Bizarre and Irresponsible

harasha

Received this morning winning lots from BSJ. Two medals were shoved together into a plastic pocket with no protection against each other. Clear damage where the two medals rubbed together during transit. I am dismayed by the egregious contempt that some auctioneers, including some prominent ones, have for their clientele. I suspect that they would not treat the high end bidders so.

7Jaguars

Wow, sorry to hear. They mainly have treated me fairly even though I am not a big spender, hopefully this is just one sorry anecdote and they do better next (!?) time....

WillieBoyd2

Who or what is BSJ?

tcollects

your whole problem was buying two or or more things

give in and embrace the anti-consumerist ethos of the auction company

harasha

@WillieBoyd2 sent PM.

WillieBoyd2

pruebas

@harasha said:
Received this morning winning lots from BSJ. Two medals were shoved together into a plastic pocket with no protection against each other. Clear damage where the two medals rubbed together during transit. I am dismayed by the egregious contempt that some auctioneers, including some prominent ones, have for their clientele. I suspect that they would not treat the high end bidders so.

Happens to me quite a bit (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria so far). I often accuse them (after the fact) of trying to save 10c on a flip. They deny it, but if I just told them they were stupid, that wouldn’t fly either.

People have no clue how to ship internationally.

7Jaguars

I have in recent times gotten two to three lots per auction and have by recollection gotten each lot in a holder which I will take a picture of later and then this in a padded envelope or box. Again sorry for your experience - I suppose things will change a bit with the separation of the two entities near.

harasha

BJS' auction manager responded to my email of outrage: "Please accept our sincere apologies for this, this is not up to our usual standard of work and we will endeavour to resolve this." Better than some auction houses which simply say, we didn't do this; it must be you.

harasha

BSJ extended to me a credit in compensation for the damage, which I accepted. And I will give them credit for that.

tcollects

@harasha said:
BSJ extended to me a credit in compensation for the damage, which I accepted. And I will give them credit for that.

that's about as good a customer service outcome as you can hope for

Stork

Wow, meanwhile compare that to my last auction win from Japan. Wish I'd taken pictures. (I still need to photo the coin).

Not a cheap coin per se, but certainly not one of the 'big coins'. It was one of the pottery/clay/-not-really-porcelains. It was in a flip. Inside another flip. Inside a hard plastic cased box with copious foam padding. Inside a cardboard box. Inside another box. And sent in a well padded envelope. Needless to say, the coin was fine. And everything I've ever gotten out of the three big Japanese auction houses has been double flipped and double boxed at a minimum.

I'm impressed the auction house has tried to make it right for you. Sad it was necessary, but glad they are taking you seriously. And I'm trying hard to remember who BSJ is. So far, I've been very lucky with my European and Japanese auctions.

pruebas

@Stork said:
Wow, meanwhile compare that to my last auction win from Japan. Wish I'd taken pictures. (I still need to photo the coin).

Not a cheap coin per se, but certainly not one of the 'big coins'. It was one of the pottery/clay/-not-really-porcelains. It was in a flip. Inside another flip. Inside a hard plastic cased box with copious foam padding. Inside a cardboard box. Inside another box. And sent in a well padded envelope. Needless to say, the coin was fine. And everything I've ever gotten out of the three big Japanese auction houses has been double flipped and double boxed at a minimum.

I'm impressed the auction house has tried to make it right for you. Sad it was necessary, but glad they are taking you seriously. And I'm trying hard to remember who BSJ is. So far, I've been very lucky with my European and Japanese auctions.

No matter how well it was originally packed, once Customs decides to inspect it, all bets are off.

desslok

@Stork said:
I'm impressed the auction house has tried to make it right for you. Sad it was necessary, but glad they are taking you seriously. And I'm trying hard to remember who BSJ is. So far, I've been very lucky with my European and Japanese auctions.

I presume that by BSJ the original poster refers to Baldwin's of St. James's auction house? If so, I'm surprised. I won a few lots from them in the past and everything was well packaged.

logger7

As usual, you must document the damage or you have no case.

harasha

Well, this story may be due for a postscript. I won two lots in the subject's most recent auction. The credit that was promised did not appear on the invoice. SJA has yet to respond to my three emails requesting the revision. At this point, I have no intention of paying until they honor their commitment. I would be making phone calls, but the cost of transatlantic telephony would exceed the amount I am due.

tcollects

call and work it out

harasha

call and work it out As I noted above, the cost of telephoning London from New York would probably exceed the amount of credit owed.

jgenn

I think we often make the assumption that the companies that deal with coins employ individuals that care about coins. That's certainly the case with the individuals whose jobs involve coin knowledge but the packers and shippers or the folks that type up labels for slab inserts probably don't care as much as we would like them to.

1984worldcoins

make a call on whatsapp, its free.

harasha

Just heard back from St. James. They had a sterling excuse for the delay (pun intended). Now, presuming their packing and shipping people don't screw up like last time, all is well with the world. Looking forward to some really nice silver.

TwoKopeiki

Sterling excuse..