"Called in after placing my first order, only to find out that they shipped my cigars to my billing address instead of my shipping address, even after I had emailed them to confirm that they got the two correct and that they would not be confused. The customer service agent was extremely pushy and defensive when I was trying to find out how they were going to fix the issue, and I wasn't satisfied with "We'll deal with it once you receive the cigars at the wrong address... just call us back"

I quickly asked to speak with a supervisor so that we could reach a resolution by the time we got off the phone, where Renee (the supervisor) would tell me that it was my fault for their system sending my items to the wrong address, and that she would send out replacement cigars immediately. One week after that call, I called for a status update on my cigars, and quickly found out that the replacements had not been sent, nor would they be sent until my old ones were returned, which was not what Renee and I had discussed.

My interactions with famous-smoke.com have led me to believe that customer satisfaction is not their priority. Follow through is lacking, and they do not trust their customers. Clearly this company has been around for long enough that they don't care about satisfying or impressing new customers. It's interactions like these that will keep my local cigar shop in business. My local shop would never treat me the way famous-smoke has. There's something to be said about being welcomed into a store, walking into the humidor, choosing a cigar, and being appreciated by the staff when you leave. Famous-Smoke.Com did none of this for me.


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Update 5/4/2015:


Immediately after writing my original review of famous-cigars.com, I decided to share my experience on twitter, as well as tag Famous Cigars in my post (@FamousCigarShop #cigars). I'm pleased to report that while their customer service department who handles incoming phone calls might not put much importance on customer relationships or satisfaction, they DO care about social media interactions & posts about them. As a consumer, I think that it's shame that one would need to turn to social media in order to get action and reach a resolution with a company, but I WILL say that once the online customer engagement department found my post, they wanted to do whatever they could to make things right. Gina (Customer Engagement Manager) from Famous Smoke did not take my comments on twitter lightly, as she looked into the matter immediately, and offered an above-and-beyond resolution, which included a consolation gift for my package being over a week late, and she topped it all off with over night shipping to my house. THIS is customer service. THIS is what I had wished for when I called in to get my order fix. Accountibility and customer appreciation is all I wanted from famous-smoke. While I didn't get it the first time around, all was well by the end."

"I have been a loyal and frequent customer of Famous Smok (and their discount site, Cigarmonster) for the past 5 years with at least 50 transactions in that time (orders from $5 all the way up to multiple hundreds of dollars). In this time, I've yet to have a problem. All my orders have been delivered on time, and my account being charged the correct amount. And if an item I'm looking for is on back-order (which is typically only on extremely hard to get items--even the more popular items are typically well stocked), the website will clearly indicate it. The website will still allow you to make an order for the back-ordered item, but makes sure to tell you that said items will not be shipped until it is available. Prices are almost always fair, and they offer a variety of sales and deals every day.

I do use other sites from time to time, but Famous Smoke is my go to."

"Ed's the man! Deal with him if you have an issue. Paid extra for 2 day shipping it's been over a week and cigars still haven't arrived (an issue with UPS) At first I dealt with another person who couldn't find my information or order and wouldn't refund 2 day shipping cost. Ed gave me a call, he was very nice, knew his stuff and immediately refunded shipping cost. .they almost lost me but thanks to him i just might give it another shot. Hope to get the cigars soon. ????"

"Ordered 20 Macanudo Cafe Ascot, to be shipped to me in Canada. Selected the UPS delivery on the shipping options, and got charged the right amount stated on the checkout (including selected shipping options). I received an email today saying that shipping was not $8 it was going to be $31, called the call centre to be told they only ship with USPS and she didnt know why the website let me choose UPS. I can buy them cheaper here in Canada. so told them to cancel the order... Still waiting for them to refund me."

"The prices here are insane compared to most of the other online retailers. You're much better off with cigarsinternational.com , cigar.com (actually the same parent company as the previous merchant), http://www.jrcigars.com/jr/ , or even (perhaps the least good of the lot) http://www.thompsoncigar.com/.
If you're a serious cigar smoker and will be buying more than a stick or two a year, do some price comparisons before laying down the cash. It's worth it!"

"Excellent selection and pricing. Products have always arrived in a timely manner with no problems. Always fresh cigars and I love the cigar monster!"

"Overcharged my credit card for an item that was on sale (the final checkout price for my order was about $88, but my card was charged $101), then claimed that it wasn't on sale when I inquired about it (responding only in the form of cryptic, one-line emails). When I asked for an explanation, they stopped responding entirely.

Not reliable, would not recommend."

"Ordered cigars from them and paid with PayPal. They called up and wanted my CC saying PayPal had a problem. I gave it to them even though I wanted to use my PayPal credit. I also had a problem with what i received but he wouldn't take care of it. I had to call a separate person.

About 3 of the cigars in one of the 5 packs were crushed. Two of them that survived are practically unsmokable. They're like petrified. The lady from customer support would only offer store credit. I wanted them to ship out a replacement. If I accepted store credit I would pay 7 shipping on a 14 item. Unacceptable.

Fortunately there are many other sites that sell cigars at competitive prices. "

"I have ordered several times from Famous Smoke Shop and never had any issues. My cigars arrive on time and packaged well, and the Montecristo No. 3s are always fresh!"

"Once Again Thank You FSS.
You guys are great but the price went up now and you charge free shipping which isn/t so reat but the Cigars and are always Fresh.
Keep It Up gus."

"Again, remarkable service! I placed the order on Tuesday evening (9:00pm), and the box arrived Thursday afternoon! They even threw in a bonus cigar for me to try.

Famous Smoke Shop is always my first choice!"

"Ordered 10 days before Christmas, told me I would have them in time to give as a gift, ...cigars still set to arrive after Christmas! A warning on their website that you need to order 13 days before Christmas for a timely delivery after I placed my order! This seems very dishonest to put a warning up after the fact. I will not do business with them again. "

"Never had any problems. Been ordering for over a year and a half. Items always fresh. Never a disappointment. No shipping problems"