Online vendors, the good, the bad and the why.

T.G · 12-22-2018, 09:26 AM

I'm seeing some new members on here who are not only new to the forum but new to cigars and after some comments in another thread about a certain vendor, rather than threadjack Keith's thread, I'd start the discussion over here on vendors to maybe help some of the newer people out.

Ideally, those of us who have been around can help out with not only the good and bad vendors, but why they are what they are.

"I'll do the stupid thing first then all you shy people can follow." --FZ

The good:

JR Cigars - Can't say enough good things about this company. They ship fast, the cigars are fresh, the CS department works weekends and when there is an issue, there are no photographs to send, no quibbling - 2 minutes on the phone and just *snap* issue resolved, new stuff is on the way to you. JR Plus Membership is pretty wonderful, $35 for a year of free shipping, that's like 3 or 4 orders and it's paid for. Not only do they ship to APO/FPO, they offer an automatic 10% off for anything going to an APO/FPO address (Military with non-APO/FPO and public safety - Police, Fire, EMS can get the same discount, details are on their site). I spend a few thousand a year there having cigars direct shipped to deployed military units and I've never heard a complaint from the guys I ship to.

CigarPage - This is Keith and John (the personality formerly known as "Gonz"), the original founders of Cigars International. They started CP after the acquisition of CI by Swedish Match. I haven't used them in a while for troop purchases, but they were pretty good. There was one incident when they sent me 12 beetle hole ridden boxes, then replaced them with another round of beetle hole ridden boxes because the person inspecting them didn't know what to look for, but they made good on it with a full credit plus bonus points for their reward program. In fairness to them, the cigars were probably gnawed on long before they got them into their inventory, and supposedly, they are using my photos as training now.

Neptune Cigars - Great selection of singles, expansive high end selection, some of the best packing and care of singles in shipping that I've seen, and they are fast. I've gotten shipping notices on Sunday from them. I don't smoke many NC cigars these days, but most of them are from Neptune. A bit higher pricing, but worth it to me.

Tampa Sweethearts - I haven't bought from them in forever, but they were always solid. They are the Fuente family, 1st cousins IIRC, to the Fuente's who are A. Fuente cigars. Same level of care and passion.

Famous - Again, haven't used them in forever, but they were always solid.

The Meh

Cigars International, Cigar.com - Meh. Ever since that colossal frack up a few years ago with their shipping and billing systems, I've never been back. Nothing personal, just not worth the effort. Seems like half the cigars in their catalog now are "brands" they own - more like they are just buying containers of cigars that were rolled on spec by some small outfit and slapping labels on them. If you search the patent and trademark database, the number of brands they own the rights to is staggering. It's like they have become a clearing house for mediocrity. And their auction site, Cigarbid, has become the clearing house for the clearing house.

The Bad

Thompsons - Garbage cigars, crap service they inundate you with junk mail and have been known to sell their customer database list to telemarketers. So you spam marketing calls galore.

12-22-2018, 09:26 AM	#1
T.G Grrrrrr Join Date: Mar 2009 First Name: The Other Adam Posts: 15,543 Trading: (37)	Online vendors, the good, the bad and the why. I'm seeing some new members on here who are not only new to the forum but new to cigars and after some comments in another thread about a certain vendor, rather than threadjack Keith's thread, I'd start the discussion over here on vendors to maybe help some of the newer people out. Ideally, those of us who have been around can help out with not only the good and bad vendors, but why they are what they are. "I'll do the stupid thing first then all you shy people can follow." --FZ The good: JR Cigars - Can't say enough good things about this company. They ship fast, the cigars are fresh, the CS department works weekends and when there is an issue, there are no photographs to send, no quibbling - 2 minutes on the phone and just snap issue resolved, new stuff is on the way to you. JR Plus Membership is pretty wonderful, $35 for a year of free shipping, that's like 3 or 4 orders and it's paid for. Not only do they ship to APO/FPO, they offer an automatic 10% off for anything going to an APO/FPO address (Military with non-APO/FPO and public safety - Police, Fire, EMS can get the same discount, details are on their site). I spend a few thousand a year there having cigars direct shipped to deployed military units and I've never heard a complaint from the guys I ship to. CigarPage - This is Keith and John (the personality formerly known as "Gonz"), the original founders of Cigars International. They started CP after the acquisition of CI by Swedish Match. I haven't used them in a while for troop purchases, but they were pretty good. There was one incident when they sent me 12 beetle hole ridden boxes, then replaced them with another round of beetle hole ridden boxes because the person inspecting them didn't know what to look for, but they made good on it with a full credit plus bonus points for their reward program. In fairness to them, the cigars were probably gnawed on long before they got them into their inventory, and supposedly, they are using my photos as training now. Neptune Cigars - Great selection of singles, expansive high end selection, some of the best packing and care of singles in shipping that I've seen, and they are fast. I've gotten shipping notices on Sunday from them. I don't smoke many NC cigars these days, but most of them are from Neptune. A bit higher pricing, but worth it to me. Tampa Sweethearts - I haven't bought from them in forever, but they were always solid. They are the Fuente family, 1st cousins IIRC, to the Fuente's who are A. Fuente cigars. Same level of care and passion. Famous - Again, haven't used them in forever, but they were always solid. The Meh Cigars International, Cigar.com - Meh. Ever since that colossal frack up a few years ago with their shipping and billing systems, I've never been back. Nothing personal, just not worth the effort. Seems like half the cigars in their catalog now are "brands" they own - more like they are just buying containers of cigars that were rolled on spec by some small outfit and slapping labels on them. If you search the patent and trademark database, the number of brands they own the rights to is staggering. It's like they have become a clearing house for mediocrity. And their auction site, Cigarbid, has become the clearing house for the clearing house. The Bad Thompsons - Garbage cigars, crap service they inundate you with junk mail and have been known to sell their customer database list to telemarketers. So you spam marketing calls galore.