The truth behind being a Royal Silver Mint member.

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So someone has paid for something they have not received and they post up that they are unhappy and the seller posts a huge thread saying nothing.

I would be pissed off.

Is it a "coin" thing that buyers put up with crap service?
 
Royal Silver CEO said:
Hello Stackers:

May I respectfully submit the following:

Royal Silver Company has successfully delivered coins around the world for 2 years, since we first started minting. EVERY order on our books has been delivered or will be delivered. Anybody who has ever canceled an order has received a refund. Anybody who wanted a coin replaced has received a replacement. (We replaced hundreds of early coins, at our cost, with higher-quality strikes). We do this from the most challenging business environment in the Western Hemisphere, from a land-locked, impoverished country high in the Andes Mountains--a country with little industrial development, expensive transportation to world markets, no access to capital markets, governed by people who do not share our free-enterprise values, where the rule of law is a foreign concept, and where people speak Spanish, not English. Holidays are many, strikes are common, blockades are the order of the day. Bolivia is the Wild West in every sense of the word.

However, Bolivia is the only place in the world, and Royal Silver Company the only company in the world, where you can buy silver coins that are .99999 pure. More important, but intangible, Royal Silver Company is the only smelter, refiner and minter in the world that does not pollute the environment while extracting silver from raw ores. Every other silver coin you own was probably smelted in a lead smelter or copper smelter, most of which do terrible damage to the environment and to children living near-by. All three of the previous sentences are facts, not opinion.

People write to us expressing satisfaction with their purchases. People post videos on YouTube that can be described as ecstatic, showing off our coins. People take a pride of ownership in our coins that I doubt they feel for other products. For about $37 we offer a rare (on a world-wide basis), unique (world's purest, world's cleanest), hand-crafted silver round. We partially subsidize shipping costs on small orders. And for our Club Members, we offer the chance to order coins and pay for them later at only $3 above spot silver. Members can lock in their price 24 hours a day.

If you want cheaper coins, the world is full of generic silver. If you want faster delivery, there are many re-sellers in your own country who do not face any of the transportation challenges we face getting coins from Bolivia to your door. If you want impurities in your silver, such as lead, arsenic, antimony, thallium, then you don't have to wait for us to refine and test each batch, sometimes having to refine silver 3 times, you can buy any silver made by a lead-smelter.

The Perth Mint is a century old, with an unlimited budget--the US Mint and other mints as well--they have machinery, a tradition of experience, and a corp of trained workers that stagger my imagination. Royal Silver Company has about 2 years of experience making coins. We had to learn how to make a quality coin, we made most of our equipment, we had to create transportation methods from Bolivia to the world, we had to learn how to satisfy demanding customers from every corner of the planet. Yet, customers favorably compare the quality of our product to the quality of the large mints. And everybody knows that our coins are purer.

We take more time refining a batch of silver than the time we take making coins from that batch. When we fail to remove impurities to less than 1 in 100,000, then we do it all over again, no matter the cost, no matter the pressures to get coins out the door, no matter anything. For the last three weeks, the same batch of silver--which twice was made into blanks--I have ordered thrown back into the refinery. Even though we worked several 24-hour shifts, even though we have spent money, chemicals, and effort, even though we casted, rolled, punched, and annealed blanks, when the lab said they found an impurity that lowers the assay to less than .99999, we threw all those shiny blanks into the refinery reactor and dissolved them, and started over again. Customers will complain that their coins have not arrived, our service will be vilified on forums, but I (and only I) will take some grim satisfaction in knowing that my compulsion for perfection in whatever I make is probably the only thing I will take to the grave.

In this particular thread, Royal Silver Company and our products have been described negatively. Some statements posted here are simply not true. Other statements are racist---such as us being high on coke, because we live in Bolivia. But one dissatisfied Club Member out of hundreds of satisfied Members, or one customer anxiously awaiting his order, out of thousands of satisfied customers who have received their orders--many orders for thousands of coins--should not diminish our product or our company. In the end, the angry Club Member will receive his refund, and the anxious customer will receive his gold coins--his package can be tracked using the information he posted for all to see with delivery scheduled on July 2. Their negative comments about our company will provide them some internal satisfaction, no doubt, but no rant will make their coins arrive earlier or their refund quicker. Let me tell you, pleasing the general public is not an easy undertaking--when a customer is upset all civility is tossed out--even though we reply politely, we always deliver, and our quality (in the sense of purity and zero-emissions) is unmatched by any other company in the world. What I write now will be attacked, no doubt, but this will be my only post, because a cantankerous person on a public forum with time on his hands will beat me every time. To fair-minded Stackers, the reputation we have built in the last 2 years for a unique product delivered at a fair price should stand, even in the face of the criticism posted here.

