no more JR for BR

[ripper]

Had a ridiculous hassle with JR Cigar last week. They had a free El Rey del Mundo 5-pack and a free Partagas Black 5-pack with any box purchases.

http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?page=deals_erdm_10no3


http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?page=deals_part_10no3

But the Web site did not have the exact deal offered in the catalog, so I could not order a Decadent Dozen 12-pack online. I called and the c/s rep Sheila was nice -- she hooked me up with 2 12-packs and the 2 freebies.
After 40 years as a JR customer, you think they could send an email confirming the order? Or perhaps a tracking number for a small package going UPS ground and costing $10 shipping? No dice. When I called another c/s rep for a tracking number, she said they couldn’t give me a tracking number because the order was placed by telephone. I asked to talk to a c/s supervisor and they hung up. Nice!
I have been a JR customer since they were in that tiny store in NY Financial District. No more. Absolutely my last order I will do with JR.

[Brutus2600]

That is a pretty silly situation and would frustrate me too.

I would email their c/s and explain to them your frustration. At the worst they ignore you and you continue to boycot their store. At the best, they might win you back with some nice incentive and take care of the rude c/s rep that hung up on you. More often than not my emails to a company's c/s kindly explaining the situation I've been put in usually ends up convincing me to continue doing business with them.

Originally Posted by Brutus2600

That is a pretty silly situation and would frustrate me too.

I would email their c/s and explain to them your frustration. At the worst they ignore you and you continue to boycot their store. At the best, they might win you back with some nice incentive and take care of the rude c/s rep that hung up on you. More often than not my emails to a company's c/s kindly explaining the situation I've been put in usually ends up convincing me to continue doing business with them.

[OLS]

Ahhh, nowadays you really have alot of choice, and within 2-3 bucks you can beat Lew's price on stuff most times. Even on Palin toilet paper.

I think if they pi$$ed you off, stay gone. you can do better, even if you goal is just free stuff and crazy deals.

[jsnake]

This isn't the first story about JR's horrible customer service I have heard recently. I had a buddy order a Gurkha Legend bundle and they sent him their house blend but charged him the Gurkha price. He double checked and called in and got no help.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by ripper

When I called another c/s rep for a tracking number, she said they couldn’t give me a tracking number because the order was placed by telephone. I asked to talk to a c/s supervisor and they hung up. Nice!

I have been a JR customer since they were in that tiny store in NY Financial District. No more. Absolutely my last order I will do with JR.

Bart, I don't know if I would sever my relationship with JR' due to this incident with a particular CS rep. Why not turn it around and make a positive out of it and give the CS department a t/c and ask to speak with the CS manager? I would then calmly explain your conversation with this particular CS rep and how they responded. I would also suggest that you offer up the idea that it would be great future CS if telephone orders would receive an email confirmation and/or tracking#.

Personally, I've never had an issue with JR' in purchasing online or over the telephone to date, and this has been since 1996. Take a deep breath and give it another shot...

[Huskysibe]

Yeah I dont know man, seems to be such a small issue to sever ties. Everyone has a bad day at work. Maybe the c/s rep meant to put you on hold and hit the wrong button. You did say they hooked you up for placing a phone order vice an internet order. So I would think that going above and beyond for the phone order would cancel out the hangup. Let things cool off and send the supervisor an email and see what can be done. But in the end its your hard earned money your spending. Just my 2 cents.

[OLS]

I have also changed my mind after reading this. I thought you had been ripped off.
Apparently your cigars are in transit and you just want to know where they are or
something. It also sounds like you got service that was over and above policy.
Sounds like no kind of complaint to me.

[CigarNut]

If you have had a good relationship with them, especially for a long time I would try to work with them to get it working right. A good retailer is like a good friend. You want to work things out.

On the other hand, you can't have too many friends and I would, in parallel start looking at other retailers so that if I decided to sever the relationship I have somewhere else to go that I can trust.

[BigCat]

If I misunderstood you, I apologize, but it seems like an extreme reaction to the lack of a tracking number when they took care of the initial complaint and even threw in a free 12 pack.

