Angry at Provident Metals...(Resolved)

Snap judgement? they overcharged me... and they fixed it. I spend about 4 figures a month there. Placed a large order last night when the prices got below $17.

Krispy.. yes.. I do have a good relationship with him... and spend about $400 a month there. Buying from the local guy is fine on some things... I get my toned Morgans in slabs there, and 10 oz bars. On ASE's he's high. On kooks & the like, he is very high. so I buy those at provident.

 

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Well, you are certainly the epitome of an educated and careful consumer so you sound set with what to buy from each dealer. Also, I'm glad you brought this company to light in your thread as I was curious about them and I think many people have spoken from their experiences to vouch for them. Thanks.

 

Thanks Krispy... they are a good company to deal with.

I dont judge a company (in the long run) on a mistake they make, but how they deal with it. I was angry... and honestly did not expect a qucik resolution. They shocked me with how quick they were to help fix it, and I was happy to post that.

thats sad though... hehe... how getting good & quick customer service today should be so shocking. I guess I been dealing on paypal & ebay too long to expect much!

 

I don't know, maybe just a quirkey thing with me, but why would you opt for 10 oz. bars and not one ounce silver bullion like ase's or Kook's? In my opinion (and that's just me) the bar's thing is rather risky. At least you know what you're getting with ASE's...

 

I would normally agree with you, however, I am buying engelhard 10 oz loafs, which when studied online, sell at a very good premium over most other bars I've seen (barring credit suisse & pamp).

I do think you might have read me wrong though... I will buy about 20-30 ASE's, kook, Lib's, ect... for every loaf bar.

I guess I buy PM's like I do stocks, and guns. I diversify my collection. In silver, I will buy a lot of coin, but I will also make a weekly purchase from my local guy on a 10oz loaf. I dont stick all my money into one facet of silver, but a few.

I buy weekly from my local guy because its building a good buying relationship. He's friendly, more open, and quicker to open the safe & show me something new thats not on display. I've gotten quite a few great MS64 toned morgan's from him this way. He makes money weekly from me, and I build my stash.

I also buy toned morgans in slabs... PF69 & 70 ASE's in slabs (69's from about every good year... 70's in 2009 & 10 only as they have the lowest premiums, and I plan on sitting on them for a long time)


Gold is the only PM I only buy in coin.. and even then, I do diversify. I will buy AGE's, Austrian ducats & corrona's, British sovereigns... ect.

Part of the reason is enjoyment... the other is the varying premiums I find from day to day. When I can buy sovereigns at $9 over melt, I buy them (and get AU or better).. when they go up, I switch to Austrian gold.. American gold.. ect.

 

I thought Provident was good but then.......

I chose them to buy from based on reviews but have had a lot of issues. I made around eight orders over the last year and had a problem on half the orders with very poor quality coins or damaged cases on items like coin proof sets. I also got 10oz silver bars that were supposed to be individually sealed where half of the packs were broken open. After requesting replacements for very poor quality coins or damaged items on my last order time they refused to replace a 1962 mint set that is severely tarnished (it should have never been sold at the full price of what a good quality set would cost with what I received being of such low quality) and they told me they will no longer replace ANY damaged items I receive from them in the future.

Obviously I told them how disappointed I was with them considering they are the ones who choose the products and package them for shipping. They do not use sufficient, and by that I mean hardly any, packing material to protect the products during shipping. If you are shipping a silver or gold bar that won't matter much but when shipping coins sets in plastic cases it matters a lot.

A good retailer who had sent broken and poor quality items to a customer so often should apologize for these issues and make assurances that it is not normal instead of telling that customer they will no longer fulfill the return policy they have purported to me so many times as their policy of replacing any damaged items.

Do not buy from these guys.

 

Gosh this is a danged old thread. I don't normally dwell in the past but prices like that make me sometimes wish i did......

 

Why did you continue to use them then? If it were me I'd have clocked 'em after the first 'bad order'. You ordered 8 times and half the orders were 'problem'? Me thinks there's a problem somewhere else.......

 

This.

I own a retail store, not PMs, and about once per year I end up telling a customer that it's obvious that I'm unable to satisfy them as a customer, and since I like to have all of my customers completely satisfied with the goods and service I provide, it's probably best if we don't do business with each other. About half of them see the light, and the other half, we just go our seperate ways.

I'm not saying you're unsatisfiable, but if half the orders are not up to your standards, why bother? Go somewhere else where you get the satisfaction you feel you deserve.

 

cpen: Sorry to hear of your experience with them. My experience has been positive as has many others. I will continue to use them as long as the positive experience continues, but understand your frustration. I give an online seller one chance to mess up as mistakes happen. If it happens again, I move on. TC

 

I sold 20 ounces or so around that price. It was all stuff I had bought when silver was below $10/ozt, but I still regret it. 5 ASEs, a 10 ozt bar, and some generic. I put the money towards the down payment on my house, but I wish I had found the money elsewhere.

 

Blame the customer.....nice one

I stuck with them because of their willingness to fix the problem. I felt that was a better indication of who you can trust versus things always going right. It wasn't until they took the position of no longer replacing the damage caused by their own poor packing that I realized I had been wrong to focus on replacements and instead should focus on someone who will pack it properly and get it to me in good condition the first time.

This is also the first time they refused to replace an item that was clearly of poor quality that they sold at a price that should have guaranteed a good quality item.

 

If the problem was re-occurring then why continue give them more chances? I was a little surprised that someone would continue to order from a company that they feel continues to give them bad quality and poor product packaging. Personally, I've never dealt with these guys but if I did, and what happened to you happened to me, I'd have jettisoned them after the second order. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.......

 

Hello

What were they trying to slip? They noticed two orders going to the same place, and economized by sending it all in one package. The customer got what they paid for under the conditions of the purchase, and like a good business, they saved themselves a couple of dollars on shipping expenses.

The OP is being excessive in his expectation.

Amanda

 

"I'd be cool with one shipping charge... and the surcharges. But $32.90 in shipping charged.. and they combine the packages? Not cool." (OP)

Hey Amanda? I'm all for economizing. Just pass a little more of the savings my way. The OP has a legitimate gripe

 

Glad to see this situation has now been resolved amicably.