Customer Service

[llwydtp]

I wanted to share an example of good customer service. My wife wanted to get me a box of one of my favorite cigars last year and could not find a box either online or in the stores around Dallas. She contacted Tatuaje directly and they had their distributor send a box to a B&M in Dallas. She gave them to me back in October and they have been resting comfortably in my coolidor until recently. Unfortunately, 5 out of 5 cigars so far are almost completely unsmokable as they are rolled extremely tight and there is almost no draw. A month in a dry box and running an ice pick through them gets to a technically smokable cigar but far from pleasant. My wife once again contacted Tatuaje about it and they immediately sent her a black plastic Tat ash tray that also included a 5 pack sampler of some of Pete's other brands (Ambos Mundos, El Triunfador, La Riqueza, etc). Sure we are still out a box of 25 cigars but I was nonetheless impressed with their responsiveness as other cigar manufacturers in similar circumstances don't do a thing.

Tom

 

[Light this!]

That's great that Pete's people are thinking about customer service - it sounds like he is starting to have a conscious which is very good in my opinion.
 
Could you do modo22 a favor and contact Pete's people about replacing those cheap Tat Black plastic jars with some ceramic ones? Now that would really impress me.  :thumbs: Maybe the black plastic ash tray that you received was made with the left over plastic of the jars.
 
To be honest that really surprises me that they were rolled tight. I've never had this problem with Tatuajes.
 
 
One more thing - look to Drew Estates for great customer service like this: 
 
http://www.cigarpass.com/forumsipb/topic/72551-feral-pig-tunnelling-common/?hl=%2Bjonathan+%2Bdrew#entry1103199

 

[flamchop]

Thanks for the post. Good manufacturers and retailers usually have a policy like this, if they are unsmokable or something else is wrong with the order, they ship out a replacement pretty quickly. I'm a fan of Tatuaje, glad to hear of a story like this. Do they still come from the Pepin factories? If so, it's a rarity to find one too tight to smoke, maybe at some point it was over-humidified or something.

 

[llwydtp]

Yeah, I totally agree that this type of issue is very much out of the norm for Tatuaje or any DPG made stick. If anything, I sometimes find some of the DPG labels to be a little loose. These cigars have been in a very stable 64-65% coolidor for 5 months at this point so I would hope that any humidity issues would have worked out by now and especially with the 2 sticks that I put in a 60% dry box for a month.

 

[llwydtp]

Here's a comedy update.  My wife decided that her definition of customer service was different than mine and she went back to the B&M where she originally picked up the cigars today.  This happens to be a B&M that I avoid completely.  She explained the issue and how the cigars were stored and even my attempt to loosen the draw in a dry box.  They told her that I did not have a proper humidor if it wasn't at 70%+ and that 65% was way too low.  They also said that they didn't know what a dry box was but that it was something that cigars certainly should not be in.  The person also advised her to not mention anything about a dry box when attempting to return cigars in the future.  She eventually spoke with the owner by telephone who promised to contact the distributor on Monday to see if they would be wiling to swap them out, which was a better outcome.
 
I hope this doesn't spark the dreaded RH debate.  I definitely understand that 70%+ is preferred by many in many situations and so are many RH's between 60 and 70+.  But when diagnosing a draw problem, a RH on the lower end of the spectrum should not be fingered as the culprit (IMO).
 
Cheers.

 

[Brickhouse]

I'm not surprised at all by the update.  I find it all too often that most B&Ms do not fully understand much of anything about storing/smoking cigars.  They just focus on selling them. 
 
It's nice to see that Tatuaje tried to compensate in some manner in this situation, but honestly I'm surprised/disappointed they didn't have you return them for a refund or replacement.

 

[whylieineedacigar]

I'm not surprised at all by the update.  I find it all too often that most B&Ms do not fully understand much of anything about storing/smoking cigars.  They just focus on selling them. 
 
It's nice to see that Tatuaje tried to compensate in some manner in this situation, but honestly I'm surprised/disappointed they didn't have you return them for a refund or replacement.

 
Same here, sending a few sticks does not account for the value of a full box.

 

[likescarsz28]

Too bad the B & M guy doesn't know what the hell he is talking about.

 

[OutlawD]

....  They told her that I did not have a proper humidor if it wasn't at 70%+ and that 65% was way too low.  They also said that they didn't know what a dry box was but that it was something that cigars certainly should not be in.  The person also advised her to not mention anything about a dry box when attempting to return cigars in the future. .......
 
 

 
These people should not be allowed to sell cigars, nor give advice on how to store them. Avoiding this store is a very good move on your part. These statements just speaks to the ignorance of those uttering them. The steps you took to try and salvage the cigars was spot on, (not sure i would have used the ice pick) but in any case it was still the proper way to combat the problem. As to the customer service of the supplier, in general their replacement policy is sub-par to say the least by industry standards.

 

[llwydtp]

So to close the file on this one, I'm happy to report that I now have a replacement box of cigars. It took more conversations that I would expect but it was eventually rectified fully. I only wish I knew which party in the process finally decided to make it happen (retailer, distributor or Tat).

 

[Light this!]

Good to hear brother. I hope it was Tat as in the end it's their name on the cigar and their rep.

 

[chiefmd]

Whoever it was they probably thought "we better not mess with this woman"