received damaged bars question

T

TRC17

New Member
greetings. just received an order of royal canadian mint silver bars from sdbullion. i opened the box to discover the the edges of every bar are dinged up/dented -they are a bit unsightly. i contacted customer support and they responded by saying the damage was within mint guidelines for quality and they do not seperate the bars based on appearance. i am relatively new to this and am wondering if this is so or am i right to be unhappy about this? i was told i can return the bars at my own expense but that there is no guarantee that any of the other bars they have would be any better. i am also wondering about what are the chances of receiving counterfeit bars? any advice would be appreciated. thanks
 
I never get any ding/dent on RCM minted silver bar here (aust).

In general, we pay more premium to get a minted bar rather than a cast bar. This is why they called a minted bar.

Imho the dealer needs to accept it back at their expense as their product does not meet the description?

Never deal with this dealer, but buying bullion from a registered dealer will give you more assurance that the product is genuine. Nevertheless, you can do tests for the purity if you want. Plenty of methods in Youtube (just dont use acid test as it will stain the bar)

Good luck and welcome to the forum :)

[LD]
 
Thanks for the response. I took a couple of the silver bars to a local jeweler who informed me that since the bars are bought by weight the damage should not affect the value. However, I am still unhappy with this situation. The offices at SD Bullion were closed when I again tried to contact them - but reading the return policy on their website - I see that the buyer is responsible for return shipping and a loss of a 5% restocking fee among other things. I'm sure they're just going to repeat their online posted policy verbatim and basically say - tough luck. Needless to say - I am very unhappy with SD Bullion and will not be purchasing from them again. I understand that I cannot post pictures on this forum for another few days since this is a new account - but I will do so once the restriction is lifted.
 
Which bars were they? I saw the 10oz minted bars on their website and read the breathless blurb about the quality minting of these bars... If you received dinged-up versions of that bar you have been sold a dud.

Were they properly packaged (i.e. VERY well packaged) when sent to you? If they have been damaged in transit the seller has something to answer for. If they have knowingly received and re-sold damaged goods, they have a different case to answer.

It's all different if a product is advertised as 'low premium', 'buy-back', or similar (and priced accordingly).

Not that you really have all that much recourse - the bars are still worth spot and any benefit you get from pursuing the dealer will probably not be worth the hassle and expense.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Once you can post some pics we will all be able to judge for ourselves if the dealer is at fault or not.
 
No, these were not low premium or buy back versions. I bought a number of the full price/not discounted 10oz. bars straight from the mint. This is their response to my complaint:

Thank you for contacting the sales department of SD Bullion, The Lowest Price, Period!

I understand your concern and do see the marks you are referring to. However, these bars are within the mint guidelines for qualitythe mint doesn't separate the bars based on appearance. We ship directly from the mint boxes and the bars aren't stacked or stored in a way that could cause that. These bars are mass produced and it is common for them to have minor imperfections from the minting process and handling at the mint. We can exchange them for you but I can not guarantee the bars we have in stock wouldn't have similar flaws in appearance. If you would like us to exchange them please return the bars to ...

They were packaged very well/no damage to the shipping container. It was clearly intentional that they sent me damaged bars after paying full price. I figure the price of round trip shipping, restocking fees, etc. will end up costing me about $200. . I really don't want to take that much of a loss.
 
really need to see photos to pass judgement, I wouldn't be concerned with minor damage on bars - perfectly normal.

If the weight is correct then you'll find their policy of offering a replacement is in line with most dealers.
 
The way I look at it is they are 10oz RCM silver bars and if "within mint quality" guidelines then unless you want to display them or try to flip them then they are worth the same marked a bit from the mint as unmarked.

Check the mint quality guidelines for these bars yourself and if they are within the quality guidelines and you would rather have perfect or close to perfect silver bars that suit your eye then you should buy more collectable silver or buy bars only after viewing first.

If these were bought as collector bars then they would not meet the mint quality guidelines unless damaged during shipping to the seller or shipping to you.

Collector added value is in the eyes of the collector or buyer not the mint or re seller of mint direct silver bars.
 
Aureus said:
really need to see photos to pass judgement, I wouldn't be concerned with minor damage on bars - perfectly normal.
.
Click to expand...

Yep without him showing a photo he is just wasting time :rolleyes: For all we know it's just a little dent within what's normal.
 
TRC17 said:
greetings. just received an order of royal canadian mint silver bars from sdbullion. i opened the box to discover the the edges of every bar are dinged up/dented -they are a bit unsightly. i contacted customer support and they responded by saying the damage was within mint guidelines for quality and they do not seperate the bars based on appearance. i am relatively new to this and am wondering if this is so or am i right to be unhappy about this? i was told i can return the bars at my own expense but that there is no guarantee that any of the other bars they have would be any better. i am also wondering about what are the chances of receiving counterfeit bars? any advice would be appreciated. thanks
Click to expand...

Photos would be appreciated.
 
I searched for months for a small gold bar I was after once. The only place I could find it was Apmex so I took the extra postage charge etc just because I wanted the bar. It arrived very well packaged but extreme damaged (the plastic case). It detracts terribly from the design but the cost of returning it would likely be similar to my losses when I try to sell it again anyway.

I just don't have the display piece I was hoping for.
 
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