First bad experience with a Vcoin vendor

Forgive the drive by, and I will stand in the corner, but is OP related to Black Beard?

 

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I am Black Beard Mr. Green. I identify as a 16th century Pirate. edited

 

Your situation brought back my nightmare situation dealing with a transaction involving the US Border people and a foreign country. About 10+ years ago I ordered a kilogram bag of zircons from a rock dealer in Nigeria. Every thing went smoothly between the dealer and myself on the financing, it was the shipment that lasted almost three months ,and the zircons traveling more than I have in 80 years
Zircons are the oldest gemstones on earth, so some display low levels of radiation, which allowed us to know that. However once they got to the US , customs thought they were a weapon, and problems began. They were sent back to Nigeria, who said they wouldn't take them as the radiation was low enough for shipping, soooo they went back to the US, who shipped them right back to Nigeria ( I only found this out later). Nigeria ( who thought this problem rather funny) had a US diplomat there approve it, and it arrived.
So I hope your problem doesn't require such a Kabongal!, Sometimes it is both sides of the ocean that are the problem. Jim

 

Clearly, US Customs should've just taken the shipment for granite.

 

I've only had 1 bad Vcoins experience & it was pretty similar. Was a German dealer, bought a coin, eventually get a tracking #, check it in a few & German Post doesn't have it yet, give it 1 1/2 wk & chk again & still not there. I figure no prob, shit happens, shit back & wait another week +. Check again & still not received by Post. I email vendor from address from which they sent tracking #, no reply. Email again after a week (post still doesn't have it). Another week & change, no reply, I email through Vcoins & finally get a reply after a few that says something like it's lost & will refund. I ask for clarification, offer to wait it out & see if it shows up. Explains that he had got it all packaged & got a shipping label, set it in his car, & then it disappeared (probably accidentally thrown out with some car-trash). Left it at 'if it ever shows back up, I'd still like to buy it, so please let me know.'
It was annoying, & I'm still disappointed (it was a cool coin), but I believe that that IS what happened. Sucks worse for the dealer, in all honestly.
Moral = Crazy shit happens; the world is crazy place overfilled with crazy people doing all manner of crazy nonsense. Very easily could be something like what happened with me. Vcoins does a pretty good job vetting their vendors, it would take a lot to make me think one was acting nefariously (mistakes happen, that's different).
You have some red-flags, you definitely do, and it sucks being in that situation with the clock ticking on the deadline to contest the charges. Yeah. I'd cut a Vcoins dealer a LOT of slack, though.
Good luck

 

JAZ numismatics is the only dealer on Vcoins I would and have purchased coins
from with no concerns. Jim

 

The dealer got back with me finally. Said I can pick a coin deduct my purchase price of the lost coin plus 50 USD. Not sure I want to at this point.

 

I export a lot from Germany to the USA.

First of all, you have to distinguish between three different shipping routes.

The most expensive, but fastest, option is shipping with a service provider such as UPS, FedEx, TNT or DHL Express (not to be confused with simple DHL parcels or the German Post!). Unfortunately, not all customers are willing to pay the approximately 20-30 euros shipping costs for this service. I offer this shipping option, but not every buyer chooses this option. The advantage here is that the tracking already works seamlessly from Germany to the recipient.

Another option is a DHL parcel (not DHL Express). However, it is not really an option, as the shipping costs are the same as with UPS, FedEx and Co - but the shipping time is much higher.

The last option is a registered letter with tracking. This is the cheapest option, but also the slowest! Many choose this option for particularly cheap coins around 50-150 euros, because perhaps shipping costs around 20/30 euros are not worth it. The biggest problem is not necessarily the duration of the shipment, but the tracking. There is a kind of "black hole" (which can take a very long time!). You hand over the letter to Deutsche Post and can follow the tracking - then the "black hole" comes when you hand it over to customs and on its way to the USA. Then it shows up again in the USA at some point - but it can no longer be tracked on the German Post website, you have to track it via the USPS website.

I have also had the problem that such items were thought to be lost. You could watch the item for 1 week on the German site, then the "black hole" came and you didn't see anything for 3 weeks - not at Deutsche Post, not at USPS. We were about to give the shipment as lost, when out of nowhere the buyer contacted us and explained that all of a sudden the shipment was in his mailbox - completely unexpected. This is what happens. Keep in mind that such shipments can take 6-8 weeks to arrive.


But to address your case. What is always (!) available on the German side (of the Deutsche Post website) - the receipt that the item was posted / handed in!

An item, a letter cannot be lost during delivery. You go to the post office and give the lady or gentleman at the counter your letter / item and at that moment it is scanned - and then it is also in the system (you also get a receipt that you have handed in the item). You can also give the letter/item to a post driver - but again - when handing it over, the post driver takes his scanner and the item is immediately entered into the system.

The item must therefore be entered in the system as "handed over the item on (date)". What happens afterwards, of course, is not in the hands of the sender. When the consignment has been handed over, the sender has done everything necessary. If the letter is then lost in the branch or in a warehouse or during the journey - this can always happen - but it is not the seller's fault.

What surprises me in your case, however, is that according to your statement, the item does not appear in the system as "handed in".


PS: By the way, a small tip for those who buy coins in the EU - ask the dealer to declare the goods as follows: "antique more than 100 years old" - I have had very good experiences with this so far!

 

Thats no Problem expat - the keyword is in this case - Online labeling.

When I buy a registered stamp online - I get the label with the tracking ID in advance - likewise when I book / buy a parcel online - here too I get the PDF label to print out and the tracking ID is on the label.

Then I have a tracking ID. But I have not yet handed in the parcel or the registered letter.

 

I understand, not used to online system. I only get a tracking number when I am physically in the Post Office and handing over the package to be sent.

 

Can those Zircons be heat treated?

 

In my humble opinion, you have little to lose in this situation. I would say go for it, and you may even get the original coin, too. But of course do whatever brings you the most benefit best of luck and hope it works out

 

Jim the Jeweler, lol.

 

Well its been 6 weeks and I have heard nothing from the coin shop and the package still shows it was never put into the system. I only got the one email from the coin shop where they said it was lost and never got into the post. But nothing after that.