| Author |
 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,461 |
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
As I child, I watched the Jetsons, and empathized with George having a brutal day at work, because he had to press the button four times!
As a teen, I can remember ordering proof sets. First you tracked down the mint's address. No, you can't use gewgil.
Then you got out pen and paper, wrote a letter telling them how many you wanted, and filled out another form called a check.
A month or two later, you got confirmation that your order was received, in the form of a cancelled check. If you used a money order, you got no notice. Or maybe you just got your check returned if they sold out.
Six to nine months later, you got your sets.
Now what was that gripe about the website?
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
  Or depending on whether or not you had a good enough horse for the trip, you could just ride there yourself and get em' ! |
|
Valued Member
United States
362 Posts |
LOL People get spoiled by how quick ordering things is now days. I'm 38 but I still remember EXACTLY what you are talking about. I can understand the frustration about the website and the phones but I guess we should all remember it could be worse.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1682 Posts |
Or how about trying buy a GSA CC Morgan dollar back in 1980? First it was mail order bid then changed to a toll free number. Needless to say, I did not end up with a coin. |
|
Pillar of the Community
1283 Posts |
The gripe is that it is 2011 and we are dealing with the US Mint. I mean they literally print money and they can't find some capable people to make sure things run smoothly with their internet operations? That being said after trying for an hour then giving up I logged right in and ordered my set in less then two minutes. It was literally the fast order I have ever placed in my life.
Edited by throwbackid
04/28/2011 2:28 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
797 Posts |
It is funny to think back to those times.
But that was the norm then and people would have griped if it took 8 months instead of 6 months because those were the expectations at that time. Now the norm is via the internet so there is an entirely new set of expectations and valid compaints to go with them.
|
|
Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
Quote:
Now what was that gripe about the website? It is all relative. When comparing the experience to the old way you described, no one should complain. That is, I should not complain because I clearly remember the old way. However, when comparing it to how most other eCommerce sites are run, I can see why people are upset. Anyone who has ordered from Amazon or Newegg lately knows what I am talking about. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
Well we are talkin' 'bout the gov'mint, always at least 5-10 years behind technologically.
"If it ain't fixed, don't break it even more."
LOL
|
|
Rest in Peace
 United States
9104 Posts |
I forgot about the phone part. You could prolly call the mint's non-tollfree number about your order, at some gawdawful per minute rate, three-minute minimum. It would cost several times as much as the set.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:Or how about trying buy a GSA CC Morgan dollar back in 1980? IIRC, it was 72, not 80. Some for $30, some for $15, some put up on a bid/lottery. Typical gubmint CF. |
|
Valued Member
United States
289 Posts |
Haha, I am way to young to remember that I haven't ordered a proof set though (No credit card).
|
|
Valued Member
United States
81 Posts |
My only 2 gripes about the Mint is.
They don't use the Post Office.
The shipping box is always too large.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1682 Posts |
1980 was when the last ones were sold.
There were previous sales between 1972 and 1974.
There was also the sales of bags of silver dollars in March of 1964.
I only has experience with the 1980 sale...since I was finishing high school back then.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
I forgot about the phone part. You could prolly call the mint's non-tollfree number about your order, at some gawdawful per minute rate, three-minute minimum. It would cost several times as much as the set. It probably would have taken a LONG time on the phone though since they didn't have the capability to just punch up your order on the computer to find out about it. And even if you did get it tracked down it couldn't get it to you any faster and you still couldn't cancel the order. (Cancel it through the credit card company? Sorry the mint didn't take those back then. Oh unlike today, as BiggFredd said they cashed your check right up front so they had use of your money for the whole eight or nine months as well.) <---- Another veteran of the Mint ordering system from back then. (People today have no idea what patience is) Edited by Conder101
04/29/2011 11:45 am
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
I mean they literally print money and they can't find some capable people to make sure things run smoothly with their internet operations? The problem is what do you design the system to handle? Remembering that the more it can handle the more expensive it is. So do you design it to be able to handle the 4 thousand or so requests for service it typically gets per day with some extra buffer so as to be able to handle some extra traffic if needed, resulting in a fairly consistent usage rate? Or do you design it to be able to comfortably hand the 25,000 order per hr rate you get for a couple of hours two or three times a year knowing that this more expensive site will be used at 2% of it's capacity the rest of the time? |
| |
Replies: 14 / Views: 1,461 |
|
Posted 04/28/2011 2:07 pm
