Anyone following the "fake cigars at cbid" stuff on other forums?

[Senor Perfecto]

Originated from Cigarobsession apparently. Now it's been pulled from there due to legal threat, and also a discussion thread has been pulled from Cbid forum too. I know that if cbid was wronged, they'd *respond* to the thread in their forum. Pulling it altogether suggests something else...

 

[atbat82]

I didn't see it. Can you recap/summarize?

A couple times I've gotten suspect quality cigars from Cbid/CI. I just assumed it was poor storage, second quality, etc.

 

[Senor Perfecto]

From what I gather (it looks like cbid/CI has had their lawyers working overtime today to try to scrub out any mentions), Brian dissected one or more cigars from Cbid that were very clearly short filler/"floor sweepings" inside instead of the premium long filler. There was a video that got pulled. There is still some discussion at the CO facebook page. This is really all I know but I'm glad I have not bought from CI/cbid. The implication is that Cbid is buying crap cigars, rebanding them and selling them. No idea if it's true.

 

[Mikenice81]

Basically CO cut open a Los Blancos from CI and it had floor sweepings instead of all long filler. Blanco admitted in a CO video that he sold CI the right to use his left over boxes and bands to sell a reblended version of the cigar. (He was changing the company name and making other changes.) CI admitted to him that they had some manufacturing issues and were working to correct them. Blanco also admitted to doing some events for CI and allowing them to use the events to imply he was still involved with the new blend.

Discussion here:
http://www.botl.org/threads/cigarobsession-video-on-cigars-international.79118/

 

[Senor Perfecto]

^ thank you

 

[Zigarro]

I've become leery of C.I. since the Cig/Obs video but in all fairness, I checked the Los Blancos desc. in CI's
website and they do not claim it has "long filler". While that doesn't excuse the trash I saw dissected in the video, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. This is a serious bummer since I liked the lower prices available at CigarBid and don't know where to turn next?

 

[Zigarro]

This is my response to a CigarInt'l ad in my email tonight: "Sorry, but I'm a member of BOTL and I've seen the Cigar Obsession video regarding the Los Blancos examination. I'll be standing down from further purchases until you make a clean breast of this situation. There's no excuse for the trash I saw revealed in that dissection and siccing your lawyers on C.O. won't make this disappear from my mind." I've been their customer for some time now and it pains me to go elsewhere, but fraud is fraud!

 

[Chris Wilkes]

I wouldnt be concerned about cigars that CI doesnt own rights to. Its not like they are going to put a LP 9 band on a swisher. There may be other concerns, shipping without humidity control or storage problems, but those are another beast. Their reputation is definitely in question though and not responding or responding by only attempting to suppress conversation is a little telling. I watched the video before it was pulled and cant understand what, if any, legal ground CI would have to force him to pull it. It is an independent review and those are perfectly allowed legally in that place called 'merica

 

[Zigarro]

Yeah, I wondered where their legal legs were based in this suppression also. Brian doesn't strike me as a chap who will knuckle under to BS legal threats. Oh well; caveat emptor!

 

[Master Shake]

The legal ground was when Bryan from CO called the cigars "fake," which they apparently aren't, they are just shitty quality short filler/floor sweeping garbage that shouldn't be smoked by anyone, ever. But calling something fake is akin to accusing them of selling counterfeit product, which is slander, as it was an unfounded claim. So slander/libel would be the reason why that video was forcibly pulled down under legal threat. If he had simply accused them of selling disgusting garbage floor sweeping cigars he would have been just fine.

 

[Chris Wilkes]

As long as it is clear that it is his opinion then he has no worries. If I remember the video well enough he said things like, "it appears" and "what it looks like". Those make his statements far different than stating something as fact. I admit, I dont remember every word of the video but companies will often use the cease and desist thing to scare people into compliance. A simple legal looking threat is usually plenty to get well meaning people to stand down. I dont follow the cigar obsession dude so I dont know his reputation either but believe I would absolutely be over dubbing that video with more carefully chosen language if I had received a letter. Of course, it is speculation still that that is the reason he pulled the video anyway right?

Edited to also point out that I am no legal expert anywhere, much less in Pennsylvania slander law...

 

[3/5King]

Even if he has "a leg to stand on" CI" could still cost him a lot of money in court even if they don't win. I'm not concerned with CBid. It is what it is and will continue to be that. They will still sell a bunch of junk peppered in with the good stuff. I've ordered a lot from them and shipping is always good and I've never noticed any storage issues. This happens all the time in all markets. If you ever wonder why something you used to love sucks now, go look and see if the rights were purchased and I'm sure 9/10 times it has.

