Thompson Cigar

Experience:

Very pushy sales staff. They call unsolicited and try to sell you. Their many house brands are uniformly very poor dogs IMO.

Experience: Neutral

I just recently joined Thompson’s Cigar Club. The deal is they ship you cigars based on your pre-reported preferences every month (or as far out as 7 months) and as long as the cigars are of a certain list, they will eventually earn you a large discount. Unfortunately, you can not monitor or modify your account online and not all of their variety pacs (of which I buy most often) are included towards the program. I think you are supposed to buy 250 cigars but there is no limit on how long it takes to do that.

Thompson Cigar house brands are of good quality as they relate to the taste but are hit and miss on draw and (especially) construction.

As soon as I joined the club, they toned down the high-pressure sales pitches.

Experience: Neutral

i used to buy from them, like 13 years ago, and back then, it was a great experience. but from all the bad things i’ve heard over the last few years about their pushy sales staff and constant bothering of customers, i now avoid Thompson’s.

Experience: Neutral

Wow, they could have taken the classy route for advertising…
but they chose TRASHY. What are they selling cigars or BREAST IMPLANTS?!
Thanks but no thanks,
I’ll purchase my cigars from a company knowledgable in tobacco…
NOT whores.

Experience:

This place backordered my product, then offered an exchange charging my checking twice including shipping on the second charge (which was free in the first place). Then wouldn’t refund it, finally did refund the wrong one, and won’t reply to my emails. DON’T BUY FROM THEM!!!

Experience: Neutral

The main deterrent is price, Thompson’s is consistently high when compared to other online retailers. Their house brounds look cheap.

Experience: Neutral

Some good sampler deals, but shipping can be very slow. Stay away from the house brands.

Experience: Neutral

I will go with “neutral.” I have a good friend (an elderly gent) who *swears* by Thompson–even likes some of their house brands. I have avoided them only because they do, indeed, seem to SWAMP you with follow-ups.

Experience:

they try to the high pressure sales thing, they billed me for cigars i never received, kept sending me cigars when i told them not too since i am not working. they tried to charge me for cigars i returned, after i told them numerous times not to ship me anymore cigars until i was working again. they continue to send me there catalog which goes str8 into the garbage. NEVER AGAIN with thompson’s

Experience:

Yikes! I just got my first order from thompson’s, and I was really worried from all the reviews here… Really though–my experience was pretty good. I got the cigars 4-5 days after ordering them, the wrappers were in good shape, and upon inspection-the “underhumidifiction” everyone keeps talking about doesn’t seem too bad. Pretty much what I’d expect from cigars that have been out of a humidor for the past 4 days. I’m going to let them rest in my humidor for a few days, then try em out, but I think they’ll be fine.

I did get one of those “pushy” sales calls the day after I ordered it, but it really wasn’t too bad. Seriously guys, just be up front and say “no, I don’t want to join your sales club.” That was all I needed to do, and haven’t been bothered since.

Overall, perhaps Thompson’s has some questionable sales ethics, but my experience was quite positive. I think that as long as you buy from them as a “informed consumer” you’ll have a good experience as well.

Experience: Neutral

I ordered a humidor and a cigar combo today. They didn’t have the one I wanted but had another than was claimed to be a much better deal although it was fifty dollars more than want I wanted to order. Then she started with the sales club and was relentless with it. I gave in and told her to go ahead and sigh me up because I could postpone at anytime. And the shipping was free. I wished I had checked them out on a site like this one. I wonder if I can cancell my membership if there are any problems. Has anyone tried to do this before?

Experience:

Ordered one of their sample packs from a magazine I picked up. It has been a over a week and still no order. Now I get a telephone call 1-2 times a day. I know the phone number so I quite answering the phone….they keep calling even after I told them to stop.

Experience:

I’m surprised by how many negative reviews there are. I guess I’ve been lucky and have had no problems whatever. The prices for the $4-6 range offers are very good and I enjoy the range of choices. I do all my orders by phone and have found the service, shipping and quality very good indeed. No, I don’t have any connection with the firm but I just wanted to add a happy customer’s view.

