Went into the shop recently for the first time. Had a horrible experience, will never be going back and recommend that others avoid the shop as well. First negative was that it took nearly 10 minutes for someone to acknowledge me and ask if I wanted to see anything or what I was looking for. Second, the display case was stacked about 4” deep, not an exaggeration, with crap. Just random, low-dollar sets thrown in on top of each other with absolutely ZERO rhyme or reason. What really turned me off was when I finally found a few coins in a box I was ready to buy. I put the coins I wanted off to the side, placed everything back in the box in the exact order in which it was given to me and patiently waited for one of the employees to finish with another customer and write me up. So finally one employee pauses his conversation with another customer to my left and asks me if I’m all set. I said yes and I’d like to purchase the coins here. He comes over, picks them up and then one by one tosses them from about a foot high back down on top of the glass counter while he tallied up the total. I gave him cash and he owed me change. As soon as he takes my cash he starts his conversation back up with the customer to my left. He walks over to the register, which was to the left of the customer to my left, gets my change and without even acknowledging me he tosses my change on the counter to the left of the customer on my left. He then walks over to his chair and plops down in it all while continuing his conversation. I just stood there for a minute wondering if he was going to say anything like “you’re all set” or even “thanks for stopping in” so I would know my transaction was finished. But nothing. He didn’t even look in my direction. So I walked around the customer, took my money off the case full of junk and left. Without a doubt that was some of the worst customer service I have ever had. Extremely unprofessional.
Cripes! How did you stand such treatment? I'd have walked off at the beginning.......you've the patience of Job, my friend, but you gave this ingrate more solace than he deserved.
If I felt that strongly about the customer service, I probably would have asked to speak to a manager and let him know how poorly the attendant treated you. Businesses generally want to know if their staff are performing poorly, so that they can correct the problem.
That employee might very well have been the owner. And even if it wasn't, these shops usually don't have someone that you can complain to like most retail establishments.
I've noticed this too at a few shops. There is little organization and unless you can see something through the junk, then you have little chance of finding anything specific. I've often wondered why these shops don't try to organize their inventory at least a bit. I've walked into quite a few shops where guys are just sitting around chatting-no customers in sight. Is it so difficult to spend a few hours and organize your inventory when you're in the shop 5-6 days a week?
Sorry you had that bad experience. I'm honestly surprised how many bad LCS stories I'm reading on here. My LCS always greets me and treats me respectfully. When I first visited and I was new to numismatics, we had a long conversation and the owner even gave me a free red book. Over time I have gotten to know the owner and the people who work there personally, and even though I only stop by about once per month and a half they are always able to recognize me by face. Then again, I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I've dealt with bad dealers before and I feel your pain.
that sucks. luckily I have only 1 coin shop in my city and they treat me so good because they recognize me. Their service is as good as it can be. If I were you I would never go to that shop you went ever again. They will not stay in business long with that poor customer service.
Well, I was planning on stopping in on my way up to Plattsburgh but that’s not happening now. They used to have a shop in Plattsburgh as well but it shut down.
I grew up hanging out at small shops. I learned a lot from the grumpy old guys. Many of the folks that come in are old friends of the owner and hang out to talk coins. Many have deals working with the owner that most will never see. When you see a junky shop you can bet that the really nice coins are not on display. They never leave the safes unless they know you or you ask and they trust that you are a serious buyer. The junk is on display because they need to move it but there is no real profit in selling it. The better coins will sell to regular customers that know what is behind the counter.
I been running a business that relies on customer attention for many years and reading your post just made every hair on my neck stand up. I absolutely have to believe the proprietor of that place wouldn't stand for his clientele to be treated as you were.... I treat my staff well, however if I thought for one second they treated somebody that way, it would be kay-de-bar the door. I bet the owner of that place would appreciate knowing how his customers are being treated.
Almost every shop I’ve been to has been great. Even if they didn’t have the best inventory the employees were still respectful and attentive. This experience was just so bad I felt I had to share my experience and give their name in order to warn others.
Hey, thanks for the head up and yours isn't the first bad experience I've read about in the place. I drove right by the place the other day and didn't have time to stop which is probably a good thing.
I know an LCS that is closer to me than the one I go to regularly. And it seems like every coin jockey around knows about it because of its bad reputation. Sad, because when I first started collecting, I went there a couple of times and the employees were nice. But then the owner closed up, relocated to another storefront, and kept the grumpy employees, which matched his own demeanor. Never have gone back.
I sometimes have to tell myself, "If I put up with this, I can still walk away with the coins I want." That usually makes it all better.
