I have tried in the past to order from them. Three orders, three boxes of dried out prune like cigars. Outtler leaf peeling off, that bad. Complained abou it, and they sent me a 5 pack of undesirables for my trouble. Once I can forgive, three times, and they are NOW OUT. My primary now is HotAsh, followed by Cigars International. Have never been disappointed with the cigars nor the delivery. Just a point of interest.
Join the long and distinguished list of unhappy customers who have tried and left this vendor. They pretty much bring it upon themselves in the way they do business because it is "spotty" at best and once you deal with them they are like a mosquito bite that just irritates you and every time you scratch at it...more inflammation. Not everybody hates them...they do have their customer base and it's usually those who are just getting into the cigar hobby and they make it look very cheap and easy to buy from them but for those who are savvy enough to see thru the proverbial smoke you see a business that runs much like those that run it from their garages. ( I know they are a big business but they run it like what they promise you today is forgotten by tomorrow)
Every once in awhile they will put out some deals that are pretty decent but beware of the "hook" they have. Once on their mailiing list ( don't give em your phone number) they will hound you for quite awhile.
I have never ordered from them simply because their deals never seem like quite a deal for me. I usually can find a better price either online or at a local B&M. I still get their catalog, but that rarely changes enough to get me excited about anything.
I've been doing business with Thompson, among other vendirs, for roughly 20 months, and, except for a couple of uninvited and unanswered phone calls from their telemarketing folk, I've never had a problem.
For instance, 10 days ago, I bought a box of 24 Oliva 'Serie' V Torpedoes from their auction site for $115; the box arrived Friday; and, as with everything I've purchased from Thompson, the merchandise was as advertized.
Yeah, I have to defend Thompson's--their auctions, anyway. I've bought from them at least 7-8 times in the last year with no problems. Speaking of Oliva V's, I got a box of the Double Robustos for $94 on their auction last year. It looks like starting bids have gone up, though.
You can get the Oliva V double robusto from slippery rock for $95.95 without the auction hassle. They have boxes of Belicoso for the same price. Best deal I see anywhere.
I was part of that customer base but after I emailed them about two totally different orders I recieved from them, bot h of which had beatles in them and their lack of interest on the subject, I gave up on them.
Never bought from them, but a well meaning colleague gave me a bundle of their house cigars about 7 years ago. Only good news about them is that I think they are gone. A lousy cigar.
15 years ago I lived in Tennessee, and I would buy from Thompson occasionally. They used to tour around in a bus that was converted into a smoking lounge. They also make some great deals right at the bus. Got my first 100 count humidor from them for $30 + some cigars from them.
But then I realized that they were pushing a lot more house brands, and JR and Mikes were offering much better deals on premiums, so I drifted away. (Remember, this was 15 years ago...There was no "internet" ordering. You looked at the glossy cigar porn mags and ordered by phone. And the phone had a cord! You could also go into any mall and find a local Tinderbox, pick your stick and go out into the mall and enjoy it.)
TODAY there are many more choices with terrific online merchants, and I check the Thompson and Tinderbox sites occasionally, but do not find there deals compelling. :confused:
That doesn't sound very good. Based on what I've seen they look like a very reliable company. Sorry to hear that your cigars were bad, and your service was poor.
I've never ordered from Thompson, but I have ordered from BestCigarPrices.com. I've been happy with their service. I also found that when comparing prices on the same cigars that BestCigarPrices.com had much better pricing.
One thing I've noticed about their auction site - there are a lot more auctions, but almost every one of them has a VERY high starting bid. The deals I've been getting in the past are few and far between :cry:
However, I was watching a box of Tatuaje Havana VI Almirantes the other day, but I got busy and didn't put in a bid. Some joker won the box for $80!
nwb
I have actually bought 5 humidors from them and been pretty happy with them for the price. The cigars however... What I have found interesting is that every time I have bought a humidor from them it is less expensive to buy a humidor cigar combo than the humidor alone. I have a couple of their 35 count humidors from them that I use to separate out brands (currently Gurkha and Man O' War) and they have sold a couple unique 100 count humidors. So if you are in the market for a mid size humidor, you can buy a combo from them, get a usable humidor and 20 sticks to light fireworks with. Just try to avoid breathing any of the smoke.
Their auction site is straaaaaaaaaaange. I bought a sealed box of 2005 Camacho Liberty's off of it last year - very strange that it was there; the 2005 Liberty is believed to be the best year of the series, so in 2009 a sealed box of 2005's is unheard of. They could have easily sold it for 3X what I won the auction for; it would have sold for MUCH higher on Cbid. The plastic wrap had drywall dust on it. I'd bet whoever found it and put it up for auction had no idea what it was worth. How do you run a business and not savvy the market? Go figure.......
