What a huge disappointment...

[PolarPanda]

Dear friends, 

I need you guys advice. Recently i've put an order with GS.be for 2 Silver Swan coins and 3 Silver NIUE 2017 Athenian Owls. Those first two arrived perfectly, but something happened with the 3 owls. I was planning on flipping two of them, but the pictures below will make it clear that, that will not be possible, at least not a reasonable price. The coins arrived today with a lot of black spots on them! Also one of the coins has damage on the back side. I took some pictures and would like to have your peoples advice. Can you clean this or do i have to return them? 

Thank you all! 

[KDave]

If you paid a premium on these coins, I would contact the vendor and let them know about the condition and ask to send them back. If they will accommodate and pay for return then go for it.

Black spots can come from contact with un-gloved hands and general exposure to humanity. I have had bullion coins delivered in the past in a similar condition to this and I took it upon myself to attempt to clean the coins with silver dip, but by doing so destroyed any numismatic value the coins might have had. But we are talking second hand poker chip maples here, not premium coins like these owls. 

 

[PolarPanda]

In mean time i had contact with goldsilver.be. What a terrible customer service they have... I contacted them with a very fair explanation of the problem and the pictures that i show in this topic and got only a very rude answer with nothing more then a part of the sales conditions they mention on them website. So i have 3 coins now that are severely damaged and they don't want to change. Terrible. 

[PolarPanda]

8 minutes ago, KDave said:

If you paid a premium on these coins, I would contact the vendor and let them know about the condition and ask to send them back. If they will accommodate and pay for return then go for it.

Black spots can come from contact with un-gloved hands and general exposure to humanity. I have had bullion coins delivered in the past in a similar condition to this and I took it upon myself to attempt to clean the coins with silver dip, but by doing so destroyed any numismatic value the coins might have had. But we are talking second hand poker chip maples here, not premium coins like these owls. 

 

Thank you for your answer. So now i know that GS.be doesn't want to change them and theres no possibility to clean them without making them loose them value. Damnit... 

[sovereignsteve]

aren't these rounds about as cheap and bullion as you can get?

[Pipers]

These are bullion only, but they could of offered a small discount on your next purchase.  

For example they are 20% above spot then they could of offered 6 Euro discount on your next order.    

[KDave]

I am surprised they wont swap the coins out for you given that its a one for one swap basically. If you were trying to return for a refund then I would understand (spot price).

[PolarPanda]

I paid € 19,11 for one. So ofcourse it's just not a huge deal, but it's just the way how they deal with these situations. They mention also in their conditions never to take any B.U. coin back. What if you buy coins specifically for their future collectors value and they are like this? 

1 minute ago, KDave said:

I am surprised they wont swap the coins out for you given that its a one for one swap basically. If you were trying to return for a refund then I would understand (spot price).

This is exactly my point! I don't want a refund, i just want 3 good coins... Which i also paid for... 

[sixgun]

12 minutes ago, PolarPanda said:

I paid € 19,11 for one. So ofcourse it's just not a huge deal, but it's just the way how they deal with these situations. They mention also in their conditions never to take any B.U. coin back. What if you buy coins specifically for their future collectors value and they are like this? 

 

Simple answer. Don't buy off goldsilver.be.

A company can pitch slightly lower prices if their customer returns = zero. This is the risk you take. 
They have clearly shown their hand. Buyer beware.

i had some questions about the courier they used. i got my delivery fine. i did, however, find they were defensive to slight aggressive in their responses. You could put that down to language differences. i suspect it isn't that. They are likely running on lower margins so problems bite harder into their margins, so they ignore problems.

[sixgun]

28 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

aren't these rounds about as cheap and bullion as you can get?

Yes these coins are the cheapest we can get from dealers. They are supposed to be shaped to interlock and stack. i would class them as 'sliver is silver'.

Not the best flipping material. 

[Silverstackeruk]

I always assumed bullion doesn't have to be in perfect condition hence the price and premium if you do get a perfect one ( graded that is)

I think proofs should be in perfect condition giving the premium we pay..

Can see a big company like them checking every bullion coin they send out..

There only a few £ over spot and would probably cost you more to send back

[PolarPanda]

4 minutes ago, sixgun said:

Simple answer. Don't buy off goldsilver.be.

A company can pitch slightly lower prices if their customer returns = zero. This is the risk you take. 
They have clearly shown their hand. Buyer beware.

i had some questions about the courier they used. i got my delivery fine. i did, however, find they were defensive to slight aggressive in their responses. You could put that down to language differences. i suspect it isn't that. They are likely running on lower margins so problems bite harder into their margins, so they ignore problems.

That's exactly my feeling with them too... But i live in Belgium, so what you guys think would be the best alternative for me? Not so many shops here offer the same coins as they do... I don't have a problem with paying a bit more for the coins if it can guarantee me a good condition. 

