I just wanted to make a post about my experience with Silo Cigars.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this retailer (or any other) in any way.
They had a special a week or so ago and among the goodies offered was a 2004 Fuente Holiday Sampler which contained:
2 Don Carlos Presidente
2 Opus X Perfexcion X
2 Hemingway Signatures
1 858 Maduro
1 858 Natural
2 Anejo 77 Sharks
The price was the same as the MSRP for the 2007 collection and the thought of those cigars with 3 years on them was too much for me so I jumped on it. My order arrived promptly and well packed and the collection was still factory sealed. I was a little tight on space so I planned to open the box, label the sticks, and put them into other boxes of singles already in my humidor.
When I cracked the seal and opened the box, I found trouble. The Humipak had been placed ON the cigars, under the Fuente card and presentation paper and there was mold visible on several cigars. The Hemingways were the worst with little poofs of mold visible here and there over the body and a slight concentration near the foot. The Presidentes were similar and the natural 858 also although not as bad. Curiously, the Anejo and Opus sticks seemed to be clean :thumbs:. None of the cigars was totally covered or clearly destroyed but even so it was a pretty unhappy sight and the potential for a total loss was certainly there. So, I called Silo and left a quick voicemail for Kevin just giving him a heads up on what I found.
There was a voicemail from him on my work phone which was left before I got to the office at 8:30 this morning. When we spoke he was quite apologetic even though I told him it was clear that, since the box was factory sealed, the mold had grown through no fault of his own - it is just the Achilles heel of the Fuente Humipak + plastic wrap packaging. Even so, he said that he felt it was still Silo's responsibility to sell a quality product and so he would be more than happy to take back the affected cigars and replace them.
He stated the obvious, i.e. he didn't happen to have a bunch of 3 year old Presidentes sitting around, but told me he would certainly replace the bad ones with aged comparably aged sticks and if I was interested in that we could discuss suitable substitutes. I thanked him and let him know I was going to remove the cello from the bad ones tonight and give 'em a close look to see if the mold had made its way into the feet. If not, I planned wiping one clean and smoking it to make sure it was still OK. Even though I could here plenty of hustle and bustle in the background, he stayed on the phone for at least 10 minutes, pleasantly talking about all sorts of stuff and when we hung up, we left it at that - if they taste OK, I am OK with the whole thing and if not, he will replace them.
IMO, that's a first rate way to treat a customer: a quick response, taking responsibility, and offering an equitable solution. I am completely impressed. Regardless of whether or not those cigars are smokeable or a moldy write off, I would certainly order from them again.
- Tim
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this retailer (or any other) in any way.
They had a special a week or so ago and among the goodies offered was a 2004 Fuente Holiday Sampler which contained:
2 Don Carlos Presidente
2 Opus X Perfexcion X
2 Hemingway Signatures
1 858 Maduro
1 858 Natural
2 Anejo 77 Sharks
The price was the same as the MSRP for the 2007 collection and the thought of those cigars with 3 years on them was too much for me so I jumped on it. My order arrived promptly and well packed and the collection was still factory sealed. I was a little tight on space so I planned to open the box, label the sticks, and put them into other boxes of singles already in my humidor.
When I cracked the seal and opened the box, I found trouble. The Humipak had been placed ON the cigars, under the Fuente card and presentation paper and there was mold visible on several cigars. The Hemingways were the worst with little poofs of mold visible here and there over the body and a slight concentration near the foot. The Presidentes were similar and the natural 858 also although not as bad. Curiously, the Anejo and Opus sticks seemed to be clean :thumbs:. None of the cigars was totally covered or clearly destroyed but even so it was a pretty unhappy sight and the potential for a total loss was certainly there. So, I called Silo and left a quick voicemail for Kevin just giving him a heads up on what I found.
There was a voicemail from him on my work phone which was left before I got to the office at 8:30 this morning. When we spoke he was quite apologetic even though I told him it was clear that, since the box was factory sealed, the mold had grown through no fault of his own - it is just the Achilles heel of the Fuente Humipak + plastic wrap packaging. Even so, he said that he felt it was still Silo's responsibility to sell a quality product and so he would be more than happy to take back the affected cigars and replace them.
He stated the obvious, i.e. he didn't happen to have a bunch of 3 year old Presidentes sitting around, but told me he would certainly replace the bad ones with aged comparably aged sticks and if I was interested in that we could discuss suitable substitutes. I thanked him and let him know I was going to remove the cello from the bad ones tonight and give 'em a close look to see if the mold had made its way into the feet. If not, I planned wiping one clean and smoking it to make sure it was still OK. Even though I could here plenty of hustle and bustle in the background, he stayed on the phone for at least 10 minutes, pleasantly talking about all sorts of stuff and when we hung up, we left it at that - if they taste OK, I am OK with the whole thing and if not, he will replace them.
IMO, that's a first rate way to treat a customer: a quick response, taking responsibility, and offering an equitable solution. I am completely impressed. Regardless of whether or not those cigars are smokeable or a moldy write off, I would certainly order from them again.
- Tim
