Crazy bad behaviour in a cigar shop!!

[stanthetaxman]

This is years ago, but a few of us were sitting around smoking. A stranger came up to one of the guys and asked "what are you smoking"? He said "Opus X" He kinda did a head-nod kinda thing, which my friend with the Opus interpreted as wanting to see it. So, he graciously held it out, and the stranger promptly took it and started smoking it. When he tried to give it back, my friend said, "That's ok. You keep it!"

[Nickerson]

Originally Posted by stanthetaxman

This is years ago, but a few of us were sitting around smoking. A stranger came up to one of the guys and asked "what are you smoking"? He said "Opus X" He kinda did a head-nod kinda thing, which my friend with the Opus interpreted as wanting to see it. So, he graciously held it out, and the stranger promptly took it and started smoking it. When he tried to give it back, my friend said, "That's ok. You keep it!"

HAHAHA. Now thats funny. Sad but funny...

[ttam535]

As a retailer I agree with a statement that someone mentioned earlier - that 99% of all cigar enthusiasts are very good people, but there is no doubt that one percent that really stand out below the rest of them.

My pet peeves are in no particular order, as follows:

1 - The brainwashed Macanudo, Fuente & Padron smokers, who if we don't have a certain one that they aske for they will usually leave without purchasing ANYTHING. Unreal! We have a larger than average selection of cigars in our shop, and if there isn't something in here that you would like a lot then there's just something wrong with YOU. i always try to point them in a direction of Pepin, Padillas, Rocky, la Aroma de Cuba - making mention of these brands' 93, 94 + 95 ratings that their bible of a magazine (CA) tells them they need to smoke. A common response from the question of "have you ever had the pleasure of smoking Rocky Patel's 95 rated Decade?" Response - "I've tried all of rocky's cigars & I don't like any of them."- or better yet - I've tried everything in here & nothin's even what I consider smokeable. (as they pick up a Fuente Dbl Chateau Conn, personally, one of the most bland, boring cigars I've ever smoked.)

2 - The once in a while cherry pickers. These guys come in once in a while & run down the list of all of the hardest to find & rare shit that is almost never available. if we don't have anything on the "list" they leave. I reserve akmost all of the rare & limited relese cigars for our regular customers who support our business throughout the year, and it really creates a strong loyalty towrds our shop with them. if someone wants to get something that's rare & hard to get then they must, in a way, earn it. I never sell anything more than SRP either, and in most cases our shop sells well below what the SRP is.

3 - The customers who feel the need to touch EVERYTHING in the store. Pulling cigars from cellophane is a no-no, and if I see someone doing that I immediately ask them not to & explain thast cigars are a very personal thing (like food products) that once the cello is taken off 7 put back on it looks like ass, being all crinkled up and twisted 7 that nobody else will want to buy that cigar. I let them know that me or any of my staff can tell you anything that you need to know about any of the cigars in the shop, and if you really, absolutely have to smell a cigar then just bring it up to me & I will remove it from the cello without crinkling it or damaging it in any way. That usually gets the point across.

4 - Children who touch everythign they see & their parents who, when I ask the child to "be careful buddy, don't touch those," the parents say, "Oh, he's OK."

Well he's not OK. He's got 2 $12.00 cigars in his grubby little hands, and if he does happen to damage them I'd hate to have to ring you up for 2 expensive & damaged cigars so would you mind holding on to one of your child's hands?

I could really keep on going + going here, but those are the major problems I've encountered over the 9+ years I've ben behind the counter at a cigar store.

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by ttam535

As a retailer I agree with a statement that someone mentioned earlier - that 99% of all cigar enthusiasts are very good people, but there is no doubt that one percent that really stand out below the rest of them.

My pet peeves are in no particular order, as follows:

1 - The brainwashed Macanudo, Fuente & Padron smokers, who if we don't have a certain one that they aske for they will usually leave without purchasing ANYTHING. Unreal! We have a larger than average selection of cigars in our shop, and if there isn't something in here that you would like a lot then there's just something wrong with YOU. i always try to point them in a direction of Pepin, Padillas, Rocky, la Aroma de Cuba - making mention of these brands' 93, 94 + 95 ratings that their bible of a magazine (CA) tells them they need to smoke. A common response from the question of "have you ever had the pleasure of smoking Rocky Patel's 95 rated Decade?" Response - "I've tried all of rocky's cigars & I don't like any of them."- or better yet - I've tried everything in here & nothin's even what I consider smokeable. (as they pick up a Fuente Dbl Chateau Conn, personally, one of the most bland, boring cigars I've ever smoked.)

