Thanks for chiming in Dave.

You might want to do an intro over in the "Retailers" sections. Then you get your name in shiny green (designated as a retailer).
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Welcome to The Asylum, Dave.
I'll make that happen now.
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welcome Dave, cool here in Florida today, Huh?
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Now that is service! :-)
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Peter is all over like Bao on a... well I better not say... :-)
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appreciate the clarification Dave.

My misinformation, i apologize.

I'm glad to see that the issue has been met head on with a rep. from the company.
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My husband mentioned that a thread is running regarding CheapHumidors. Remember, everyone is happy with a company’s customer service when they have no problems or issues to report…a company’s true test of their customer service is when a customer has a problem or issue and how the company handles it. Dave at CheapHumidors failed miserably. I currently have an active complaint filed with the West Florida Better Business Bureau against CheapHumidors.

Here’s my recent experience with Dave.

November 24, 2008 – Ordered 25-50 glass top humidor from CheapHumidors. I received the humidor the following week, opened the box for a quick inspection, wrapped it in Christmas paper and placed it beneath the tree.

December 23, 2008 – My husband opens the humidor to find the top right corner is damaged/crushed and touched up with a furniture marker.

December 23, 2008 – Sent the following e-mail to Dave:
The humidor ordered from your company was a gift to my husband for Christmas. Upon opening the humidor we noticed that the back right corner (the lid of the humidor) was crushed. What is interesting is that it appears to be touched up with a colored marker...most likely damaged during manufacturing. Since this is a Christmas gift and a gift that will be used for a lifetime, I would like to return the humidor for a replacement. Please send a pre-shipping label.

December 24, 2008 – Dave response:
I am very sorry to hear that one of our products arrived to you in less than perfect condition. We take precautions to ensure that items arrive safely, although sometimes problems do occur.
We have a few options, and will be happy to entertain either of them for you.
1) We can send a replacement. This requires us filing a claim with the shipping company and them picking the item up for inspection. The damaged item must be placed in all original packaging and available for pickup. Pickup typically takes 1-3 days, and the claim takes around 5-7 days. Once the claim is complete we can send a replacement item to you at no additional expense.
2) We can offer you a discount on the item you received to keep it as an imperfect. This typically takes us 1-2 days to complete and the amount it credited back to your account
3) We can offer a store credit if you wish to keep the item. This is generally more than the discount offered in option 2.
Please just let us know which course of action you wish for us to take and we will be happy to put the gears in motion.
We want to make sure you are 100% satisfied.

December 25, 2008 – My response:
I would like to have the item replaced since it was a Christmas gift. The ding in the corner is very noticeable. It appears it was touched up with a furniture marker before shipping. What do I need to do other than have the humidor in the original box and ready for shipping?

December 26, 2008 – Dave’s response:
I am sorry, the only option we have right now is a store credit or discount on your card since it is 30 days since the damage was reported on the item.

December 26, 2008 – My response:
You have to be kidding...right! I ordered the humidor on November 24 and sent an e-mail notifying you of the damage on December 23rd. It was a Christmas present and was not opened until December 23rd. Plus, it is obvious the damage was caused during manufacturing and covered up with a brown marker.

December 26, 2008 – Dave’s response:
The problem is that you can't wait 25+ days after receipt to notify us of damage. It is too late to file a claim with the shipper.

December 26, 2008 – My response:
The shipper is not the problem...the damage was done during manufacturing and covered up with a marker. It appears that you want the shipper to pay for your product that was damaged during manufacturing instead of standing behind your product.
I am still requesting a replacement....nothing more.

December 26, 2008 – Dave’s response:
Normally a customer would notify us within a few days of receipt to let us know of a problem. We do not honor claims after 25 days. However, if you wish to send the item back we will replace it for you as a coutesy. Our address is: 217 Hobbs St #106 Tampa, FL 33619

December 26, 2008 – My response:
Thank you...this is all I wanted. I am disappointed that you initially tried to put the blame off on the shipping company and then turned the blame to me when it was damaged (and covered up) during manufacturing.

