Advice for B&M customers anyone?

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Holy sh!t, Greg. I guess that is why I will never work in retail. People that stupid are intolerable.

You don't realize that more than working behind the counter.

Oh yeah, forgot this one. Guy comes back into the store with a half-smoked cigar and says, "I don't like this, can I get a refund?'.

I had flashes of Drew.

[Blueface]

Going to a B&M, smoking your own cigars and not buying anything from the store.
That just plain stinks.

[markem]

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

The one that ranks up there with theft with me is when customers come in and say, 'I smoked this one cigar last week in Indiana and the band was red. Do you have it?' and expect me to know what it was! WTF?

Saw a variation of this happen at a local B&M last year. The counter guy was way fast on his feet. I think his reply was something like, "No, those are only available in Washington". (our version of Indiana)

[MajorCaptSilly]

Criticizing an owner's choice of cigars to stock is in bad form. Making suggestions of brands you enjoy in a non-snobbish way is much better.


MCS

[pektel]

I wish there was a decent b&m around here. Only one mostly sells pot pipes. You can smoke inside, but it's not a place to go and enjoy a smoke. No couches/chairs/music/TV.
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[smelly4tay]

Customers judging customers.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by smelly4tay

Customers judging customers.

Guilty!!

[Bill86]

I didn't know Pnoon was a judge.

I try not to judge other people. Sometimes it's REALLY hard, but too each his own.

[smelly4tay]

haha Icehog, I spit a little beer out scrolling down to that picture.

I am guilty as well Bill, but it drives me nuts going into a shop and having 11 old guys look at me (not knowing who works there) and peg me for a certain cigar smoker(blunts), or a total noob....then when names like Pete Johnson come up....they have no idea what I am talking about as they puff on their Maxim de Paris'. LOL

[Thammy]

Originally Posted by smelly4tay

Customers judging customers.

That happens to me a lot, being younger then most there. Also have an embarassing story being the customer that I want to forgot, though they did not make as much a big deal out of it as I did

[markem]

No one has mentioned the often overlooked one ... If you plan to carry a backpack into the walkin, don't be surprised if you are watched very closely.

[Silound]

My short answer is "Customers who think they own the shop." That ranges from the snobbish ones with bad form, to the polite ones who stay in the shop all day without spending a dollar taking up space for paying customers.

Customers who can't aim in the bathroom (daily problem). Sit down if you can't ****ing piss straight! Didn't you learn that as a kid?

Customers who bring business into the shop. Guys, this isn't the office. Don't talk loudly on your cell phone or have a business meeting at the shop because you want to show everyone how important you are. If you have a call, step outside to the covered area to take it. If you want to bring your laptop or paperwork, that's fine as long as you keep it to yourself and are quiet. Please don't occupy the whole table with your work, as others may want to play cards or sit and talk.

Shop seating is for any customers, but it is limited. If you aren't smoking a cigar and it's busy, please leave or get up and let the smoking customers have a place to sit. Also, unfortunately, you do not own that particular chair or place on the couch. Don't harass other customers if they sit there.

Guns. They're OK to have on you, not OK to display or wave around. We have some customers who, believe it or not, are afraid of, or offended by, firearms. We would prefer to keep the shop friendly so the lady out shopping can stop by for a smoke or to pick up a few.

Kids. This is a strictly 18+ establishment. Please don't come here for a period of time with your children, and please don't ask if it is OK for you to buy your 14 year old grandson a cigar because he wants one and cannot legally buy one. If you're doing a quick stop for some smokes to take with you, we understand that you may bring the kids in for a moment and thus we try to maintain a "family friendly" atmosphere, and will make every attempt to expedite the process of getting you checked out quickly. However, we don't want to hear your kids whining about "it stinks" or "can we leave yet?" in the shop. They aren't supposed to be in here, we try to facilitate you by allowing you to bring them in for a quick moment, but please don't abuse it and irritate us.

We are a retail shop as well as a lounge. This means we like to have the place look presentable for the people who come to shop here, especially during the holiday season. Please be considerate with your dress, language, and attitude while others are in the shop.

As far as TV remotes and channels: There is but one TV, and you will all share it. If someone objects to your choice of programming, please find something you can all agree on or allow them to have a turn. You don't own the remote, and there is no need to turn the volume way up to drown out other people's voices.

If you don't like someone, the shop is not the place to grind an axe or be obnoxious. Take it home.

