- Joined
- Mar 13, 2012
- Messages
- 315
Just want to share a recent experience I had with ARA- American Recycling Associates at http://www.aragold.com. I sent them two twice refined buttons totaling 70.3g. I sent it to them via USPS overnight signature required. They received it no problems. I called them the next day and Deanna informed me that their procedure is to re-refine the gold to their standards and then pay me 98% of spot, for the refined weight. I was fine with that, and reiterated my interest in two day shipping for returning a check to me. She concurred, and informed me that my gold indeed had already been refined and that my check was on it's way! I was amazed, to say the least, at their blazing fast speed. Well, two days passed and no check, third day still no check, forth day still no check, fifth day and the check was still not here. That was a Friday at about 4:58pm so I quickly tried to call them to inquire about the missing check. Obviously, I got only the answering machine and somewhat frantically explained to them my dilemma. I was starting to imagine the worst so I thought it would be good to reinforce my point with an email as well. I should have waited awhile but hastened with my email and regret having made some pointed remarks about the two day shipping taking this long. Needless to say I was looking at a fretful weekend waiting until Monday when they would be open and I would be able to allay my fears, and get an answer to this mystery.
I am an electrician and sometimes have to work on Sundays, when a particular customer is normally closed, so I can get some work done without creating a safety hazard for her clients, employees, etc. So, on Sunday I had to install some track lighting for a hair salon. I remove my electrical tools etc from my truck each time I come back home, and I store two Rubbermaid boxes full of parts/boxes etc underneath a shelf just inside the roll-up garage door. This is where the mail slot is on the exterior wall, and the mail falls down into a cardboard box on a shelf just above the Rubbermaid boxes. During the week I must have moved those boxes two, or three times. I have occasionally found some mail behind the Rubbermaid boxes so I made a point of checking that as the days went agonizingly on. On Sunday, when I pulled those boxes out to put them into my truck, low-and-behold there were two letters sitting on the floor to the 'side' of the lower box. What a surprise! Indeed one of them was my check. Whew!!! Major relief was the initial sensation, but then I realized I would need to call ARA first thing Monday morning to make an apology.
While explaining the situation to Deanna, and expressing my sorrow for not waiting until Monday to talk to her, we came to the conclusion that she dropped the ball by sending the check via first class postage, and not the two day shipping I paid $23.00 for. No wonder it took so long. She apologized to me for that mishap, and said she would credit my account the $23.00 towards my next go at selling my gold. That's fine I replied. I learned a couple things here-
1.) When dealing with valuable shipments, ALWAYS require tracking numbers if you are shipping expedited. If I had asked Deanna for a tracking number she would have recognized the err in her ways. I would gladly wait for first class speed vs two day anytime to avoid the stress that I went through.
2.) When you are having a bad time with a business deal, and find yourself wanting to blame the other party it is best not to leave messages of any kind. Rather, you will regret far less if you wait until you can talk to them in person. I should have known this.
When it comes down to it, outside of the shipping miscue, my experience with ARA was a very good one. They said my gold assayed at .998. Not bad for a bloke like myself messing around with some ewaste. I got very close to the amount on the check as I was expecting. ARA, I do believe, does try their hardest to provide their customers with a fair deal, with lighting fast speed- if they get the shipping correct. I will definitely use them again.
Dennis
Edited for '98% of spot'
I am an electrician and sometimes have to work on Sundays, when a particular customer is normally closed, so I can get some work done without creating a safety hazard for her clients, employees, etc. So, on Sunday I had to install some track lighting for a hair salon. I remove my electrical tools etc from my truck each time I come back home, and I store two Rubbermaid boxes full of parts/boxes etc underneath a shelf just inside the roll-up garage door. This is where the mail slot is on the exterior wall, and the mail falls down into a cardboard box on a shelf just above the Rubbermaid boxes. During the week I must have moved those boxes two, or three times. I have occasionally found some mail behind the Rubbermaid boxes so I made a point of checking that as the days went agonizingly on. On Sunday, when I pulled those boxes out to put them into my truck, low-and-behold there were two letters sitting on the floor to the 'side' of the lower box. What a surprise! Indeed one of them was my check. Whew!!! Major relief was the initial sensation, but then I realized I would need to call ARA first thing Monday morning to make an apology.
While explaining the situation to Deanna, and expressing my sorrow for not waiting until Monday to talk to her, we came to the conclusion that she dropped the ball by sending the check via first class postage, and not the two day shipping I paid $23.00 for. No wonder it took so long. She apologized to me for that mishap, and said she would credit my account the $23.00 towards my next go at selling my gold. That's fine I replied. I learned a couple things here-
1.) When dealing with valuable shipments, ALWAYS require tracking numbers if you are shipping expedited. If I had asked Deanna for a tracking number she would have recognized the err in her ways. I would gladly wait for first class speed vs two day anytime to avoid the stress that I went through.
2.) When you are having a bad time with a business deal, and find yourself wanting to blame the other party it is best not to leave messages of any kind. Rather, you will regret far less if you wait until you can talk to them in person. I should have known this.
When it comes down to it, outside of the shipping miscue, my experience with ARA was a very good one. They said my gold assayed at .998. Not bad for a bloke like myself messing around with some ewaste. I got very close to the amount on the check as I was expecting. ARA, I do believe, does try their hardest to provide their customers with a fair deal, with lighting fast speed- if they get the shipping correct. I will definitely use them again.
Dennis
Edited for '98% of spot'
