Second Chances: A look at Arganese.

It's been a couple of weeks, and I apologize for not being so active here on the blog.  A lot of stuff had happened and I was physically unable to do much on the computer due to certain injuries, but that's a story for another day.  On to the topic of discussion: Second Chances.

We've all seen the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Ground Hog's Day", and wouldn't it be great if we could get a fresh start after commiting a serious blunder?  But I wonder how others would truly feel about that aspect of us.

Personally, I don't mind giving people a second chance, unless other circumstances call for other means of resolution.  Forgiving someone is an act of compassion, and often performed not from the greatness in our humanity, but for the fact that the people who screwed up find it a necessity to move on and get a fresh start.  And that is the problem, as some people don't deserve a second chance.

One common case in point, 9/11 tragedy perpetrators don't deserve a second chance, because they made their intentions known and are not willing to compromise... so fuck them.   But seeing as how this is a cigar related issue, there are some in the industry who don't deserve a second chance.

Of the most recent blunders to come about... I'm calling out Gene Arganese, of Arganese Cigars.  As for those of you who might have been following this blog since it's inception, I executed a 20 cigar review of what I believe to be their best product, the CL3, and I absolutely love that cigar.  I find it an enjoyable smoke, and it's complex flavours, impressive balance, and overall quality and consistency comparable if not better than 85% of the competition.  Combined with the fact that originally I had believed and to a point of being a fact as far as I know he had the best intentions of building a cigar company, additionally gracious invited myself as well as others to his house in Santiago for a few days, fed us, showed us his fields and factory, and granted us an incredible educational experience

The problem is his recent failure to create a money making scheme in which he wasn't selling cigars, but a referral program with the C.E.O. banded cigars as the trade off.  If it was to generate capital, and provide smokers with an opportunity to acquire some interesting smokes and swag, then I'm all for it, however after the plan had failed, the cigars that would have been provided can now be found on Famous Smoke Shop affiliates such as Cigar Auctioneer and Cigar Monster (where I occasionally purchase other cigars, no not being paid by Famous, just a frugal consumer looking for a good Bargain). You might have read it on several other cigar related boards, and if not, do a Google search for "ceomlm" and several artricles have been posted about it. 

Those who have enrolled immediately after the ceomlm's launch had their money taken and I have yet to hear any form of satisfying resolution.  If you are one of these members, please feel free to write a comment here about what you had experienced, as I am very interested in the final outcome.  I had heard from a reliable source that after the project failed, Gene denied any involvement despite narrating the video.

This is the final dilemma of giving someone a second chance.  If someone I know did screw up somewhere, and was honest about it, owned up to their mistakes and made attempts to correct what had happened, then all is forgiven, however for those who do not accept any form of responsibility and are unwilling to compromise then why give that person or company another chance to profit?  Despite my love for his CL3, I refuse to give Gene a second chance to.  I know the idea of my "hypocrisy" will arise sooner or later, having done a series of reviews of one of his cigars, being invited to his house, and now airing out some dirty laundry about the company, but I must reaffirm it as objectivity.

There are other companies, organizations, and even people in this who do fit into this category, and I will write about them in due time   A forewarning, some of the future second chance entries will involve the more "reputable" organizations and create serious controversy.