[captain53]

This seems like a pretty minor thing other than a CS Agent with a bad attitude maybe. But there are a bunch of good competitive suppliers around these days and no reason to deal with one you are not totally happy with regardless of the reason.

You already know my feelings Bart as you and I have already discussed this. You did pretty much everything a customer can do to fix the issue and customer service should not just be a caption but a reality. They failed in their duty to provide that even when you brought it to their attention and when they fail to live up to their promise to provide that level of service then as a customer you evaluate what you can live with and what you can't. Lucky for all of us there are quite a few cigar places that cater to their longterm customers in a better manner than JR's did for you. It is their loss unfortunately because you did business with them for along time and to be so frivolous as to not follow up and fix the problem they lose business and reputation which isn't a very smart thing to do for those of us who are business minded people.

[ripper]

I am out the door, don't ask for more with JR.
They did not throw in anything free after my complaint. The free 5-packs were part of the box buys.
It took them 4 days to ship a 4-lb. box.
They sent a tracking number that does not work. When I called today and asked for a customer service supervisor, they refused and said "Anyone here can help." I asked for a c/s supervisor email address and they said, "There isn't one."
They charged $10 to ship a 4-lb. box USPS ground, which takes 7 to 14 days to reach us in the upper left corner of America.
Read their catalog. It's all verbiage wishing for the old days in the cigars biz.
Should have stuck with my usual vendors -- Famous, CI, cigar.com, Taboo, CigarAmerica, Slippery Rock, mycigarlink. The only problem in 40+ years of buying cigars by mail was cigar.com had trouble sending a catalog. They solved the issue by sending me a box of 6 catalogs and a free sampler of cigars.
A good lesson for this old Bart.

[shilala]

If you stick around with cigars.com/CI/Cigarbid long enough, they'll show you how much they care about you, Bart. They have a system. If you or your order gets screwed up, you're expendable. They'll do you just like JR. I'm really happy to hear they did right by you, though.
Famous is the real deal. Despite being huge, they have real people who actually care that you're helping support their families. Slippery Rock is insanely awesome. It's a little shop in an apartment in a dorm. I've been there a couple times. You could not ask for a more gracious host. Simply awesome.
Jack Schwartz is cut out of the same cardboard. They sell the best and care more about the cigars and taking care of them than I do. They appreciate me, too.
I wouldn't waste another minute of my time dealing with JR. I've never placed another order with CI, and despite spending a new car there every year, they've never missed me a bit. They can suck it.

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by captain53

This seems like a pretty minor thing other than a CS Agent with a bad attitude maybe.

ONe bad CS agent won't keep me from ordering from a company. Remember, there are plenty of good people who do work for the company. I would definitely contact someone about the poor response you recieved from that person. The company needs to know about her.

[captain53]

Originally Posted by shilala

If you stick around with cigars.com/CI/Cigarbid long enough, they'll show you how much they care about you, Bart. They have a system. If you or your order gets screwed up, you're expendable. They'll do you just like JR. I'm really happy to hear they did right by you, though.
Famous is the real deal. Despite being huge, they have real people who actually care that you're helping support their families. Slippery Rock is insanely awesome. It's a little shop in an apartment in a dorm. I've been there a couple times. You could not ask for a more gracious host. Simply awesome.
Jack Schwartz is cut out of the same cardboard. They sell the best and care more about the cigars and taking care of them than I do. They appreciate me, too.
I wouldn't waste another minute of my time dealing with JR. I've never placed another order with CI, and despite spending a new car there every year, they've never missed me a bit. They can suck it.

And Famous does not miss my business either but there are so many good choices we can all find one that suits us.

[Subvet642]

I've never had a problem with JR; everything arrives on time and just as I expect it. If I have a problem with an order with any company, I don't expect them to throw in freebies, as nice as that is; I expect them to correct the problem. The company is not obligated, and I am not entitled, to anything more than that.

[Lucky_Hippo]

Move on. It's one and done in this day and age. Places are standing in line to compete for your money, and will bend over backwards to make you happy. There is no excuse for poor service even if it's a single rep or policy. As corny as it sounds, that one employee does represent the entire company and they failed to make you happy.

Happy hunting!