December 27, 2008 – My final response:
Dave,
After careful consideration, I am no longer interested in a replacement humidor. That was a viable option early in our correspondence. After receiving many e-mails from you and seeing first-hand how your policy/story changes from one e-mail to the next I am reluctant to send you the damaged humidor (at my expense) in hopes of you sending a replacement.

The first e-mail I received from you stated that a shipping pickup would be issued…but that is when you were trying to get the shipping company to pick up the tab. You also need to read your web page, your last e-mail says that you do not honor claims after 25 days but your web site states a 30 day money back guarantee. It doesn’t matter if a customer contacts you on the 1st or the 30th day after purchase; you have a 30 day money back guarantee. :-)
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So on the 26th you got exactly what you wanted and then on the 27th you changed your mind?

:-):-)
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Yep, looks like a customer service failure to me.

Problem resolved within, what, 4 days? Customer got what they wanted, and then refused the deal they brokered.

Who do these businessmen think they're dealing with?

Wow.
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Over a holiday no less.
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sounds like "deja Vu" to me.

honestly, i'm not going to sit here and slander anyone anymore. Linda, thank you for noting your experience. Everytime i've ever had an issue with a cigar company i get a "no questions asked" return and replace (if i desire) because that (in my humble opinion) is the way to keep your customers happy.

Its great that it got worked out. BUT, it shows poor character when a company tries to shove the blame somewhere else instead of jsut fixing the problem.

Customer service to me, means that you take the heat regardless of if it is your problem or not. I work in healthcare in the staffign industry... what do you think i tell my clients when they say one of my workers did not eprform to their likings??? do i chuck the worker under the bus? NO, i take the heat, ebcause that's what they expect... from me... because they are customer... i tell them that its my fault and i'll handle it (its the whole "benefit of the doubt" thing)



Regardless, i'm done here, i noted a situation and people jumped down my throat... then someone else noted a similar situation and the numbers speak (to me at least).


No offense Dave,nothing personal. this is business. You should expect constructive criticism and thus far you have (and you've taken it well).

To the onlookers, i'm glad some of you had satisfying experiences with Cheaphumidors.com.

i challenged people to show me bad customer service about thompsons and so far i've gotten 2 instances.... the same as cheaphumidors. the only difference is that i've had 5 positive experiences with thompsons and zero experiences with cheaphumidors... BEst of luck to both companies. I will take the thompson "bad CSR experiences" into consideration. thanks for those who posted those up.


On a better note, I've never had a bad experience with Tampahumidors.com and i've bought 4 imperfect humidors from them. But if people have had bad experiences, please let me know!
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http://www.complaintsboard.com/compl...ars-c6929.html


Theres a few (pages) to start with
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Jumped down your throat? :-)

Does the bold mean your leaving us?
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(point of clarification) ahc4353 - this thread.
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Who jumped down your throat? It seems like we were all engaged in a pretty darn civil conversation to me...my apologies if I came off as aggressive.

People who had a personal positive experience regarding CH chimed in to say so.

Take Thompson's out of the discussion for a second as that is already a hot button topic for some folks.

You seem to really like and stand behind Tampa Humidors.

Now what if someone asks about Tampa Humidors. And then I posted that a one time I saw a guy have a poor experience with them. You would probably post that you had personally had a good experience right? And what if a couple other guys chimed in and said so as well? Then I continued to maintain that because I saw/heard (second hand one side of a story) that there was a problem that made them a bad company to deal with? You might feel compelled to defend the company that had treated you well.


People disagreeing with you is not an attack. It is a discussion.


As far as the "numbers speaking" I still can't quite understand how dozens if not hundreds of negatives for Thompson's is less than the 1 and 1/2 for cheap humidors, I must have taken a different math class. :-)
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Did you read the entire posting? You obviously missed Dave's first e-mail to me on December 24th where he gives me 3 options…particularly option 1.

