Golden Isles Coins Inc. — Local services in Raleigh

To the old man with the mustache:

I came in this morning with a couple bags of silver (953 half dollars, 173 silver dollars, 4 silver bars). Just so we’re on the same page about why I decided not to do business with you…

You have to understand that you are not in the coin business. You are in the customer service business. There are many, many places like yours, and everywhere I went, I got the same price quotes. You don’t happen to have any more knowledge than the next guy just as they don’t have any more knowledge than you do. It’s silver; there’s a price for it; take it or leave it.

You are in the customer service business. So, when a guy like me comes in, you should never say, “I’m not going to waste my time going through this” especially when you: -know I’m going to go elsewhere to check prices. -don’t have anyone else waiting behind me. You said, “I’ve done this 1,000 times,” and what I’m telling you, sir, from a businessman who is successful to a businessman who is hoping to make it: that is what you do. 1,000 times or a million...doesn’t matter. You treat every customer that comes in as if it is an opportunity to create a lifelong fan.

Not only am I not a lifelong fan, but anyone I meet for the rest of my life, when the subject of coins comes up, I will make sure the person I’m speaking with avoids Golden Isles.

I’m choosing to sell my silver to Austin Mattox, because he took the time to sit with me to go through it. And even when I said to him, “Don’t you love doing this?” he said, “Not as much with the silver...it’s pretty mundane” and still proceeded to walk me through what I had. (That was the point when you said, “I’m not going to waste my time.”)

He gave me the same price you quoted. He had been through it 1,000 times before. And he went for 1,001 with me.

I was pissed at the time of our meeting, but I reserved saying anything to you. (I’ve taught myself not to bother trying to reason with old white men with pistols on their hips.) And now I feel like you need to know all of this so perhaps you can adjust your thinking and get some more business in there. Good Lord, as for the locations of the places I went to, yours is super prime. (And at your stage in life, wouldn’t you rather be spending 2 weeks at the shop and then 2 weeks at the beach?)

The good news is that there is still some time for you to change your thinking from being a coin dude to a guy who needs to understand that your first business is customer service. Put a smile on! And act like you love what you do.

I’m...

Like most coin shops, GI has a box of "junk" coins for 15-20c each. I use them to make jewelry and so do not want exp coins, making these perfect for me. Recently I found a 1872 Indian head penny and put it in the pile I intended to buy. I didn't know if it was worth much, but figured it was too cool to pass up. One of the owners, Skip, came over a few minutes later and asked, "is this the stuff you're getting?" Yes, I said. He started shuffling through them, saw this one, and slipped it out. I saw him do this and said, again, "those are the one's I'm buying." He said that one shouldn't have been in the box. It was a $3 coin. God knows I'd spent far more that that in the months I'd be shopping there. It seemed to me that it's being worth $3 should not be cause for refusing to sell it under the posted terms. He then checked a coin guide and said, no, turns out it was a $15 coin. I reminded him that I'd been digging through the box for a half hour. I didn't know that I was doing his work for him -- if he wanted to sort out the coins in the junk box before putting them out, fine, but it hardly seemed fair for him to just put them all out and then refuse to sell me anything good that I might find. He said it didn't matter much what I thought because "it's not exactly like you're a big customer." After I left I googled and discovered it was actually a $90 coin.

If he had just been honest and said, "this is a $90 coin I put in here by mistake...." I'd have said fine. I understand human error. Instead he was dishonest and manipulative, rude and unprofessional. I won't shop there again, but if you choose to, just remember,...

I love this gold buying shop. Seriously.

This week, I went in to sell some gold for the second time.

From this point on, I won't go anywhere else in the triangle. I will tell you, I did shop around first to see what other gold buyers and jewelry shops would offer me. Once again, Golden Isles offered me well above what the other shops said they would give me! In every instance, with every item. Anthony helped me this time and although he is a fast-talking New York native, he was quite the professional and wonderful to work with. He was so personable and friendly and is quite the gold/silver/tiffany/antique officianado! The transaction went so well, I mentioned a few other items I had thought about bringing in. Anthony said, 'bring them in.' So I went to my car and sold 3 more items, an engagement ring, a wedding ring and a Tiffany Bracelet. Anthony purchased all 3 from me with fair offers within 5 minutes I had cash in hand.

As you can see, I am a happy customer and felt compelled to write this review as selling gold is a scary thing, you aren't sure who you can trust.

Take it from me, Golden Isles is the buyer...