So, a "recommended" coin is one deemed worthy by Mr. Tomaszka. What does "worthy" mean? Top 5% of grade/designation/eye appeal perhaps? Please add some more detail to your amazingly vague response.
Mr. Marburger, im assuming your grandfather has the same last name? What exact coin was it and when did you buy it? I am looking through our detailed records, and the name is not poping up out of the 7000 names we have stored...
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Do you really want to piss me off by doubting my word?
Here you go A$$hole...
My biological father (Michael Marburger) and my mother (Kim Rogers) got married, had me, and got divorced a year or so later. My mother remarried...his name is Arthur Schon. He raised me, took care of me and I spent most of my time growing up with him as my mother was awarded custody.
I call him dad although there is no blood relation. He is just as important in my life as my biological father....
If you want to use this dealers post for your own agenda publicly about some coins your father bought I'm just
I bought two R&I coins for an Modern Type Registry Set at about full PCGS Price Guide price. When I retired the set I sold them on eBay with no reserve for about 50% of what I paid.
R&I never promised me I'd make a profit or even get what I paid for them back and you don't see me here whining about it (or wait maybe I just did)
As a collector of cameo franklins, I'm finding this thread to be 100% interesting..... Coin Lieutenant- if you want to hold on to that 1950 cam franklin, I should be ready to buy it from you in about..... 5 to 10 years....
My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable !
Brenden is the name, been working at R & I for little over 2 and a half years. We just wanted to show you what we had to offer you guys and it turned into some rant about a unknown guy's dad buying a unspecified coin and how we won't seek him out and buy the coin back from him. I have been civil and trying to explane about our return policies. But you do need to understand that it is a business my friend. Plus this auction site is a solution in itself, if you can not convince rick that he "needs" the coin, then you can convince someone elce, and im sure its not a bad coin, especially if you bought it from Todd at R&I.
BTW, Todd no longer works will us because he is killing terrorists in Iraq! If your reading this buddy (Todd), send me more pics!! Its always good to hear from you.
<< <i>Brenden is the name, been working at R & I for little over 2 and a half years. We just wanted to show you what we had to offer you guys and it turned into some rant about a unknown guy's dad buying a unspecified coin and how we won't seek him out and buy the coin back from him. I have been civil and trying to explane about our unbeatable return policies. But you do need to understand that it is a business my friend. Plus this auction site is a solution in itself, if you can not convince rick that he "needs" the coin, then you can convince someone elce, and im sure its not a bad coin, especially if you bought it from Todd at R&I.
BTW, Todd no longer works will us because he is killing terrorists in Iraq! If your reading this buddy (Todd), send me more pics!! Its always good to hear from you. >>
Dude, after having read all of this, I would have no interest in dealing with you, Rick, or the auction website.
Let me give you (and Rick) a little advice about customer service and satisfaction. If you make someone happy, you are darn lucky if he tells one or two people. If you do someone wrong, he tells 100 people. You treated JM very poorly, had an opportunity to make it right in front of a lot of eyeballs, and blew it. All you had to do after the first post is call JM. He was obviously desperate to get in touch with you--he left his phone number on this public forum for chrissakes!. Call him, strike a deal, game over. Instead, you hide behind some mediocre return policy (which was not the point of the rant) and you make him trash your firm over the course of 36 hours. Do you think the folks who did not know you or your firm (until this thread) will want to do business with you in the future?
That is fine. I am not whining about my dad losing money. I am making his experience known in a round about way so that others dont get burnt on this type of market!!!
Simple as that. I got a bit peeved with you when you insinuated that I was lying about my father. I think that is justified.
UlitmateCAM,
Keep in mind that I HAVE tried contacting Rick numerous times and finally gave up. Seeing you post to this thread made me think about how pissed I was about it. In the process of trying to get some sort of idea of how R&I conducts business, NUMEROUS people have come forward with similar experiences on buy backs...NOT 15 day return privs... which is in turn helping me with my overall goal of INFORMING THE PUBLIC about this type of practice.
