Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 10/6/2008

Question
Hi!

What a wonderful site you have here!  I wish I had found it prior to my ordering from this company (www.cubanhabanoscigars.com, or it seems,
www.habanos-r-us.com .  I placed an order with them at the beginning of September for 2 boxes of cigars... now it seems that rather than disappointment me with counterfeit cigars, they're going to save the shipping expense, and not send me anything.
When I placed the order, I was given a tracking number, but can not get an answer of who the carrier is supposed to be. I email them daily, and sometimes receive a response that they will get back to me in 24 hrs (that has yet to occur).  Eventually, I did receive an email that my cigars should arrive by week end (that would be last week), and that their phones were not working properly, hence any delays returning calls.
My question really is how to go about stopping others from having a similar experience.  A report to the FTC?  I will immediately contact my card company and explain what has occured... and hopefully will not have lost my money completely.

Any advice will be sincerely appreciated.
Thanks, and long ashes!
Jack  

Answer
Jack,

Thanks for the compliment on our site. If you send me your mailing address I'll send you our 64 page print catalog. We are a real mail order company, in the manufacturing business for over 115 years and selling by mail since the 1980's. Your experience with the other company is an unfortunate but common occurrence. There are many companies that claim to be mail order houses but in reality are just some guy working out of his garage.

Your biggest problem here may be the products you ordered. If they are Cuban in origin they are illegal to import into the U.S., and I doubt you'd get any cooperation from the FTC or anyone else.

My advice is to stick with the great brands made in the USA, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Dominican Republic. There are many cigars from these countries of better quality than most of what comes from Cuba, and you won't have any hassles if you are dealing with a reputable company in the U.S.

Sorry again about the problem - wish I had a better response fro you.
Bill