A few weeks ago when Tower Cigar was running a great sale I ordered a box of Illusione 2s and a box of Tatuaje Havana VI Artistas from them. They showed up promptly and well packed but when I opened the boxes I found some issues. Although the wood box looked perfect, at least a third of the Illusiones had significant cap and upper wrapper damage, as if the box had been tossed around pretty roughly. I smoked a few of the damaged ones (thinking I would let the good ones lie for a while) and, while it wasn’t a totally pleasant experience with the wrappers unraveling a bit, the cigars were otherwise good.
And the Tatuajes were horrendous. The box had not been properly built at the factory and one of the hinges was tucked under the lid, leaving a significant air gap. The cigars were dry to the point of being unsmokeable. I was bummed but figured I would try to slowly re-humidify and see what happened in a month or two.
I had been super busy around then and didn’t get around to contacting Tower for over a week after I got their shipment and by that point I had smoked a few of each brand. I emailed a rundown of what I had found as sort of an FYI to Tower. Since I had smoked some of the cigars and so much time had passed since the order, I didn’t even ask for anything. I didn't want to come off like I was scamming them but I did want them to be aware of the issues, particularly with the Illuiones since it looked like shipping damage and I thought he could have other boxes like that. I figured I would make the best of it and have better luck next time.
Mark emailed me back within a few hours asking me to send the remainder back for immediate replacement. Before I could respond to the email, he called me to say that it was unacceptable to him that I was unsatisfied with my order. He asked me to pack up what was left and return them and told me not to worry about the ones I had smoked. Beyond that, he told me he would get my replacements in the mail immediately and that he would inspect and pack them himself to make sure they were in good shape. Now get this: he told me he would send them out BEFORE he got my originals back. I had never done business with him before – he didn’t know me from Adam. And yet he insisted that we do it this way so that I had quality cigars in my possession as quickly as possible.
To me, that is customer service waaaay above and beyond. I’ll also mention that after we had taken care of the nitty gritty details of the exchange, we chatted for another 30 minutes about cigars in general and had a fine talk. He's a heck of a nice guy.
Mark, thanks for everything, I really appreciate your efforts. I am more than satisfied and the replacement cigars are perfect – and damn tasty!
- Tim
And the Tatuajes were horrendous. The box had not been properly built at the factory and one of the hinges was tucked under the lid, leaving a significant air gap. The cigars were dry to the point of being unsmokeable. I was bummed but figured I would try to slowly re-humidify and see what happened in a month or two.
I had been super busy around then and didn’t get around to contacting Tower for over a week after I got their shipment and by that point I had smoked a few of each brand. I emailed a rundown of what I had found as sort of an FYI to Tower. Since I had smoked some of the cigars and so much time had passed since the order, I didn’t even ask for anything. I didn't want to come off like I was scamming them but I did want them to be aware of the issues, particularly with the Illuiones since it looked like shipping damage and I thought he could have other boxes like that. I figured I would make the best of it and have better luck next time.
Mark emailed me back within a few hours asking me to send the remainder back for immediate replacement. Before I could respond to the email, he called me to say that it was unacceptable to him that I was unsatisfied with my order. He asked me to pack up what was left and return them and told me not to worry about the ones I had smoked. Beyond that, he told me he would get my replacements in the mail immediately and that he would inspect and pack them himself to make sure they were in good shape. Now get this: he told me he would send them out BEFORE he got my originals back. I had never done business with him before – he didn’t know me from Adam. And yet he insisted that we do it this way so that I had quality cigars in my possession as quickly as possible.
To me, that is customer service waaaay above and beyond. I’ll also mention that after we had taken care of the nitty gritty details of the exchange, we chatted for another 30 minutes about cigars in general and had a fine talk. He's a heck of a nice guy.
Mark, thanks for everything, I really appreciate your efforts. I am more than satisfied and the replacement cigars are perfect – and damn tasty!
- Tim
