August CotM
Marker
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 2,524
Could anyone that is a member of the Ccom CotM please PM me this months contents? Mine was sidetracked by USPS and I have to wait another three days to find out. I don't think my heart will hold out that long.
Marker.
Comments
1 Gurkha Beast
1 Gurkha Centurion
1 Gurkha Symphony
1 Gurkha Maduro 101
1 Gurkha Crest
1 San Miguel torp
I have to say I was a little disappointed. This is the second month in a row I feel Ccom has attempted to make up for what they know is a lackluster package by throwing in an extra. Don't get me wrong, I'm appreciative, and it's probably the only reason I'm sticking with the club.
But I'd rather they just do as advertised and provide 1 undeniably super-premium cigar, 2 cigars that just a small step down, and 2 everyday cigars. When the Gurkha Crest is billed as the "super-premium" for the month, there is a problem.
Last month's Cusano package was the same sort of deal. They are certainly solid smokes, but the Cusano 15th anniversay doesn't fit my definition of super-premium. If not for the cutter (which kicks ass) and the extra Cohiba they threw in, July would have been a total flop.
I'm sticking with it for now, but the whole reason I joined the club (and I'm in the double club) was because I knew I'd get at least 2 super premium sticks each month I wouldn't normally go out and buy, plus some other stuff I've never tried.
This is exactly why I continue to patronize this website, thanks Alex....im looking forward to my September COTM! -
Thank, Alex. For the record, this level of service is why I stopped purchasing from other sites and go only through you guys now, and it's why I'll stick with the COTM club for awhile.
Just to provide some further insight...
As someone else said, it's not that the Gurkha's sent out for August are aren't a good deal on those particular cigars, it's just that there's nothing "special" about the selection. There's a virtually identical selection offered as a sampler on the back of this months CCOM magazine. Given what sort of great samplers you guys put at all the time at around $4 per stick, I want to feel like the $5 per stick I'm paying for the club gets me a totally unique sampler that non-club members can't get. I think there are at least two other samplers available this month that are more bang-for-the-buck than the club offering.
The other factor, whether fair or not, is that we are going to compare the club selection for the month to the email deals that are sent out. If I only have $100 per month to spend on cigars, I want to know I spent it in the best possible fashion. This months club sampler arrived on the heels of Tim's insane email deal on San Lotano and MoW PA, both of which I've been dying to try. I don't like feeling like my $54 would have been better spent elsewhere.
Like I said in my original post, I'm not opposed to you guys throwing a 5 Vegas Classic or other budget stick into the mix, as long as it's balanced by a LP#9 or Ashton VSG, or something else of that caliber.
Thanks for the chance to provide feedback. I certainly understand that it's impossible for you guys to please 100% of the club members 100% of the time, but I think it's great that it doesn't stop you from trying.
Now I'm intrigued. I will keep my membership for another month.
This is my problem to a T
One of the problems with the CoTM is that Ccom looks at the msrp of the selection when placing a value on it, while we, look at the actual cost to us. We get the selection sometimes and say, "wow, I could have bought this for way cheaper on my own". Now to be honest, usually we'd have to buy in some quantity to get that cheaper price, but it's still irksome. It's more frequent when the selection is a sampler that already exists. I'd really prefer not to see those in the cotm ever again, but that may not be realistic, and in the past you guys have made it up by including extra sticks, and freebies which is really great.
The times that I've loved the selection are when it feels like there was thought put into it. I think last summer there was a "what we're smoking" selection. That was really cool. I found a bunch of sticks that I really liked, and still smoke today out of that one. There's been others since then that were like that, I just don't recall them at the moment.
I also would like to see a real super premium in there every month, if possible. I'm guessing that there's a lot of hoops to go through to get a stick into the CoTM, and it's not just a simple matter of making the costs work, and then saying "Hey, let's throw a Millennium in there this month". But if it's possible then that's the other change I'd like to see.
I've had the CoTM for a couple years now, and its these issues that make me continually flip flop on whether or not to renew.
Outstanding as always Alex.