Hi folks, I participated in recent Leu Numismatik auction (E-sale 24) in December, it’s been more than a month and they still have not sent me my coins! I contacted them few times and they said that Fedex doesn’t ship orders with the value of over 2500 GBP door to door in the UK!!! First of all I was so surprised that such a big auction house doesn’t have their own insurance to insure customers consignment shipped to them and customers purchased shipping from them! As most big auction houses do have their own insurance which covers consignments and customers items! It has been 4 weeks that they’re telling me they are going to ship my coins THIS WEEK by an alternative carrier! Their communication level and customer service used to be decent at the beginning they started the business but this time it was awful, they reply 1 out of 10 of my emails, however, when I called them over the phone the lovely customer advisor responded and was very polite and tried to be helpful in a way. I am just wondering if anyone else has a similar experience? I have been Leu’s customer since their first auction and has been always satisfied with their services and now I am just so disappointed over this experience and to be treated this way by them!
Don't know where in Switzerland they are located but seems to me there might be something not exactly correct in all of this, I realize England to Switzerland does not offer the possibility of your going directly to them for delivery. Stay connected with them and perhaps all will work out smoothly. Good luck.
My experience with customer service at Leu is similar. In my case I’m asking them to send me a scan of some information that they say they have in their records. I know it will be a bit of trouble, but I'm a regular client, they advertised they had it and service is one of the items for which we pay commission. After two unanswered email, today I phoned them. The receptionist was very pleasant, professional and apologetic. At least with my request it seems there is only one person in the office who can properly respond. She said that due to trade shows and upcoming auctions, many enquiries just need to wait for the right person. But the situation is what it is. By the way, to get my shipment moving I agreed to take the risk of loss myself and then insured the purchase privately through www.securus.com insurance.
First of all, it's very hard to take sides unless you've heard both sides. so I can only answer in general terms here. I would describe myself as a regular customer at Leu. Leu are not the very fastest, but still within normal limits. However, I have always reliably received all my coins. I would classify Leu as one of the very reputable auction houses. I never worry about having any real problems here with Leu. However, I can write something general about shipping from Europe to England, as I myself have to send coins from Germany to England several times a month. And I must honestly admit that soon I will think about not selling anything to England (at least for now). Why did you agree to this BREXIT ...? Okay, seriously - I want to give you the reasons. Post. I can't send anything by mail to England at the moment. Items take weeks to be delivered in England because of the strike. Leu normally sends a lot by mail as well. But Leu may not do this at this time because of the strike in England. And yes also my customers know that the English Post is on strike - but still I get the anger and the bad rating afterwards - because the coins take so long to the recipient. UPS. In England, UPS somehow doesn't seem to be a good idea. Out of 10 UPS shipments, 4 (!) shipments have been sent back to me again, because UPS didn't understand how to calculate these coins at customs! And 2 shipments have come back again because UPS didn't manage to collect the customs fees from the recipient. Only 4 (!) shipments have reached the recipient. Leu certainly has extra insurance. Because otherwise Leu would not send me my expensive coins from Switzerland to Germany by normal letter (!). So it can not be because of this reason. But it may well be that whether extra insurance or not - FedEx refuses to transport these coins with this value! Because it is an overvalue that FedEx does not want to accept. It does not matter if you have an extra insurance or not! Long speech, short sense. I know friends from the USA who have had coins shipped from LEU Switzerland to the USA for several thousand CHF. So it is neither the distance nor the lack of insurance. It is currently not easy to send coins from the EU mainland to you in England. I know what I am talking about. The best thing to do is to call Leu and clarify this directly with them.
Wow! You must collect valuable coins. I only buy from the Mint or ebay and have never had a problem. I'm sorry for your problems, but sometimes you have to be patient. It sounds like this auction house is stretched thin..too thin.
I really appreciate the time you’ve taken and it’s great to have someone else opinion and see things in different perspective. If that was the case of not sending my coins, they at least should have clarified that with me rather than telling my that my coins are going to be shipped THIS WEEK every week. Though based on what they explained to me that wasn’t the case as they said that they’re still able to ship my coins by Fedex, not at my door but at Stansted airport!
That’s ridiculous. I bought a 600 lb cast iron combination fireplace from England delivered to my front porch….Seems your coins shouldn’t be an issue.
Earlier this week I wrote about my experience with delays in customer service at Leu. I do want to add that yesterday they did provide me all of the information for which I had asked.
