How To Run A Customer Caring Coin Business

[Colin88 54]

I made several attempts throughout the morning trying to contact a very well known coin dealer based in the North in order to potentially offer them the opportunity to come and look at my collection that I am selling, prior to putting them into auction as it would be less hassle for me I suspect, if someone bought the collection outright rather than await the vaguaries of an Auction house....even though the prices for some of the coins appear to be going stratospheric.

The phone was permanently 'engaged' for hours.I eventually tracked one of them down via a personal mobile number given to me by a fellow collector.

When I queried the constant state of their phones being 'engaged' for long periods, they freely admitted that they leave the phone 'off the hook' when they are out of the office??...so, no answerphone / voicemail, no redirecting to a mobile number, no 'out-of-office' message...just 'sod off' you customers, we dont want you.

I was so annoyed by this I made my excuses and left as they say.

[HistoricCoinage 147]

Oh dear. What is the point of providing a phone number if it's not going to be answered?

I hope it all works out in the end, Colin, with whichever route you choose.

[1949threepence 3,367]

I made several attempts throughout the morning trying to contact a very well known coin dealer based in the North in order to potentially offer them the opportunity to come and look at my collection that I am selling, prior to putting them into auction as it would be less hassle for me I suspect, if someone bought the collection outright rather than await the vaguaries of an Auction house....even though the prices for some of the coins appear to be going stratospheric.

The phone was permanently 'engaged' for hours.I eventually tracked one of them down via a personal mobile number given to me by a fellow collector.

When I queried the constant state of their phones being 'engaged' for long periods, they freely admitted that they leave the phone 'off the hook' when they are out of the office??...so, no answerphone / voicemail, no redirecting to a mobile number, no 'out-of-office' message...just 'sod off' you customers, we dont want you.

I was so annoyed by this I made my excuses and left as they say.

Colin Cooke ?

They always answer e mails.

But I take your point. Leaving the phone off the hook is piss poor customer service. What you describe says in banner headlines, "Your call is unimportant to us"

Edited September 23, 2013 by 1949threepence

[NRP 38]

If it is Colin Cooke I can only apologise, the phone was off the hook for only 10 minutes today while we went to get a sandwich for lunch, if we are out of the office for any longer periods of time we do use an answer machine for example if we are away at a show or viewing an auction etc. I fear that if there was a busy signal for a long period of time today it is because we have a new general list out and we do experience a large volume of phone calls for up to a week of a new list and as I am assure people are aware many collectors like to have lengthy discussions on the phone about particular coins before they agree to purchase them.

I have sent a personal message to Colin to apologise if it is our company at fault and customer care is a priority for us which fortunately seems to be reflected in many happy repeat customers of ours, we do at least 16 lists a year and therefore we do regularly have these busy periods.

[azda 979]

Well, nice to know who you are now NRP. I wondered who you might have been when you mentioned you wanted to spend 13k on the 3 Graces in the DNW sale. You'll notice that this forum talks a lot about shill bidders, where your forum shuts those topics down.

I suppose it takes a large pair to stand up against these people and not let the smaller collectors get ripped off, Chris the forum owner has this balanced perfectly, hopefully you can do the same with your forum and not just delete because you get a phone Call from the perps in question.

[NRP 38]

Hi azda, I was going to remain anonymous, I quite liked coming on here as a collector as opposed to dealer!! Still people would have worked it out soon enough I am sure!!

It is a grey area for me on our forum I am not quite sure legally where we stand but then I have another problem and that is I know one of the chaps personally!! I wouldn't say we were friends but I have dealt with him for over the last 15 years ( a long time before these eBay allegations came along) and it does make things rather awkward!!

[copper123 1,489]

Have you ever thought they might be having a day off?

Surely after a couple of attempts it is clear you should try another time!

It really does cost to have a phone manned 8 or so hours a day

[Gary1000 41]

Without trying to highjack this topic too much and now NRP is here. My intention is to sell my collection leading up to my retirement, so in about 5-6 years time. What are the mechanics of doing this, I quite like the idea of the type of auction that CC have had over the last few years. Also what are the tax ramifications of selling a large collection. I'm just looking for generalisations here as I'm sure this would be of interest to other forum members.