Experience:

For the most part, my experience with Thompson Cigar was excellent. My orders took about a week and a half to show up, no problem, ships from the other side of the country for me here in California. I first started ordering pipe tobacco from them, wonderfully moist, they stored it well. Then I found out about their Cigar club. 30 dollars to join, and they were going to throw in a free humidor, sweet, how can I pass it up? I was told that my first shipment was going to ship on the end of May. No problem, they’ll notify me beforehand so I can make sure my finances were in order so I didn’t end up messing up my budget. Did not happen. I had a mysterious 70 dollar charge to my checking account. I got charged for the cigars, and the “free” gift. I called the company and asked about how to cancel the club,they kept offering to just delay my next shipment until September. I wanted out, and I finally got it cancelled. I sent the cigars back a month ago, and haven’t got the refund. I’m not going to push it, I really don’t care and I am trying to separate myself from the company. I even removed my credit card from my account just in case the want to send me another “gift”. Both have a better selection and lower prices on the same cigars.

Experience:

Never seen Customer Service as bad as Thompson Cigar customer service. Tried to cancel their cigar club and it toke 5 months for them to quit charging my bank account after I called them 4 or 5 times telling them to take me out of the club. Each time they said it was done but give it a month and then there were charges on hold in my bank account that toke them a week to give my money back. They even hung up on me after I called in the morning to cancel and that night they called asking if I was ready for my new shipment of cigars as part of the club order. They will not let you even speak to a manager at all. No matter who you ask or how many times. They are a very shady company, so watch your bank account for unauthorized charges if you buy from them.

Experience:

I’m quite surprised by all the negative reviews here. I have been ordering from Thompson for about a year now and have NEVER had a problem or a sales call. The shipping has always taken about a week, if not less, to deliver to my building. I must be damn lucky.

Experience:

I have just used Thompson twice and found it okay, the cigars were interesting and yes not mind blowing but enjoyable. The humidor in the sample set was impressive to say the least. I had a call from them as soon as I placed the order asking to join the club, I refused they accepted and pointed out I should have had free shipping on the order as its was an offer at that time. I e-mailed them and they refunded the shipping no problem. I just say I must have been one of the lucky ones.

Experience:

STAY AWAY! when you call them you can’t differentiate their customer service or sales department! i called them because i didn’t receive my order after 13 days i ordered, the rep was offering and offering and offering so i can change my order. then i thought i had the wrong dept, when i asked to speak to customer service, to my surprise i was at the right place!!! horrible customer service! its all about taking your money! also when you want to place an order, you reach an operator in seconds, but when there is an issue it takes you a life time!

Experience: Neutral

First off, I have to give them props. My friend called their customer service to ask if they would donate some cigars to my unit who is currently deployed. 3 months later I got a trashbag full of cigars. Some really good premiums in there.
But I generally stick with CI and a lot of these reviews have convinced me to stick with em..

Experience:

I’ve gotten a humidor and 4-5 shipments of cigars from Thompson and I’ve been very happy with them. Twice I have ordered something on backorder, and got a phone call the next day to confirm that I knew that it would be a week or two until they shipped it out.

I haven’t experienced any pushy sales on their cigar club… I declined and the girl on the phone didn’t keep pushing the issue. Never had a problem with dry cigars, but I am in the South, so they get here quicker and it’s already humid.

Experience: Neutral

I have seen a lot of negative reviews here and honestly wish I had read this review site before my one order from Thompson.

I am giving it a Neutral since I received my order in a timely manner and have not been bothered by telemarketers. I alsways use a prepaid credit card online so if I do get enrolled in some shady monthly program against my knowledge then they aren’t going to get paid. I provide that as a suggestion to anyone doing business on the internet these days. Never give someone you don’t know access to your real credit card or bank account. Its just too risky. I simply bought a prepaid thats reloadable and use that for my protection.