 

[Le Buzz]

Unfortunate. All the stuff I've ever ordered has been good quality. Their packaging has gotten much much better as of late. Of course, with some of these sketchy brands there is a chance for them to pull the wool over your eyes.

Thing is, I dont know where to get 5 packs of tats and Cabbies at such ridiculous prices. I've never heard of Los Blancos and not really interested. This is why I value the background of a cigar company and why I patronize Pete/Pepin. Got no clue who this Blanco guy is and I wouldn't put smoke in my mouth from a cigar which I have no idea whence it came.

Seen so much sketch in the cigar game. Dyed wrappers, misleading country of origin, etc. Pete/Pepin never let me down. Lately my beloved 5 Vegas cheapies have been giving me headaches everytime I smoke one. Makes me wonder what the hell they're putting on the leaf. If it happens again I'm gonna chuck them.

The industry lends itself to recruiting the stereotypical money hungry and morally bankrupt. The fat cat with the cigar in hand. There's a good portion of suppliers out there who couldn't give 2 f**ks about providing a legit and honest product.

It does make me think twice about Cbid for the future though, even though I have no reason to believe they'd sell fake Tats. Will wait and see how this plays out.

 

[herfdog]

As long as it is clear that it is his opinion then he has no worries.

Writing in the YouTube thumbnail "cheap fake cigars" is an accusation in plagiarism. You can't go around and say people are manufacturing counterfeit cigars like that. He has a lot to worry in the diffamation side of legalities.

 

[Chris Wilkes]

Even if he has "a leg to stand on" CI" could still cost him a lot of money in court even if they don't win.

Fair enough, I don't claim to be a legal expert and agree that going to court against a large company with resources to make the fight miserable is a mistake.

The whole situation sucks and could be handled more gracefully by CI what my opinion boils down to, regardless of what a blogger says.

 

[Lezanstar]

I've become leery of C.I. since the Cig/Obs video but in all fairness, I checked the Los Blancos desc. in their website and they do not claim it has "long filler". While that doesn't excuse the trash I saw dissected in the video, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. This is a serious bummer since I liked the lower prices available at CigarBid and don't know where to turn next?

Take a look at cigar auctioneer. It is similar to Cbid but owned by Famous Smoke which is one of the site sponsors. Have to sort through the crap, but they have decent stuff if you look.

 

[ckay]

I feel like this all is a bit much. Considering the cigar in question is $1.50. That is what a Philly Blunt or Dutch Master goes for. This is a matter of low quality versus fake. I for one would never buy a cigar for $1.50 and smoke it. You do other things with that cigar.

If anything, be mad at the brands for selling themselves out to trademark and duping you into thinking you're buying a Los Blanco product.

The bigger issue is the fact that CBid was called out for fake Opus Maduro that very few seem to be aware of.

That alone was enough to stop me. Not that I was a big CI shopper anyway.

 

[3/5King]

I feel like this all is a bit much. Considering the cigar in question is $1.50. That is what a Philly Blunt or Dutch Master goes for. This is a matter of low quality versus fake. I for one would never buy a cigar for $1.50 and smoke it. You do other things with that cigar.

If anything, be mad at the brands for selling themselves out to trademark and duping you into thinking you're buying a Los Blanco product.

The bigger issue is the fact that CBid was called out for fake Opus Maduro that very few seem to be aware of.

That alone was enough to stop me. Not that I was a big CI shopper anyway.

are there facts to back up the accusation? Not backing up Cbid here but I like to work with facts over hearsay.

 

[Lezanstar]

are there facts to back up the accusation? Not backing up Cbid here but I like to work with facts over hearsay.

I have read about this, but I am by no means an expert. Search "fake opus X" on google and there are several different accusations of this. You can decide for yourself. Allegedly CI got their opus rights revoked after the Fuente family personally inspected some of the cigars in question. Again, I am in no way making an accusation nor have I been affected by any cigar issues with CI. All of my dealings with them, although limited, have been favorable.

 

[ENV]

Never knew there were fake Opus X out there. I had a feeling though. A guy who went to my BM for a while was "unloading" Opus X for prices so low that I stayed away from the deal. Now I am sure they were likely fakes. As were all the cubans he sold.