Open boxes

[jepe]

I just received a box I ordered from a respected vendor which I dealt with him once before.
The first time everything was excellent but today I received a new box of RyJ NO.1
which was open,the cuban seal was cut.
I emailed him about this and he wrote back:
"The Cubans are fanatical about quality control and under certain
circumstances complete a final inspection.

They have been opened in the Cuban quality control.

Sometimes they close one seal, decide to perform a quality control of a few boxes and cut seals open.
Sometimes they even close box again with another seal, on top of the first."

Just wonder if this "quality control" is usual and if its accepted to receive open boxes?
I thought all cuban box are sealed at the factories.

 

[grateful1]

I just received a box I ordered from a respected vendor which I dealt with him once before.
The first time everything was excellent but today I received a new box of RyJ NO.1
which was open,the cuban seal was cut.
I emailed him about this and he wrote back:
"The Cubans are fanatical about quality control and under certain
circumstances complete a final inspection.

They have been opened in the Cuban quality control.

Sometimes they close one seal, decide to perform a quality control of a few boxes and cut seals open.
Sometimes they even close box again with another seal, on top of the first."

Just wonder if this "quality control" is usual and if its accepted to receive open boxes? Yes.
I thought all cuban box are sealed at the factories.

 

[Gonz]

It is common that boxes are opened for inspection before being sent to the customer. One reason is that it saves the customer the chance of receiving damaged cigars, another reason is that the vendor can know that what he is sending out is of good quality when it leaves his store. Then if the customer complains that he has damaged or beetle-ridden cigars the vendor can know that the damage happened in transit or the customer is scamming him.

This is especially common in older/vintage stock.

 

[jayro75]

It is common that boxes are opened for inspection before being sent to the customer. One reason is that it saves the customer the chance of receiving damaged cigars, another reason is that the vendor can know that what he is sending out is of good quality when it leaves his store. Then if the customer complains that he has damaged or beetle-ridden cigars the vendor can know that the damage happened in transit or the customer is scamming him.

This is especially common in older/vintage stock.

I typically request the vendor do this prior to shipment for those exact reasons. A few months ago I had a well known vendor (who's reported to have some mold issues recently) tell me he would not open the boxes to inspect the cigars. His excuse was that he does not sell singles like all the other vendors. I promptly canceled my order and placed it with a vendor that would.

 

[indyrob]

Return postage is not cheap. Opening the box there also lets me choose what wrapper color I want.

 

[jepe]

Return postage is not cheap. Opening the box there also lets me choose what wrapper color I want.

But there is no different wrappers in CC.
When I buy RyJ for example there isn't maduro or natural for example,
or maybe I didn't understand you properly.

 

[Johnny-O!]

Cigars could be opened as much as 3-4 times for inspection at different stages on the island, but they will be re-sealed. It is customary that a retailer on the island let a potential customer open a box to inspect it. They have the materials to re-seal it. However, they would frown upon the idea of one sitting down on the floor with 50 boxes opening all of them just to cherry pick one (I have seen this). One box I never bothered to inspect was the HUp, as these have additional stickers that the other lines will not use. It is possible that after inspection the boxes were not re-sealed for many reasons, but if your retailer is blaming the "factory" they should be re-sealed. John

 

[Johnny-O!]

Jepe...Indyrob meant to say he could choose from "dark and oily colored wrapper" or a "dry claro wrapper". John

 

[indyrob]

Jepe...Indyrob meant to say he could choose from "dark and oily colored wrapper" or a "dry claro wrapper". John

That's what I menat. I like certian cigars with a nice colorado (cazadors) while others with a lighter claro wrapper(anything Du).

 

[Smok'em]

The way I read the question is that a customer is questioning a retailer why a box has been opened. If the retailer does this for you and you want them to inspect fine, but the response sounds like that's how the retailer received them and this I don't understand. If opened at the factory, I've always thought they are resealed.

 

[cigar smoke]

All Cuban cigars are sealed at the factory. When cigars are stored by Habanos S.A. at their warehouse it is common that qualiy control reopens certain boxes at their descretion. They are also resealed.

