Ursus Posted March 19, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2023 A few days ago, I received a packag containing two coins from a well-known auction house. Upon unpacking them, I found that the auction house must have confused two coins in their last auction. Instead of the coin I had won, I received another coin that had hammered for 130€ more. I have already written to the auction house in question and notified them, in particular because I feel bad for the other collector who supposedly received my less valuable auction win instead of the coin they had expected. They have not yet replied to me, and I don't quite know what to do now. In case the auction house wants the missent coin back, which I assume, I would expect them to cover the (international) shipping costs of sending it back and to make sure that I get my own coin in return. Alternatively, I am theoretically also fine with just keeping the coin that I received, but it would feel slightly dishonest to just do so. What would you consider the best way of handling this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Conduitt Posted March 19, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2023 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Ursus said: A few days ago, I received a packag containing two coins from a well-known auction house. Upon unpacking them, I found that the auction house must have confused two coins in their last auction. Instead of the coin I had won, I received another coin that had hammered for 130€ more. I have already written to the auction house in question and notified them, in particular because I feel bad for the other collector who supposedly received my less valuable auction win instead of the coin they had expected. They have not yet replied to me, and I don't quite know what to do now. In case the auction house wants the missent coin back, which I assume, I would expect them to cover the (international) shipping costs of sending it back and to make sure that I get my own coin in return. Alternatively, I am theoretically also fine with just keeping the coin that I received, but it would feel slightly dishonest to just do so. What would you consider the best way of handling this situation? Exactly as you have done. They will surely respond but perhaps the other buyer hasn't said anything yet. They might not even know who has what if they mixed up more than just the two lots. They can't expect you to cover any costs. Edited March 19, 2023 by John Conduitt 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idesofmarch01 Posted March 19, 2023 · Member Share Posted March 19, 2023 For certain, do not do anything else for now, until you've received a reply from the auction house. NEVER simply send back a coin until the auction house informs you how they want it sent, insured, picked up, etc. Otherwise you run the risk that they don't receive your return, and you end up being liable for the return method you chose. Return costs will be their responsibility. Until that issue has been satisfactorily settled, simply hold onto the coin. If you don't receive a reply from them within 1 - 2 weeks, contact them again. Clearly, you cannot legally keep the wrong coin unless the auction house somehow authorizes (in writing) this option. BTW, if you've already paid for the coin, it's unlikely that you can keep the wrong coin until you receive the correct coin (or a refund), since these are two different transactions and the auction house's Terms and Conditions probably do not cover this problem. Be sure to clarify with them whether you'll be getting a refund of your full payment including shipping and buyer's fees, or getting your original coin. Also, once you've finalized both the return of the wrong coin, and the refund or shipping of the correct coin, you don't necessarily need to go out of your way to return it ASAP -- their own timeframe to ship a coin is probably a reasonable timeframe for you to return one. 😉 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambr0zie Posted March 19, 2023 · Member Share Posted March 19, 2023 (edited) Mistakes can happen. Contact them again, as the colleagues advised. Hopefully they will not expect you to pay anything for shipping - if they do, I would advise against it, as it's not your fault. Also, I think you are fully entitled to your missing coin, also without paying transport - in the worst case scenario, they should add it in your next package from them. I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the person who waits for the more expensive coin. But then again, I am in my own shoes now - waiting for a set of coins I won (and paid) 2 weeks ago, and the house promised to send it quickly. After a previous auction (different house) where I paid for expensive shipping, but cheapest service was used, just because. Personally I am getting a little worried about this kind of bad service (your example being very severe) and I think I will stick only with the houses I worked with, without experiments - yes, I know you said your coins are from a well-known house, but in my example I tested 2 unknown houses (for me). Edited March 19, 2023 by ambr0zie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValiantKnight Posted March 20, 2023 · Member Share Posted March 20, 2023 (edited) I had a similar situation, but out of the blue I had been sent a package of coins (and one artifact) around a month after I received the coin I bid on and won, all from the same auction house. I contacted them promptly to let them know and that I wanted to send them back. From their words it sounded like that I would need to pay for the return shipping. I asked for confirmation on this, and I had to send multiple emails for this for them to finally respond (at this point it had been almost 3 weeks). They confirmed that they would pay the return expenses (wasn’t specific as to if I needed to make the