My issues started in June and never did get fixed. My first order was never filled and I was never notified at any time that the order would not be filled. I finally called and found that the order would not be filled and my funds had been turned into a store credit. I kept calling and kept getting the excuse that one of their warehouses had been closed and they were experiencing problems getting product in. I worked with them patiently to get the first order processed and it never went through. I eventually got a refund of the money.

Being a patient individual I placed another order when they finally said they had the product in stock that I wanted. I ordered 10 cartons. I received 3 cartons and then continued to wait patiently for the others to arrive. After waiting three weeks I called and was informed that when they short-ship an order they convert the remaining funds to store dollars.

Now call me silly, but when I order something I expect either that product to be delivered or an immediate refund of the money. Note that they take the money immediately but they do not refund the money unless you complain. So, essentially they are taking an interest free loan of your funds using their scheme.

Worse yet is the “bait and switch” tactic being implemented. They advertise a product at one price. You order the product and the product is never shipped. When you try to get the same product later, they will ship it to you but you must pay the higher price they now sell at. They do not even give you the product for the advertised price.

Please note that this entire time they continued to send me advertisements for the exact same product at the same or similar price as a special. I asked them how they could advertise a product on their specials and send it out in email advertising when they could not even fill the orders they had. Naturally I have not received a reply. Also note that at no time have they ever shown the products out of stock even when I called and verified with their sales staff that they did not have the product in stock and had no ability to fulfill my order if I placed it online.

Being a fair individual I wrote to them explaining that I found their policy to be an unacceptable business practice and less than honorable. I received a simple reply that my concerns were forwarded to management. I continued to wait and 3 weeks later asked again if they were going to take any action to retain me as a customer. The answer was inappropriate. I explained to them again that their holding of my funds for a product they knew there were never going to ship combined with the bait and switch on the prices was not acceptable customer satisfaction practices. The final reply was that they were forwarding my complaint to management.

Well, two complaints forwarded to management, no product, no reimbursement for the use of my money for 30 days or more, and no other action to keep me as a customer. I have started using their competitors and suggest that others search the internet and find alternative companies to provide the product desired. May be a dollar more somewhere else, but I have ordered from several other companies and found that the product arrives quickly (order Saturday arrived Monday) and I get what I ordered. Be careful though because Smokes-Spirits operates under several names and has what appears to be 50 different websites that are all run by the same company. So click on the company info or about button to make sure you are not placing an order with the same parent company.