In this particular case it is more likely that the vendor opened this box and not recieved that way(although nothing is impossible when it comes to Cuba) As been stated, some people prefer the box be opened for inspection, this way there is no surprises by the buyer regarding tobacco beatles, wrapper color etc. It is costly and time consuming to have to return a box because of these issues.

Bob

 

[dagoR6]

As I understand the question, you received a box (what serial number?) that had the tax seal cut and the habanos stickers as well, i.e. someone had opened it and just closed the box back up. When you asked your vendor the vendor said: "They do this in Cuba for QC."

The way I read that statement is that the vendor was indicating to you that they did not open the box.

Which leads us back to the idea that they opened it in Cuba for QC, sent it open to the vendor and then on to you, which as I understand it would be patently false. Let me explain, while Cuba is a country of ever-amazing levels of inconsistency, any inspection at the factory would simply result in the old tax label being pulled and a new one placed on. Habanos does however inspect boxes at random. For these boxes they reseal with a new tax label that has a special letter series, denoting the obvious fact that Habanos sealed it, not the factory.

Some vendors open boxes, this is okay if you want them to inspect for quality and of course trust them beyond doubt. Personally I prefer sealed boxes. The email from the vendor sounds like he didn't open them and further wants you to somehow believe that Cubans don't immediately reseal the boxes with new tax labels (factory) or special tax labels (Habanos.) They would almost certainly no better than that.

 

[jepe]

The box code is:GEA MAR.08
The number on the seal is:IP 670775

So,basically what he said was a lie.
If he said he opened the box for inspection then it could be true.
But as I understand,all boxes even if
they are opened for inspection must be resealed.

I really don't now how to take it from here or if I'll continue doing business with him.

 

[drew_goring]

The box code is:GEA MAR.08
The number on the seal is:IP 670775

So,basically what he said was a lie.
If he said he opened the box for inspection then it could be true.
But as I understand,all boxes even if
they are opened for inspection must be resealed.

I really don't now how to take it from here or if I'll continue doing business with him.

Don't know if I would go that far. Stranger things have been known to come out of Cuba.

 

[dagoR6]

The box code is:GEA MAR.08
The number on the seal is:IP 670775

So,basically what he said was a lie.
If he said he opened the box for inspection then it could be true.
But as I understand,all boxes even if
they are opened for inspection must be resealed.

I really don't now how to take it from here or if I'll continue doing business with him.

By all means, strange things come out of cuba! It's kind of thin. The serial number IP whatever is pretty normal for this time of year, iirc XY is the correct number for a box inspected by Habanos.

i.e. the box has the serial number IP670775, Habanos opens it for a little check up. When done they seal it up again with a new tax stamp that says XY-123456

I couldn't remember the code for a re-sealed box, found this under search:

http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/index.php?...mp;hl=Tax+stamp

 

[Gonz]

Has anyone considered that vendors of Cuban Cigars generally don't speak English as their first language, so there's the possibility of a mis-communication or something lost in translation?

 

[Smok'em]

The box code is:GEA MAR.08
The number on the seal is:IP 670775

So,basically what he said was a lie.
If he said he opened the box for inspection then it could be true.
But as I understand,all boxes even if
they are opened for inspection must be resealed.

I really don't now how to take it from here or if I'll continue doing business with him.

The most important thing is how well you trust your source and how the cigars smoke. Let's assume everything is okay, if not the answer is easy.

Do you prefer unopened boxes? As stated two school of thoughts on this. I do and always request that, so I would expect a vendor to communicate to me ahead of time if otherwise. I would still consider accepting depending on above.

Does the vendor claim to ship unopen boxes? If they state they inspect, should expect opened boxes. If they claim sealed unopened boxes, I may ask why this box was opened and may challenge what you received. Although I actually received an opened box one time from a trusted source, but since the cigars smoked great I didn't ask. If no claims, good to ask upfront.

Maybe it is a communication thing. If I received a response like you did, I would ask for clarification. If I didn't like the answer, perhaps move on. If would also depend on the answers to the other questions above in determining my future course of action.