Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Anyone noticed a change lately?
#11
I think all brands have ups and downs with quality.  It's just the way it is. 
Reply
#12
Exactly! It is damaging to the brand, no matter where the responsibility lies. I guess I have to spill it all out including brand, which was Rocky Patel's Vintage Seconds 1992. Now I know they're seconds, but I've gone through 9 or 10 bundles of the x-outs from Edge to Decade to both OWR and they performed exactly as the firsts 95% of the time so here's a though though on c-bid: 

Basically for them to be at full fault would mean RP sent them quality merchandise and they somehow screwed it up.  The only way I can think of for them to screw it up is let it dry out or overhumidify it as I can't imagine they'd try to sell something they allowed to get rained on or something. So a bad product on c-bid's behalf should be something rehydrated or showing evidence of too much moisture at some point.  That would be totally C-bid's fault.

The second scenario I see, is that RP sent inferior product in the form of seconds to c-bid or CI.  c-bid or CI was aware the product was inferior but decided to sell it anyway to get rid of it. This puts less blame on c-bid or CI, but quality control blame lies with Rocky Patel.

The final scenario I see is Rocky Patel is aware of the quality of these cigars, but since they are seconds culpability is less.

I'd hate to believe that RP is knowing selling off a poor cigar under the seconds label because it still damages the brand both in the inevitable sales decline of the seconds and a possible decline in first sales due to fears.

The only thing I was left with was to try and get to the bottom of these smokes and contact the mfg. I did that a week ago with no reply. I think I should give them another week in case they're busy, so I'm holding onto these things in case they want me to send them back so they can evaluate them. I think in all fairness though, if they do contact me and want the product to test, I should still send a few out to others to judge just to ensure that someone else other than me has a similar opinion about these.

It's damaging to any brand to sell poor product, for whatever the reason. If it's a matter of beefing up QC then they need to do it because after a while, they'll have no repeat customers for their seconds and they then may have to lower the price on the firsts to move product.

If I pass the 2 week mark with no reply, I'll be happy to start getting rid of these things to anyone who wants some. I have 2 bundles, 1 toro 1 torp. Just give me an idea how to ship a cigar or two cheap Smile
Reply
#13
If you emailed RP then I would not hold my breath waiting weeks.   I email them all the time on issues and more than half the time they don't even respond.   If THEY have an issue, they expect you to jump through flaming hoops immediately.   I love their cigars and have no problem with Rocky himself, but some of his staff forgets about customer service or they just don't get the emails.

Send your complaint a couple of times.   If no answer, then perhaps give them a call.    Ultimately you will probably find that it was a storage problem at CI and the undisclosed reason it went for bid.   Sometimes you will find little issues with RP seconds, but I tend to hear many people complain about cBid and quality.

Before you buy your next box, shoot me a PM with the details of what you are looking at.   I will do my best to match or better the deal for you.   We are not always the lowest, but I assure you that the cigars are perfect.   Should there be any problem, we do take care of it.
Reply
#14
Rob The Long Island Cowboy Wrote:
TheFife Wrote:
Mark Wrote:Cigars won on cbid are almost ALWAYS sub-standard.  I have won a few boxes from them and every cigar has been way off par from what is should be.  Cbid is only good for merchandise, and thats it, and even then you have to be careful as most of the time the bidding goes over what the actual retail price is.
I have won a handful of boxes off C-bid, and I haven't ever noticed an issue (although I might not have the experience to notice certain problems, and most of my [color="red"]winnings are sitting in my fridge untouched[/color]).  I always assumed that the brands I purchased wouldn't allow sub-standard versions of their cigars to be sold.  Wouldn't it be damaging to the brand to do that?  For instance, I just won a box of Tatuaje Reserva SWs (spent $202 for something that normally runs $300 locally).  When I get that box and share some of them with friends, wouldn't it be bad for the brand if the cigars were some crappy version?  Wouldn't the expensive brands do everything in their power to avoid having their product misrepresented?

