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Please forgive my first post here being what I suspect is a idiotic mistake by a non-cigar smoker.
Over the weekend, I was travelling through a south Caribbean airport and bought a box of Romeo y Julieta cigars from Duty Free as a gift.
On taking the box out of the Duty Free bag, I found that the green hologram/barcode seal and the "Habanos" seal appear to have been cut. Similarly, the paper at the "hinge" of the box appears to be torn as if the box had been opened. However, the Imperial Tobacco "Garantia de Calidad" tabacalera seal on the front of the box appears intact. The box itself appears to be genuine (using the criteria linked elsewhere on this site, including the verification code on the holographic seal)
I recall that the box was (presumably delibarately) stood on its long side in the humidor, so that it was not possible to see the cut seals.
Would a shop ever open a sealed box of cigars for a customer to inspect prior to purchase? Is there any valid reason for the seals to have been cut?
Or have I, as I suspect, bought a box of counterfeit cigars repacked in an original box?
Is there any value in opening the final seal to inspect the contents?
The Duty Free shop in question does have an email address, and the cigars were bought on my credit card, so I may have some recourse if they are unequivocally counterfeit.
Your thoughts and advice would be most welcome!
Regards,
Traveller
Over the weekend, I was travelling through a south Caribbean airport and bought a box of Romeo y Julieta cigars from Duty Free as a gift.
On taking the box out of the Duty Free bag, I found that the green hologram/barcode seal and the "Habanos" seal appear to have been cut. Similarly, the paper at the "hinge" of the box appears to be torn as if the box had been opened. However, the Imperial Tobacco "Garantia de Calidad" tabacalera seal on the front of the box appears intact. The box itself appears to be genuine (using the criteria linked elsewhere on this site, including the verification code on the holographic seal)
I recall that the box was (presumably delibarately) stood on its long side in the humidor, so that it was not possible to see the cut seals.
Would a shop ever open a sealed box of cigars for a customer to inspect prior to purchase? Is there any valid reason for the seals to have been cut?
Or have I, as I suspect, bought a box of counterfeit cigars repacked in an original box?
Is there any value in opening the final seal to inspect the contents?
The Duty Free shop in question does have an email address, and the cigars were bought on my credit card, so I may have some recourse if they are unequivocally counterfeit.
Your thoughts and advice would be most welcome!
Regards,
Traveller
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