I have NOT recieved any telemarketing calls from these people, but I have had a number show up on my phone repeatedly lately that I don’t recognize so I don’t answer. It could be them, it might not so I reserve judgement.

I ordered a Fuente Hemingway 10 pack assortment that came with a 10 count travel case. Cigars were VERY dry. Came in an UNSEALED plastic bag simply held closed with a Funete sticker. No humidipack. I have a really nice humidor and I was able to put them in there and most made a decent recovery. One was damaged it was so dry but the others were intact.

The free travel case was nice and I use it all the time.

My experience had both positives and negatives so I give them a neutral but Most likely I will not order from them again due to their packaging, lack of humidity pack, and dryness of the smokes.

Experience: Neutral

Stale cigars, LOOK ON THEIR SITE TODAY AND FIND A MIXED FILLER BEING ADVERTISED AS LONG FILLER. Poor sales staff with no knowledge. Unsolicited calls.

Enough said????????????

Experience: Neutral

Horrible service, constant harassment of phone calls with a great $40 deal, they were going to give me membership and have a reoccurring order of the cigars i bought and charge me 70$ instead. bullsh*. Dont ever order from them. Horrible customer service.

Experience: Neutral

NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE…AGAIN!
Years ago…1997, I became a TCC member. They offered “points” per purchase. After I accumulated over 1,000 points I called to cash them in. The female from Thompsons told me I had a whopping 250 points built up. After I complained she offered to up the points to 350. I told them to cancel my “membership” & that took 3 calls before they finally did and stopped sending me “cigars of the month”. NOW…today, years later, I decided to take a chance with them again and, after just ONE order they called me twice trying to get me to join as a member. So much for giving them my private phone number…..14 years and nothing has changed. These people, this company is nothing less than a WASTE.

Experience:

I was hesitant to buy from this company based off this message board. However, I proceeded with buying 3 90 rated samplers as I could not find another shop with such an offer, newbie. I’ve received no phone calls or emails harassing me. They sent an email with my receipt and tracking info. They promptly sent my package. The cigars were all perfectly packaged, probably could have smoked them right away but I will let them rest. They were not dried out and this was all the way from FL to WA. Only 2 out of the 40 were not rated 90 or above, although CA’s site is hard to follow since there are no pics. Overall it was a great experience. Just remember, they must be doing something right if they’ve been around since 1915.

Experience:

I never used this company before but decided to try a new cigar that they carry. I placed my order 04/01/11…….just leaving the facility for shipping today (04/07/11). The UPS site claims a delivery date of 04/12/11. I have no clue what thompson did the last 6 days but I do know they charged my card without delay. I’m already fed up with this company over their shipping. I will stick with a competitor. They have my product fresh to my door in 2 days. TIT, “Thompson is Terrible”

Experience:

Buyer Beware!

I was looking for some cheap cigars to announce the birth of a child. At Thompson Cigars I found lots of cheap, mid to low quality cigars – just what I needed. I ordered one of their bags of 30 assorted cigars and within a few days it was delivered as promised. I was pleased! I put the order on my credit card, but I didn’t spend a great deal of money and I my modest expectations were met. I thought I would pass out the cigars and never need to think about the folks in Florida again. Stupid me.
A few days later a duplicate box of cigars arrived. I called their phone jockey to inform them that I had received the box and needed to return it. The gormless phone jockey put me on hold, then came back, then put me on hold again, then came back and said he would send a pre-paid shipping label I could use to send the box back to Florida. I thought I had done my good deed for the day and was finished. Stupid me.
Thompson stared dunning me. First it was simple reminders from their sales department telling me that I had not paid for the second box, then the letters started getting nasty, then the letters threatened legal action. All this because Thompson has sloppy bookkeeping and because they screwed up – they threatened me with legal action. I thought I would call and clear the situation. Stupid me.
The next phone jockey was more gormless than the first. I explained to him what had happened and he informed me that the payment for the first order (the cigars that had been paid for, distriubuted, smoked, and forgotten) had been refunded. Why? He couldn’t tell me. I asked if he understood that I had paid for what I wanted and then Thompson dumped an extra order on me without my request…he sheepishly indicated that he could see that on his computer screen. I told him that I had wanted to do the right thing and return to Thompson what I had not paid for, but wondered if I had just kept my mouth shut and not returned the extra 30 cigars if none of this problem would have occurred, if none of the threatening letter would have been sent, if I would have been left alone. He sheepishly said, “yes.” Stupid me.

