Andrew has said it several times, and I agree that it can be seen either way. One way is, Ed is absolutely responsible. He approached me here on CP and asked if I wanted in on the GB. I was going to be purchasing these cigars from Ed, even if he was getting them from somewhere else. I was dealing with Ed and Ed alone, period. To me, by his offering and my accepting, there was a meeting of the minds that he would be selling me 100% legitimate goods.
The other way is, I made the mistake of trusting that Ed knew what he was doing. He's been a member here for a little while now, and I've actually had a couple of dealings with him in the past that went well and a few PM exchanges, so I made the assumption that he had already done the due diligence to ensure these cigars were coming from a legitimate source. I made a huge error in judgement and do feel I am somewhat responsible for getting into such a deal. If I don't get the money back, then I have no one but myself to blame.
And yes, Ed did receive all the cigars himself and shipped them out to each of us (at least to me he did). I did ask the question, how did Ed not see immediately what I saw and raise the flag himself? I know Lee received his before I did and again, nothing said. He even does a review of one. And why, when I raised the flag immediately upon receiving said cigars (Anejo), was it not communicated immediately by Ed?
Crazy stuff.