I hope this is in the right forum section. OK, I'm done with the research and went along to Ainslie Bullion to buy by first shiny blobs. Just a toe in the water this time, as much to see what the experience is like as anything else. Sadly, all was not plain sailing. I placed my order on Monday, online and it was accepted. I paid by credit card, asking for pick-up in person later that day. However, a few minutes later, after receiving an electronic receipt confirming payment, I received notification of a refund of the total, plus an invoice for the total. What? There was no explanation. I called Ainslie and was passed to somebody who (they said) could help. I was informed that there had been an IT glitch and could either cancel my order or try again to make payment. I had seen the debit hit my card and said I wasn't keen to pay twice, but the chap at Ainslie said it would take two days for the refund to appear. No way around it apparently. He seemed to be distracted and busy, so I had no choice but to put off my first buy. I couldn't make it to the shop the next day, and then they were closed for a public holiday, so it had to wait till today. I called first, to confirm my order was still 'active' (it was) and to ask if I could make a small change to the order (a few dollars difference and all items in stock). This seemed to be a bit of a nuisance for Ainslie, so I said it wasn't a deal-breaker. Fortunately the guy I spoke to agreed to accept the change. Phew! So off I went. The transaction was fuss-free once the necessary security procedure was completed and I was in there for probably ten minutes in total. The lady who dealt with me was pleasant and efficient. Overall, it wasn't quite what I expected, feeling like pretty much any retail purchase, albeit involving heavy duty doors and conversations through tiny windows. The goods were double-checked and a small plastic bag (no ID on it) provided. I think it would be a good idea to take a bag of some kind with me if I buy this way again, because it wouldn't take much of a criminal mastermind to figure out why folks were exiting the building with small black bags they didn't have on the way in. Review sites love to use a rating these days, so I'll give Ainslie an overall 7/10. I probably won't bother with personal pick-up in future unless I am in a hurry for some reason. Postage charges from the main sellers seem reasonable, so I'll probably go that way next time. This means though that Ainslie doesn't offer me any advantages in terms of location, so I'll shop around a bit more next time.