My main goal was not to sell the coins, although that would be quite nice. John
Edited to add: Todd is doing fine. Addie Jo is going to be having the baby soon and Todd is back from Iraq for a few months.
IMHO this "cameo" market is VERY THIN. I too watched/bought/sold/traded cameo's back the mid 80's when I was attending the Long Beach Shows and met "THE Cameo Guy's". The coins were high priced then, and they are high priced now (to the collectors) of such material. I learned back in the LATE 80's that the dealers who specialized in them would only buy the KING CAMEO's, and did not want the average cameo's. If you had any KING CAMEO's then came the question............................How much do you need for that coin. The "Cameo Market left a bad taste in my mouth and an empty wallet when I tried to sell to the "Cameo Guys" ,I have since vowed, NEVER to return to such a THIN MARKET TYPE COIN again.
BTW your better off searching for your own Cameo Coins............and making them yourself.
Thank you Brenden for explaining who you are. But you have avoided what this thread has been about since the second post. And the subject you have avoided is simply this, that you folks will not "buyback coins at some wholesale price" which you have sold at full retail. In fact I have gathered that you will not offer any price at all. That is what is now under discussion. By the way, I am not left with a warm fuzzy feeling about doing business with you guys from reading your posts here. There is a very cavalier attitude in your posts, after one gets past the spelling problems. I am just trying to be helpful. If you dont like what you read from me put it on a shelf and forget it, it is just unsolicited advice after all.
In an insane society, a sane person will appear to be insane.
I don't think any collector here would be so angry to buy a coin from a dealer, call after a couple years, get a reasonable wholesale offer which actually represents a loss of sorts to the collector depending on "how" the coin was sold in the first place.
But if what John has pointed out is accurate and can't even get a return phone call or offer of any kind then John is perfectly justified in taking whatever actions he so deems appropriate to illuminate such poor customer service on the part of the seller. That would, and should make any retail consumer justifiably angry and suspicious.
I have been civil and trying to explane about our unbeatable return policies.
Brenden,
RCNH offers a 30 day return privilege so you should stop calling your 15 day policy "unbeatable". I won't address the rest of your message by specifics but I might suggest you read the complaints a bit more carefully. You have missed every point by a hundred miles.
You need to speak with your boss and get proper and detailed instruction on how to deal with this rapidly brewing online situation.
One bit of friendly advice: if your firm chooses not to genuinely deal with the criticisms being leveled at your firm here, then you should simply stay away. Every time you come around and play avoidance games, it only seeks to get worse. Stay away, and let fading memories help you out.
(I'm not trying to boot you; in fact, I would love to see you or someone else from your firm try to genuinely address the issues here.)
Interesting thread, thanks! Sorry to see it all started because of a bad situation, years past, never resolved. That's bad business by Rick Tomaska. It's good to know these things. My personal .02¢ is that equally nice Franklin's are available elsewhere, at much lower prices.
I have bought three different coins at different times from R&I. Returned ALL of them with a difficult time in returns. They advertise "spot free" coins. BUT, everyone was spotted/toned/hazed. Will NEVER deal with them again. VERY poor customer service when talking with them about returns on the phone too! I guess they still haven't cleaned up their act!
You only live life once, enjoy it like it's your last day. It just MIGHT be!
I've never done business with these guys. BUT, the dealers I work with closely generally work VERY hard to find good stuff to sell, so much so that they are always happy to see some old "friends" come back from time to time for sale or trade.
<< <i>I've never done business with these guys. BUT, the dealers I work with closely generally work VERY hard to find good stuff to sell, so much so that they are always happy to see some old "friends" come back from time to time for sale or trade. >>
Right! Which in turn becomes more business over the years as relationships develop as well.
It's not only good business but the right thing to do as well.
