Maduro Fuente Fuente opus x and opus sharks?

Originally Posted by montecristo#2

Wow - so did Drew actually visit the store? Did the owner say anything about them stopping by to check out the cigars?

Well lets put a little perspective here. The newmans are all based out of tampa so when i contacted drew by email he contacted the local rep (i'm assuming they see a lot of each other). the local rep (mike, who i've never met but know because of all the shop owners calling him all the time) went to the shop to investigate. drew then communicated it back to me that they were fake. today i went to the shop and got my money back, while the owner was cussing me out and threw the money back in my face. I did contact mike (the local FN rep) and let him know about my experience. he expressed his disapproval of their behavior but he cannot talk about what their consequences were for them.

this place was an authorized fuente dealer and authorized opus x dealer. since the owner banned me from their stores i won't be able to go in there to find out what happens in the long run. thankfully i'm sure that some of the other people from our area who have already PM'd me about this shop will drop in and check in on them from time to time.

at the very least i hope that the people who were ripped off got their money back.

[T.G]

True, but how far down the line does this vendors Faux X supply go?

Some of us buy regular production Opus X cigars from out of state due to the ridiculous taxes incurred when buying locally.

[Brooks W]

I am not sure I would believe that a store has an Opus Maduro anyway, never mind 20 of them...there are only like 300 known to exist of each size (as far as I know, and I am obviously talking about the ones that were not sold commercially, like the xXx Maduro)...And they are worth quite a bit more then $25 each...

~brooks

Originally Posted by Brooks W

And they are worth quite a bit more then $25 each...

~brooks

true but the shops that usually get these kind of things are gifted them and can charge what they feel like. i see where you are coming from. either way these shops need to be reported.

i feel really bad about the guys who were taken by this shop, i was contacted by a few locals who had bought some stuff. i really hope they got their money back.

[bobarian]

Thanks for bringing this fraud to light. I personally do not need the source as I dont buy Opus or Anejo's. But its always good to bring these things out. How a legitimate dealer would feel the need to increase his profit by dealing in counterfeit's is beyond my comprehension.

[neoflex]

Originally Posted by bobarian

Thanks for bringing this fraud to light. How a legitimate dealer would feel the need to increase his profit by dealing in counterfeit's is beyond my comprehension.

This is my thought especially since you have all the big wigs of the manufacturer right in your backyard. His greed definitely got the best of him because I would hope that Fuente would no longer make him a dealer let alone an official Opus retailer.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by neoflex

This is my thought especially since you have all the big wigs of the manufacturer right in your backyard. His greed definitely got the best of him because I would hope that Fuente would no longer make him a dealer let alone an official Opus retailer.

That's what I thought too. This guy has got to be incredibly stupid and/or greedy to risk his his good standing with Fuente by selling fakes.

Originally Posted by neoflex

This is my thought especially since you have all the big wigs of the manufacturer right in your backyard. His greed definitely got the best of him because I would hope that Fuente would no longer make him a dealer let alone an official Opus retailer.

it's too bad that they won't discuss what they are doing about the situation.

I will be in Tampa in three weeks and would LOVE to know where to go to get my Maduro Opus cigars for Gasparilla.

Originally Posted by DougBushBC

I will be in Tampa in three weeks and would LOVE to know where to go to get my Maduro Opus cigars for Gasparilla.

ROFL. no offense but did you read the thread?

[68TriShield]

Originally Posted by barbourjay

ROFL. no offense but did you read the thread?

oops

Originally Posted by barbourjay

ROFL. no offense but did you read the thread?

Yea man I have been involved it was a sarcastic joke.

just to update. the owner has taken it upon himself to try to slander me. kind of funny how i'm the one who got ripped off and he is attacking me. shows how shady he really is.

[rizzle]

Originally Posted by DougBushBC

I will be in Tampa in three weeks and would LOVE to know where to go to get my Maduro Opus cigars for Gasparilla.

One of my favorite "holidays".

if anyone else has had dealings with the B&M that seem shady please email drew@cigarfamily.com

if they sold enough there could be felony charges associated with it. at the very least PM me to discuss what happened.

[icantbejon]

I asked about NC fakes not too long ago and I was basically told via this forum that they don't really exist as a problem. I found it hard to believe then, for basically this reason right here. Some of the rare expensive stuff sells for way more than the average CC. I would think there would be a hell of a market for a forged rare Padron. Sorry you had this experience Jay, but glad you got your money back.

[JJG]

I've asked about NC fakes too, having never heard them discussed much until now, and from the pictures, those Opus bands look pretty damn good. so I'm curious. Do you think they actually had those printed, or are they legit bands acquired through not so legit means? I don't know much about printing but those look fairly sophisticated, definitely not a home job.

If they were printed, I would think that should be cause for real concern, because whoever made these is clearly capable of producing believable counterfeits.

not to mention that a cigar like the shark is not an easy cigar to make. everything about these look good at first glance! scary!!

[montecristo#2]

It is pretty easy to remove opusX bands from cigars. The bands are so think, they usually come off pretty easily for me without tearing. A little hot air would probably make them come off even easier. So the bands could be legit, just not the cigars.

[neoflex]

For all we know the problem could be deeper rooted than just a local B&M. Like Only Fuentes mentioned, the Shark is not your run of the mill roll so for all we know it could be someone in the Fuente factory or an ex employee of the Fuentes creating these fakes. If this were the case I would be curious to see if they are sneaking out tobacco and using the same tobacco for the fakes and if in fact they taste the same or even similar for that matter. I highly doubt it but I would be curious to know what the deal is on these. Wasn't there an issue with fake BBMFs making their way around last year too, especially on Ebay? Again, not an easy cigar to fake. I guess just like CCs the more rare NCs should be inspected for authenticity just the same except in this case you can't even trust the authorized dealer.