[azda 979]

Hi azda, I was going to remain anonymous, I quite liked coming on here as a collector as opposed to dealer!! Still people would have worked it out soon enough I am sure!!

It is a grey area for me on our forum I am not quite sure legally where we stand but then I have another problem and that is I know one of the chaps personally!! I wouldn't say we were friends but I have dealt with him for over the last 15 years ( a long time before these eBay allegations came along) and it does make things rather awkward!!

I can understand your Position especially when you know the person through business, maybe this forum will eilighten you somewhat. Its a great forum and your participation along with other very knowledgable people here will be greatly welcomed. You should maybe take a good look through the ebay laughs section which is where most of this persons auctions are highlighted, it may Open your eyes as i said.

[NRP 38]

Hi Gary,

There a positives and negatives to the way we do the auctions. The positives are that the auction is held over a week to 10 days therefore no bidder is forced into making a rushed decision, so many times I have come away from an auction thinking I wish I had just gone one more bid but in the frenzy of the moment I have had to make that split decision, also sometimes the speed of the auctions you think you have won the lot only to see it has been knocked down to the chap behind you. When someone is out bid in our auctions we personally contact the other bidder to give him chance to go one more. It sounds complicated but has always worked very well and everyone always seems quite happy with the way it is run. Obviously this is a very brief description of the way it works.

With the tax ramifications it depends what you have paid for your collection and what you then sell it for as it falls into capital gains, however you are allowed to make up to £12000 (not exactly sure of the figure) without being taxed with capital gains. Some collectors will try and sell it to coincide with the end of one tax year and the start of the next to take advantage of this capital gains figure.

This is a very brief response but hope it helps shed a little light.

[NRP 38]

Hi azda, I was going to remain anonymous, I quite liked coming on here as a collector as opposed to dealer!! Still people would have worked it out soon enough I am sure!!

It is a grey area for me on our forum I am not quite sure legally where we stand but then I have another problem and that is I know one of the chaps personally!! I wouldn't say we were friends but I have dealt with him for over the last 15 years ( a long time before these eBay allegations came along) and it does make things rather awkward!!

I can understand your Position especially when you know the person through business, maybe this forum will eilighten you somewhat. Its a great forum and your participation along with other very knowledgable people here will be greatly welcomed. You should maybe take a good look through the ebay laughs section which is where most of this persons auctions are highlighted, it may Open your eyes as i said.

[NRP 38]

Azda I agree it is a very good forum indeed and really enjoy all the topics discussed here. I will certainly have a look back and read all about what has been happening regarding this eBay shill bidding

[Peter 615]

Welcome NRP

As a positive I've always been happy with service,coins etc.

We all need sandwiches.

[NRP 38]

Thank you very much Peter!!!

[Peckris 579]

Having bought quite a few coins from Colin Cooke in the 90s, I did like the postal auctions he ran, for which you simply sent in your maximum bid, and the highest bidder won the item for the "next highest bid + 1 increment". I see the online auctions functioning in a similar way except that you can actually watch the current highest bid which is a plus if you're chasing a particular coin.

I must resume getting the CC list - do I simply register for them on the website Neil?

[NRP 38]

Having bought quite a few coins from Colin Cooke in the 90s, I did like the postal auctions he ran, for which you simply sent in your maximum bid, and the highest bidder won the item for the "next highest bid + 1 increment". I see the online auctions functioning in a similar way except that you can actually watch the current highest bid which is a plus if you're chasing a particular coin.

I must resume getting the CC list - do I simply register for them on the website Neil?

Hi Peckris, in more recent times we have all the coins pictured and have the number of bids and what the current bid is. Yes just drop us an email and you can either receive the lists by post or we now do a PDF that is in full colour that we can simply email you. We do a general list every month and Farthing list 4 or 5 times a year. You are most welcome to receive either or both lists!