That being said, you definitely have me worried.  My question is:
  1. are the blends actually off, or
  2. is the quality (as determined at the factory) lower, or
  3. have the cigars been stored improperly? 
In other words, what is it about the cigars that is sub-standard?  The manufacturers control the first 2 possibilities, and I would hope that isn't what the manufacturers are doing, but they don't control the 3rd possibility.


Brad
please tell me this is a cooler/fridgeador not a refrigerator.
Its a thermoelectric wine fridge.



Brad
Reply
#15
admin Wrote:If you emailed RP then I would not hold my breath waiting weeks.   I email them all the time on issues and more than half the time they don't even respond.   If THEY have an issue, they expect you to jump through flaming hoops immediately.   I love their cigars and have no problem with Rocky himself, but some of his staff forgets about customer service or they just don't get the emails.
I second (and third) this. I had the same problem the last time I was at IPCPR. I couldn't get a single person who would give me the time of day. I've never been treated so poorly and I spoke out on my podcast. I haven't reviewed or featured a RP cigar since then. Nothing against the cigars, but I certainly don't have to look far to find other cigars to review and feature. IMO.

Doc
--
Doc Stogie Fresh
www.StogieFresh.com
Reply
#16
admin Wrote:If you emailed RP then I would not hold my breath waiting weeks.   I email them all the time on issues and more than half the time they don't even respond.   If THEY have an issue, they expect you to jump through flaming hoops immediately.   I love their cigars and have no problem with Rocky himself, but some of his staff forgets about customer service or they just don't get the emails.

Send your complaint a couple of times.   If no answer, then perhaps give them a call.    Ultimately you will probably find that it was a storage problem at CI and the undisclosed reason it went for bid.   Sometimes you will find little issues with RP seconds, but I tend to hear many people complain about cBid and quality.

Before you buy your next box, shoot me a PM with the details of what you are looking at.   I will do my best to match or better the deal for you.   We are not always the lowest, but I assure you that the cigars are perfect.   Should there be any problem, we do take care of it.
 

Can't ask for a better offer then that.

They call me The Mum - Jimmie the Mum
Viva Mumcero - Mahk 12/4/2010 - http://www.stogiechat.com/forum/thread-20737.html
Honorary Shield Brother
Weak people seek Revenge, Strong people Forgive, Intelligent people Ignore
Reply
#17
Jimmie the Mum Wrote:
admin Wrote:If you emailed RP then I would not hold my breath waiting weeks.   I email them all the time on issues and more than half the time they don't even respond.   If THEY have an issue, they expect you to jump through flaming hoops immediately.   I love their cigars and have no problem with Rocky himself, but some of his staff forgets about customer service or they just don't get the emails.

Send your complaint a couple of times.   If no answer, then perhaps give them a call.    Ultimately you will probably find that it was a storage problem at CI and the undisclosed reason it went for bid.   Sometimes you will find little issues with RP seconds, but I tend to hear many people complain about cBid and quality.

[color="darkred"]Before you buy your next box, shoot me a PM with the details of what you are looking at.   I will do my best to match or better the deal for you.   We are not always the lowest, but I assure you that the cigars are perfect.   Should there be any problem, we do take care of it.[/color]
 

Can't ask for a better offer then that.

ET is the man, he'll do you right.
I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Cool
Reply
#18
Much appreciated. I just tried an OWR x-out and noticed a similar problem. This time the wrapper was good, but the filler sucked.  After this smoke, I'm convinced the 1992 Seconds have a cheapo wrapper and the also changed the filler to something cheaper.  I get a similar taste to the 1992 with the maduro wrapper kinda of hiding it.

I'm done with Rocky Patel from now on. I ain't gonna waste a dime of my money on a gamble that I may get a totally crap cigar or not.  There's too many other excellent smokes out there to worry about getting hung up on one brand for a fav.

