Whats the correct protocol and etiquette when purchasing?

[Pilsner14]

I am curious as to what the experts have to say when trolling for cigars in the various shops. Let's say I am in Havana at one of the LCDH's and want to purchase a box of RASS ( for example). I'm sure the tourist vs cigar expert operate differently in these situations. What is acceptable and/or frowned upon when purchasing? ie. looking at cigars before purchase, not accepting what you see, having the vendors look through boxes for age etc. I'm relatively new in this and am curious as to your experiences. I don't want to have the Soup Nazi tell me "NO SOUP FOR YOU". I understand communication is the key but never the less.

Thanks,

JD

[Fuzz]

It all comes down to a few things. From the vendors perspective, if the customer is serious (or even semi-serious) about buying something instead of just pawing through my wares and having a sticky-beak, then nothing but the best service possible. However, if you're just jerking my chain and not going to buy something, you will be served, but I won't go to any extraodinary lengths.

From the buyer's perspective, if you are upfront with the vendor and tell them what you want, you should get the service required to complete the transaction. If that means, I've got to go through 10 boxes till I find the one you want, so be it. It will make the customer happy and he/she may come back in the future. Even if the customer doesn't come back personally, they may send their friends because of the service.

So don't feel to bad about asking a vendor to go through their stock. However, if you don't find that one box you're after, just buy a stick or two as compensation for their effort. It's good karma after all.

[CanuckSARTech]

It all comes down to a few things. From the vendors perspective, if the customer is serious (or even semi-serious) about buying something instead of just pawing through my wares and having a sticky-beak, then nothing but the best service possible. However, if you're just jerking my chain and not going to buy something, you will be served, but I won't go to any extraodinary lengths.

From the buyer's perspective, if you are upfront with the vendor and tell them what you want, you should get the service required to complete the transaction. If that means, I've got to go through 10 boxes till I find the one you want, so be it. It will make the customer happy and he/she may come back in the future. Even if the customer doesn't come back personally, they may send their friends because of the service.

So don't feel to bad about asking a vendor to go through their stock. However, if you don't find that one box you're after, just buy a stick or two as compensation for their effort. It's good karma after all.

+ 1 to that. Well put, Fuzz.

[Blackham]

In Havana, a good tip will help too.

I had the store keeper to open up 5-6 boxes of RyJ duke for me to find a box w/out wood mites. At the end of the transaction I handed him a good $10 bill, in the end both parties were happy

[CBL]

Yeah in Havana it's important to establish a bit of a rapport with the shopkeepers. If they see you are serious about cigars and patient they'll treat you very well. I was shown private stock and special custom cigars by shopkeepers that didn't even speak a word of english, but somehow our love for cigars was enough to create a bond.

When I was buying a box of Monty Sublimes, I was given a couple of boxes to choose from, after opening them one guy said: "One moment, there should be another boxcode" and after searching through at least 25 boxes, he found me a box that had wrappers so dark they leaned towards the purple color spectrum

So show you care and you'll be treated well.

[Kangaroo495]

I found that my interest in less popular cigars won me some rapport with the guy at the Partagas factory.

While everyone was coming in asking for Cohibas RyJs and Monte 2s, I was asking about Juan Lopez. It put a smile on the guy's face, and got him interested in serving me.

I scored a couple of free no-labelled cigars after that too.