I'm new btw, my name is Joe Gilmore, I'm from Indiana. Nice to meet you all.
Anyway, just wondering what your biggest peeve is with retailers, or what you love about them/yours.
Online: Mine has to be bubble wrap and cheap packaging.
Brick&Mortar: I hate when owners let their friends/family who could care less about cigars run the shop for the day.
welcome fellow hoosier. whereabouts in Indiana are you? my biggest complaint about the local B&M is selection and the guy can be a big douche to younger enthusiasts.
Welcome from Kansas.
My one complaint about ordering online is that I can't touch the bundle or get a close look at the sticks to see how well made they are.
At the B&M, it would be that there was a really cool guy working one day and he hasn't been there for any of my other visits. He seemed happy to have someone to talk to who knew about cigars.
online: no pet peeves
B&M: NY taxes
Welcome to the boards.
Welcome from south Louisiana.
Online would be you can see the actual sticks you are buying.
B&M would be, only one close to me doesn't have a place to smoke and always cluttered.
Rich
I hate going to the B&M and having to deal with people who work there not knowing a damn thing about cigars. I don't mesn the guys who think they know about cigars but are really just big douchebags, although they chap my ass too. I'm talking about the people who work there and you ask their opinion about a new ciagr that came out or something and they respond with "oh well I really don't smoke cigars." Well what the fuck are you doing in a cigar shop then?
Online it would be the fact that you can't actually look at the cigars in person before buying.
Online: I'd have to say waiting for them to ship and not knowing what you might really be getting. The possibility of fakes or damaged goods from poor packing or crappy parcel handlers. I'd definitely have to say bargain hunting is the best since everything is a click away and no shipping for out of state retailers.
B&M: Looking through large selection of cigars gets overwhelming. I've caught myself daydreaming in a humidor for over 30 minutes about all the possibilities :smiley16:. CA tax sucks and usually a lot of B&Ms charge an arm and a leg. Best part about B&Ms are instant gratification. You buy it and walk out with it in your hand and possibly smoke it in their non-membership lounge.
Online Retailers: Can't see the product before buying. If you have issues with what you bought, more hassle to return it to be replaced or for a refund.
B&M: Someone who doesn't know much about cigars, trying to sell you a certain cigar. Some B&Ms only have 1-2 chairs, so most who come to smoke during the winter, it gets pretty full. Selection is limited compared to some online retailer.
Online - If you only want to try one stick of a certain line it will cost as much as a B&M after shipping so it doesn't make sense and you end up buying a 5'er and risking not liking them.
B&M - I'm a younger guy and I always get the "who the F&%$ are you and why are you here?" look when I walk into certain B&M's or they just don't greet me or talk to me.
Welcome.
Online: No instant gratification. Paying Shipping and Handling.
B&M: 1) Having a employee on my ass int he humidor and trying to share my air. 2) Poorly designed lounges.
Well I have yet do do any mail ordering as far as B&M I have no complaints I hang out there 3 or 4 times a week for several hours we usally play texas hold em or oamha. :smiley4:
Online: Ditto on the inability to see the product and the waiting
B&M: With the smoking ban in WA, I can't smoke in the store and now most of the good ones have closed.
As an online retailer AND a B&M owner, I find this discussion enlightening. For me it would be:
Online: waiting for my sticks to arrive
B&Ms: ones where they baby me because I'm a woman, and ones with very few seating options or ugly design.
Online: Being sent the wrong cigar, you order a Maduro and the Natural wrapper shows up.
B&M: This is a pet peeve of mine as well as many other people I know, going into a B&M and the regular guys who are always there making you feel like your invading their space. I know of a few places where the regulars dominate a certain area in the lounge and make any outsider very unwelcomed.