What a shame.  I heard from one particular vendor that Rocky himself is a great guy, spends a lot of time with his dealers etc. etc.  He likes to make friends and that's how he sells his brand. I was told the customer service end of his business sucks large.  Too bad too, if he starts trying to profiteer off his name thinking he's hooked everyone on quality tobacco he's got another thing coming.  Once the crap starts circulating around his brand will be in the crapper.  Personally I don't put it past any cigar manufacturer to pull tobacco switches or attempt to blend a similar taste with cheaper crap to profit as much as possible, then leave the scene.  That's the story of boutique mfg.  And if you think about it, what exactly would Rocky do if the people he got his tobacco from started selling it off to someone else and he had to go elsewhere to try and find a blend that would come close?  Would he bother telling anyone or would he just try to keep the brand going until it dies out?  If the farm he got wrappers from was destroyed, would he try and find another wrapper to keep making the cigars or would he stop production to save the name?  I doubt he would kill the line until everyone noticed he was producing crap, THEN he'd blame the grower for giving him crap and THEN the line would die, but not before making a few more bucks.

Well I'm gonna try and narrow it down now to 3 more boxes and then I'm done for a while. I got a few 5ers to go through of various smokes and I'm picking 3 to box up on.

 

When I got it down to three I'll be calling.  Thanks for your time guys.
Reply
#19
I have never had a problem with C-bid,great deals to be had if your a smart bidder,never had any cigars taste different than others from some place else.


Here is a question answered by Lew Rothman (JR cigars)




On a brand like say, Punch or Hoyo does there seem to be any difference in the cigars from either JR, CI or famous ?
I ask this because of variations in price and packaging between the three.
Any opinions?




Lew wrote:  
Lew HP Member [Image: modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=72127]   Joined: Aug 22, 2004 Posts: 436


[Image: spacer.gif] [Image: spacer.gif] [Image: post_corner.gif]

There is absolutely no difference






Reply
#20
I've posted this elsewhere but I'm going to put it here as well hopefully for the benfit of all our newer members so that they can learn from my mistakes. 

 

An important point has been made here and with all the influx of new people to our hobby i think we need to strongly consider and adopt it if we already haven't.

Consider very carefully who you do business with.  Consider carefully who you are supporting with your hard earned dollar.  Look beyond the good itself in what you are receiving back.  

Yes, you may appear to save a dollar or five by going to CI, Famous, or JR's.  But are you really?  Customer service?  Subpar.  Comraderie / Advice?  Non-existant.  Develop a long term relationship?  Only if you consider having your cc # and addy on file as a sign of affection.

Think what you are getting when you pay for something.  This is why I support and will only support the real backbones of our hobby, namely the hobbyists themselves. 

To whit my favorites have been and will continue to be Eric @ TBS, Eric @ The Party Source, (what is it with Erics and cigars? Tongue), Robbie @ Cordova, JJ @ mycigarlink and the Atlantic boys. 

When you support these mega monster joints you effectively condone their behavior.  You are rewarding it in fact.  We are too smart for this and work too hard for our money. 

Now apply this to the individual mannufacturers themselves.  You know my war with Fuente already so we'll gloss over that, they gave my friend the business now I'm going to give them the business as far and wide as my big mouth can carry.  Pete Johnson's strong arm holier than thou?  Great cigar.  Sorry.  See ya. 
Rocky Patel's carny barker whore schtick?  Sorry.  Catch you later.  Hansotia's $7500 rolls royce cigar available for only $25 on cbid?  Go eff yourself. 

Now flip these against Orlando
Padron for example.  The man asked me if I liked his cigars.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  My man Litto signs up a pic "To The Robfather".  LFD reps come to hang at my house.  This is to say nothing of the whole Oliva clan and employees.  Better people you will not find. 

Now I ask you, who do you support?  Whose methods of business and manner of carrying themselves is worth more to you?  Sure a Tat is a great smoke.  But Pete has gotten a wee bit big for his britches.  CI strong arming every vendor within hailing distance?  Lew Rothman as his Flor de Baloney?  The Robfather does not condone nor support economic thuggery.  Do you?

Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)