Quotewescat - 6/29/2010 6:59 PM
Their auction site is straaaaaaaaaaange. I bought a sealed box of 2005 Camacho Liberty's off of it last year - very strange that it was there; the 2005 Liberty is believed to be the best year of the series, so in 2009 a sealed box of 2005's is unheard of. They could have easily sold it for 3X what I won the auction for; it would have sold for MUCH higher on Cbid. The plastic wrap had drywall dust on it. I'd bet whoever found it and put it up for auction had no idea what it was worth. How do you run a business and not savvy the market? Go figure.......
Nice score! Wish I would come across a box of the '05... :sad:
Quotenwb - 6/29/2010 6:54 PM
Quotewescat - 6/29/2010 6:59 PM
Their auction site is straaaaaaaaaaange. I bought a sealed box of 2005 Camacho Liberty's off of it last year - very strange that it was there; the 2005 Liberty is believed to be the best year of the series, so in 2009 a sealed box of 2005's is unheard of. They could have easily sold it for 3X what I won the auction for; it would have sold for MUCH higher on Cbid. The plastic wrap had drywall dust on it. I'd bet whoever found it and put it up for auction had no idea what it was worth. How do you run a business and not savvy the market? Go figure.......
Nice score! Wish I would come across a box of the '05... :sad:
Nathan, want some 2007's @ $7/stick? Check this out: http://www.atlanticcigar.com/comacho.html
Here's what's in it: http://camachocigars.com/2008/04/29/camacho-signature-blends-executive-traveller-bag-now-shipping/
Thanks for the link, Kevin! If I didn't already have a box of LP#9 on order, I would bite - that is a really good deal.
Quotewescat - 6/29/2010 10:12 AM Nathan, want some 2007's @ $7/stick? Check this out: http://www.atlanticcigar.com/comacho.html Here's what's in it: http://camachocigars.com/2008/04/29/camacho-signature-blends-executive-traveller-bag-now-shipping/
that's quite a deal....that price is about $75 cheaper than the next cheapest place I could find, and about $100 cheaper than most places. I'm gonna bite on this one...
P.S. I will post this in the Hot Deals thread...
There's lots of horror stories about Thompson - quite a few of them have been posted here in other threads like this one. Over many years, I've purchased a few "super" deals from Thompson - the last, a number of months ago, was a box of CAO Criollo Conquisadors in the 2002 original drawers box for $69 with free shipping. A couple months ago, a friend got a similar bargain from Thompson on a box of Comacho Connecticuts. Not sure about their auctions (never tried it).
I dunno... seems to me that whenever one is buying on line one has to be super careful (no touchy-feely -- the ever present element of the unknown) -- almost every on line vendor uses the same tricks as Thompson (i.e., substitutions in samplers), but Thompson seems to do more of it, so I am even more careful when dealing with them. Their telepmarketing doesn't bother me - I got one call when they started doing that, told them to remove me from their call list and they haven't bothered me since.
As for the "beetles," it's an unavoidable part of doing business (this has also be a topic in other threads here). The beetle eggs are in a lot of our cigars -- fact of nature. A lot of the more OCD of us actually freeze all cigars upon receipt - Fridge, Freezer, Fridge, Out - a four day process. Hell if I lived in Texas and my cigar orders were delivered after sitting in a hot UPS truck for a day or three, you bet your ass I'd be freezing every cigar on receipt and then making damn sure the humidor(s) are always in an environment that's well under 75 degrees F. (which is when the beetle eggs hatch into larvae and start munching).
Hot Stuff x - 6/29/2010 9:04 PM
Quotewescat - 6/29/2010 10:12 AM Nathan, want some 2007's @ $7/stick? Check this out: http://www.atlanticcigar.com/comacho.html Here's what's in it: http://camachocigars.com/2008/04/29/camacho-signature-blends-executive-traveller-bag-now-shipping/
that's quite a deal....that price is about $75 cheaper than the next cheapest place I could find, and about $100 cheaper than most places. I'm gonna bite on this one...
P.S. I will post this in the Hot Deals thread...[/QUOTE]
Les, just DO notice that those are not all Liberty's in that case; some "Christian's Blend" some Triple Maduro's etc
Quotewescat - 6/30/2010 10:05 AM Les, just DO notice that those are not all Liberty's in that case; some "Christian's Blend" some Triple Maduro's etc
Yeah, I caught that, thanks...still a good deal IMO.