Bullion Coin "Bag Marks"

I recently received some bullion coins from AMPEX. All were nice except for one 2010 1oz Eagle. It had a huge dent above one of the sun points. The said on their site satisfaction guaranteed so I insisted on an exchange. The rep wasn't very happy and tried to convince me tthat the dent was no big deal and didn't change the value. I told her that "value" is a perception. An unscratched coin is more valuable than a scratched one - to me.

Was I wrong to send it back? It kind of was a pain to have to pay $18 to ship it back insured but I'm guessing with the way gold prices are going it won't matter in a few years. Plus I may never sell it and just pass it down.

 

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No way would I have paid $18 to ship a $20 coin back to the company for a replacement. I would have sold it and bought a new one or traded it.

Why'd it cost $18? 1st class insured would have been a couple of bucks.

 

I should have been more clear. It was a one ounce Gold Eagle. It cost $13.70 to insure it for $1200 and $4.05 to send it priorty mail. The rep e-mailed me this morning and said that she "might" put a $25 credit on my account to be used on my next order. I may make a few bucks on the deal. Worst part is having to go back to the post office and pick it up.

 

The item while a coin is just a piece of bullion and Apmex are a bullion dealer, not a numismatic coin dealer and these bullion ASEs are not (by most) collected numismatically, but rather for investment. Even if you bought a brand new tube or Monster box of these coins from a dealer or could get them from the Mint unopened you would likely find many marks and dents from production and rattling around in the tubes.

It was a waste of your time and your money was foolishly spent by returning the coin. You should have realized the costs involved in what you were dealing with and the kind of dealer you were buying from. If you could afford to spend that much on the return shipping you ought to have just bought another ASE, especially if you are that concerned with the price of PMs and were planning to keep the coin and pass it down. Anyway you try to put it, the money spent is lost and it WILL take that much longer for you to realize the 'value' you paid and the time you lost overall dealing with bullion with a coin collectors concerns.

 

I'm sure they want your return business, they are a very accommodating and respectable company. I highly recommend them and their attention to customer needs and service.

Regardless to which coin you bought, it's still bullion and they will come from bullion dealers with marks. The money spent returning the coin is still that much less invested. If you wanted a coin that would be free of marks then you need to be buying numismatic, collector versions and probably those which have been TPG graded and slabbed so that you know the which grade should provide you with nice looking coins, plus you will be invested in gold, silver, platinum, whathaveyou, a built in benefit of the numismatic coins with PM composition. :thumb:

 

Well, that's what I get for ASSuMEing it was silver. I do extremely little with gold so gold never even crossed my mind.

D'oH!

For the future, once you go over about $600, it's cheaper to ship Registered Insured than Priority Insured.

At least, it used to be. I dunno what it is now, what with all the price changes over the last couple of years.

 

The lesson is, don't expect to pay a bargain price and receive a high grade coin.

 

DING DING DING... we have a winner!!

 

I have a feeling I'm going to learn a good lesson. AMPEX has the option to refund my money and they probably will since the price of Gold as moved up. Maybe next time I should buy in person.

 

I have had to return an item to Apmex. Customer service was very good. No problems. If that scratch bothers you now it will only bother you even more the longer you hold onto that AGE. It is probably better to either sell it and buy another or just return it. TC

 

When you returned an item to Ampex did you ask for an exchange or did you get your money refunded. The problem I have is I bought the Gold Eagle when gold was trading around $1100. AMPEX has the option to refund eventhough I have requested an exchange. It would be to their advantage to refund because of market price movements. Also it would cost them much less to print and mail me a check (no special postage required) than to ship another AGE. This coin was part of a $20k order and I was very happy with everything else.

And you were correct about it bothering me. I got it for my son. My dad bought one for me many years ago. The one my dad gave me is in perfect shape I just wanted the same. Someone else will love the dented AGE I was shipped just not me. Somone willfully dented this AGE. I'm not saying AMPEX did it but if you could see this dent you would know it's beyond normal handling. I should have taken a picture of it and posted it. If I had ordered 10 of them and one of them was dented I would not have bothered with it. When you are buying something to be kept for a long time you don't want it to already be damaged.

