i think the cutting fee is pretty standard across the board, and usually ranges from 5 to 10 bucks. i see signs for the cutting fee at every B&M. however, most appear to be cool with you smoking your own, as long as you buy back what you smoke. appear, being the operative word. im not sure if they really care or not, or if they are just too lazy or maybe scared to enforce (due to loss of future business). like i said before, in this thread is the only time that ive seen that someone was actually threatening to enforce it.
fwiw - at Havana Joes (mt prospect) and Humidor (westmont) - i have smoked my own, and the worker bees there have asked how the "xyz" cigar i bought was. i said at both places that im smoking my own and the one i bought i will be bringing home. they didnt seem to mind. the small caveat to this is... they were just worker bees, not owners or managers, who might have a different reaction.
i have never been charged a cutting fee, ever.
