Bad experience at A-Coin in Jacksonville, Florida....

Hey everyone, I wanted to just warn everyone about the people at A-Coin in Jacksonville, Florida. I'm a YN, and they apparently do not know how to treat their customers right. A-Coin is the closest coin store to me, and today I left my volunteering job early so I could stop by and check out their Morgans (I wanted to buy a few for my set-in-progress). Anyways, I've had some previous problems with them before, such as them selling me coins that were cleaned when they didn't warn me about it (I was younger) and much of their coins are overpriced. Anyways, getting back today, I walked in and there was a group of about 3 people there. I was walking around looking at the displays until they left. Right after they left, I walked over to Chip, the assistant to the owner.

Anyways, I asked him if I could see some graded 62-63 Morgans. He gives me some crap about how they're too busy to do it at this time of the year.I look around. I'm the only one in the store. So I ask him why I can't see them, because I'm the only one in the store. He then goes on explaining that "at any moment, we could have someone walk in that's a $20,000 deal, and they will leave if they see you with the Morgans spread out on the table." Obviously then, he was discriminating against me as a YN, because I don't have enough money for him apparently (I had $1100, cash....) The whole time this is going on, the owner is watching, not saying a word. So I tell him that I won't be coming back and he just says "I don't care, I don't care! This isn't Walmart!"...So I left and I was fuming.

I got home and told my parents, and they agreed that I should call back and try to talk to the owner. So I call and Chip picks up. This is what I actually said. "Um, Hello, could I speak to the owner please?" and Chip screams "NO!' and hangs up the phone!! Can you believe that!!?? What a jerk! I was sitting there thinking about what I should do next, and the phone rings. It's A-Coin. I pick it up and it's Chip, explaining "Sorry, we had another customer." Another customer??? Are you kidding me!!?? He SLAMMED the phone down after screaming at me! What a LIAR!

I then ask him why he wouldn't let me look at Morgans while I was there, and I explained that i was ready to buy. He tells me again that he doesn't care, and he tells me that they don't have any Morgans for me to look at! What is he shovelling? It was a completely different excuse than what he gave me earlier! I point that out to him, and he tells me that I am no longer welcome in the store for one year...(haha, not as if I was going back anyways....)

So, in closing, STAY AWAY FROM A-COIN!! THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL UNLESS YOU'RE LOADED!

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest, because I am still MAD...:headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang:

 

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Wow, what a jerk that guy was. Apparently he gets enough business that he can afford to treat you that way. I can't imagine business owner taking that kind of approach with anyone.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is a 'YN'?

-StephenS

 

A young numismatist....(I'm 17.)

 

Sorry to hear of your cruddy experience.

Hopefully your parents will go down there and state their opinion and also help you get the word out about them.
Maybe write the Better Business Bureau ?
You could get a permit to petition outside of his store.
That would drive away some customers and give his business a bad name.
You're banned from the shop, not the sidewalk outside.

 

Don't blame you for being mad. Of course they might not treat me the same since I am older, but that should not matter. At this point I would stay away from the store.

Personally I think all dealers are a little over priced(I understand they need to make a profit and don't mind) - I personally like when the owner of my local coin shop waits on me. He always knocks off a few bucks. Heck - he will even pause what he is doing to see what I am buying and to talk to me. The best part is they will freely talk to me about coins and help me learn. I think I need to visit them again.

 

NO coin deal is as important as being a decent human being... and that means treating others decently.

Form what I'm seeing, you were certainly right to leave. No need to go back. Ever. There's plenty of fish in the sea.

Peace, friend. Don't let it ruin your day.

 

Thanks guys. Good advice...

 

good advice!
Stay away.

 

I don't care how much OP is exagerating (if at all), there is no excuse to not wait on a customer. I don't care if 10 people walked in after the OP, if he got there first, he should be waited on first.

I've been to plenty of shops where it was obvious the dealer only cared about $$$$$ and taking the customer for as much as they can. It's a shame too because many people selling to them don't have a clue.

 

Chip should be in the "backround" and the store owner should realize this so he's just as much to blame.

One of my local dealers has a "Chip" (although certainly not an idiot like Chip). This person is not a people person although he's actually a heck of a nice guy. It just takes a looong time to get to know him. Extremely knowledgeable and the owner knows it.

