La Tienda1 reviews

More hassle than a box of cigars is worth 6 October 2026

I wouldn’t order from them again, mainly because what should have been a fairly simple purchase became a long, confusing mess. I was trying to buy a box of Montecristo Especiale No. 2, listed at $395, and the site said delivery was guaranteed, with free shipping on orders over $200. That sounded clear enough at the time. It wasn’t. First I attempted to pay through PayPal, but the payment was not processed properly and the money was returned. Fair enough, these things happen. Then I tried my card, only to find that the card payment system was apparently not working either. In the end I had to send the card details manually and speak to my bank beforehand so they would not flag the overseas payment as fraud. Not exactly reassuring. The surprising bit was that the cigars were sent out before the payment side had even been properly settled. The parcel was handled by a Spanish courier called Emisarios Mail Service. After around four weeks with no delivery, they contacted me saying I needed to pay roughly another $100 for insurance before they would release it. That was the first I had heard of any insurance charge. I contacted the shop because, in my experience with other cigar sellers, anything other than possible import duty is either included upfront or explained before you buy. Their response was that insurance was not their responsibility. I said I did not want the parcel at that extra cost and asked for it to be returned. The courier then said it would be handed to customs for destruction if I did not pay. At that point I just told them to do what they had to do. I asked the retailer to take the cigars back, as I felt the delivery information had been misleading, but they refused and mentioned court action. After further messages warning about legal action if I did not withdraw my card dispute, I decided I had no choice but to continue with the dispute. I have bought cigars internationally before without this level of chasing, uncertainty and awkwardness. Maybe they are better set up for other markets, but for a US order this was a poor experience from start to finish.