Bottom line: R&I is a full on retail outfit. Nothing wrong with that. I've purchased pretty coins from them and have not been disapointed. I also go into buying from them wide eye'd with my finger out of my nose, the same way as I purchase a brand spanking new car. It looks good. It feels good, but I'm also aware it looses 40% of its value as soon as I drive it off the showroom floor.
I've bought a couple of Rick's RT coins and have been quite pleased with the purchase, though the price was a little steep, I wanted/needed the coin and decided that it was worth it.
I've also sold him 1 coin, well actually traded one wherein he gave me my asking price which was based upon recent Ebay/Teletrade price points.
Overall, I've been pleased with R&I and will continue to do business with them.
I do agree though that some of UltimateCameos posts here are not what I would call very well thought out. Customer service is by far the 1st and foremost important aspect to a retail business. Why pay retail and get treated like wholesale???
like the idea of an alternative to FeePay. that's why i like Yahoo. cheaper than either FeePay or this, and an established, albeit a bit smaller, customer base.
R&I, retailing. most collectors wish a 'chance' at a bargain.
WOW- R&I spams the forum(not allowed here anyways) to get members to visits it's website and gets bashed for poor business practices and evading questions about buying back material from previous customers. This is an eye opening thread to the world of modern cameo coins. mike
WOW- R&I spams the forum(not allowed here anyways) to get members to visits it's website and gets bashed for poor business practices and evading questions about buying back material from previous customers. This is an eye opening thread to the world of modern cameo coins.
If he ever had any intention of coming on the forums I doubt he would come now. Don't think he could ever win with some of you guys. Though he might not return phone calls he was a pioneer in the cameo market and did a lot to make it what it is today. Got to give the guy a lot of credit.
Two quick observations. Buyers no longer have to shop with speciality shops like R and I exclusively. Sellers (and I include vest pocket dealers) no longer have to sell their coins to speciality shops like R and I. The King is dead. Long live the new King! This whole thing is a moot point. The nice folks at R and I will have to change the way they operate, or they will be history. The market is speaking. Listen up or vanish. BTW, JMHO, but the attempt to start an ebay type web site for coin buyers is a manifestation of the serious illness facing the R and I business model. I view it as the one of the last desperate acts of a dying business. Others may disagree, I dont mind.
Never try to stop a pig from getting dirty. It is an impossible task and it annoys the pig!
[q JM, I would suggest reporting R&I to the PNG, but, oops, they are not members of the PNG. Doubt that they will be if this is how they behave. I agree, bad for the hobby and especially bad for collectors of Frankies, cameos, moderns, etc. >>
Interestingly, for several years Tamasuk fraudulently used the PNG logo in his CW and NN ads until he was ordered to cease and desist by the PNG President!
And the thing about R&I not standing behind the coins they sell is legendary.
"Wars are really ugly! They're dirty and they're cold. I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole." Mary
also legendary for not returning phone calls AND holding coins his customer wishes to sell for extended time periods (sometimes months) while he tries to shop them around for a profit. RT will just hold the coins and shop them around like this until would be seller becomes incensed and demands they be returned.
RT has also (without permission from owner) sent coins in for upgrade that were originally sent to R&I for possible sale. When the coin came back same grade, only then does he say, "I can't use it"!
"Wars are really ugly! They're dirty and they're cold. I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole." Mary
RT has also (without permission from owner) sent coins in for upgrade that were originally sent to R&I for possible sale. When the coin came back same grade, only then does he say, "I can't use it"!
This reminds me of a thread by Feld several months ago where he posed this (hypothetical?) situation involving an unnamed dealer.
Maybe some kind soul with too much spare time can dig that up?!?
Just wanted to let everyone know that I just got off the phone with RT...He called me after being informed of the thread and was more than gracious about the whole thing.
Comments
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
siliconvalleycoins.com
siliconvalleycoins.com
<< <i>My father's name is ... not the same last name. >>
My posts viewed
since 8/1/6
Do you really want to piss me off by doubting my word?
