First bad experience with a Vcoin vendor

I bought a coin from a vendor on Vcoin. Its been a week and a half after they sent a tracking number and its still not received by the shipper. I sent a few emails asking why this is not in the system. Finally got one response that said they put it in the post but its lost. I don't know how they would know it was lost at this point. But its been a few days and I have gotten nothing more back. I guess I will have to file a dispute on my CC. Anyone have any issues with vendors on Vcoins?

 

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This does not sound like a vendor problem, but a shipping (USPS?) problem. Was it insured?

 

Shipping problem is a seller problem. The seller contracts a courier (USPS, FedEx, whatever) to get their product to the buyer. If it is lost, the seller should refund the buyer promptly and pursue whatever recourse they have with their contracted courier. If it's insured, that's a pretty simple process.

With that said, I'd still give it another week or so. Sometimes tracking doesn't update properly, or the barcode isn't scannable, or whatever.

 

If it's only been 10 days or so, there's still plenty of time for it to show up. Your opportunity to file some kind of dispute won't expire in just a couple weeks, so there's no need to rush or panic.

Is this all within the United States Postal System? If so, before doing any kind of dispute or refund request, you really should, at a minimum, request a trace on the item from USPS. It's very easy to do. (I'd wait a couple days from your last communication with the dealer, since it's possible they forgot to drop it off & were embarrassed to say, but did so after your email.)

If the shipper runs the lost item search, fine. But in my opinion, it's better to initiate it yourself so you don't have to worry about whether the dealer keeps you updated on the progress. There's a link on the tracking pages for USPS, or you can just search "lost item" on the website.

https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm

Very quick/easy to fill out the request. USPS is very good at dealing with that stuff, even for cheap first class envelopes with tracking.

Over the years I've ordered or shipped at least hundreds of times (probably more) coins with USPS tracking, and occasionally they get temporarily lost. Nearly every time I've requested the USPS track down a lost parcel with tracking (at least half a dozen), they've successfully done it within days. Oftentimes they told me exactly what happened (e.g., it fell behind a table, an entire basket of mail was accidentally left in a truck being serviced, etc.).

This is a frequent scenario posted in online ancient coin groups, and I would say in the vast majority of cases the coins just arrive a few days later than expected, and in the remainder, the dealer will usually offer some remedy (refund or replacement) -- but they usually want to wait a reasonable amount of time & a lost item search on the tracking, so they're not refunding the coin and it arrives a few days later.

The point being: this doesn't sound all that unusual, and rushing/panicking doesn't gain you anything, but it could cost you in terms of burning a bridge with a dealer/becoming known as someone who's hard to do business with.

 

I agree with Curtis. I had the same issue a few months ago. But, it was for a 5x7 autograph photo I mailed off. It never got scanned and it was 3 weeks before I started the missing mail. About 2 weeks later it showed up as scanned, by the P.O. I mailed it from, and it was delivered a few days later, to the buyer. We were both happy and I was glad the guy wasn't a headache to deal with.

 

Its a bit different. Here is the deal. Seller contacted me after a few email. Said yes they put it in the post in Germany, but its lost. I have no idea how they would know it was lost so fast and why it took several emails for them to respond and then not until I did an email through Vcoin. Then they said they will give a refund because its lost. Then dark again. Not responding to my emails. No refund no communication. Way too many red flags here. Could be just very poor business practice but its a bit scammy to me.

 

It sounds pretty normal for German post system these days for international items. A couple of months back a package of 5 coins for me, here in Spain, tracking number showed the first receipt by DHL then nothing for 8 days. I then contacted the dealer and he advised to wait a few more days before claiming action or a refund. 2 days later, still no movement on the tracking number, but the package was delivered to me that morning.

 

First mistake was buying from a German dealer. I stopped because of the horrible luck of packages going missing. Usually, it was once it hit customs.

 

Yep I am done, if its not in the USA I am not interested. Does customs think its illegal artifacts?

 

I don't have experience with German > USA shipping. Or customs and VAT and all that. But tracking wouldn't update until it was scanned here in the states right? And I would think the delivery window would vary widely.

 

It’s probably stuck in customs. They hold things up for as long as they want.

 

It’s hard for anyone to know exactly what’s going on, but honestly, what you’ve said does not make the seller sound scammy to me. They responded & already agreed to a refund (even though you may still get the coin, possibly just because it's too much trouble, which I've seen happen many times in this situation).

My honest opinion – I really don't mean to be rude or anything – but it kinda sounds like the red flags might be more on your end.

