I have had excellent service dealing with Bonita's Smoke Shop and with Cigars international.
I have heard nothing but bad things about Thompson's (including beetle infestations).
Holt's seems pretty decent and my limited experience with Taboo was very good.
What are your experiences (good and bad) with online cigar shops?
I have been very fortunate w/my online dealings. As always, buyer beware. If you do your homework and know your prices it seems to go fairly smooth. The few dealings I have had w/Thompson were just great and the same w/Famous. However, I have been lucky and I have also heard some horror stories.
I've ordered from CI, Cigar.com, JR, and TNT all with no problems. TNT takes longest to get to me because it's in AZ, usually 5 or 6 days. The others get the cigars to me in only a couple of days. Never had a problem with damaged goods and the few questions I've asked have been answered promptly.
Ive never had any problems so far (thank god) in my dealings with online cigar retailers. So far ive purchased from Cigars International (my favorite), Cigars.com, CBid, CigarFox and Famous.
I have had no problems with CI, Cigar.com, Atlantic, Newhavana.com, JR, Leaf and Ale, and a few others that escape my memory right now. :shades:
Anyone have any experiences with Holts?
QuoteJackal - 6/23/2009 6:52 PM
Anyone have any experiences with Holts?
Yes, one order, several of their "6 packs to go." Delivered as promised, on time, in good shape. I'd do business with them again.
The offerings change from time to time, but there are some good deals among those 6pks
http://www.holts.com/category.html?id=201748
And like others I've bought a lot of stuff from CI, JR, Famous, and Atlantic, and I have never had any problems.
Oh I have had good luck with Holt's and Drapers out of D.C. as well. :biggrin:
The only two dealers I've done business with online are CI and CBid. So, really, that's only one. But it's top-notch service and fast delivery.
QuoteJackal - 6/23/2009 3:52 PM
Anyone have any experiences with Holts?
Quality products and quality service. ***** (5 star rating). :shades:
I've order cigars from the following: Cheap Humidors; Tampa Humidor; Thompson; JR Cigar; CI; Cbid; Holts; Mike's; Famous
All of them had good service. The only issues I've had, once with Cbid and once with Mike's I got cigars that were not in cellophane that arrived with damaged wrappers due to poor packaging. Cbid refunded my money, and Mike's sent out replacement cigars (I got to keep the damaged smokes, most of which were still smokeable).
Also Mike's has a tendancy, when delivering a sampler, to substitute some other cigar for the one that is advertised. Sometimes it's a different size in the same line, but I have also seen them swap for different frontmark from the same maker ( I got Camacho Havanas when it was supposed to be Croyolars). Their policy is they reserve the right to make a substitution for equal or higher value. I complained to them about one substitution they made that I felt was a downgrade, and they made it right, so I still order from them.
Overall I've been happy with my online purchases.
I have ordered from:
CI - great
Cigarbid.com - great
Mikes - Very good
Famous - great
Superior - great
Neptune - great
Atlantic - great
TNT - owner was an !"#$% and gave me problems, but since he was charged with having his wife killed and I have had good service since.
Tower - great
Cigar.com - great
I'm pretty close to JR so I get my orders overnight if I place an order by 2 PM, excellent service there. C-Bid is great and I really like TNT as well. Mike's on the other hand, not so much...
QuoteJackal - 6/23/2009 6:52 PM
Anyone have any experiences with Holts?
I've ordered from them several times and have never had a problem.
Actually, I've never had a real issue with any online company, other than a substitution or two. I've ordered from CI, Holts, JR, Thompson, Today's Cigar, Cigar Fox, CVM, Mike's, Famous Smoke Shop, Cigar.com, Luis Martinez, Cheap Humidors, and Humdor Vault. Some are better than others at tracking, but I've never had more than a five day wait.
I've only ordered from CI/Cbid and Cigar.com. I had a beetle outbreak in a box I got from CI last summer, happened less than a week upon arrival... although right now I can't remember what those cigars were...
Still, that was a fluke. I've been happy with those 2 sources and honestly don't do much shopping around...
QuoteJackal - 6/23/2009 6:52 PM
Anyone have any experiences with Holts?
I've bought their Old Henry cigars, made by Don Pepin. They are reliable.
QuoteJackal - 6/23/2009 5:51 PM
I have heard nothing but bad things about Thompson's (including beetle infestations).
Was it from one of my old posts? If not, I repeat that I got stale cigars, one of which was infested. I also got one of my best cigars from them. They sent me a type of Gurkha Ancient Warrior that must have been discontinued that was superb. The ones available now don't compare. I also bought a collection of their very cheap house brands and they all sucked.
Quotejunglepete - 6/24/2009 1:14 AM
I have ordered from:
TNT - owner was an !"#$% and gave me problems, but since he was charged with having his wife
Tell us what happened! I never heard about that!
Quoteljlemer - 6/24/2009 10:09 PM
QuoteJackal - 6/23/2009 5:51 PM
I have heard nothing but bad things about Thompson's (including beetle infestations).
Was it from one of my old posts? If not, I repeat that I got stale cigars, one of which was infested. I also got one of my best cigars from them. They sent me a type of Gurkha Ancient Warrior that must have been discontinued that was superb. The ones available now don't compare. I also bought a collection of their very cheap house brands and they all sucked.
I have seen a lot of negative posts about Thompsons here and on other forums such as puffs. They seem universally hated.
Finck's in Texas makes mostly machine made cigars that are probably among the best machine made cigars, with real leaf wrappers, etc. However they do sell house brands made by the major cigar makers that are long filler and they are cheap and very good. They also sell pipe filters that are dirt cheap. Especially hard to get European sized pipe filters. Cheap! They deserve a look-see, especially for bargain hunters.
Quoteljlemer - 6/25/2009 1:10 AM
Quotejunglepete - 6/24/2009 1:14 AM
I have ordered from:
TNT - owner was an !"#$% and gave me problems, but since he was charged with having his wife
Tell us what happened! I never heard about that!
Larry,
There was a thread on this back a few months ago. Haven't heard any updates on the situation. http://www.cigargeeks.com/index.php?topic=2309.0
Need to add New Havana to the list of excellent people to deal with.
Also Cigarmony for all you accessory needs.