My First Cabinet of Cohiba's and its Mouldy!

[TJCoro]

I Reckon So!

I will get straight to the point...the box is fake...no wa[y] would a box of box code Apr 10 get that much mould...and its mould....also the bands (rings) are not all 100% real...also you showing how the cigars looked in the box...well that is 100% FAKE....

Umm! I was thinking the same thing. A bit young for so-called "mold." And the gold ribbon...shouldn't the knot be on the bottom? Was it?


I'm just sayin...but what the hell do I know!





Hey Bag-O-Shit Boy! You know some shit!



Mmmmm! He certainly does! Helloooo! I'm Catalina, Catalina Joy Coro. And I dig the Bag Boy , but I'd settle for young stevielad!

[Smallclub]

... I will get straight to the point...the box is fake...no was would a box of box code Apr 10 get that much mould...and its mould....also the bands (rings) are not all 100% real...

I disagree on the mold/mould point. I have seen very young cigars covered with mold in French shops, where the humidity is consistently too high.

[ACMCC]

I agree that they are fake unfortunately, a few other points that look suspect are the crest is too far off the corner, some of the bands obviously due to the poor printing (squares on the top/poorly fitted/comma on the fake bands is way too far to the right) the lower seal sticker below the hologram sticker looks suspect, the habanos sticker top right is on the wrong type of paper and poorly printed and the box colour looks the wrong shade.

The cigars them selves look a fairly good copy but that's kind of irrelevant, the response from the vendor is way out of line for a legit vendor, a refund is the only way with proof of return, as probably it's your CC company who will be giving it!

good luck Mo

[Mo_Robusto]

I emailed the vendor this evening regarding my concerns about posting the cab back without any insurance or tracking.

This is the email i sent:

"XXX,

Thanks for the address. I have the cigars packed and ready to be sent.

However, i am not happy about sending them by normal post. What happens if they get lost or damaged?

Please can you acknowledge that you are happy for me to send it uninsured and that if it gets lost i will still be refunded. I will get proof of posting from the post office to show that it has been sent.

I am also not happy about xxxxxxxx not refunding the postage costs that it will cost for me to return the package. I have had a look at the website and i cannot find anything in regards to the terms & conditions of sales. In the U.K. if a products is faulty then the seller is the one who bears the cost of having the goods returned to them.

regards
Mo"

This is what the wrote back:

"Hello Mo,

This is the way the posting is always done, if this is indeed mold, I will refund the shipping, if it is plume, I will only refund the cigars. Tell me, when you wipe this off, does it leave a mark?

Mould is very, very rare. We have only had a couple of genuine cases in 14 years. For mould to grow, they have to have been kept in damp conditions for a while, we receive cigars from our supplier, where they have been kept in temperature and humidity controlled warehousing to our own, temperature and humidity controlled warehousing. This is why it is so unusual.

Regards,
xxxx"

As you can see they wont accept responsibility of the package if it gets lost if i send it normal post.

Also, they keep on going on about how this isnt mould and its bloom instead. They also keep asking me does the fuzz leave a mark when i wipe it off, when i have already told them it does

Really starting to annoy me now.

Mo

[Mo_Robusto]

Sorry i need to jump in here...just read the whole thread...first we know the box was not from **... I will get straight to the point...the box is fake...no was would a box of box code Apr 10 get that much mould...and its mould....also the bands (rings) are not all 100% real...also you showing how the cigars looked in the box...well that is 100% FAKE....

second..

if you have not sent the box back...do so and make sure you send by recorded delivery... or sign-for...this way you can track it....reading what this guys was saying he would say he never got the package....if he did get the package and did not refund you...you can get your CC to stop the transaction..they should refund you the money...then the CC company will get the money back from the Vendor.



As a LCDH i know, no Cohiba Robusto which are 100% genuine would look like this..and no way Habanos would send out like this....these kind of vendors should not be trading nor should you be buying cigars from them...



You read on their site about great service and good cigars good customer service...they wrote that...not the customers...




Let?s hope you have learnt from thi...


Ajay
La Casa Del Habano Teddington..

Thank you Ajay for posting.

You have confirmed my fears as i thought they were fake.

