My Cuban Crafter's April Fool's Joke

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Ozone89

Oh..I know it's not Taboo's fault.

You're definitely being pretty good about this whole thing...I was FURIOUS about my humidor episode! That's what prompted me to go out and look at these humidors in person. That's the one thing I refuse to buy online now..I'll give the sale to the local guy, like I did with my Diamond crown Humidor.

Eh, I'm okay with it.
I'm not worried about finding fault. I'm sure I'll get my money back. If CC doesn't cover it and Rob has already paid them, I'll take the hit. It's my fault that I chose them. I should have checked up on CC more. Only after I ordered did I check their reputation. By then it was too late.
I'm sure it'll work out though.

I think I'm most impressed with the "key doesn't fit the lock" thing.
That is some big time funny right there.
I never even thought to check the locks. My girlfriend was writing down the defects as I told them to her and she said "Did you check to see if the locks work?"
I tried to stick a key in, looked inside the locking mechanism, looked at the key, and cracked up laughing. The hole in the key was half the size of the stud in the lock it was intended to fit over.
Try to explain that one.

[Ozone89]

How does the Spanish Cedar smell?

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Ozone89

How does the Spanish Cedar smell?

Kinda like glue.

[Ozone89]

When I got mine from Cuban Crafters..it had a musty smell. I didn't realize the difference, until I got my DC humidor.

[lenguamor]

I emailed Kiki with the links to this and the other thread...let's see what happens.

If the message makes it through his goons, he'll either react or lose my respect the way he's already lost everyone else's here.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by lenguamor

I emailed Kiki with the links to this and the other thread...let's see what happens.

If the message makes it through his goons, he'll either react or lose my respect the way he's already lost everyone else's here.

If I were put in the position that his people have just put him in, I'd be sick, first, and furious, second.

[lenguamor]

Originally Posted by shilala

If I were put in the position that his people have just put him in, I'd be sick, first, and furious, second.

The most galling things about this are, one, that if you are ever in Miami near the airport, stop into his shop/warehouse. Look at nthe humi's on the sales floor; I'm not saying they're Aristocrat's or Avallo's, but at their price point they are fine-looking boxes IMO.

And I should know, because when I ran out of room a couple times I purchased some real piece of shit humi's and I wouldn't even GIVE them away...on the other hand I also have a TOP and a smaller cabinet that are as well-crafted as their mid-range price point dictates, maybe a bit better.

So for this to happen indicates to me that the factory that is making his humi's - or his warehouse - is shipping out product that is vastly different than what they put into his sales floor.

Like I said - he's the owner, his name is on the door, and he's ultimately responsible for his product. Not to mention the one who will suffer as a result of what I am certain is something of which he is not aware.

The second thing is that Kiki is a master blender and roller, and he has worked his ass off to build and establish his brands. And as a fellow countryman, I won't let his work go down the tubes until such a time as he shows me that he won't step up to the plate in these matters and make them right.

Call it favoritism based on nationality - because it is.

He is my brother by soil as much the members here are my brothers of the leaf; and I wouldn't let either go down without giving them a chance to do the right thing.

In the end it's not some big, altruistic deal. Just the right thing.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by lenguamor

The most galling things about this are, one, that if you are ever in Miami near the airport, stop into his shop/warehouse. Look at nthe humi's on the sales floor; I'm not saying they're Aristocrat' or Avallo's, but at their price point they are fine-looking boxes IMO.

And I should know, because when I ran out of room a couple times I purchased some real piece of shit humi's and I wouldn't even GIVE them away...on the other hand I also have a TOP and a smaller cabinet that are as well-crafted as their mid-range price point dictates, maybe a bit better.

So for this to happen indicates to me that the factory that is making his humi's - or his warehouse - is shipping out product that is vastly different than what they put into his sales floor.

Like I said - he's the owner, his name is on the door, and he's ultimately responsible for his product. Not to mention the one who will suffer as a result of what I am certain is something of which he is not aware.

The second thing is that Kiki is a master blender and roller, and he has worked his ass off to build and establish his brands. And as a fellow countryman, I won't let his work go down the tubes until such a time as he shows me that he won't step up to the plate in these matters and make them right.

Call it favoritism based on nationality - because it is.

He is my brother by soil as much the members here are my brothers of the leaf; and I wouldn't let either go down without giving them a chance to do the right thing.

In the end it's not some big, altruistic deal. Just the right thing.

Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow.
The stuff I got is certainly not indicative of the gleaming showpiece at the website.
I went out of my way to find this, purchase it, and paid more money for it than the Quality Importers comparable humidor.
It's Bubinga Rosewood. I never even heard of Bubinga Rosewood.
It must grow in China, cause that's what the sticker says on the bottom.
Made in China.
According to the sticky manual, this is fine handcrafted artistry. There's even a nice picture of Cuba. Handmade Cuban Crafters Fine Handcrafted Artistry. Made in China.
Man, am I a knucklehead.

[44MAG]

Dude, i really feel for you, call your credit card to CYA in case you have probs, at least you can put visa on notice if CC dosent make right, question is do you even want them too? i say send em back and try somewhere else.