label and they’d pay me back or if they’d send me a return label themselves, or also what the return address is; I wasn’t going to send it to their address on the label in case they had a different address for returns) and that they needed a photo of the label to send to the carrier. I sent them this. Ultimately they never responded again, so I ended up keeping them. Too many unknowns (lack of detailed return instructions from the auction house) in returning the package weighed against the risk of the return package getting lost/stolen made the time and effort on my part not worth it. In your case, you can try continuing attempts to contact them for a few weeks and if they aren’t responding adequately or at all and you feel like you did all you could, then you probably might as well keep the coin. Edited March 20, 2023 by ValiantKnight 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapphnwn Posted March 20, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted March 20, 2023 (edited) Quite a few years ago I bought this coin Elagabalus Ae 8 Assaria 218-222 AD Antioch Obv Head right laureate Rv Tyche seated left river god swimming before. McAlee 802 32mm 18.5 grms THIS IS NO LONGER MY COIN I bought this coin on line from David Hendin. Unfortunately he sent me the wrong coin and mine was heading to Germany. I contacted him and he apologized. I sent the coin I received back to him and he eventually sent my coin to me. This can happen to the best of us. One time I was sending a group of coins for auction and realized that i had forgotten to place in the package a Ae Drachm of Ptolemy III Wow How could I have messed that one up. Edited March 20, 2023 by kapphnwn 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severus Alexander Posted March 20, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted March 20, 2023 (edited) This happened to me. My winning bid was on this coin: The coin I received in the mail: 🤯 Sadly enough, it all got cleared up in a satisfactory manner. I would rather have had the same experience as @ValiantKnight! 😆 Edited March 20, 2023 by Severus Alexander 6 1 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted March 20, 2023 · Supporter Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 Thanks for your helpful replies, everyone! I will wait for the auction house to answer me. If they do and don't have an alternative better suggestion, I'll offer them to either have me ship the missent coin back to them at their cost and reimburse me for the coin I didn't receive, or to let me keep the coin I received and call it even. The second option might well be more financially attractive for the auction house, so I'll leave the choice to them. 8 hours ago, Severus Alexander said: The coin I received in the mail: That is what I call temptation... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Conduitt Posted March 20, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted March 20, 2023 I'm a bit worried about what will happen if Roma accidentally send me an EID MAR and I have the Feds on my doorstep... 1 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry G Posted March 20, 2023 · Member Share Posted March 20, 2023 (edited) I received some coins that I didn't order a few months ago - a group of Byzantine folles worth 70EUR in place of a small group of Roman antoninianii worth 22EUR. Emailed the auction house. No response, so I kept them. Its been the other way round for me too - I frequently sell coins on eBay, and once mixed up two orders - a Byzantine half follis, and a Roman denarius. Both buyers were very understanding and sent them back - and surprisingly one said that I didn't need to pay them back their out of pocket postage costs (but I did anyway via eBay refund) Edited March 20, 2023 by Harry G 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValiantKnight Posted March 20, 2023 · Member Share Posted March 20, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Harry G said: Its been the other way round for me too - I frequently sell coins on eBay, and once mixed up two orders - a Byzantine half follis, and a Roman denarius. Both buyers were very understanding and sent them back - and surprisingly one said that I didn't need to pay them back their out of pocket postage costs (but I did anyway via eBay refund) Great that you had some understanding and cooperative buyers. A few years back I was selling some seated liberty quarters and I accidentally sent a Carson City quarter to the wrong buyer. I emailed them but of course I never got a reply (or the coin itself) back and I had to refund the other buyer. What makes this whole thing more annoying is that the packages originally had their correct labels but USPS kicked them back for supposedly having insufficient postage (even though I printed the labels off eBay), so the mix up happened after I had to make new labels. Edited March 20, 2023 by ValiantKnight 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol_Invictus Posted March 20, 2023 · Member Share Posted March 20, 2023 I received the wrong coin a few months ago from a vcoins dealer. The coin I received was about $100 more than the coin I ordered. It was domestic shipping via usps, so the shipping cost would only be a few dollars. When I let the dealer know, offering to return the coin in exchange for the one I ordered, he was very gracious and apologetic. He said I could either keep the coin I received in place of the one I had ordered, I could return the coin and he would ship the one I ordered all at no extra cost to me, or I could keep the one I received and he would also send the one I ordered if I paid again its purchase price. I decided to go with the first option since the coin I received checked the same box for me as the one I ordered, but was just larger and nicer. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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