Cigars International

Not a cigar review, but a company review for anyone searching in the future.

Its Friday, looking forward to a weekend of good company and friends... Long story short, Cigars International forgot half of my order that I had shipped 2nd day air (I live in Cali). Oh, and as the gods have it, they are all the sticks I really wanted to smoke this weekend. When I called cust. service asking about my order, I was told that "we have new people training in the wherehouse and a lot of other people have had the same thing happening". Wow, not a good sign nor a good excuse. I understand maybe a stick missing from some singles, sh!t happens but half an order!!! (aprox. 15 sticks!). The cust. service lady offered to send me the rest, but they cant ship until monday :smiley7: Whatever, so I asked what day they would arrive and then she said they will come 5-7 business days. I pointed out that I had paid for 2nd day air shipping originally so they should come 2nd day, she replied "Oh, thats right... ok." Wow, not sharp but thank goodness I asked how long they would take to get here!!! So with that settled, half my order MIA until next week and no offer to better the situation for a first time buyer, I say: DONT BUY from CI!!!

P.S. I left a call with a supervisor trying to see whats going on and allow CI a chance to better the situation and depending on what she can do, perhaps I will upgrade CI from DONT BUY to MAYBE or BUY if great price. Will update this later, have a good weekend and smoke for me and my MIA cigars!

UPDATE: Well after waiting 3 1/2 hours for their supervisor to call me back I decided to try calling one more time. Talked to a lovely lady there (lots of women there... could be reason for messup?? Haha, j.k. ladies) Sooo, after some discussion, Im getting everything plus a 6 sampler of Gurkahs. Overall, I am a little upset with some of their reps but it happens with big internet retailers but at least they made up for it. Recomendation from dont buy upgraded to BUY if you get a good deal.

I have never ordered Cigars. I always like to personally see/inspect everything I buy.

Also every Cigar I have ever wanted to purchase that I see online I can get for the same price or less in a store locally.

Hearing this doesn't make me feel any better about ordering online. I hope some people can chime in and say this is not normal.

Guado, I only wish I could do that (have a nice selection at a local B&M for even close to on-line prices).

Refer to my post almost 2 weeks ago about cigar prices in Montreal!!!

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Originally Posted by Newfie

Guado, I only wish I could do that (have a nice selection at a local B&M for even close to on-line prices).

Refer to my post almost 2 weeks ago about cigar prices in Montreal!!!

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Good God I feel sorry for you.

Fuente 858's =$3.75, I saw them for $5.10 the other day and thought to myself "what a ripoff."

Opus X from $10-18 for the common sizes same for the Diamond crown Maximus. Actually going to the cigar shop less than a mile from my house tonight and getting one for $10 since my humidor is not with me today.

I guess being in Tampa, FL does have some perks...when your house is not being eaten by termites, being blown away by hurricanes, or just flooding in general. :smiley2:

I used to order from CI on a pretty regular basis. I felt like I was getting good service and cigars at pretty good price. Lately, though, their prices seem to have crept up when compared to some of the other outlets. I never did have a service problem with them, though. But then I'm on the 'right' coast.

CA is almost as bad as Canada for prices. I only buy a few singles from the B&M here, to test before ordering a box.

As far as CI... I order from them on occassion. I had a problem similar to yours a while back, the CS person I spoke to immediately offered to ship next day, free of charge.

I use a lot of different online stores, which one depends on cost+service. CI hasn't done anything to lose my business, yet.

Customer service from large mail order companies is notoriously marginal. Even JR cigars. I had a really moldy Upmann tubo in an order once. They wouldn't send out a replacement, only refund me a little less than $3. They're fully aware that you shop them for price. You want customer service and guaranteed primo product? Shop your local B&M stores.

Well, it's not all bad. Cigars in transit usually need to rest for a week or two in the humi anyway to even out and adjust. But, I've had good experience with Cigar International Customer Service, I had some Paddy 1926's show up damaged, they said keep 'em and we'll send some new ones. They were damaged, but not beyond smokable.

UPDATED in original post!

CI sucks ass bigtime .

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Originally Posted by kevin7

CI sucks ass bigtime .

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Jeezuz Kev, you're always so vague!:smiley17:

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Originally Posted by Newfie

Jeezuz Kev, you're always so vague!:smiley17:

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:smiley36: Yeah! Always sugar coating things and never saying how he really feels!

For me, mail order is the only wat to go. Getting anything here is just throwing away your money. AAFES (Military version of wallmart)...stocks a small glass case w/ cigars in it. The humidor is not kept up, and they only sell Cuesta Ray. Usually they have a couple of tubos, which is at least a better gamble of being decent, rather than the rest that are dried out. So long story short....gotta mail order.

Lately the wife and I are trying to pay off our debts, with money from my deployment, so I am bargin shopping. Usually frequent; Cb:smiley15: , JR's, and CI (just to compare Cb).

I love JR's, but hate the extra money they charge me to ship to APO addresses. The USPS has tried to put out information to businesses that confirms shipping to APO's the same as shipping to NYC, but for some reason, they still charge military addresses extra....

Okay, off my soap box, mail order is not all bad, but I would much rather prefer walking into a B&M and selecting my ware's.

That's really too bad. The first and only time I've ordered from CI was the 8 pack sampler for $15 shipped. No problems here. At least you got something free out of it, of course at your expense though. :smiley1:

The few times I've ordered from CI I've had not problems. I've had great service from CBid too, and I beleive they are operated from the same company. I'm say if your new and looking for a place, to try them out. Its worth a try. But there is no substitue for your B&M, unless its a government knock off of Walmart in the extreme and arid enviroment of some far of place.