[azda 979]

Having bought quite a few coins from Colin Cooke in the 90s, I did like the postal auctions he ran, for which you simply sent in your maximum bid, and the highest bidder won the item for the "next highest bid + 1 increment". I see the online auctions functioning in a similar way except that you can actually watch the current highest bid which is a plus if you're chasing a particular coin.

I must resume getting the CC list - do I simply register for them on the website Neil?

Hi Peckris, in more recent times we have all the coins pictured and have the number of bids and what the current bid is. Yes just drop us an email and you can either receive the lists by post or we now do a PDF that is in full colour that we can simply email you. We do a general list every month and Farthing list 4 or 5 times a year. You are most welcome to receive either or both lists!

PDF Sounds more practical than going through all the postage expense

[Peckris 579]

Having bought quite a few coins from Colin Cooke in the 90s, I did like the postal auctions he ran, for which you simply sent in your maximum bid, and the highest bidder won the item for the "next highest bid + 1 increment". I see the online auctions functioning in a similar way except that you can actually watch the current highest bid which is a plus if you're chasing a particular coin.

I must resume getting the CC list - do I simply register for them on the website Neil?

Hi Peckris, in more recent times we have all the coins pictured and have the number of bids and what the current bid is. Yes just drop us an email and you can either receive the lists by post or we now do a PDF that is in full colour that we can simply email you. We do a general list every month and Farthing list 4 or 5 times a year. You are most welcome to receive either or both lists!

Cool! Yes, the email PDF sounds a better option - I can always print off a page that looks interesting for my wants. Will be in touch via your website.

[NRP 38]

Azda, you would be surprised how many customers I have who don't even own a computer!! In fairness a lot these chaps will be 70+ and there are still those who like to have the list in hard copy format just for their records.

[azda 979]

Azda, you would be surprised how many customers I have who don't even own a computer!! In fairness a lot these chaps will be 70+ and there are still those who like to have the list in hard copy format just for their records.

Peckris is over 100 and he's up to date on Computers

[Colin88 54]

Well, I need to clear this one up .....no, it wasnt Colin Cooke .....up North to me is anywhere North of Watford..!

I have never had any problem with 'Colin Cook' coins, quite the opposite and I must say I am very impressed with the way Neil Paisley stepped up to the plate and apologied ...even though there was absolutely no need and I would never begrudge a man his lunchtime sandwhich..

Colin

[Colin88 54]

Well, I need to clear this one up .....no, it wasnt Colin Cooke .....up North to me is anywhere North of Watford..!

I have never had any recent problems dealing with 'Colin Cook' coins, quite the opposite and I must say I am very impressed with the way Neil Paisley stepped up to the plate and apologied ...even though there was absolutely no need and I would never begrudge a man his lunchtime sandwhich..

Well, I need to clear this one up .....no, it wasnt Colin Cooke .....up North to me is anywhere North of Watford..!

I have never had any problem with 'Colin Cook' coins, quite the opposite and I must say I am very impressed with the way Neil Paisley stepped up to the plate and apologied ...even though there was absolutely no need and I would never begrudge a man his lunchtime sandwhich..

Colin

[NRP 38]

Colin,

I couldn't quite understand but when I read the post I knew I had taken the phone off the hook for 10minutes to go and grab a sandwich and thought it too much of a coincidence!!!!

Thank you very much for clearing it up and hope you manage to sort your coins out!!!

Kind regards,

Neil

[Coinery 1,156]

Yes, do stay aboard, Neil!

Speaking for myself, without the wealth of knowledge I have come across on here, coin collecting would never have been as rewarding as it's turned out to be!

I believe your experience would enhance, what is already an amazing forum.

PS I too would be interested to receive your PDF lists and updates! PM sent

[NRP 38]

Hi Coinery,

No ofcourse I will, I have checked the forum every once in a while over the years but recently I have spent more time and have to say I really enjoy it!! Hopefully I might make Forum God one day

I have sent you a PDF list.