Cigars InternationalReviews of cigarsinternational.com

I have been a happy customer of CI for years. In January, Implaced an order and was offered a $9 rebate. I confess that Im didn't look at the offer carefully, but the offer was really one to join a loyalty program "Puroperks". My mistake was to not look carefully enough at the proverbial fine print. Once I finally discovered my mistake, I had had four billing of the monthly $14.95 charge. I called customer service and cancelled my inadvertent membership in Puroperks. But they were unforgiving on reversing the earlier charges. It seems they are willing to lose a good customer over this. CI was acquired by a larger industry player 15 years ago, and it no longer seems to be the friendly homegrown retailer that I knew when I first became a customer. Pennywise, pounds foolish it seems.

Here's the problem; First off, they snuck in a membership to something called Puroperks. They disguised it as a $10 off coupon popup with incredibly small text explaining it was a subscription. OK-no big deal. I was planning on buying a lot of product for the month so I canceled the auto renew on the plan. I've placed hundreds in orders in two weeks, and have not been credited for any of the purchases. E-mailing customer support gets you generic replies with no actual help referring you to how to submit claims, they refused to read the part where I clearly stated "Cigarsinternational is automatic and cannot be done manually". Haven't received most of my orders yet as of the date of this post, even though they claimed most have been shipped finally. I really don't mind the product and prices, but given their terrible customer service and slow shipping, I wont be buying again.

Be careful when ordering from Cigars International. They signed me up for a $14.95 / month membership that I did not sign up for. They said membership give me free shipping. I called CI they kept ping ponging me around to different people and finally said there was nothing they could do to help me. Just be careful. This looks like a scam that CI is part of.

Disappointed After Years of Loyalty For 2 ½ years, about 8 of us friends meet at CI on Wednesdays We were advised of a new policy (leaving a credit card on file). We all abided by this new policy. However, one friend wanted to pay CASH for his Soda. The manager standing right behind the bartender Joe Scaena (sp?) was rude and his attitude was unacceptable. Joe told the bartender loudly that if the customer didn’t want to leave a credit card, “they can all get up and leave”. After supporting this store for so long, I expected at least a basic level of respect, but instead, I was met with condescension and a complete lack of professionalism.

As a long time customer of CI I can say that their customer experience has been on the decline. They have zero interest in retaining loyal clients. All of their promotions are just meant to drive new sales. In fact, if you attempt to use the same discount code on your account, they prevent it. If you call them and ask for other options to take advantage of deals or discounts since you ARE a loyal client, their answer is there is no other option other than joining some third-party paid program - which is ridiculous. And now, they are starting to play games with shipping. I pay for UPS Ground and they ship my orders via UPS Ground Saver. To some that may mean nothing - but to someone who pays for shipping it's not about the 2 or 3 bucks difference (although it's partially that) its mostly about the potential of it taking more time for cigars to get to me causing them to dry out! If i pay for something, I expect to get what I paid for. If you call their customer service line (overseas), they admit they are sorry and offer to refund the difference - but offer no assurances it won't happen again. Absolutely terrible customer service. It's a shame, but after over two decades of buying from them, I will be moving on to someone else. They just don't seem to care.

I placed an order on March 9th for approximately $250 worth of products and paid extra for expedited shipping, as an adult 21 or older needed to be present for delivery. I arranged my schedule accordingly, taking time off work while preparing for a vacation to ensure I would be available. On the scheduled delivery day, I received a notice stating that my package was still awaiting pickup. Not only had it not been shipped—four days after placing the order—but the additional fee for expedited shipping was effectively wasted, as the package would not arrive for another four days. By that time, no one over 21 would be available to receive it. I fully understood my responsibility when ordering a controlled product online and ensured that delivery could be accepted properly. However, Cigars International completely failed to fulfill their end of the transaction. One would expect a company dealing in controlled products to take their shipping commitments seriously, but this experience suggests otherwise. Fortunately, I was able to cancel the order since it had yet to leave the warehouse. However, I am now left without the product I needed for my trip, lost wages from taking time off work, and out of pocket for replacement items—while the company has taken my money instantly but requires two weeks to process a refund. This will be my last time doing business with Cigars International. Additionally, I will be reporting this issue to the ATF, as I doubt I am the first customer to be misled and inconvenienced by their handling of controlled shipments.

BE AWARE ! THIS PLACE IS A SCAM

You never know how good a company is until you have a problem. I see why they have mostly 1-star ratings. My advice, stay away!! My story is that I bought some what are everyday smokes. Generally, these are cheap cigars, a couple or so buck each. When I received the package i pulled one and lit 'er up. wow, i just about gave myself a hernia sucking on them. I would have had better luck sucking on a butt plug! They were totally unsmokeable. They should have know how bad these are and pulled them. Never should have been sold! Anyway, talked to them started a return. But guess what? you need to pay shipping back too!!! Begrrudingly, Packed and sent. Better to by out $20 than $90. when i complained about it they gave me a $10 credit on future orders. Well, this review would never have been written if it stopped there. Their policy is 2-10 working days. its been 12. When i started to question it I got the attitude. they did not try to help me, just kept reiterating their policy. ok, fine. just did a chargeback.