Purchasing experience with Miles Franklin

[jp-gold]

Has anyone ever done business with these guys? I'm thinking of purchasing and storing some PM with them and was hoping someone here could share their experience. They've been around for ages and seem reputable, but I've found no-one on the net talking about their experience with them (good or bad), which I find odd.

 

[RhythmDoctor]

Hey fella,

Let me be the first to welcome you to the site - Go hit up the Welcome New Members section and get a lay of the land.

I've just ran a detailed search on these guys - they're certainly decent players - not proxy buyers or resellers by any means, but there's no reviews around.

I have found one article where they are mentioned by this fella, not sure of his rep though - and its obviously from some time ago - $18 silver

http://silveriswealth.com/faq.htm

With that said, if a dealer has been going long enough - they must have something going for them... I'd say people vote with their feet when it comes to metals purchasing.


My personal advice would be, if they're an unknown to the global or local community, go with another dealer. Are you based in the US? APMEX are worth a look for sure - arguably the best site for US buyers... or maybe hit up some of our SilverStackers sponsors - all top quality and vouched for already by independent members of the forum. Bloody cheap premiums too on most of them!

Tell us some more about yourself anyway...

RD

 

[jp-gold]

I've just ran a detailed search on these guys - they're certainly decent players - not proxy buyers or resellers by any means, but there's no reviews around.

Yes, that's what I thought was strange. They seem reputable and I like what they have to say on their blog, but for someone who's been around for so long, it seems strange that no-one has written about dealing with them. That there are no "Miles Franklin sucks" posts is good, but that no-one has anything to say about them?!

Are you based in the US? APMEX are worth a look for sure - arguably the best site for US buyers... or maybe hit up some of our SilverStackers sponsors - all top quality and vouched for already by independent members of the forum. Bloody cheap premiums too on most of them!

I'm from Oz, but I spend most of my time floating around the world, so I'm looking for dealers in several countries to store physical PM for me. Perth Mint seem OK for Oz, Miles Franklin have a storage program in Canada, and I was looking for someone in S.E.Asia, or somewhere else. I'm reluctant to store in the US or Europe. But reliability and honesty are obviously so important, hence my question.

 

[jp-gold]

I thought I might answer my own question, for the benefit of anyone else looking for information about this company.

A few days ago, Andy Hoffman wrote a blog suggesting the Perth Mint might be running a fraudulent operation, with the aim of trying to poach customers. He didn't have the courage to come out and actually say that, just lots of innuendo and implications.

The owners of the company, David and Andy Schectman seem to be decent guys but instead of stepping in to try and fix the problem, they appear to support Andy's unique approach of generating business, with this blog. I wrote a comment on that blog, but they chose not to publish it:

>>> It is not our desire to denigrate the Perth Mint but when you compare their services, pricing and protection against our storage plan with Brinks, in Montreal, there are strong reasons why you should consider our program versus theirs.

But that's exactly what Andy did. Comparing your offerings with a competitor is perfectly reasonable, but that's not what he did, he was insinuating that they are fraudulent and untrustworthy. He didn't even have the balls to come out and say that, he just linked to an article by his "close personal friend, one of the good guys", all the while saying that by doing so didn't *necessarily* mean that he agreed with the article. He wasn't "passing judgement" on them, but he said there was NO CHANCE he would entrust his capital to them, and if he had, he would rapidly attempt to retrieve it. Give me a break :-/

It's interesting you've stepped into the conversation - if he were one of my staff, I would have explained to him in no uncertain terms the importance of behaving with integrity and honesty. Questioning the wisdom of purchasing unallocated PM is one thing, casting aspersions on a competitor with the aim of poaching customers is something completely different. As I said in another post, clients' trust is the most important thing a business can have, especially in your industry, and in the space of a day, Ranting Andy has gone a long way to destroying my confidence in Miles Franklin.

If you're looking for information about Miles Franklin, have a read through these blogs, and their comments, and decide for yourself. Myself, I know I'd rather have a professional taking care of my PM, not someone who calls himself "Ranting Andy", writes in ALL CAPS like an angry teenager in his Mom's basement, and thinks that putting all his wealth in a single place is good reason for someone to trust him (as opposed to being a sign that he doesn't understand the first thing about risk management: diversification).