Don’t be stupid like me – avoid this company. They have a bunch of low-end cigars that are just what they advertise and if that was that, it would be OK, but it isn’t. I should have looked around on the internet at all the other complaints about their bookkeeping and accounting and I should have then taken my money elsewhere. Stupid me.
To make matters worse, I have now called and asked three times to be taken off their mailing list. The junk mail keeps on coming and they have sold my name and address to other mass marketers. Buyer beware – stay away from Thompson Cigars.

Experience:

DON’T EVER ORDER FROM THESE PEOPLE. THEY SOLD OUR CARD INFORMATION SERVERL TIMES TO DIFFERENT ONLINE COUPON COMPANY’S THAT CHARGED US 20.00 FOR NOTHING. WHEN YOU CALL THESE COMPANY’S YOU HAVE TO FIGHT WITH THEM TO GET A REFUND, WHEN I CALLED THE CIGAR COMPANY I HAD TO FIGHT WITH THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE MAN. THEY ARE VERY RUDE AND DON’T CARE ABOUT THERE CUSTOMER’S WHAT SO EVER! WATCH OUT FOR THIS COMPAY. VERY BAD BUSINESS THEY HAVE!

Experience:

Hi. I had orderd a humidor from Thompson cigar a few weeks back to be sent to my uncle in Calif…(since they ship to the US only) so he could ship it to me in Canada. From the moment I confirmed my payment, all these guys did was give me trouble. In a couple of days one of their customer service reps called me, pestering me to join their 250 club or some rubbish like that. So I did after they told me i’d receive some free stuff and a pack of 5 cigars of my choice absolutely free. Turns out they charged my credit card for it without letting me know. Secondly, I had paid for UPS two day shipping- it took about a week for my uncle in California to receive the humidor and then he had it shipped to me. When I opened the package I was disappointed to find a wrong humidor( a much cheaper and smaller one)and the “wrong humidor” has a dent on it!! I called customer service to talk to them about this but they were extremely rude and unapologetic. They acted like I was the one who made a mistake! Now to return this thing it’ll cost me about $100, which is not worth it. Don’t rely on the Thompson cigar’s “95 year old return policy”. Its crap. The customer service it terrible and they’ll keep calling you till you join thier silly club.

Experience: Neutral

OK – time for a brief reality check here.
As noted, Thompson has been in business long time. If 75% of their customers were unhappy, they would have been OUT of business years ago, and certainly would not have survived the “cigar boom” or the growth of the modern Internet and online ordering starting around 2000. So what gives?

I used to order from Thompsons back in the 80s and into the mid 90s using the catalog, and NEVER had one issue. Note that I was (and am now) and light smoker and probably purchased less about 150 cigars per year. But I also bought a humidor and numerous accessories, good prices, good product, good delivery.
Then I quit smoking cigars from 1995 until about 3 months ago (my kids are all grown up – they understand the risks – I feel like I can enjoy a smoke now and again without the guilt that maybe I’m influencing them in some way or another, blah, blah.)
So I went back to Thompson, bought a humidor and some smokes (bundle deal) – and have since ordered more stogies.
Here’s my numbers – 45 cigars ordered (all between $2.00 and $3.50/stick – yeah I know – I’m a cheap ass – but that’s all I can afford)
10 – I thought were outstanding
30 or so – quite good considering the price, etc.
a few not so good, and one reject (had a hole in it – I couldn’t fix it)

So why the 75% Negative feed back here?
Here’s my 2 cents, (after spending a career in Market Research, marketing, statistics, web development and data systems, information architecture, end user systems analytics, etc. etc.)

