Bellevue Rare Coins — Local services in Lynnwood

I've been a buyer of gold from the Bellevue Rare Coin's Lynnwood location for a couple years. Their spot pricing is reasonable and they've never given me a strong reason to worry, but my recent experience was so poor I felt like I needed to share it. I like physical gold as a diversifier to my investments. I stopped by to order some gold bullion. The ordering process took almost an hour while my wife and kids waited in the car. The BRC staff kept blaming their new computer systems saying it would only be another minute or two and multiple employees chimed in that their old system was so much better. When the employee who was helping me (I believe his name was Jaren or Jared) computer didn't work properly the other employees wouldn't help him and wouldn't let him use their computer for some reason or another. It was pathetic and morale and culture in this store feels poor among the staff. They informed me there would a 10 day hold on my check. I asked if I could avoid this holding period by going to my bank and getting a cashiers check instead. I was informed they have a holding period on cashiers checks as well. What's the point of a cashiers check from the bank if you're going to hold it for over a week just like a personal check? This means that if a gold buyer wants to purchase gold, they have to pay first, then wait 10 days, and then hope the shop delivers. What if the shop closes it's doors and never opens again? Which brings me to my next point.

I wrote my check and trusted that Bellevue Rare Coin would come through on their end as they had for me in the past. More than 10 days later, they call and tell me my order is ready for pickup. I called them on a Saturday to arrange picking up my order and told them I would be their close to their closing time of 6pm and asked if this would be ok. They told me, no problem, we'll see you when you get here. I pulled in at 5:59, got out, walked to their door, forgot my wallet in the car, went back and rang their doorbell (they keep their front door locked at all times) and waited. It was now 6pm, but hey I had called ahead, right? After waiting for minute, Jared/Jaren again came out from the back and singled from the back of the store with a throat-slit signal they were closed. I rang again and asked through the glass if her could come forward to the door. He was hesitant but came up and I explained that I had called earlier and was just here to pick my order and go. He said he couldn't do it and that it was now 6:01 and they were closed and walked back to the back room of the store again.

Since the store was not open the next day, Sunday, I would have to wait until the following week to pick up my order. This didn't leave me and my repeated business feeling very good. Customer service at this location is spotty and the overall culture of skepticism and fear seems high. Policy trumps customer relationships here as well. Why not unlock the door and welcome customers warmly. If you're so worried about security, hire a friendly security guard to greet people when they walk in. I experienced this recently at a bank and it made me feel both welcome and safe. Poor customer experiences, barricading your store with locks and doorbells, and holding customers hard earned money for too long feels quite the opposite.

Now to be fair, I understand that this business deals in valuables and must have some security policies in place to protect themselves against scammers and protect their employees against thugs, but it's my opinion they aren't choosing to go about it the best way. Pricing on precious metals has always been fair here in my opinion, but building a strong and friendly repeat-business relationship with this business has been too difficult. I should look forward to doing business with you, not wonder what's going to go wrong this time or hope that I look presentable enough for your employers to judge me and decide whether to unlock the door or not.

I'll be looking for and trying a different precious metals business for my...

I've been coming here off and on for quite some time, mainly to buy. The vast majority of the time they will simply have the best prices locally, and a lot of the time the best prices online as well. I shop a lot for certain metals and their prices simply can't be beaten...most of the time. It's a pretty great shop for buying and having good supply readily available. This comes with a huge caveat...

...and that is that I would never sell anything here. I've brought stuff in over time just to really gauge what they offer, and it is in my experience the lowest possible amount for your metals/jewelry/etc that you can get in the area. They simply don't buy at a good price in my personal experience and I have heard others say the same. I can't say for certain but it's almost like they've been trained to give the least amount possible and really work you into accepting the low amount, akin to a car salesman. The number one negative thing you will hear about BRC is the attitude towards the customer, and that shows when trying to sell them things. If that doesn't bother you, then great. They have cash on hand to buy stuff so you should be fine in that case. For me personally, I want to maximize what I get and not feel like I'm being ripped off so I sell elsewhere.

As mentioned above, they could really use some customer service training. There are a few employees that bounce around different locations and sometimes those that stick in one spot that are GREAT to work with...but they are in the minority. Many of the people who work in these stores will rush you, almost as if to get you to spend money as fast as possible and get out of there. I've seen some employees roll their eyes and let out heavy sighs whenever someone asks more than a couple questions about a potential purchase. They also sometimes have sort of a belittling attitude towards clients that may very well know certain products better than they do. It is very off putting and word has gotten around.

Another odd thing that may alienate some of their clients is that they no longer accept DEBIT payments. I was informed of this recently and I have to say it is a very odd choice. I was told my two different people in two different locations that they no longer accept debit because "the card charges were too high" so now they only accept cash and credit(which has a % charge to use.) Confused, I called a few other shops in the area and they confirmed that they are not charged for people using their debit cards whatsoever, only credit cards. Checked with some other sources from larger suppliers and they too had no idea what I was talking about. Not sure what this place's deal is, but I can no longer buy here half the time as I am not going to buy things with an additional credit charge and I can't just go get lump sums of cash when I want to make a purchase each time. I'm kind of hoping the two people I spoke with are mistaken, but I haven't been back to any of the locations since to check.

Overall, it isn't a terrible place to shop if all you need to do is buy(assuming you have cash.) For me, I will continue to sell elsewhere close by with those that offer far better deals for my purchasing my product. Hopefully Bellevue Rare Coins continues to accept debit card payments so I can happily return to continue to make purchases. I want every shop to succeed so more people can enjoy coin collecting, metal stacking, jewelry buying, etc. But this chain needs a serious overhaul of customer service and certain policies in my opinion.

UPDATE: They also apparently now pay BELOW spot price for gold/silver. Several shops in the area that pay exactly spot so make sure and shop around before considering...

When here 3 years ago to buy some gold. I found the lady in charge to be annoying. That aside, I made a purchase. As per their policy, I prepaid for 2 maple leafs and waited for the call a couple days later. At the time I paid, I asked if there was any guarantee against scuffing. I was told, they have no control over what they are sent, so, no, I'd have to take what they got delivered. Ok I took a chance. Fortunately, the coins were fine. I had a great relationship with my coin dealer in another state before moving here. Those guys would not try to stick me with a scruffy. I always had a chance to examine the coins and could reject them, and they would give me different ones if necessary. So it was kind of a high standard that I was accustomed to. And this place didn't meet it. Also, when I picked the coins up, I had to assist that they were run over the tester. Once again, that was standard in the place I used to go in my old state.

Today I was shopping nearby and decided to pop in. You have to press a doorbell and wait for them to buzz you in. I rang the bell and nothing happened. I pressed the belll again. Eventually they did buzz me in and immediately the same lady said, we were waiting for you to lift your hat and look at the camera. And she was motioning for me to lift my hat. I was already inside the store and they could clearly see me. She motioned again indicating that I should lift my hat. Instead I lifted my hand and waved Goodbye. In case you're wondering, I was wearing a dress shirt and light jacket. No mask. Just a plain ball cap.

Just an unfriendly place in my opinion.

And way below the kind of service and...