We, as the shop, DO NOT owe you anything, regardless of how good of a customer you think you are. We make every effort to please our customers within reasonable expectations, but that does not mean you are entitled to any of the following: discounts, holds, deals, preferential treatment (even if you owned the shop at one time or another), free lockers/cokes/cigars/samples, or anything else that isn't already provided. We go so far as to offer drive-up service if you call an order in ahead, and we will happily bend over backwards to make you happy....don't abuse it and don't irritate the employees/shop/owner.

Speaking of, the owner/manager/or employee is not there to be your lackey. Ask a favor of us nicely and we may be willing to do something for you. Make demands or order us around, and don't be surprised if we're "busy." You can get up to get your own cigars from the humidor, or your own coke or cup of coffee or whatever.

If we want to give you a discount to show our appreciation of your business, we will. It can't always happen, especially on rare/HTF sticks, or on new sticks, or on cigars we already discount. Padron 3000, sure. Padron 80th? No dice.

The counter is not your desk. Please stay out from behind it, and do not congregate around it.

Matches and bags are for people who buy cigars. Believe it or not, these cost money, and if you buy high quality matches like we did, they can cost as much as 25 cents per box. That means each person gets forty cents or more of matches and bags free. That means the shop loses between $40-80 a day as a service to customers. Please don't abuse this generosity. Please don't ask for matches just to sit on the couch and use one match from the box. We have lighters everywhere, and we have matches sitting around the tables. Please don't waste our money by being too lazy to get up and use what we provide. And I don't care how bad you are at smoking, you don't need 4 boxes of matches for one cigar. The only time you get 4 boxes is when you buy a box or more of cigars.


Arrrgh, I could keep on going and going and going....

[Bill86]

Originally Posted by smelly4tay

haha Icehog, I spit a little beer out scrolling down to that picture.

I am guilty as well Bill, but it drives me nuts going into a shop and having 11 old guys look at me (not knowing who works there) and peg me for a certain cigar smoker(blunts), or a total noob....then when names like Pete Johnson come up....they have no idea what I am talking about as they puff on their Maxim de Paris'. LOL

Yeah I use to work at a hotel. They did a wine tasting, was sh!t wine. Like $10 a bottle and all the old douchebags got really dressed up in their suits and puffed on their crappy noname cigars that they only "smoked" an inch off of and put them down. (we're talking 60X6's here too)

I hate people that try to fit in or act like something they are not. So annoying, I was just thinking wow you look like an idiot puffing on that dogrocket in your tux.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Silound

We, as the shop, DO NOT owe you anything, regardless of how good of a customer you think you are.

Except that without customers, there wouldn't be a shop.

Just curious, do you own the shop or work there?

[Kreth]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Except that without customers, there wouldn't be a shop.

I think he might have been talking about the people who drop in once in a blue moon, spend $10 and expect to be treated like royalty...
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[Devanmc]

Originally Posted by Adriftpanda

Walking into the shop while on the phone and just loud like you were at home.

Asking for discounts.

Putting things on hold.

Asking why their prices are more expensive, to the owners.

My good friend owns a shop here in Sacramento, and these are the common things that come up.

i asked this at the counter over a extremely over priced box of viaje HBs when i was doing the group buy. But mine was called for. Boxes were going for 270 they wanted 410 after giving me a 10% military discount. I asked why they were pricing things so much higher then MSRP. He looked at me as said "he wasnt". I just walked out...

I currently buy alot and have been talking to mark at tower cigar for my future viaje buys. That local shop could have my business and alot of money from it, but his price gouging means i will never shop there again.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Kreth

I think he might have been talking about the people who drop in once in a blue moon, spend $10 and expect to be treated like royalty...
Posted via Mobile Device

You might be right, Jeff, considering the post as a whole, I am not sure.

[weak_link]

When I worked in a shop we had a couple guys who would come in and pinch half the box before selecting one. Look, these weren't 2000 CC Punch Churchills, they all smoke fine buddy!

[JaKaacH]

I love the guys who have to marinate the stock in their nose juice

[enlightenedcigar]

I know that I am a young guy working in a B&M, I have worked in the same shop for 3 years now and it drives me crazy when new customers say something about me being young and knowing what I am talking about.

Its also terrible when a customer goes through a box of cigars searching for one, which is fine, and leaves loose sticks on the shelf or in randomly placed boxes.

Hate, HATE it when some one punches a cigar too hard and splits the cap, or cuts an inch off of the cigar and complains that the wrapper is coming off or the cap is busted. Its your own fault!