Peace of mind. If I have a million dollars of metal in your vaults, I'm going to sleep better at night knowing that *my* stuff is sitting on the shelf in its *own seperate box*, not mixed up with stuff from hundreds of other clients. You know the Mint's operations and computer systems, but I don't. Sure, it's irrational, but in your business, moreso than others, trust and confidence and peace of mind is of paramount importance. It's a bit like Hoffman saying that he's personally visited and audited the Brinks vault in Montreal; that's fine for him but it has little relevance for me. It seems to me that it would be of significant commercial benefit if you were to segregate client metal (officially, since you already do it on an ad-hoc basis), since you would be able to offer fully allocated, fully segregated, government guaranteed storage. I understand that your primary function is not storage, but AFAICT, no-one else does that. Hoffman points out that a government guarantee may not be worth all that much (which is true) and you can't always trust audit reports (also true), but every little bit helps towards building customer confidence and ultimately, getting their business. I would humbly suggest that you, and your bosses, re-consider that. What you do online is of immense PR value to the Perth Mint, not only by putting a human face to a very large business, but also by giving it an air of integrity and professionalism by the way you conduct yourself. No-one will ever know how much, but the Mint has surely gained a lot of business because of what you do online. Take away what you do online and all the Mint has is a corporate web site with official, bland, vetted press releases on their blog that no-one pays much attention to, let alone believe or trust. This is the age we live in - people are looking for honesty and integrity and real humans to deal with, not advertising and spin and PR drones. If you don't think that what you do online has PR value, consider this: do you think Miles Franklin lost any of their customers' confidence, and hence business, because of Ranting Andy's post (and general behaviour elsewhere)? They certainly lost mine. ROTFLMAO. But see my comments above. Yes, it can be hard, but the benefits can be enormous. I always tell my staff that customer complaints are an opportunity to shine - you can win a customer back 10 times over, as well as other people who might be watching (perhaps online), by taking their complaint seriously and taking care of it.
Presented without comment http://blog.milesfranklin.com/an-apology-to-the-perth-mint "Last week, Ranting Andy Hoffman directed one of his rants toward the Perth Mint. I allow Andy to write about any topic of his choice and give him complete freedom to speak his mind. Andy is a gifted writer, with an amazing knowledge of our industry. He wrote what he believes and, if you follow his rants, you know that he pulls no punches and writes from the heart and with great passion. He insists that he got his facts right. But that's not the point. In this case, I have to disagree with what he wrote. In my opinion, as the CEO and founder of Miles Franklin, we should be above negative stories directed toward others in our industry (and we usually are). We can hold our head high by virtue of our own business practices and reputation and it is not necessary for us to lift ourselves above anyone in our industry by putting them down. I have read the negative articles written about the Perth Mint, but from my own first-hand experience, I am unaware of anything that they have done that is questionable or unethical. Ranting Andy and I are on the same page when it comes to the inherent risk in owning gold or silver in ANY pooled account. Ranting Andy thought he presented a factual essay; unfortunately it didn't come off as he intended. Although I didn't write the article, the buck stops with me. I own the firm. I want to personally apologize to the Perth Mint for singling them out. It was unwarranted."