If you buy a few coins from Kitco and think you can get Bart Kitner on the phone anytime day or night, or the CEO of the Canadian, US or Perth mints, to ask them questions, then you are mistaken. But you can always reach me. It may take me a couple of days to answer emails, but every customer, no matter how many or few coins he or she orders, can usually reach me by phone, skype or email. I am the public face of Royal Silver Company, so please feel free to write.

Some advice: If you want to post your USPS tracking number for a valuable shipment of gold coins on a public forum, be my guest. But please realize you are not acting wisely, and you are responsible for any loss.

Thank you to fair-minded Stackers for taking the time to read my comments. We appreciate your business and your support.

Best regards

Brian

PS. If you managed to read this far, I'd like to reward you with some facts about our coins that you may not know. Once in a generation, the US Mint names a Master Engraver. That person is chosen above all other sculptor/engravers to become The United States Master Engraver. We are honored that US Master Engraver Thomas D. Rogers sculpts the artwork for our coins. His initials are on all our coins except the Andean Cats. My initials are engraved (hidden) in the neck-feathers of the two-headed condor on our logo. I design the art, Master Engraver Thomas D. Rogers perfects and sculpts the art, BEX Engraving (Chris Beck) makes the dies, and Mr. John Sol makes the collars (Mr. Sol is famous in coin-making circles for his machines--he makes the high-speed coin presses for the US Mint, among other remarkable designs). Bob Grau makes the capsules (as he does for the Royal Canadian Mint, the US Mint and most other mints in North America). While these names mean nothing to you, these gentlemen represent the pinnacle of their professions, and I am honored to work with them.
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@Brian

There is nothing you have posted above that actually explains why your delivery times are terrible.I have never seen a "CEO" that moans about how hard it is to please the public.You sound like your customers owe you .Your post is Hilarious.

Bolivia...hahahah
 
I would actually be more concerned about the money. I could never understand how people could be so trusting with such an amount of money to a company that you would not have any recourse in cases of fraud. I am sorry for being pessimistic but in my line of work there has been heaps of 'legitimate' companies with bigger names and actual regulatory oversight that ended up being pyramid schemes. I am not saying that is the case but if it was the 'investors' would not have any recourse as they are based overseas.
 
Kawa said:


@Brian

There is nothing you have posted above that actually explains why your delivery times are terrible.I have never seen a "CEO" that moans about how hard it is to please the public.You sound like your customers owe you .Your post is Hilarious.

Bolivia...hahahah
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There are a lot of inaccuracies in Brian's post. For instance, (1) posting your order tracking number does not invalidate insurance. (2) Dusty and I are not the only two customers that have had issues with RSC orders. And (3) I noticed Brian mentioned refining issues affecting that prior 3 weeks, but he didn't explain the several months it took Dusty to receive his silver coins or even my 2011 silver macaw which I would have thought would have been in inventory.

Maggie seems to have the golden touch with Brian, but from my personal experience and that of other customers, the deadlines listed below are not being met, nor are people being notified of the delays. Posting order issues on this thread seems to be the most effective means of communication with Brian. The quote below is taken from the RSC web site and needs to be changed.

'Your shipment
Packages are generally dispatched 2-3 weeks after receipt of payment and are shipped via FedEx directly from our mint. (Occasionally senior management will mail smaller orders from the USA, when we are in the states.) In case of high demand or back-order, delivery may extend to 4-6 weeks. Please be patient. We are a small mint, in a challenged country, but we honor every paid order. RSC will advise when deliver may extend beyond the published leadtime. If you prefer delivery with required signature, an additional cost will be applied, so please contact us before choosing this method. Whichever shipment choice you make, you will be able to track your package online.'


Anyone else heard anything about the snake rounds. According to this June 16 email from Brian, they were supposed to be shipped by the end of June. Now I am wondering whether the Anaconda or the Lunar will come out first:

"TO:xxxxxxx CC:Chris Coria Message flagged Saturday, June 16, 2012 3:07 PM xxxxx:


Your gold coins have been in the US for two weeks, we were waiting on the silver coins. We will send the gold coins now and pay for the shipping on the silver coins, when they arrive in the US later this month. No extra charge on shipping--we will pay for the second package. Thank you for your patience.


Regards,


Brian.

Brian McConnell
CEO, Royal Silver Company (Bolivia) S.A."
 
I have sent another email mentioning that he's kept my money for longer than our contract states and that I want a accurate payment date :(
 
I've sent another email to ask for my money back this week as I've waited for everything that's ever came from that mint and that this isn't a production problem it's money that's suppost to be honored as a return after a month.
 
Just a third party witnessing what seems to be a potential PONZI situation here. It seems they have to sell a few more memberships before "older orders" get fulfilled.

Where there is Smoke there is FIRE.
 
silvermed, I don't think that RSC is a ponzi scheme. But Brian's poor communication/lack of communication will likely raise concern amongst RSC investors, cause speculation and harm RSC sales.