I am sure some people on this forum would say "If you wanted a perfect coin order a proof".

I am hoping to do much future business with AMPEX and when I'm holding a scratch free AGE in my hand I'll certainly post my satisfaction with them and here.

 

If satisfaction was assured then why did you have to pay $18 to ship
It back!! That doesnt sound right!!

 

Their policy doesn't say anything about shipping costs. Certainly a good question. In the world of business satisfaction garunteed is not absolute. I'm still happy so far. When I got the coin it was stuff in flip behind a piece of cardboard with the AMPEX logo on it. It may not have been even looked at by the person packing my order. Who knows? The dent was not in a place you would expect to see due to rubbing against other coins in a mint tube. Twenty years from now I'm not going to be upset about $20 and trip to the post office. I would be about a dented coin. I know that and they know that.

When this issue is closed I'll post the results. I'm sure that someone from AMPEX frequents this site and will stumble on this post sooner or later. I ordered 17 coins and only one of them was not up to my expectations. The others had very minor handling if any at all. The Gold Maples were outstanding, I expected if anything to be damaged it would be those since they are pure but they were fine in the original tube as shipped to me. Hardly an noticeable handling.

I'm keeping the faith that it will work out.

 

You are correct. There is an Apmex Marketing Director on board at CT and he drops in from time to time. If you get their email newsletters and sales announcments he's the one who puts his name on them. They are a great company and have my respect and I hope they will earn yours as well. It sounds like your issue is being handled well and you are well on your way to establishing a good relationship with them. I agree that you should get the quality you expect. I will also suggest that if you are making an order online to add a note in the open comment field of the online order form as the person(s) fulfilling the order will see that and can be alerted to specific needs based on your order. I have left comments there regarding packing and they always heed the advice and praise I leave them, with my invoice highlighted in that box that they actually read the note. If ordering by phone, I would recommend asking the phone rep to make a note on your behalf of special considerations/needs for your order. I DO NOT WORK FOR THIS COMPANY, I am a regular customer and appreciate their service and friendly attentive nature.

 

I sent the item back to them and paid for the shipping. I used the funds to purchase another item that they sent to me with free shipping. So, it was a wash. However, this was several years ago before their shipping policy changed and shipping costs dramatically increased. TC

 

I received a new 2010 AGE today back from AMPEX and it is beautiful. I am very satisified. They did right! I will definitely be going back to them again.

 

Glad to hear you were able to get one you liked.

 

That is good, I was wondering if the change in spot would have them wanting you to kick in the difference, it is good to see that they just made a fair exchange. Most people who just want the bullion would probably not care much if it was dented, but since you wanted to gift it, it seems that it worked out well for you.

 

I feel for the author of this thread. This sounds a little bit like a learning experience. I have responded in a similar manner with some old Morgans. After I learned a litter more, I realized how silly I was. I am now a less quick to express my disatisfaction. As it turns out my disatisfaction is ofter a close cousin to a lack of education or experience. I have one sales rep that I trust for honest answers. My morgan issue came from her company. She looked into my inquiry and got back with me. I was very appreciative to her feedback, and have since appreciated that delivery more.

Now for gold,,,, well I am sort of funny about that PM. I definately perfer no scratches, but I do not always want to pay the extra premium to assure that I get a pretty coin. So I take my chances. As you will see, APMEX most often sends pretty coins, unless otherwise noted.

You might consider giving the dealer another chance. Unless it was a gift, I probably would have kept the coin. Yet, it is your money and your coin. The same "problem" comes up with my Kruggerand purchases from time to time with a variety of dealers. I have just learned to be flexible - which is easier once I learn that I might have a bullion coin with lower mintage than usual.

Sorry you lost out on some S&H money. Don't sweat it - and it sounds like you are not.

Keep it fun.BTW-good question to ponder.

 

I am sending a letter (US Mail) to the rep that helped me. Good service is hard to find these days and I want her to know I appreciated it. Not to mention the spot price of gold has moved alot in two weeks. I really was treated well.