Smoke Shop and www.2GuysSmokeShop.com on the web. In my 20 years as a retailer I have never seen anything like that. WHOOLY $%^&! I heard the story of the call returning the cigars and awaited to see the exact problem. When the guys told me about the picture on this site - well, I was outraged. What the hell happened. We open the boxes ourselves and re-packaged the cigars in the zip bag to create the deal. Every cigar is touched by our employees from their original boxes and re-packaged to assure this does not happen. WHY SO CHEAP? Because we buy them all and get good deals (so we think) and pass it on. When there is a close-out on a brand we not only inspect before buying, we inspect after buying and before the check clears. When you see a close-out broken up by us and by other volume buyers this is the reason, to assure this does not happen. It would be easier to sell them in their origal boxes without the labor cost to re-package but you never know what could be in those closed close-out boxes, especially from a vendor you don't do a lot of business with. This is not in any way an excuse (there is no excuse) for that package delivered to you. I only hope for my quality control it happened on the hot UPS truck, but I honestly can't imagine that could happen in just a few days. Anyway - sorry for the long post but I feel my reputation is at stake and we all work very hard every day to try and keep a good reputation. As Always, everything is guarenteed with us, and I'd like to say it will never happen again but that can never be certain, I just hope it takes at least another 20 years before I ever see anything like that again. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES TO ANYONE INVOLED.

David Garofalo

David

Thank you for your post.

Shit happens, how we handle it shapes our character and this case, your credibility. I appreciate your explanation and sympathize with you, it is an unfortunate thing to happen but we all know that it CAN happen.

Do you think that Wilkey's shipment is an isolated case and do you suggest I open to check my package when it arrives (I have two sample packs on the way)or, send it back unopened.

Brian

 

[Brickhouse]

First - MY APOLOGIES to anyone especially Ginseng (Wilkey). My name is David Garofalo, President and Founder of Two Guys Smoke Shop and www.2GuysSmokeShop.com on the web. In my 20 years as a retailer I have never seen anything like that. WHOOLY $%^&! I heard the story of the call returning the cigars and awaited to see the exact problem. When the guys told me about the picture on this site - well, I was outraged. What the hell happened. We open the boxes ourselves and re-packaged the cigars in the zip bag to create the deal. Every cigar is touched by our employees from their original boxes and re-packaged to assure this does not happen. WHY SO CHEAP? Because we buy them all and get good deals (so we think) and pass it on. When there is a close-out on a brand we not only inspect before buying, we inspect after buying and before the check clears. When you see a close-out broken up by us and by other volume buyers this is the reason, to assure this does not happen. It would be easier to sell them in their origal boxes without the labor cost to re-package but you never know what could be in those closed close-out boxes, especially from a vendor you don't do a lot of business with. This is not in any way an excuse (there is no excuse) for that package delivered to you. I only hope for my quality control it happened on the hot UPS truck, but I honestly can't imagine that could happen in just a few days. Anyway - sorry for the long post but I feel my reputation is at stake and we all work very hard every day to try and keep a good reputation. As Always, everything is guarenteed with us, and I'd like to say it will never happen again but that can never be certain, I just hope it takes at least another 20 years before I ever see anything like that again. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES TO ANYONE INVOLED.

David Garofalo

Thanks for logging on David. I'm sure everyone appreciates your explanation and can sympathize with the circumstances. Sounds like you are doing all you can to prevent what happened. I think the most important thing here is that you chose to stand up and take the heat.

Sh*t happens, and sometimes there's little that can be done about it. But character is true. I'm sure you are doing all you can to keep this an isolated case. Thanks again for the explanation.

Wyatt

 

[Ginseng]

David,

Thanks for dropping in. It's truly heartening to see you make such a genuine effort to acknowledge us and the issue at hand.

As far as I am concerned, it is an isolated incident but one that will strike any retailer given time. Heck, even my local brick and mortar has the Serrico traps out and beetles in them. As I said in an earlier post, you've done right by me.

UPDATE: I took apart the affected cigar and saw no beetles but I did see several beetle larvae munching away. This suggests that the outbreak was something that happened in the short term, but I suspect prior to shipping. The extra warmth must have made them extra hungry. I have left the cigars in the shipping bag in my garage to see how these little buggers develop. Call it the mad scientist in me.

Wilkey

 

[Brickhouse]

Ok Wilkey, I think you need to call Grissom, isn't he an antamologist or something, lol. Maybe he can figure it out.

 

[Ginseng]

Brick,

The life cycle is pretty well documented. I'll see if I can find the link.

Wilkey

 

[Strayvector]

Take one for team, Wilkey. Smoke one and document it for us

 

[Ginseng]

Hehe,
No can do Sam. At least not right now. I broke apart the infested cigar and let the larvae free. I also left the Allegria cigars in there to provide sustenance. I want to see how my "brood" turns out.

I want to let you guys know that I called David Garofalo and spoke with him today. We talked for a little while about the situation with OneOff and their distributor. I learned a little about their operation and the way they do things.

In my opinion, David and his team are conscientious and on top of things and are willing to do the right thing. In this case, it included considering destroying or returning the entire inventory of OneOff cigars.

I also invited them to visit more often and perhaps offer up some specials in the Hot Deals forum and I think they will consider it. I've used them before and I will likey use them again if a compelling deal surfaces.

Wilkey

Note: It goes without saying that inducement was neither offered nor sought for the statements I've made in this post. 2Guys strikes me a a decent shop and since I outed this beetle incident, I think it's only fair I give them a chance to recover from the negative publicity.

 

[CoventryCat86]

While I've never purchased anything from TwoGuys myself I know MANY people who have and these guys have a very good reputation out there on other cigar boards. I also know that they are very generous with donations of merchandise to herfs, charity raffles, etc.

I've also heard they have a very nice place in Salem, NH that many people patronize.

I would give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[DarrenR]

:0 My heart goes out to you! I have been lucky enough to never see something that horrible! :angry2:

 

[Hillbilly Steaks]

Way to go 2guys!

Good to see people handle their business well, especially when problems arise!

Even in light of what I've seen here, I wouldn't hesistate to purchase sticks from you!

E

 

[atuck]

I havehad several good transactions with 2 Guys. Just got a shipment today in fact. It even included a free box of Oneoff Anarchy perfectos that look just fine.

 

[wasy]

Why would a shop ship something like that? They must know they have a problem. I guess they won't stay in business very long.