So got a call from Cigar Bid and apparently they "don't have any bases in stock, but I can send it back".

...I'll PM Bill, thank you Mac.

They are not arm rests Admiral :-)

Yeah, goofy me for using it as a cigar ashtray, Larry. :-) :-)

Still time to get on board the Lawsuit Train, Mike. :-) :-)

Don't have a Stinky, sorry no help here...but keep up the quest :-)

You could simply state, "Not only did I not receive any of the parts, the parts were not in stock and did not arrive after I did not order them. this makes me very unsatisfied."

Quite interested in reading an update when you've been in contact with him. :-)

:-)

Image




0\/\/n3D!!

I'll PM you Sir.

I suggest a top hat and monocle to make your suit more classy.

Please post the update for us all...

How pissed is the customer that received only a base? :-)

Per your advice via PM, I'll post an update.
hahahahahah I hadn't thought about it like that.

Update:
Well, I PM'd Bill "Stinky" asking if he could do anything to avoid having to send the entire upper part back to Cigarbid. This seemed like the easiest solution for everyone.

The reply I got seemed... cold, and like I was a giant pain in his butt. He said to basically send it back to Cigarbid so they can fix their mistake (Which is true, they messed up, not him), but it was how he came across... Really short and a bit pompous.

When I said that I really would appreciate him letting me buy a base off of him, he said, "Send it back to Cigarbid, get your refund. When you get your money back, I'll sell you one for the same price." That was a really nice thing of him to do; I'd rather deal with sending the upper part back however.

Not attacking him, or his products. I really love my Stinky, but I'm just disappointed with how all of that played out.

If any mods have a problem with this post, I'll take it down.

Personally, I am really sorry to hear that it went that way but I'm not at all surprised.

I'm certainly not going to get personal but I do believe I'm in the clear to say: Certain personnel in the executive office of Stinky Cigars could seriously use some lessons in people skills. Contrary to the beliefs of some people in that company, not all people in this world (other than this person) are possessed of cretin level intelligence. Passive aggression and condescension are also not solid communication skills.

Customer Service (or lack of it) starts at the top. :-)

...and there it is

That people are inconvenienced is something I can appreciate however I do not understand why anyone is unhappy with Stinky. He trusted us as confidants of his frustration and attempted to rectify his issue by communicating with a group of enthusiasts. This is not a new phenomenon online. As a member of the customer service team I can attest to multiple people on a nearly daily basis who are almost impossible to help. I have experienced this in a few different industries.

http://www.bottlehead.com/

The site linked above is a community of audio enthusiasts who order a kit. If someone is having difficulty many enthusiast members who also have the kit will assist them. That a member of the male gender is insufficiently manually skilled to put together an ashtray is unfortunate in my opinion.

Stinky's company is small and he is most likely stretched thin for customer service duties. With certain quantity of buys in the industry he may get a very small margin from Cigar Bid and continued practice of replacement regardless of the vendor may hurt his business. Cigar Bid is known to provide steep discounts and the final price you pay may be significantly lower than he can justify a free replacement. He may also have certain agreements with his vendors regarding RMA policies and so forth. That he recommended a non-preferred process may not be convenient but it is most likely best for all concerned.

Stinky is a very pleasant man in person and he obviously is passionate about his business and wants to provide a quality product at a good price to his customers. I know it is hard to take these things into consideration as a customer, the phrase "The customer is always right" has ingrained a sense of entitlement to many people. I don't mean to offend anyone but, the customer is not always right and can sometimes be very difficult to deal with. Having someone dump their frustrations on you daily is degrading to the soul. I try to cultivate patience in my daily life, I know it's hard to detach emotional investment from material goods as we did work to acquire these things.

I assume from your post that you know (have met) him and you think him pleasant. Many others have as well and think otherwise.

A lot of the dissatisfaction from the members here is based on first hand experience. Not getting satisfactory customer service on defective merchandise is not a sense of entitlement. It is wanting to recieve what you paid for. If you look at a business like Palio, now THAT is how a company stands behind its merchandise.

Peter said it better than I could have.

WOW. I'm almost positive that you wrote that ad hominem attack without reading the actual problem. Gender aside, I'm not sure that I know many people without access to a CNC fabricator with the ability to "put together an ashtray" when the base in question is NOT SUPPLIED.

If this is "customer service" for you, maligning the physical and mental abilities of your customers, please find another career.