It’s an international shipment & by your account you started repeatedly emailing the seller after a few days because it hasn’t shown up yet in tracking.

And a week-and-a-half in you’re talking about opening a dispute with the credit card and basically going to war with a vendor when it’s not really clear what’s even going on.

To me, those could be red flags (unless there are some other things we don't know about).

When buying internationally, I would suggest making allowances for overseas shipping and language issues (and, as with any business dealings, honest mistakes). I buy ancient coins and numismatic literature all time from Germany & elsewhere, from many dealers in various price ranges, have been doing so for decades now. If you pay by credit card (rather than bank transfer), it's usually no different than within the US, besides delivery time & languages other than English. If a glitch happens, as they do with any business dealing, it's usually not a big deal.

And if the worst happens because the item got lost and you're entitled to a refund, then get your refund, doesn't seem like the should be a crisis at all.

 

If the seller was so on the up and up why has it been days and no refund? The seller said it was lost, according to the seller they "researched it" and found its gone. Not me the seller. The seller said they would do a refund and since have not replied to any of my inquires. This is not its in the system and we need to see when it shows up. I am not in crisis. This is why I pay with CC.

Anything goes wrong and I can dispute the charge. Every charge I have disputed I won. I will not name the sellers store, maybe they are just inept or lackadaisical on taking care of their business. If I did what this seller did on my Etsy store, Etsy would be jumping all over me and rightly so. Communication is key every time. Its been 9 days since it was supposed to be in the hands of the German PO,but the PO says they don't have it. Also don't put words in my mouth, I never said it was supposed to be delivered.

It can take a day two at the most for the data system to update the PO received an item. Not 9 days and today is almost over. I had one coin from Australia that showed the PO had it but it did not leave the country for week. That seller kept in contact with me and said it can take a bit to get out of costumes and if in a week it did not move they would refund. They had good communication skills.

 

You obviously didn't grasp my earlier post. The German post system for international deliveries is not great at the moment. From first giving my delivery to the PO and getting the tracking number, there was NO further movement on the tracking app for 8 days till the morning it was delivered and the tracking screen changed to Out for delivery status. There is also the language barrier, I assume you e-mailed the dealer in American English. You could put your questions in a translator program and ask him in his own language.

 

I order regularly from ma-shops, a different platform, but all the sellers I buy from are German because of my collecting focus. I've had no issues in the past shipping wise. But I can tell you, if they sent a Deutsche post tracking number, try putting it in the USPS system as the two are somewhat connected due to some program. I've found quicker updates that way.

 

Expat you missed my point. Not interested in debating it with you. Lemons I did that as soon as I got the tracking. It shows it was never entered into the system also. Still to this point I have heard nothing back from the seller after they said they would do a refund. At this point I did a charge back. If for some reason the coin was shipped and I get it I will repay or send it back, my choice. I did have a half dime I bought on eBay that showed it was entered into the tracking postal system but never arrived. Its still MIA today. The end point is why would the seller not contact me and when he did right out of the gate its"the coin is missing and I will refund" if they were legit?

 

Patience my friend. I don't buy from the internet, never have. I would just sit back and relax. Let everything play out. Dealers have much more to do than argue with a customer after they have agreed to a refund. It's not worth the hassle and head ache on your part ED.

 

Although everyone's situation is different, here's my latest experience on a shipment from Europe:
10 May - auction closed and lot won
15 May - invoice received
16 May - funds transferred
13 Jun - coin registered at post office as international priority mail
28 Jun - coin received at home
... this might be a bit long, but not unusually so.
D

 

Your best bet would have been to contact VCoins support early on:

support@vcoins.com

You still can, of course, but bear in mind that VCoins support is US-based and it's a holiday weekend.

 

Its a couple more days and the Post Office has not received it, even though seller said it was dropped off. Also nothing, not a word from the seller. I am not new to buying from over seas. This is not about slow postal or shipping delays. Its about poor communication, and saying something was put in the postal system and its not. I have an Etsy shop. I have never had a shipment that never showed up as accepted when I did put it in the system. I have had it not up date for a day but once its dropped off its scanned in and I get a receipt. It may not up date in the data base for a day but the data is there and its dumps its updates usually Midnight the day I drop it off.

I also get that once its in the system it may not up date till the package hits customs and its scanned in there. That is all normal. This is not normal. Either the person dropping off the package lost it, stole it or they never sent it in the first place. But the Post Office never got it. So that is a big issue for me. Also not keeping in communication with the buyer about something like this is at the best very poor business practice.