The owners solution. This guy rarely waits on people. He's well respected even by other dealers just not good at the customer service side. The owner knows it, he knows it and so do a lot of the customers. We all do like him and respect his opinion.


I'm sorry your experience was so bad and if the owner can't see it I'd take my money elsewhere. Personally I wouldn't take it any further than that. It's not worth your time. Chip's attitude will shine on another customer and word will get around.

Just my Two Cents worth.

 

This is just the kind of treatment I have talked about before with dealers treating customers like crap. There are far too many other ways to buy coins these days, loads of online coin shops, Ebay and many others for these dealers like this to be treating ANYBODY like that. Walk-in coin shops will someday be a thing of the past mainly because of the internet and to basically avoid this type of treatment. I would never visit that store again if I were you. There's just too many other options.

 

Ask your parents opinions on this approach to the matter. Write a true, detailed description of exactly what happened and have your local newspaper put it in their "letters to the editor" section. Don't cost anything and businesses sure hate to see their names appear in there.

 

Tuff call

Businesses are there to make a profit - not to give a fuzzy bear to everyone who walks in.

I KNOW there will be flames coming for that remark - but it's the reality.

According to the story, there was no one in the store and the refusal was based on the idea that someone could come in who wanted to buy a $20,000 coin.

Hmmm. I've worked in the past for a huge company as IT support. It was a business. Not every call is treated the same. The caller is working on what project, has what status, etc. Sorry to say, but if you were an Intern working for the summer and couldn't access your e-mail, you were at the bottom of the list. If you were on the "RED" list, people were dispatched immediately.

I know this is not exactly a one-to-one example, but hopefully you get the drift. Storefronts have a huge overhead and have to be looking out for themselves. They ain't making much money by selling me $40 of junk silver.

I know this does not totally address the issue, but might explain some stuff.

It also does not explain why the guy was RUDE - in my case, we had to be polite and tell them the bad news and then have them yell at us. NO EXCUSE for being rude, but can understand why they're doing it.

 

morons like that are the one wondering why their business fails years down the road. YN's are the hobby of tommorrow!! YN's talk to their friends (and post threads on forums on the net ) if you turn away a YN or any old customer for that reason,. you are turning away sales! a $10 sale today that was turned away, turns away ALL their business for years to come! What 'might' be a small sale today, really adds up over time!

He is not worth your money! But dont let him ruin your love or fun of the hobby!

 

Paul, I definitely agree that all collectors and sellers in the store should be treated with with equal respect as they are 'the customer'.

However, I think you should look at the bigger picture ~ the fact that you'd had issues with coins purchased from them in the past is a bigger concern than poor treatment. I'm wondering why you continued to give them business? Had they since corrected the issue and things improved?

Regardless, while we all want to be treated well if I have to choose, I'll take a grumpy honest informed dealer over a warm fuzzy ripoff artist every time. As you proceed with finding a new coin shop, dealer, etc., don't mistake everyone being nice to you as being equally honest.

Don't let the bad experience blind you to what a dealer or shop truly should provide: honesty, information and numismatic reliance.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice!

Yeah, you won't find that there.


-Paul

 

Sounds to me like " A " Coin stands for you know what, and Chip is one of them. Thats a really good way to treat a YN, they are afterall, only the future of the hobby right?

Be sure to mention this at your next coin club meeting, especially if the owner or Chip is a member.

If it were me, next time went coin shopping, they would not even be on my list of places to visit.

 

Would they give a fuzzy bear to someone who walked in with $1,100 ?

The bigger issue is basic human decency.

I do volunteer work in maximum security prisons - just tryin' to take a little faith, hope, and love to those who reside there.

I treat people serving consecutive life sentences FAR better than what n_sandler received here. He walked in with $1,100, and left without a fuzzy bear.

But I bet he had all $1,100.

Which is a shame for all involved, 'cuz all he was tryin' to do was make a legit deal by leaving some of that cash behind.

A customer with $1,100 treated with less respect than we treat the homeless ?

 

I'm not hatin' on Chip. It's possible he was going through some serious difficulties; we never know. It's a shame it happened, but I'm confident n_sandler will get a good deal somewhere.

 

What's even more ironic ~ I don't have $1100 to spend on coins today ~ much less when I was 17. You must get one heck of an allowance!