Here you go A$$hole...
My biological father (Michael Marburger) and my mother (Kim Rogers) got married, had me, and got divorced a year or so later. My mother remarried...his name is Arthur Schon. He raised me, took care of me and I spent most of my time growing up with him as my mother was awarded custody.
I call him dad although there is no blood relation. He is just as important in my life as my biological father....
Dont be such a jerk...
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
Curious wording - who is posting?
<< <i>it must be sent to our office in San Diego area so Rick can personally inspect the coin and deem it worthy
Curious wording - who is posting? >>
It was signed Alex in an earlier posting...Alex Bivin?
Geeze, take a chill pill dude.
If you want to use this dealers post for your own agenda publicly about some coins your father bought I'm just
I bought two R&I coins for an Modern Type Registry Set at about full PCGS Price Guide price. When I retired the set I sold them on eBay with no reserve for about 50% of what I paid.
R&I never promised me I'd make a profit or even get what I paid for them back and you don't see me here whining about it (or wait maybe I just did)
My posts viewed
since 8/1/6
Coin Lieutenant- if you want to hold on to that 1950 cam franklin, I should be ready to buy it from you in about..... 5 to 10 years....
BTW, Todd no longer works will us because he is killing terrorists in Iraq! If your reading this buddy (Todd), send me more pics!! Its always good to hear from you.
<< <i>Brenden is the name, been working at R & I for little over 2 and a half years. We just wanted to show you what we had to offer you guys and it turned into some rant about a unknown guy's dad buying a unspecified coin and how we won't seek him out and buy the coin back from him. I have been civil and trying to explane about our unbeatable return policies. But you do need to understand that it is a business my friend. Plus this auction site is a solution in itself, if you can not convince rick that he "needs" the coin, then you can convince someone elce, and im sure its not a bad coin, especially if you bought it from Todd at R&I.
BTW, Todd no longer works will us because he is killing terrorists in Iraq! If your reading this buddy (Todd), send me more pics!! Its always good to hear from you. >>
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Let me give you (and Rick) a little advice about customer service and satisfaction. If you make someone happy, you are darn lucky if he tells one or two people. If you do someone wrong, he tells 100 people. You treated JM very poorly, had an opportunity to make it right in front of a lot of eyeballs, and blew it. All you had to do after the first post is call JM. He was obviously desperate to get in touch with you--he left his phone number on this public forum for chrissakes!. Call him, strike a deal, game over. Instead, you hide behind some mediocre return policy (which was not the point of the rant) and you make him trash your firm over the course of 36 hours. Do you think the folks who did not know you or your firm (until this thread) will want to do business with you in the future?
That is fine. I am not whining about my dad losing money. I am making his experience known in a round about way so that others dont get burnt on this type of market!!!
Simple as that. I got a bit peeved with you when you insinuated that I was lying about my father. I think that is justified.
UlitmateCAM,
Keep in mind that I HAVE tried contacting Rick numerous times and finally gave up. Seeing you post to this thread made me think about how pissed I was about it. In the process of trying to get some sort of idea of how R&I conducts business, NUMEROUS people have come forward with similar experiences on buy backs...NOT 15 day return privs...
which is in turn helping me with my overall goal of INFORMING THE PUBLIC about this type of practice.
My main goal was not to sell the coins, although that would be quite nice.
John
Edited to add:
Todd is doing fine. Addie Jo is going to be having the baby soon and Todd is back from Iraq for a few months.
siliconvalleycoins.com
BTW your better off searching for your own Cameo Coins............and making them yourself.
But if what John has pointed out is accurate and can't even get a return phone call or offer of any kind then John is perfectly justified in taking whatever actions he so deems appropriate to illuminate such poor customer service on the part of the seller. That would, and should make any retail consumer justifiably angry and suspicious.
Tom
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Brenden,
RCNH offers a 30 day return privilege so you should stop calling your 15 day policy "unbeatable". I won't address the rest of your message by specifics but I might suggest you read the complaints a bit more carefully. You have missed every point by a hundred miles.
