Problems with ARA?

[wavecrazed]

I've been kind of holding off on this post. My friend last year sent 6 lbs or so of real silver to them. He got about 400 dollars. We thought It should have been around 2500. Maybe it was not real silver. I have had good dealings with them. I was hoping he would not send it all at once. He called and not sure what happend. Since he went around me I did not want to get involved. He now sells his silver to me.

 

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[mts]

...I have also been toying with the idea of smashing, or melting any jewelry I send in, just to make sure no pieces tempt someone...

Interesting idea. In fact, melt it all into one big old glob of metal. I don't think you could end up with sticky fingers in that case. Either they got your glob or they didn't. At that point it would come down to whether or not they are being honest about how much gold they are recovering. If you've tested every piece AND calculated the expected results correctly, any major variance would have to prove that they are misreporting what they recovered during the processing.

Of course, melting everything down is a hassle itself and wouldn't be worthwhile for some pieces. But I'm just trying to think outside of the box. There are probably plenty of flaws with my take on this plan. But your idea to smash or melt the pieces seems to have a lot of merit.

 

[MRBeyer]

I sent in pre tested and pre weighed silver and gold jewelry with CZ stones, I got back about 50% of the silver and 60% of the gold value. However I also got back a diamond and some sapphires worth the amount I was missing. I figured I would call it even. Next time though detailed list sent in with my stuff so I can argue for a higher return.

 

[Bobbypins]

I dropped off an order to ARA at their shop when I was home for Christmas. Their check came on the 27th and was a little short. When I dropped off the gold, they asked if I wanted to lock in at $1,614 (which was the prevailing price at that very second), and I took it. They wrote that number on the drop off ticket and my settlement invoice reflected a $1,575 number.
A quick call to them had it figured out, as they staple another form on top of the drop off ticket, and he said that sometimes they fail to look to see if that particular ticket had a locked in price. Not to worry... a second check was in the mail that day to correct the issue.

Now... my order prior to this was totally screwed. And as luck had it, my wife dropped it off to their office on that particular day. I got back less than HALF what I was expecting, so that means that over half my gold was fake, OR, a lot of my misc lot disappeared prior to being processed. And considering that I acid test everything myself, I'm opting for the latter.
Could it be that since it was a WOMAN dropping off the gold, they figured that nobody would notice? I don't know. But when I saw the buttons they were making from other big volume dealers, WHY would they try to rip me off of half my gold weight when we're only talking about 2 oz of gross weight? Lesson learned.

So my last order had a detailed write up of what I was bringing in... and I SMASHED, CUT, AND DESTROYED every piece that was in the lot. While that may stop potential sticky fingers from taking a sweet piece, it won't stop sticky fingers from taking a small scrap piece for themselves. Do this a few hundred times and you've got a nice pile of small pieces.

The same day I dropped off my gold at ARA, I mailed in my Platinum to Midwest in an overnight parcel with a detailed drop off list and instructions on how to pay. I also smashed and destroyed everything in that lot as well. As luck had it, I got a check from Midwest 2 days later. I ran through their detailed invoice and couldn't make heads or tails on how they came up with their numbers. And I could easily see that they locked me in at the lowest price for platinum for the previous week @ $1,390. The day they received the package, the lowest was around $1,420. Not a big difference, but I still couldn't make the math come in right. It's like they deducted their 10% cut from the top of the gross weight, then skimmed another 10% from the final $ amount. Even then it didn't add up quite right. I should have called them, but I didn't. My rationale was that ARA takes 20% on Pt anyway, and Midwest is supposed to take only 10%. That's why I seperated my two lots. Lesson learned there too.

 

[cyberdan]

Could it be that since it was a WOMAN dropping off the gold, they figured that nobody would notice?

I find that hard to believe, ARA is owned by Nicki Emehiser, a WOMAN.

I have used them several times and they have always paid very close to what I was expecting. My gold tester tells me within a half K of what it is and my packing list shows each inner envelope eg: 13K 29.6g, 13.5K 15.8g

I do know they are a bit forgetful but if I remind they make it right.
I do also know John never answers email so I usually just call.

 

[kansastide]

I doubt I will go back to them. All my experiences had been pretty good until the last time I sent them silver back in October I think. Sent 13 ounces of silver which had been tested, including coins, jewelry, sterling silveware, and a Tiffany .999 bracelet which I tested also. Anyway, I got my check for right around $120 something and after falling out of my chair called to ask what was going on. They said they checked it and double checked it and that everything was on the up and up and that I must have had a bad piece in there which drug the purity down some. Hogwash, the tested Tiffany bracelet was 4 ounces itself which meant that I was about break even on the bracelet and the other 9 ounces was just junk. So much for the silver mercs, roosies, quarters and jewelry.

I have been on e-bay since it's inception and have a 100% feedback rating so I don't schmooze people or jip them or anything. Anyway, to make a long story short, no more ARA for me. I paid around $200 total for what I sent in and took an $80 loss when my check by my calculations should have been between $430 and $500.

I do much better on e-bay with gold than sending to this place. From now on will do silver also. That same lot would have brought around $400 on e-bay.

Just my two cents worth!

 

[bartholomewroberts]

One place that I have tried, and will most certainly continue to use, is PG&G in Colorado.

They give 95% on gold and 90% on silver... they are honest, and very prompt on the replies.

Dondi is marvelous to deal with and David (the owner) has personally called me to talk about my desires. The fact that i live and shipped from Canada, was of no matter to them... everything went very smoothly