Caveat Emptor---Is This Common Business Practice?

Can't tell from the screen shot, did the serial number on the slab you received match the one in the screen shot image? If the serial number on the slb in the screen shot was blurred out then you were buying a generic coin and not necessarily the one in the image. If the serial number does match then it is most likely a matter of imaging and you did get the coin in the picture. It just doesn't look as nice as you thought it would.

Then they probably did do a "bait and switch" on you. Unless somewhere on the add they mentioned that it was a stock image or that you would not be receiving the exact coin pictured.

Unless you send it back they win. If you send it back then they will just pull this same stunt on some other unsuspecting customer. I used to work for someone that would pull the bait and switch on a grand scale against state governments. This is part of the reason why I refer to that job in the past tense. I found out through that experience that the BBB A+ rating is for sale, don't ever trust this rating on any company other than a small mom and pop.

The actual coin they sent is pictured in the original post.

Also, apparently, if I had clicked the little camera icon below and to the right of the image, it would have said the coin pictured is not the coin I was going to get. I asked why they couldn't just put that ON THE PAGE ITSELF. The answer they didn't give is "that would have kept you from buying the coin."

If I send the coin back and they don't issue a refund, they REALLY win. This is a dishonest company. I am NOT going to trust them to get around to issuing a refund. For all my bellyaching, the fact is, Id have been fairly happy with this coin had I paid about $30 less. I'd much rather eat that $30 than the full price I paid, plus postage, plus the coin itself, and I'm not willing to take on an even bigger battle that would be necessary if I returned the coin and no refund was issued.

I posted a very detailed negative review with the BBB, and I'm going to be content with that. If they lose even one person's business because of it, they will have paid a price of significantly higher value than what they gained through this dishonesty.

with edweather. And everyone else above who is trying to convince the OP that even if a company is "un-trustworthy" in their postings, it is a huge stretch to assume that they will not return the money upon receipt of a returned coin.
Keep it or return it, that is, obviously, your own call.

OK! When people start getting mad, that's when the conversation needs to end.

Thanks for the input/advice/support, those of you who gave it!

Have a great Christmas!!

There's no point in getting frustrated, either!! It is my time and my money, right?

Here's how I see it:

1) This is a nice coin. If I had paid about $30 less, I'd be very happy with it.

2) The company has sent me a shipping label, along with instructions that say that if I want it insured, I have to take it to the post office--if I simply hand it over to the carrier, it won't be insured, and I'm SOL if it gets "lost" in transit (and a company that will pull a bait and switch will also claim it got lost even if it didn't).

3) My local post office ALWAYS has long lines. On a good day in the middle of the year, you're looking at about half an hour, in and out, and this time of year, you can bet on a longer line than usual.

4) The company will only refund the price of the coin itself, not my original shipping costs (and I was so excited about this coin that I chose UPS, so that's about $8).

So even if they absolutely 100% can be trusted to refund the money, I'd still be out $8 and up to an hour in the post office.

Instead, I choose to eat the $30 and have a coin that, while nowhere near what I was so excited about, is still a nice coin.

Either way, I'd have posted this thread because my point here was not to solicit advice on what to do so much as to share a bad experience with what I consider to be a dishonest company, hopefully find out whether others have had similar experiences (sounds like they have), and warn other novice buyers away.

I don't see my keeping the coin as a "win" for the company. By doing this the way they have, they not only lost my future business, but that of at least some potential buyers who read my post here or my review at the BBB. I'm betting that, weighing the outcome against what they got out of this transaction, they would wish they'd have just charged $30 less or pictured the correct coin in the first place.

Again, have a great Christmas, guys!