[Clens92]

8 minutes ago, PolarPanda said:

That's exactly my feeling with them too... But i live in Belgium, so what you guys think would be the best alternative for me? Not so many shops here offer the same coins as they do... I don't have a problem with paying a bit more for the coins if it can guarantee me a good condition. 

Silver-to-go are based in Germany, and ship within the EU.  I've found them slightly more expensive but so much friendlier to deal with.  They have an excellent reputation, as well.

[sixgun]

12 minutes ago, PolarPanda said:

That's exactly my feeling with them too... But i live in Belgium, so what you guys think would be the best alternative for me? Not so many shops here offer the same coins as they do... I don't have a problem with paying a bit more for the coins if it can guarantee me a good condition. 

 

 

i usually look at http://gold.de

https://www.gold.de/kaufen/weitere-muenzen-silber/eule-von-athen/

The best price there at the moment is 18.81€

Considering it is 18.29€ at goldsilver.be, that is a big difference. 

[KDave]

Break out the silver dip I say, and have at them. You will at least have some exceptionally shiny bullion at the end of it. And don't buy from GS.be again, unless you have enough silver dip to go around. 

[Paul]

just chalk it down to experience and walk on, cost of international return it isnt worth it - just dont buy from them again if that is their attitude, there have been previous threads of bad service from them in aftersales

as they are brand new 2017 issue - they should not have been sold like this

they are the cheapest of the cheap currently.

the silver is still silver. stack them and forget about them.  Sell them for melt when spot is £30 {sigh, whenever those days may return}

 

[PolarPanda]

Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it. Maybe i overreacted a little bit, but i guess it was just out of frustration from the fact that none of the 3 coins i received are without black spots. But indeed, it's cheap bullion so in fact i don't have to complain i think. Better my 2 silver swans that arrived today look great  

Besides all the negative facts in this topic i have to say that those Athenian Owls are pretty nice looking coins... I thought they were ugly as hell in the pictures i saw before, but in real they look pretty great (without the black spots ofcourse )

[Silverhunter]

I think this is the second negative review for people using this company in as many months. I think the only good thing is it wasn't a large order and maybe one of those life lessons on who not to use? 

[SoulUK]

Aren't we making a bigger deal than it Is? It's currently one if the lowest premium bullion coins around. I understand the frustration about s coin not looking it's best. But I also understand GS not wanting to swap it. The charges on postage would take most if not all profit on such a coin.

[PolarPanda]

9 minutes ago, SoulUK said:

Aren't we making a bigger deal than it Is? It's currently one if the lowest premium bullion coins around. I understand the frustration about s coin not looking it's best. But I also understand GS not wanting to swap it. The charges on postage would take most if not all profit on such a coin.

Perhaps. But you have to see it beyond this situation. What if it were expensive 10 OZ coins with collectors value? They clearly stated not be willing to take back any B.U. coins. 

Besides the above, if you receive 3 coins and they all 3 have not only damage, but also black spots i have my doubts about how they handle them... 

[Silverhunter]

1 hour ago, SoulUK said:

Aren't we making a bigger deal than it Is? It's currently one if the lowest premium bullion coins around. I understand the frustration about s coin not looking it's best. But I also understand GS not wanting to swap it. The charges on postage would take most if not all profit on such a coin.

That's why everybody doesn't run a business a sale dose not garentee a profitable ending unless everyone would do it yes it is a very cheap coin but there should a minimum standard you should expect to receive this b u coin. If it was me I would definitely try to get them to swap if no joy then I'd say yep I've lost a bit of cash luckily not too much and just shop else where. 

[Niels87]

I had some problems with Goldsilver too but they always handled it correctly with me. 
I can understand them with the owls being cheaper then the maple that they don't swap here. 
They are well know for making some mistakes now and then, but because their good prices and the wide offer of coins i stick by them. 

[sovereignsteve]

They are well known for having crap customer service but in general, they are the cheapest, what can we expect?

You pays your money and takes your chance. Everyone on this forum should now be aware of possible issues and can make an informed decision whether to use them or not.

Personally, I'm fortunate to never had any issues with the quality of their coins, either brand new BU coins out of a tube or coins up to 12 years old.

[PolarPanda]

I will just buy some more now and then untill i have a full tube and keep them for stacking. Like said before in this topic at least the coins will always have their silver value, even with black spots. When i'm going to buy coins as a collection piece i think i will go for some of the other sellers available.

[Londonstacker]

I am planning to use goldsilver.be for a big order at the weekend, I think I'll give the owls a miss for now.  

When there have been issues with the quality of the coin, is that usually already on the coin they send rather than it happening in transit?