Most of you already know this, but people are MUCH more likely to take the time to go online and use the web to complain and hammer a company, than they will to offer praise. That’s just the nature of things – plain and simple, and is a well understood and much researched phenomena.
I’m not discounting all the people on this site who compain about Thompson – I’m absolutely convinced they got screwed, short changed, cheated, and ripped off. It is not cool. Maybe I have been lucky thus far. Maybe Thompson needs to be more responsive to customer complaints, etc.

Thus far my experience with Thompson has revealed the one glaring weakness, and is why I gave them a neutral rating:
Shipping Issues – wow!! Thompson is SLOW – and it took me a while to figure out that they do NOT send you confirmation emails – you have to use their phone system, enter you phone number, etc. – what is this 1985? I don’t want to have to call you damn it! I want an email sent to me within 24 hours letting me know you are processing my order, and then another email the moment you have a tracking number – I don’t want to have to call – I’m busy man!

I ordered some sticks from a competitor, and boom – instant email notification that my order was received, then another that it’s processed, then another that it shipped with a tracking number. Thompson should learn how to do that – it’s not rocket science – I know.

Experience:

Pushy salespeople. They almost tricked me into an automatic replenishment system where they automatically send me cigars by disguising it as a 10% savings. I only want cigars when I order them, thanks.

Experience: Neutral

I haven’t received my order yet, but they’ve tried phoning me twice since then. When I finally figured out who it was I called them back. The woman who answered the phone told me my order was shipped (which was backed up by the fact that they had charged me for the order), and they proceeded to push some sort of club on me. I was all for it, including the free gift, until she said she was going to put me on a MONTHLY shipping schedule of my order. I asked her if there was a way to join the club and NOT get on a monthly shipping schedule but she didn’t answer and simply pushed the “benefits” of joining the club. When I tried to decline she pushed it three more times. In fact, that’s the easiest way to describe the customer service: pushy. I told her I didn’t want to join the club, she told me I’d lose my “five points for ordering five cigars” and I said, “that’s fine.” She wished me a good day and hung up. The only reason I purchased that order from them was because they had the cheapest price I’ve seen for the La Flor Coronado Corona Gorda. However, if I have to deal with that kind of customer service and weekly phone interruption, I’ll pass on ordering from them again.

Experience:

I finally got that La Flor Coronada Corona Gorda order I wrote about above on June 12th. They sent the wrong size. I called them today to tell them about it and noticed three things. First, I DEFINITELY ordered a cigar by La Flor called the Coronado: Corona Gorda. Second, the listing did give the shape as Corona Gorda. Third, the measurements for the listing were given as the Especial. The third point is what they put all their weight on. “You ordered what you got!” they insisted, even when I told them that I was staring at the La Flor Dominicana website and was able to read off the actual size and the Corona Gorda was a 7 inch by 60 gauge cigar. Her only response was that she couldn’t go to that site – her computer wouldn’t let her. To make a long story short, they did NOT make up for their own ignorance, but insisted on being right and now I have to return these cigars to get a refund. How frustrating! I will never order from these guys again. Bad manners, pushy customer service and errors they make the customers pay for? BS. No thanks.

Experience: Neutral

I am currently in Afghanistan. I think Thompson is pretty good. delivery is 7-10 days (veries on the mail guys out here). cigars are inn pretty good condition never recieved a dried out or moldy cigar. They always have a wide variety to choose from.

Experience:

Ordered a humidor for my husband as an anniversary gift. What a horrid experience! Paid extra money for overnight shipping, now almost a week later it has finally shipped! Contacted customer Serv. And it took 3 days to recieve a reponse back saying that my order was shipped today. So much for arriving in time for our anniversary. I notified them today that I will be returning my order and taking my business somwhere else. I am also planning to contact the BBB. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

Experience:

Ok I started a few bad comments on Thompson Cigars here and elsewhere after receiving stale cigars poor service (I asked if a cigar had long filler and the girl on the phone said it was 7″ and 50 ring and I told her I knew that I was talking about the leaf–after being told 3 times it is this xxx long I asked to speak to someone who knew about cigars–she told me where to go and hung up) On another effort one of the few cheapy cigars I like their house Jag I received the cigar fall apart stale and a repeat after getting stale cigars I talked to a manager who got back to me saying they all were stale after he checked—they did nothing for my efforts. Just said return them. Customer service at it’s best!