The things we know for sure is that RSC is not meeting its own terms of coin and membership sales and that the communication has been terrible. The rest is speculation. The sooner that RSC refunds Dusty's membership monies, the better for RSC & Dusty.
 
dccpa said:
silvermed, I don't think that RSC is a ponzi scheme. But Brian's poor communication/lack of communication will likely raise concern amongst RSC investors, cause speculation and harm RSC sales.
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The whole point is that nobody knows. Seldom if any business starts out as a Ponzi scheme, it becomes that way due to poor financial as well as business management then the directors have no choice but to adopt the characteristics of a Ponzi to survive. In the off chance that Brian cannot pay back his investors then what? no one has any recourse. In any investment the exit strategy is as important if not more so than the entry.
 
I've had to email Brian again to ask for my money and dividend coins to be sorted out within seven days so that this shit can all end and the mint can stop bullish#ting about everything that's ever came out of there communications when you even get any.
No more long drawn out excuses on being a small mint etc etc.
Show some professionalism and repay what is not yours.
 
Dont get why anyone would send $$$ offshore where there is no recourse. No different to sending money off via Western Union to buy products from China or India ! Assuming Royal Silver is trying to operate legitimately (and thats a leap of faith to begin win), what if they suddenly have a cash-flow problem or go into liquidation? You are left high and dry. Given they are selling a product (silver) you can buy pretty much anywhere, I dont see why anyone would take these risks.
 
Just rang Brian on his mobile. He's hoping to get some products off to Australia in the next few days. It was very hard to have a conversation on a mobile thousands of km away, I don't know if they've managed to sort out the problem or not. But hopefully the production line is back to capacity.
 
Meanwhile you allow the financial institutes that you bank with to get away with naked shorts.

I am not convinced the company is up to no good. Makes sense demand outdoes supply. Therefore expect delays.

Fk me.

Good to know there are far more paranoid here than I.
 
Water&Food said:
Meanwhile you allow the financial institutes that you bank with to get away with naked shorts.

I am not convinced the company is up to no good. Makes sense demand outdoes supply. Therefore expect delays.

Fk me.

Good to know there are far more paranoid here than I.
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I am squarely in Dusty's corner on this one.

If a company makes a representation, they should stick it.
If there are market variables that prevent them from being available to fulfil those representations, they need to communicate that detail to customers.

According to the RSC website:
Your membership is a written contract, enforceable by law, stating that we will buy back your membership with 30-days notice, that we must buy back your membership at the end of two years, and that we will send one free silver coin per membership per month until we buy back the membership, that you have the yearly option to buy our coins for the wholesale price of $3 over spot, and you pay for your wholesale coins only after they have been delivered. It's that simple.
If you have ever owned one of our world's purest silver coins, then you know our integrity.

I wouldn't call it paranoia. Just an expectation based upon a representation followed up with a lack of communication. I hope that RSC are ultimately successful in their endeavours but even moreso, i hope that Dusty and others have their investment returned.

The reality is that, these threads score well on Google searches. 1 customer with a thread will do far more damage than the additional costs of honouring a corporate promise or communicating unfavourable market conditions.
Previously I had considered an RSC membership but wouldn't touch one with a barge pole even if they doubled the advertised 'potential ROI'.
 
mickjohn said:
I wouldn't call it paranoia. Just an expectation based upon a representation followed up with a lack of communication. I hope that RSC are ultimately successful in their endeavours but even moreso, i hope that Dusty and others have their investment returned.

The reality is that, these threads score well on Google searches. 1 customer with a thread will do far more damage than the additional costs of honouring a corporate promise or communicating unfavourable market conditions.
Previously I had considered an RSC membership but wouldn't touch one with a barge pole even if they doubled the advertised 'potential ROI'.
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Agreed. I never seriously contemplated RSC membership, only because I've been burned in other areas of life, and foresaw what Dusty is now experiencing as a very real possibility. This is a good learning experience for Dusty, drilling into him an unforgettable lesson.

I think you can also guarantee, that many other RSC members are too scared to even contemplate following Dusty, because they don't want to be put through the wringer, and so they talk themselves (self-hypnosis) into how its not really that bad, in spite of their unhappiness. They will just hang on for grim death until the 2 years are up, and then they will sit patiently for years - if needs be - praying that one day the refund might actually come through. Those with even less backbone will do nothing.

However, I do think this thread was a mistake. Probably not the best way to facilitate hastening a refund.
 
I'm not saying there up to no good or even give a shit about production delays or any other bullshit but my money is exactly that mine and The Royal Silver Company will not return it so that is the concern.
It's got nothing to do with third world countrys or purity of coins because I've been through all of that crap over and over again.

My money, a contract that never ever was fulfilled and still to this day no communication on when I'll see my money.

Yep everyone a really good company.
 
There is some real parasites on here that when proven wrong still pat themselves on the back.
What comes around go's around it's a little world :)
And what is happening to me is also most likely the future to others.
Is anyone waiting for coins now? What's the excuse this time?
 
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