Cigar Store Etiquette

[Dgar]

He should of offered to replace the cigar if he saw you were obviously having a hard time with it. He should have probably taken another cigar from the same box and lit it himself to see if it was just one bad cigar or the box was bad.

Cigars should not have to be poked and drilled to smoke well, it happens at times, but if your in a B/M and the cigar you just purchased is bad it should be replaced!

[holmes711]

Most quality B&M's would have replaced it, no questions asked. Like the other's have said, it depends on the shop. Just ask the owner what their policy is for bad cigars, for future reference.

[Shaz]

Originally Posted by Quasimoto

I don't see how you would "expect" it as it is a business like any other and like any other business sometimes customer service sucks

If we expect poor customer service then we shall get it. That only perpetuates the crappy service and lowers our overall expectations. We should expect a minimum level of reasonable customer service and voice our displeasure when we don't get it. Or not patronize the offending merchant.
I'm with most of the respondants here. The proprietor should factor the odd replacement stick into his margin on the cigars. If he replaces, say 10% of the sticks he sells, he should mark up his cigars by 10%. In this case, his $5.80 cigar would end up at $6.38. But likely he wouldn't need to go that high to cover his extra costs. I don't think anyone would care or notice a marginal increase for the pleasure of using his lounge and knowing that any bad sticks will be replaced, no questions asked.

[rudeJARHEAD]

He should have offered a replacement at the first sign of it not being a pleasurable experience. If he was a part time employee that didnt have the latitude to comp you the cigar that is one thing but if he is the owner that is just bad customer service. replacing the negligible amount of manufacturers defect cigars wouldn't break his profit margin as much as loosing a customer over 2 bucks in profit. He eats the 2 bucks today and next week you come in and spend 40 bucks and tell your cigar smoking buddies how great the store is because they replaced you cigar when it was plugged. His 2 dollars just turned into a drop in the bucket with the additional business. Just my $ .02

[tx_tuff]

I also think he should have replaced it, and I think all the B&Ms around here would have done that. It's a shame, not only that he didn't, but if he treats somebody he has know for 20 years like that think how he treats a stranger that just happens to come in.

[molsonxxxtoo]

I want to thank all responders for helping a new guy.

The board consensus was mine as well.

The owner did go get another cigar from the same box and smoked it. I noticed he was having trouble with it as well -very little smoke and the guy was really drawing on it. He said "it’s good". I kind of laughed and walked out the door.

Again, thanks for all the reply’s

[Mortanis]

Unlike a lot of businesses, the cigar store relies significantly more on person to person relationships than, say, a restaurant or any of the other examples cited. They depend on that interpersonal contact, the social aspect, and the friendliness to survive. Maintaining that through good customer practices is the difference between life and death for a b&m