You need to speak with your boss and get proper and detailed instruction on how to deal with this rapidly brewing online situation.
One bit of friendly advice: if your firm chooses not to genuinely deal with the criticisms being leveled at your firm here, then you should simply stay away. Every time you come around and play avoidance games, it only seeks to get worse. Stay away, and let fading memories help you out.
(I'm not trying to boot you; in fact, I would love to see you or someone else from your firm try to genuinely address the issues here.)
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
Interesting thread, thanks! Sorry to see it all started because of a bad situation, years past, never resolved. That's bad business by Rick Tomaska. It's good to know these things. My personal .02¢ is that equally nice Franklin's are available elsewhere, at much lower prices.
KJ
<< <i>I've never done business with these guys. BUT, the dealers I work with closely generally work VERY hard to find good stuff to sell, so much so that they are always happy to see some old "friends" come back from time to time for sale or trade. >>
Right! Which in turn becomes more business over the years as relationships develop as well.
It's not only good business but the right thing to do as well.
Tom
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
Based on...hmmmmmmmmmmmm
Now what would that claim be based on
I guess that's optimism for ya
<< <i>But i can not guarentee that we will buy your coin back, for all we know you dipped it in acid. >>
Benefit of the doubt is best before basically saying he dipped it in acid.
I agree with EVP. Tell the owner of the company and let him speak for his company because you haven't helped at all improve the image of R&I.
Cameron Kiefer
peacockcoins
I've also sold him 1 coin, well actually traded one wherein he gave me my asking price which was based upon recent Ebay/Teletrade price points.
Overall, I've been pleased with R&I and will continue to do business with them.
I do agree though that some of UltimateCameos posts here are not what I would call very well thought out. Customer service is by far the 1st and foremost important aspect to a retail business. Why pay retail and get treated like wholesale???
TPN
Exactly (and well-said).
R&I, retailing. most collectors wish a 'chance' at a bargain.
I think you should invite Rick to drop by here and read the comments and responses you've posted in this thread and the other that it spawned.
Russ, NCNE
Russ, NCNE
Far be it from me to beat a dead horse...
I do not expect that the principals of R&I will appear on this thread.
Mike, excellent summary.
pa system " WILL RICK TOMASKA PLEASE COME TO THE US COIN FORUM ? " and stop this buffoonery.
<< <i> Though he might not return phone calls he was a pioneer in the cameo market and did a lot to make it what it is today. >>
Isn't that the point....lol. One way market...overpriced cameos.
JM, I would suggest reporting R&I to the PNG, but, oops, they are not members of the PNG. Doubt that they will be if this is how they behave. I agree, bad for the hobby and especially bad for collectors of Frankies, cameos, moderns, etc. >>
Interestingly, for several years Tamasuk fraudulently used the PNG logo in his CW and NN ads until he was ordered to cease and desist by the PNG President!
And the thing about R&I not standing behind the coins they sell is legendary.
and they're cold.
I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole."
Mary
Best Franklin Website
also legendary for not returning phone calls AND holding coins his customer wishes to sell for extended time periods (sometimes months) while he tries to shop them around for a profit. RT will just hold the coins and shop them around like this until would be seller becomes incensed and demands they be returned.
RT has also (without permission from owner) sent coins in for upgrade that were originally sent to R&I for possible sale. When the coin came back same grade, only then does he say, "I can't use it"!
and they're cold.
I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole."
Mary
Best Franklin Website
It makes me tend to believe that the complainers are quite right in their opinions.
RICK COME OUT AND DEFEND YOUR GOOD NAME!
siliconvalleycoins.com
This reminds me of a thread by Feld several months ago where he posed this (hypothetical?) situation involving an unnamed dealer.
Maybe some kind soul with too much spare time can dig that up?!?
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
V.r,
John
siliconvalleycoins.com
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment