Royal Mint - Friendly but Unsympathetic Customer Service

[Pete]

Having a rant and letting off some steam folks !!

I saw the Tudor Beasts Yale of Beaufort appearing on the RM website so I wanted to order later that day.
Returning to the computer it was shown as out of stock but you could register for an email alert which I did.

Yesterday I received an email from the RM stating the coin was back in stock so I clicked the link they provided and went ahead and ordered the coin.
Unfortunately I didn't study the page properly and only read the heading Platinum Tudor Beast.
My order went through and instantly received an email confirmation but shock horror I had just purchased the earlier coin the Lion.
So I called the RM within literally 2 minutes to tell them my mistake and could they just swap the order for the Yale which was priced literally the same, maybe a few pence difference. They said they could not see the Yale on their website - but I could as I had it up on my screen.
They said I could sell the Lion back to them and loose the VAT etc but they were not willing to budge so the order remains.
I checked for the Yale as I needed to order and it was now showing out of stock and I couldn't order.
A couple of hours later I received another stock alert from the RM advising the Yale was back which p!ssed me off no end so I ordered from BullionbyPost.
Honestly I find it hard to swallow that the RM was 100% inflexible in correcting a simple error partly of their own making because they sent me the link alerting me and that the order was so fresh and could not possibly have gone further than the incoming order desk.

 

[blackadder]

Maybe with all the problems we are all getting it's time to stop buying from them.

[LawrenceChard]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

Having a rant and letting off some steam folks !!

I saw the Tudor Beasts Yale of Beaufort appearing on the RM website so I wanted to order later that day.
Returning to the computer it was shown as out of stock but you could register for an email alert which I did.

Yesterday I received an email from the RM stating the coin was back in stock so I clicked the link they provided and went ahead and ordered the coin.
Unfortunately I didn't study the page properly and only read the heading Platinum Tudor Beast.
My order went through and instantly received an email confirmation but shock horror I had just purchased the earlier coin the Lion.
So I called the RM within literally 2 minutes to tell them my mistake and could they just swap the order for the Yale which was priced literally the same, maybe a few pence difference. They said they could not see the Yale on their website - but I could as I had it up on my screen.
They said I could sell the Lion back to them and loose the VAT etc but they were not willing to budge so the order remains.
I checked for the Yale as I needed to order and it was now showing out of stock and I couldn't order.
A couple of hours later I received another stock alert from the RM advising the Yale was back which p!ssed me off no end so I ordered from BullionbyPost.
Honestly I find it hard to swallow that the RM was 100% inflexible in correcting a simple error partly of their own making because they sent me the link alerting me and that the order was so fresh and could not possibly have gone further than the incoming order desk.

 

Most days, when I scan through some of our internal Teams messages, I see that:

"Customer A" placed 6 identical orders, so we called him to check, and he only intended to place 1 order, we sort it out sensibly.

"Customer B" has bought 1 tax free silver coin for Zurich storage by accident. We sort it.

"Customer C" has ordered in euros, but paid us in dollars. We sort it.

"Customer D" has placed 2 orders, and paid 2 lots of postage. We check, then credit or refund the surplus as appropriate.

"Customer E" has placed a £100,000 order, but his bank will only let him transfer £20,000 per day. We sort it.

The above is a fairly typical selection. I rarely get involved in any of these cases, as our Team can handle about 99% of it between themselves without needing to consult.

I hope BbP work better for you, but I thought you were going to wait for the best deal!

😎

[LawrenceChard]

3 hours ago, blackadder said:

Maybe with all the problems we are all getting it's time to stop buying from them.

Yes, we were thinking of starting to make our own, but it seems they have a very tight monopoly!

😎

[arphethean]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

Having a rant and letting off some steam folks !!

I saw the Tudor Beasts Yale of Beaufort appearing on the RM website so I wanted to order later that day.
Returning to the computer it was shown as out of stock but you could register for an email alert which I did.

Yesterday I received an email from the RM stating the coin was back in stock so I clicked the link they provided and went ahead and ordered the coin.
Unfortunately I didn't study the page properly and only read the heading Platinum Tudor Beast.
My order went through and instantly received an email confirmation but shock horror I had just purchased the earlier coin the Lion.
So I called the RM within literally 2 minutes to tell them my mistake and could they just swap the order for the Yale which was priced literally the same, maybe a few pence difference. They said they could not see the Yale on their website - but I could as I had it up on my screen.
They said I could sell the Lion back to them and loose the VAT etc but they were not willing to budge so the order remains.
I checked for the Yale as I needed to order and it was now showing out of stock and I couldn't order.
A couple of hours later I received another stock alert from the RM advising the Yale was back which p!ssed me off no end so I ordered from BullionbyPost.
Honestly I find it hard to swallow that the RM was 100% inflexible in correcting a simple error partly of their own making because they sent me the link alerting me and that the order was so fresh and could not possibly have gone further than the incoming order desk.

 

They really should just focus on improving the production side and leave the sales outlet to the pros...

Honestly, that's really poor customer care, and their ordering/tracking systems are so clunky and user unfriendly.

Out of interest I have signed up for their newsletter I don't know how many times with multiple email address and never rgot a single update....

[ArgentSmith]

https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/bullion-coins/platinum-coins/the-royal-tudor-beasts-2023-yale-of-beaufort-1oz-platinum-bullion-coin/

[Pete]

13 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

I hope BbP work better for you, but I thought you were going to wait for the best deal!

😎

Yes I am waiting for the best deal on gold and silver Tudors but finding platinum at around 10% premium is a "best deal" and saving a few pounds is not important. I waited once too long for a gold Queens Beast and missed buying at a fair price so jumped in and bit the bullet on the Pt Beast.
There is an argument for stalling buying silver and platinum in the hope Liz will reduce VAT to 15% but if and when that ever happens inventories will have gone and prices will have risen due to scarcity - perhaps ??

[LawrenceChard]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Yes I am waiting for the best deal on gold and silver Tudors but finding platinum at around 10% premium is a "best deal" and saving a few pounds is not important. I waited once too long for a gold Queens Beast and missed buying at a fair price so jumped in and bit the bullet on the Pt Beast.
There is an argument for stalling buying silver and platinum in the hope Liz will reduce VAT to 15% but if and when that ever happens inventories will have gone and prices will have risen due to scarcity - perhaps ??

Good thinking about a VAT reduction!

It might only be on takeaway food, so it might not save anyone VAT when they collect a monster box of silver Beasts from our showroom, but at  least they would still be able to get good fish and chips across the road at an affordable price.

😎

[Pete]

5 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

Good thinking about a VAT reduction!

It might only be on takeaway food, so it might not save anyone VAT when they collect a monster box of silver Beasts from our showroom, but at  least they would still be able to get good fish and chips across the road at an affordable price.

😎

Last time I bought fish & chips from my local I thought they had made a mistake as it had almost doubled in price.
"Affordability" is relative.
Not entirely sure why the price of fish has rocketed so much so maybe living near the sea helps.

[LawrenceChard]

On 07/09/2022 at 16:58, Pete said:

Last time I bought fish & chips from my local I thought they had made a mistake as it had almost doubled in price.
"Affordability" is relative.
Not entirely sure why the price of fish has rocketed so much so maybe living near the sea helps.

There must be a catch!

😎

[StackemHigh]

On 06/09/2022 at 20:26, LawrenceChard said:

Yes, we were thinking of starting to make our own, but it seems they have a very tight monopoly!

😎

Chards bullion rounds or bars in Ag, Au and Pt?