Surely you can't complain about this? If you would have handed my great-grandfather anything besides a Hav-A-Tampa he would have asked were you crazy.

Some people like one or two cigars and that is what they want to smoke. Also there are some lines (Illusione) that if you pointed me towards them my response would be "I've tried their cigars and I don't like them". Why would I be in the wrong here?

The rest of your post I agree 100% with.

[dartstothesea]

Wow, that would burn me up if I was working at a B&M and somebody was taking cigars out of the cellophane. I would never even thinking about doing that!

But @ Ttam or anybody else that works retail - Do you mind when people bring their own cigars to smoke as long as they make a few purchases?

I myself don't like to smoke one right out a humidor, as I like to let them sit without cellophane in my own humidor for a week or two. So lets say if I bought a CAO Mx2, El Rey de Mundo Oscuro, and a Padron Londres Natural from your store would you mind if I asked you if I could smoke this Padilla Hybrid that I brought?

[ttam535]

I do not mind almost any of the people who bring their own cigars to smoke here. I totaly understand that a lot of people like to put away the cigars they purchase to stabilize before they smoke them, and i am the same way myself.

There are a few occasions when it does bother me however:

1- when a known cheap-ass customer come to an event we're having where we hand out a freebie at the door, he walks in with his wife, brother, sister, sister's boyfriend, their 3 grown children (all non-smokers) just to get the 5 extra free cigars from the folks he came with. he then drinks the comp beers, eats as much as we will allow & then hits the road after hitting up eveyone working that night for free deals & next-to-nothing specials that we wants a better price on anyway. This one guy in particular usually doesn't buy anything on most vistits, but he is here for EVERY event that we have when there will be any kind of freebies. On top of it all he goes out of his way to tell as many customer while he's at our shop, about how great the JR alt-to-Dutch Masters pineapples are (just a silly exaggerated example) & how much better their prices are compared to us. I always step in at that point to tell everyone within an earshot that we have the best prices to begin with, and we will promise to BEAT anyone's prices. Period.

2 - When someone brings in their own, they are cigars that we sell, and they do not purchase them from us & then procede to spend hours per week in our lounge, drinking our coffee, watching our TV, making a mess & pissing off other customers by being themselfs (rude, crude & ignorant) I blows my mind why some of the big-cheeses in or comapny allow this to continue, but it does.

I love going into cigar shops all over the country to see how they are set up, to see what they carry, and more importantly to see who's working there & hope to run into someone who I can have an intelligent conversation with. Either a fellow customer or a fellow tobaconist. I have 3000+ cigars in my personal collection, but I ALWAYS purchase a few singles (have purchased boxes beforwe) of something that's different, hard to find, or else made for the shop exclusively just as a 'thank you' for letting me take up your time & enjoy the coffee, food, etc you provided for me while I was here. More out of respect than anything.

[Dgar]

I went into a local B/M one sunday afternoon, to grab a smoke and watch a little football. and wast beaten up with theological babble, the employee was insistent that I listen too... was not cool... never went back when this guy was working, eventualy the store closed.

[ade06]

When I worked at a cigar shop, I always hated when someone would walk over to the counter with their new cigar in mouth. Purchase it and then use the store cutter at the register to cut it. No matter how many times we cleaned that cutter, I wouldn't use it.

I also remember when the owner caught a 6' + heavy set guy in a suit stealing a few cigars (they fell from his sleves at the counter). The owner, all 5'6" of him jumped over the counter, grabbed him, kicked him in his arss a few times before banning him from the shop. It was too funny!

[Cyber]

Originally Posted by Dgar

I went into a local B/M one sunday afternoon, to grab a smoke and watch a little football.

Wait a sec, you get to sit down in your B&M, smoke, and watch football? All the ones by me charge a $200 application fee + between $30 and $100 a month + drinks + locker fees + etc. etc. Just to sit and enjoy a smoke, they call it a "Cigar Club" and if you are not a member, you can take your smoke home and enjoy it.
If all I had to do was listen to a bible thumper while I smoked my cigar I would be more than happy to sit, smoke, and argue the bible with him.

[madurolover]

One of our local shops (Nick's Cigar World) has beer on tap for free, comfortable seating with a television, and an absolutely huge selection of cigars. Was in there a couple of years ago and the beer keg ran out so the guy working went to the back and brought out a bottle of Crown Royal. All this is free of charge of course.(except the cigars)

[Esoteric]

At an event I attended at a store on the beach, there was this one guy who came in and immediately walked up to the Camacho rep and said "Where is the free stuff?". The rep handed him a cigar and the guy continued to go on and say "What else ya got?". He then proceded to ask if anyone there (within earshot) loved to smoke sub $1 smokes and said he never bought cigars from a store, just came for the free food and smokes.

