I've ordered from
NiceAshCigars.com a couple of times and had no complaints. This week they did me wrong.
On December 17 I received an email from
Smoky@niceashcigars.com announcing that they'd received Nestor Miranda Art Deco cigars and were offering a special. I've been interested in trying these and clicked through the ad to the site. The price was very good, so I placed an order. The order, specifically stating that it was for a box of 21 and setting out the price, was confirmed that same day and I have a copy of an invoice dated December 17 telling me that the order was being shipped by UPS ground.
I didn't receive any deliveries from NiceAshCigars before Christmas, but I figured that the holiday was to blame. Then the blizzard hit the northeast, so I waited until Tuesday, Dec 28 before contacting them through their website contact us form. I referenced my invoice number and asked them to provide me with the tracking number for the shipment so I could see where it was.
No response.
So a day later I sent an email to the email address that had sent me the invoice. Again, I explained the situation. Here's my email:
In a message dated 12/30/2010 3:31:47 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, ******@yahoo.com writes:
"Hi. I placed this order two weeks ago and I haven't received it yet. I submitted a message through your contact us page on the website but haven't received a response. Could you please provide me with the tracking number?
Thanks.
Edward"
Here's the response from NiceAshCigars (sent from an
aol.com address):
"Edward,
I'm afraid that we are currently out of stock of these cigars and that the price on our web page was incorrect when you placed your order, It has been fixed. I am sorry that no one got back to you about this. Your order has been placed on backorder."
Out of stock? It's currently available on the website.
http://www.niceashcigars.com/Brands/705/NestorMirandaArtDeco.aspx Something seems fishy here. But maybe the website isn't fully up to date with real time inventory. So I wrote back:
"Thanks for your response, although I'm not at all sure it addresses my concern. My order was confirmed, as evidenced by the invoice below, and the product was displayed on your website as available for several days after my order was confirmed.
I'm willing to wait and have you put my order on backorder, assuming you'll honor the price that you confirmed in the invoice. Please confirm.
Thanks, and happy new year.
Edward"
I got the following response:
"I'm afraid that we could not sell the box to you for $[the price on the invoice]. We could sell it to you for $**** [a price quite a bit higher than the price on my invoice] but no less."
So now it's clear: although they sent me an email proclaiming the availability of these cigars, and although they confirmed my purchase at the price on their website, they won't honor that price. But they don't tell me until I inquire about the order, and then they give me a BS line that the produce is "on backorder" when it's listed as available on their site even today.
I get it -- mistakes happen. But own up to your mistakes and treat the customer right. Don't ignore me, hope I'll forget about the order, and then lie to me about the product not being available.
I'm done dealing with this vendor. If they'd honored their price -- again, confirmed in an invoice! -- they might have lost what, maybe $25 on the box of cigars? But they'd have kept a customer, and I would have told you all about how they were stand up folks.
Caveat emptor if you're buying from NiceAshCigars. Be aware, too, that this is the same outfit that runs
cigarsatyourprice.com, and here they reneged on a deal for cigars at THEIR price.