Richmond Cigar Factory

Business is closed ... do not look to be in business anymore.
GPS will take you in the alley of the bottom. Do not follow these directions alley closed

Not open any longer. Frustrating to Uber there to find that out.
.........:

Went across the street to Havana.

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. We walked in this cigar shop and a man around 30 or 40 in sweatpants, Adidas slides and dirty socks comes downstairs. The first red flag was noticing that the cigars are not humidified! There is a front door and then you walk into another door where the the cigars are. The second door is wide open, and not properly humidified. The man asked if we were veterans and we told him both of us were. The policy posted was 20% for veterans. He looked at us and said "I'll make it 50% off for you two!".
We asked him about 3 or 4 cigars and ended up getting two of them. We went to put them back in their box and he says "I'll do it!". As if we couldn't figure it out for ourselves. He was rude to other customers that came in after us as well as some people that were just sitting outside at the patio table.

We go to check out and ask if he needs to see our military ID and he says no and something about trusting veterans and their honesty. He tells us the total is 29.70. Which is much more than it should be with the 50% off he promised. I tip $5 because he was helpful finding a specific flavor. We noticed the price was way off but didn't say anything and let it go. We go across the street to Havana '59 to smoke and the cigars are COMPLETELY dried out. We had to order from the restaurant which were accurately priced and humidified.

After dinner we walked back across to Richmond Cigar Factory and politely ask the man for a refund. We show him the dried out cigar, and slightly bent it to demonstrate how dried out it was and it ended up snapping in half. He says he can't refund us. We ask for a refund on the other unbroken one and bring up the fact that he lied about giving us a military discount. He tries to cover up his lie by saying he meant to say he was trying to "convince the owner to do 50% discount for vets", when he CLEARLY stated he would give us 50% off.

He continued to argue with us about getting a refund. He told us that he's going to call the cops because "a lot of cops smoke cigars and can agree that they are good cigars". We tell him that's insane and then says we can just call the cops and then deal with it "in the courts". He walks away and goes behind the register and we follow him to the counter thinking he's about to refund us and he tells us to go to the other side of the store near the door. He comes back around with nothing and then starts looking out the windows for a person that may potentially come inside the store to "ask them for their unbiased opinion" on what a ideal moisture content of a cigar should be. He walks outside and we follow as well taking a seat at the patio table. Eventually a couple approaches the shop and he asks them if they're knowledgeable about cigars. The guy says he knows a little bit, and we explain the situation on how the cigars are complete garbage and how the seller won't give us a refund. I pick up the cigar that is snapped in half and show them how it crumbles. The couple walks away after noticing this store and seller are not worth lies and dried out, over priced cigars. The seller gets irritated and he goes back inside grabs a random twenty dollar bill and I ask him for the remaining $9.70 he owes me for the other one we couldn't smoke. He goes inside again and then slams the door and locks it.

You are better off going to your local park, snapping a branch off a pine tree and smoking that. Anywhere but here!

I don't even know where to begin. From the over priced dried out cigars, to the shop keeper being so disrespectful that he jumped in my face with his hands waving around my head asking me in a yelling tone "What do you want!"
He charged my friend and I 18 bucks per cigar, when asked why he told us to "Look around!" Referring to the location. I have lived in Richmond for 13 yrs, and I have never spent 18 bucks on a fat bottom Betty.
When asked if hd could cut said 18 dollar cigar so that I could take it with me. He refused initially, then took it to the back and lopped it off with a box cutter. Tearing the cigar into pieces. I asked why he would do such a thing he simply stated "You wanted it cut right?"

If someone is willing to get into your personal space because they know that they are wrong, and overprice your cigars go the opposite way!!!

I want to believe that the owner is way more pleasant and kind. I want to believe that we can as POC support this POC owned business. However....that Saturday was both scaring and bewildering. At the behavior of the shop keeper, the prices, and my overall experience there.

I usually go to Havana connection but I was in the area so I stopped by. Really nice guy that was real helpful in letting me find what I was looking for however all the cigars are dry as a bone. I got my Rocky Patel and it was so dry the wrapper was cracking so I don't really think they have a proper humidor system in the shop. Oh, and they jack the prices up to extreme levels so you're kind of getting robbed. Go to Havana Connections!

Great ambience and great selection of cigars. The own was very knowledgeable about brands and flavor profiles. The selection of cigars were great and the prices was great too. The location downtown in the middle of the action couldn't be better! Highly recommend!!!

Don't waste your time or money, overpriced dried out poor quality cigars. The ONLY benefit is the location and it's directly across from Havana. Poor service.... Definitely not worth it.

Stopped in to see if they had the new Opus X 20th Anniversary sticks and they did - at $60/cigar which is over 3X the MSRP! I hope the Fuente distributor cuts them off for gouging customers. And right on the counter next to them I couldn't help but notice the "Cuban" Cohibas. Most likely fakes, even if they're legit (doubt it) they're illegal to sell in the States and was surprised to see them so boldly placed for sale. So I knew right away the credibility was missing and I wasn't going to waste my $$$ here.


PS: Info released on the Opus X:

"It's called the Fuente Fuente OpusX 20 Years Celebration, made in honor of the 20th anniversary of Arturo Fuente's flagship OpusX brand, which debuted in 1995. Like so many things Fuente, it's taken a bit longer than anticipated as this is now the 21st year of OpusX.

Four sizes have been released: Believe (5 3/4 x 52), Father & Son (6 1/4 x 49), God's Whisper (6 1/2 x 56) and Power of a Dream (6 3/8 x 52). All are offered in boxes of 20 with suggested retail pricing set between $17.75-20 per cigar."

I stopped in here to get a cigar before hitting the Cuban place across the street. My cigar was totally dried out and so was my buddy's. The service was okay, but that doesn't change the fact that our $10 cigar sucked.
I've been in cigar shops all over the country and this is one of the worse ones I've been to. The staff clearly has no idea how to keep good cigars fresh.

Pricey. Tried to upsell me. Location is great though and it was nice to sit outside.