He went on and on about cheap ass cigars and how much he was against buying any (at the local B&M). It was very douche-tastic of him.

[Cyber]

Personally, those type people should be escorted out of the store and told never to come back. It is not like you are loosing a customer by doing it. lol

BTW, I was told those types of stories when I asked about events at the local B&M. That is why my local B&M's no longer do events.

and people wonder why I complain about my local B&M's charging 2x-2.5x MSRP

[rudeJARHEAD]

We used to have this pompous ass that would bring his cigars back smoked to the last nub and complain that it didnt draw right and the wrapper was cracking. He would also remind us that if it wasnt for him and all his business coming in and buying his 1 Te-Amo a week that we wouldnt make half the money we were making. Keep in mind this was in the mid 90's during the peak of the cigar boom, so his one cigar a week wasnt even a drop in the bucket. So the first 3 or so times I would just tell him to go pick out another as that was the general managers policy at the time, when in doubt replace the cigar. I think this policy was great becasue we would get guys in buying a bunch of singles and during the basic small talk it would come out that the last xxxx I smoked was plugged and I had to throw it out and when we replaced their cigar you would think that you just handed them a million bucks! I made a mention to the manager concerning this individual because he was always so damn smug and arrogant about the whole thing. Like he was getting one over on us in the cigar shop. So I got the go ahead to cut him off next time he came in with a nub of a cigar. He came in with his usual MO that the cigar was plugged and he wasnt happy about spending his money on a cigar that is plugged etc etc. So I asked him if it was plugged how did he manage to smoke it down to the nub and he looks me dead in the eye and tells me that it burnt that far down in the ashtray. I explained to him that there is no way that his toro burnt down to a 1 1/2 inch nub in the ashtray and that the managers policy was that if the cigar is UNSMOKEABLE due to construction we replace the cigar no questions asked. We however are all cigar smokers and not all that naive and gulliable when it comes to cigars and the miracle of a 6 inch plugged cigar burning down to a nub. He proceeded to threaten me with a defamation lawsuit for calling him a liar and he is a lawyer with a firm that will own the store if we dont replace his cigar. So when he was finished I asked him in my smugest most arrogant voice if he was really going to sue for defamation and "own this store" over a $3.00 crappy mexican cigar. I never got a reply as he turned around and left the store and I never saw him come back in!

[ade06]

Originally Posted by rudeJARHEAD

We used to have this pompous ass that would bring his cigars back smoked to the last nub and complain that it didnt draw right and the wrapper was cracking. He would also remind us that if it wasnt for him and all his business coming in and buying his 1 Te-Amo a week that we wouldnt make half the money we were making. Keep in mind this was in the mid 90's during the peak of the cigar boom, so his one cigar a week wasnt even a drop in the bucket. So the first 3 or so times I would just tell him to go pick out another as that was the general managers policy at the time, when in doubt replace the cigar. I think this policy was great becasue we would get guys in buying a bunch of singles and during the basic small talk it would come out that the last xxxx I smoked was plugged and I had to throw it out and when we replaced their cigar you would think that you just handed them a million bucks! I made a mention to the manager concerning this individual because he was always so damn smug and arrogant about the whole thing. Like he was getting one over on us in the cigar shop. So I got the go ahead to cut him off next time he came in with a nub of a cigar. He came in with his usual MO that the cigar was plugged and he wasnt happy about spending his money on a cigar that is plugged etc etc. So I asked him if it was plugged how did he manage to smoke it down to the nub and he looks me dead in the eye and tells me that it burnt that far down in the ashtray. I explained to him that there is no way that his toro burnt down to a 1 1/2 inch nub in the ashtray and that the managers policy was that if the cigar is UNSMOKEABLE due to construction we replace the cigar no questions asked. We however are all cigar smokers and not all that naive and gulliable when it comes to cigars and the miracle of a 6 inch plugged cigar burning down to a nub. He proceeded to threaten me with a defamation lawsuit for calling him a liar and he is a lawyer with a firm that will own the store if we dont replace his cigar. So when he was finished I asked him in my smugest most arrogant voice if he was really going to sue for defamation and "own this store" over a $3.00 crappy mexican cigar. I never got a reply as he turned around and left the store and I never saw him come back in!

LOL

[CigarDetective]

Good! Semper Fi