[Billy The Kid]

Im beside myself looking at the pics.... I cant say anything that hasent been said already, but I do applaud your attitude...I think I would have to laugh myself

[earnold25]

sorry bout the trouble you've had with CC. i've had only good experiences with their customer service, so maybe that'll help.

but just to add my $.02, i think all that sticky stuff is sap. looks like the spanish cedar wasn't kiln dried very well. could be wrong. happened with my father's humi he ordered from CC as well, he didn't care though, so he lightly sanded it and it seemed to go away. i would've sent it back personally.

[lenguamor]

Originally Posted by Billy The Kid

Im beside myself looking at the pics.... I cant say anything that hasent been said already, but I do applaud your attitude...I think I would have to laugh myself

Not me. Asses would have been kicked by now.

You're right, Shilala is being far calmer about this than I would be!

[mash]

Originally Posted by shilala

First off, this is not a joke.
Maybe it's Cuban Crafter's zany idea of a joke, I don't know.
In my 41 years on this planet I have never seen anything the likes of it. My girlfriend and I have been laughing all day. It's that unbelievable.

I ordered two Cuban Crafter's display humidors late last week. Today they arrived. I pulled them out of their boxes and set them on my dining room table. When I opened the door to the first humi, a piece of wood fell out.
It was the frame's stopper for the upper tray.
As I started "taking in" my new humidors, the entertainment level took on new heights.
So you get the gist, I'll show the list of defects.

Humi One:
1.) Two of the rubber pads on the feet are missing.
2.) All the screws on the hinges are loose. They simply aren't finished off, they have at least two more turns to go. Because of this, the door is dangling and drags on the frame.
3.) Hygrometer is installed upside down, has sticky glue all over the back of it.
4.) There is some sort of spray glue, sticky substance dripped all over the inside of the humidor, as well as all over the glass.
5.) Sticky glue is dripped and sprayed all over the trays and frame.
6.) The top front tray stopper is fallen off.
7.) The brass "Cuban Crafter's" emblem is covered with the sticker goo from when the plastic was on it. And when I say covered, I mean covered. The writing is unintelligible.
8.) Instruction manual is covered with glue. It's a beautifully done manual. Once I peeled it from inside it's plastic bag, I enjoyed reading it. So much that I couldn't put it down. Literally.
9.) The key does not fit the lock. It's a skeleton key with a hole in the tip. The hole is half as large as the post it is designed to fit over.

Humi Two:
1.) Glue running all over inside glass.
2.) Glue all over Spanish Cedar? inside.
3.) Hygrometer is installed sideways, has sticky glue all over the back of it.
4.) Two of the narrow strips of wood that hold in the right side window are fallen off. They were never fastened down with staples or glue, despite the fact that there's plenty of glue.
5.) Trays are sprayed with glue so terribly that it's scary to touch them.
6.) Cuban Crafter's emblem is obscured with goo.
7.) Top tray stopper is fallen off.
8.) Door does not shut completely because tray frame is too big for the humidor.
9.) Keys do not fit lock.
10.) Instruction manual is glued shut.

Wait until I get pictures, you guys will be utterly baffled.
I can not for the life of me imagine, in this day and age, how anything as corkscrewed as these humidors can get placed in a box.
Absolutely zero quality control. Zero.
It truly is unbelievable.
It's so pathetic it seems deliberate. It's so bad that I haven't even gotten angry. It's funny, actually.

Fortunately I ordered these through Rob at Taboo. He called Cuban Crafters and asked them to call me. Needless to say, they didn't call.
Hopefully he hasn't paid the bill, he asked me to call tomorrow.
I'm pretty handy, but a conservative estimate is that it would take at least five hours of work to make these things usable. That's if I throw the frames and trays away, because they are gooed beyond repair.
And even if I do all the cleaning, the locks will still not work.
I may be able to machine them out, but they'd be so thin they'd break.

Make note that I haven't spoken to a Cuban Crafter's representative to discuss what's up. Whether they'll stand behind this pile of junk has yet to be seen. I'll certainly report what they say.
I was thinking about sending them back, but there really isn't anything they can do to make them salable. It'd be a waste of shipping cost, literally.

Pictures to come...

Sorry for your troubles, you're being very cool about the whole deal. Friend of mine used to have a saying for times like this: "how was the opera otherwise Mrs. Lincoln?"

[shilala]

Originally Posted by mash

Sorry for your troubles, you're being very cool about the whole deal. Friend of mine used to have a saying for times like this: "how was the opera otherwise Mrs. Lincoln?"

I suppose I could get pissed pretty easily if I wanted to.
Then I'd feel awful and I'd have two screwed up humidors in my dining room. As it is right now, I just have two screwed up humidors in my dining room.
Someone once told me that resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other sumbitch dies. It makes me feel pretty silly when I get angry anymore.
Pretty much the only people who can get me mad are Verizon Wireless.
I hate those lying scum bastards.

[JE3146]

Guess I should feel lucky... my first humi is a CC. Got it in January. If my experience had turned out like this one, I probably would have avoided this hobby all together.