Mo

[seanbeer]

i am not an expert but on most coihba boxes that I have seen, the Cohiba logo on the box isn't painted as good as this one. they are usually very light colour, this one seems to have been painted nicely black.

ajay, how you tell the box is fake for sure?

anyway, if these are fakes, they are high quality ones, it is possible that even the person who are selling them is not truely aware.

the bottom line after all these, mold, fakes, discussion, grab your money and run.

just send registered normal mail, then they can't say they have not received it. mails don't get lost easily nowadays.

and get your purchase money back before chasing for postage, its small amount comparing to the cigar price anyway.

[Smallclub]

i am not an expert but on most coihba boxes that I have seen, the Cohiba logo on the box isn't painted as good as this one. they are usually very light colour, this one seems to have been painted nicely black.

Sorry but you're completely wrong about this. And to begin with, the logo is not "painted" but stamped.

What bothers me the most is the 5 different odd bands on the 3rd pix from page 1 of the thread.

[seanbeer]

opps, haha, i thought they are 'stamped', and then the logo is painted to make it black.

i am here to learn rather then to give advise. would like to hear more about the box

[larrysputnik]

opps, haha, i thought they are 'stamped', and then the logo is painted to make it black.

i am here to learn rather then to give advise. would like to hear more about the box

But you bring up a good point that a lot of consumers are unaware of, seanbeer. The logo is not painted onto the box and any boxes that look like the logo has been painted or stamped are suspicious. That technicality is often overlooked by people who think they can spot fake Cubans as good as the experts. The more we share and question things the more aware we are of frauds (case in point: My relentless questioning of TJ's sexual preference led to the reason I found out TJ's "La Familia Coro" is actually a parody of everybody's favorite African-American prime-time television family the Huckstables.)

[seanbeer]

[QUOTE=larrysputnik;129060]The logo is not painted onto the box and any boxes that look like the logo has been painted or stamped are suspicious. QUOTE]

so how are the logos created on the boxes? there must be some kind of a stamp or drilling device to make that logo which as far as I know is a dented about 1mm deep? and there its also black in colour. somehow they ahve to paint it , no?

[Smallclub]

so how are the logos created on the boxes? there must be some kind of a stamp or drilling device to make that logo which as far as I know is a dented about 1mm deep? and there its also black in colour. somehow they ahve to paint it , no?

The logos are engraved and inked at the same time with a special "press machine" – I'm afraid I'm unable to describe the process in plain, proper english…
I've been told that they use a special Heidelberg machine (Heidelberg presses are famous in the printing industry) but of course I haven't seen it - no public admittance in these parts of the factories!

[seanbeer]

engraved and inked at the same time with a special "press machine" that sounds very resonable to me. anyway, as many says, as soon as you smoke it, you will know if it is fake or not

[EugeneSax]

engraved and inked at the same time with a special "press machine" that sounds very resonable to me.

Also sounds like "stamped" to me. Whatever the differences, they are probably quite subtle and unnoticeable to anyone who hasn't inside knowledge of printing/packaging and so perhaps not the best criteria to base a "fake" judgement on?

The thing that intrigues me are the bands: most appear on camera to be "spot on" , but there are a few with inconsistencies. Some such as creasing/tears could be accidental, others glue spots, poor alignment, off-square cutting along the top edge - could be explained by sloppy workmanship - and thus perhaps not PRROF of fakes.

However 1 or 2 pictures show bands with the central gold on white "Cohiba" logo as if it was partly printed over (cf being lined up with) the third line of white on black square dots. Can this be explained away just as poor workmanship/quality control in the ring making department, or is it something that just could not occur with genuine CoRos?

As far as I'm aware, the vendor in question has a so far unsullied reputation for selling geniune articles (until this).

[daverave999]

As far as I'm aware, the vendor in question has a so far unsullied reputation for selling geniune articles (until this).

I'm also intrigued by this. My experience of them thus far, apart from also experiencing twattish customer service in the past, has been to receive sticks that I would be astounded to find were fakes.

Not that it really matters either way, but I'm going with the view of unfortunate circumstances during transport causing mould on genuine cigars. I realise I have little to base this view upon though...

[Flying Cigar]

Regardless of the vendors reputation or the nice triple caps on the sticks - I would not accept this box, no way, I would not touch it for reasons mentioned in this thread.

And the "It's Cuba-blanket-excuse-for-anything-not-standard" should NOT be applied in favour of this box here.

The vendor would do himself a favour by taking the box back w/o any further discussions.

I can feel your disappointment, this being your first cab, and I very much hope you get a better box that brings back the pleasure !

Nino