The final straw was advertising a Pepin cigar as long filler only after ordering I found it was short and sent back after they fell apart after clipping–explained the $2.50 each price–Said they would change the advertisements—they didn’t

OK 2-3 yrs after last week I could no longer buy G.A.R. Vanguard at Holts and like the cigar I bought some for the hell of it I order Nestor Miranda cigars they had on special—STALE —what a surprise—NEVER AGAIN!!!

Experience:

I was sucked in by a friends recommendation and a promise of cigars at a reasonable price. I predominantly order cigars/cigarillos in the .50-$1 a stick range when they are on sale so I am not to picky.

I started receiving calls about joining their 250 club over a year ago and decided to sign up in order to try different cigars. The first set the person recommended was great, however the next time my shipment came up I got a call telling me that they were out of stock and they recommended a different kind. Ok, those weren’t half bad (it was a Thompson label), I put off my next shipment because I moved back by my folks, and when the next order come to ship, I got a call again telling me that they did not have those is stock, instead recommended Good Days. Worst stuff ever, so I returned them and was out the cost of shipping. I put off my next club order for a while trying to find another cigar that I would like to try, but everything they offered was at $3+ a stick other than the crappy good days. Well that was fine until they ship me a case 3 weeks early, thankfully they were thompsons which are ok, but I was a little pissed. That they shipped early.

Then I looked because I figered I had hit 250 eligable cigars and realised that all this time I apparently had 250 club credits expiring because I didnt know I had them. You have to call and ask for them. Ok well that’s a pain, but she said I could apply it to my online order by calling them afer I placed the order. That was once again annoying but ok. Well today I was told that the code can only be used on phone orders and not internet orders, which the person explained means I cannot use Paypal (which is what I use to pay my club orders) and is not good for “Internet only specials” meaning no free shipping deals.

Is there anything that this company actualy offers customers other than a hard time? I plan on canceling my membership in the 250 club and not buying from them ever again.

Experience: Neutral

i like the cigars but whenever i order from them my credit card is hack and up to 1500 dollars have been stolen. it is ridiculous dont order from thompsons!!!

Experience:

These people are horrendous! I ordered cigars as a gift to be delivered over two weeks ago. We never got a call from the client saying they received it so we called Thompson up to confirm. Apparently they were missing some information on the delivery address and instead of calling me to confirm and get the needed information they just had the cigars sent back to them! Of course they charged our credit card. When I called to find out what was happening, the CS rep would not put on her manager at ALL and then she had the nerve to keep putting me on hold and then refused to have the product shipped over night to correct THEIR error. They suck, DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM unless you wnt a huge headache. I went to Davidoff and they were good to me.

Experience: Neutral

I just cancelled my order with this guys, I placed my order a few days ago, almost immediately their sales people called to get me into their “cigar club” told me my order was on its way when it wasn’t, it was backordered with no ETA and nobody bothered to tell me. Ive dealt with a lot of cigar retailers, this guys are very sketchy, stay away!!!!

Experience: Neutral

*Update on previous comment: It came to me as “Best Cigars” of which turned out to be Thompson…sorry, Cigar Choice, didn’t mean to put your company name with said “questionable” retailer!!

Experience:

I ordered my cigars 10 days ago from within Florida state and I still haven’t gotten them and the only response I get from the customer service department is that they were shipped US Mail and they can’t track them. I asked for a refund and they said they don’t give refunds on shipped packages, I can order a return package slip and ship the package back when I receive it. The problem is that I haven’t received it. Crappy customer service, crappy sales department, one customer service agent actually laughed at me. Really not the place to go for cigars.