1) We can send a replacement. This requires us filing a claim with the shipping company and them picking the item up for inspection. The damaged item must be placed in all original packaging and available for pickup. Pickup typically takes 1-3 days, and the claim takes around 5-7 days. Once the claim is complete we can send a replacement item to you at no additional expense.

When I responded to Dave on December 25th noting that I would like to exercise option 1 (humidor replacement) he pulled that option off the table. I was not interested in a discount on the product…I was not interested in store credit…I simply wanted an undamaged humidor…the humidor I paid for. I did not buy an “imperfect” humidor…I purchased a new one…and that is all I wanted.

After many e-mails back and forth and seeing how Dave was trying to dance around absorbing any cost himself, I had second thoughts about sending the humidor back. Seeing how Dave was attempting to get the shipping company to cover the damage and seeing how his story changed from one e-mail to the next, I was reluctant to send a humidor back to Dave at my expense and hope that he sends a replacement. I was already burned by Dave once, do I want to risk sending a humidor back and hope that he returns a new one after the e-mail correspondence we had. Some of you may have, but I was not willing to take the chance of being burned twice.

Dave does deserve kudos for responding on Christmas Eve and Christmas day…that is commendable. However, I believe he should have honored the option number 1 that he offered to me up front. In the end, I did not request a discount or an in-store credit and did not send the humidor back…that was my choice.

I wish everyone well if they purchase items from CheapHumidors…I will not. The original poster of the thread was asking for experiences with CheapHumidors and I assumed the poster wanted to hear the good and bad. Please keep in mind that any time you order from an online company and you receive your purchase within few days (and undamaged) everyone is happy….you see customer responses like “fast shipping, great company, excellent product.” This is not a true test of a company’s customer service…a true test is when they have to deal with customer issues and how they handle it.

Since I am not a cigar smoker I doubt that I will check in with this forum after today so I want to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year.

Enjoy your cigars guys, :-)
Linda
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Maybe I wasn't clear...in Dave's first e-mail, option 1 included covering the cost of shipping the item back to him. When he finally agreed to replace the humidor (after many e-mails) the return shipping cost was out of my pocket. He did not honor his original option number 1. Dave has this all figured out where he assumes no out-of-pocket costs.
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I think that we all need to agree to disagree. I can't believe how far this has gone. It works both ways, some people are happy, some are not. Some people had issues that were resolved (Icehog for example) some people did not (Linda).

I think that my original point was that while there may have been some issues the majority of the customers were happy. No one bats 1000 in retail. It's not possible.

Either way I'm glad that everything worked out (sort of - like you said, it was your choice not to return it in the end) with your husband's gift.

Anecdotally my fiancé bought be a humidor at a Marshall's or TJ MAX or something like that and while it is nice looking on the outside it is lined with aromatic cedar and therefore not fit to store cigars in. I love it anyway and display it proudly (but empty :-)) because it came from her and she was thoughtful enough to think of me when she saw it. Not completely the same situation but I hope that is the spirit of the conclusion that you and your husband reached.
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I agree, Linda.

When the door I received for the cabinet humidor wasn't up to standards, Dave had a new one out to me the next day, and told me to discard the unusable one.

So my experience was a great one, as was my other cabinet purchase that went off without a hitch.

From what I have read here and other forums, I would change "some" to "the vast majority". :-)

And remember, you have not had any "dissatisfactory" experiences....you just know someone who said they did.

Hope that isn't "jumping down your throat".
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Man, I can't win. Look, last year we sent out over 20,000 orders. I am sure there will be some people that had or have problems. We are only human. Mistakes happen. Things get wrecked in transit. Lost in the mail, etc. We try our best to fix them. Most people end up satisfied. Some people never are satisfied. I have come to realize after 12 years in the business that most people are inherintly good. There is just a small percent that likes to complain and will never be satisfied. I tried to help out Linda then she changed her mind and felt it better to file a complaint with the BBB. Heck, I even informed her she sent the complaint to the wrong BBB and gave her the address for the correct one so it would have a fair shake at getting to us for response. Linda, if you read this, I;d still like to help you. You know my emil.
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