Many years ago (15+) I was looking through a copy of Coin World Magazine when I saw an ad from a Major coin dealer not far from me. He usually had at least 4 full page ads in each magazine. I had been in his shop once which was pretty much a hole in the wall in a large city with no coins on display. Going there in person and asking to look at coins the staff pretty much acted like you were bothering them so I never returned. He did most of his sales via Mail order. His ads often talked about just discovered Hordes of coins that had been purchased from old time collectors. Well this particular ad talked about an amazing BU Bank roll of 1931-S cents "Full Red Gem BU's" that had just been purchased from a local collection and they were blowing them out at an unbelievable price just $99.99 per coin with a limit of 2 coins per customer. Figuring he was a Nationally known coin dealer with a reputation to uphold I ordered one coin. About a week later I received my coin in the mail and quickly opened it up. Inside I found stapled up in a 2X2 flip a 1931-S cent VF/XF at best that had been polished with some type of copper cleaner leaving it with a horrible orange color. After several attempts to call the dealer (They were often very had to get in touch with by phone) I was told if I was unhappy with the coin I should bring it up to the store for a refund. Because of my work schedule it was almost a week before I was able to get up there. At that time I was told that they had a 3 day return policy and they could not give me a refund. After a rather heated discussion they agreed to exchange the coin for a 1/10 gold eagle. That was the last time I ever purchased a coin via mail order.
A hard lesson, to be sure, but it could have been much more expensive. Doubtless, you've made pricier purchases since then, and they could have been much more costly, had you bought more bad pieces. Still, don't ignore the fact that there are many excellent dealers out there. If you're willing to reach out to distant dealers for what you cannot find locally, first seek recommendations from SEASONED fellow collectors who have not only bought, but subsequently sold such coins, and can vouch for a reasonable recovery on those purchased from the dealers they recommend. That approach would, in my mind, provide the best evidence of dealers worth working with, both locally and remotely.
Welcome to the forum jfsmedic, and great advice from Mike (ToughCoins) above me. There are some really great dealers out there doing mail order, and they stand behind their products. Mike is one of the good guys so if you haven't already done so, check out what he's got in inventory. As an aside, was the guy you bought this coin from named (last name purposely deleted) Phil? If so he burned me too with some slider Peace Dollars that were listed as 'premium quality'. All of us have been 'burned' at some point early on.
It's been so long ago and I have found many great dealers out there to buy from since then I don't even remember the name of the dealer or his store.
I don't want to make this sounds like an "I told you so" post, but here's what I see. $5000 gross sales for a big ad? It takes a while to build up trust in someone. Establish people you trust to give you recommendations and learn which dealers are unquestionably good to work with for different things. Some national dealers have crap reputations, and they don't care. I'm glad this didn't turn out to be a more expensive mistake. If you still have the 1/10 oz., you're actually ahead.
