ASE Sold Out?
I just received this email from the US mint:
"Greetings from the United States Mint.
Thank you for ordering from the United States Mint.
We regret to inform you that the item(s) listed below
are currently sold out. A customer service representative
will be happy to assist you in finding an alternative item."
Has anyone else received this? This is from a subsrciption order going back some time. I sure hope it's in error. Craig
Views: 14
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by wighty44 on -
In case anyone is thinking of creating a new SAE subscription as a backup it won't work. Apparently this screw-up has also reset the subscription order system and you can only create a new subscription for the 2011 SAE. I know, I tried... Ugh!
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Permalink Reply by wighty44 on
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"I'm sticking my neck out and betting that the Mint has done this,due to the recent increases in the price of silver,and as if they are not charging us enough for these ASE's that by cancelling all orders"
I might agree, however, its not only the SAEs that are affected. My new ATB quarter subscription (Mt. Hood roll set) was also canceled in the same way. I suspect it's happening with many, if not all, subscriptions.
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Permalink Reply by coinnetwork on -
I added the US Mint's official statement to the Coin Update article
On November 10, 2010, email notifications were sent out to United States Mint customers notifying them that some backordered and subscription items were canceled. Approximately 100,000 orders were impacted, primarily for Mount Hood quarters bags and rolls and the 2010 American Eagle Silver Proof Coin. We are in the process of reinstating these orders and expect corrections to be completed by noon on Saturday, November 13, 2010. All impacted customers have been notified that the original cancellation was in error. The United States Mint is looking into the cause of this error and deeply regrets any inconvenience it has caused.
I have been querying the Mint specifically as to whether any of the details of the 2010 Proof Silver Eagle have been changed (i.e. price, release date, or limits), but all I have received is the statement above.
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Permalink Reply by Clair Alan Hardesty on -
I honestly believe that this fiasco falls entirely on the shoulders of PBGS, the private, for-profit company that provides order fulfillment for the mint. They entered subscription orders for several products way ahead of the release dates and I think that part of the ordering software later engaged in wholesale cancellations because it is designed to do so if it finds orders for products in the system before their release date. PBGS had been entering subscription orders two days prior to product release and that was working fine, probably because the software had some built in grace. Why PBGS decided to shift from two days to two weeks is unknown and I don't expect them to admit anything. They may or may not fix this issue. If it goes away on its own, they will simply say all is better now. If they actually figure out what happened they will probably just stay away from making it happen again, as opposed to actually fixing anything. The system first saw the orders and sent out backorder notices because it saw that no products were in stock. Then it came around again (each time at very suspicious 72 hour intervals) and start cancelling orders for unreleased products. If they simply reinstate all of what is probably several hundred thousand cancelled orders, the system might just cancel them again if nothing has been don to turn off the hunter-killer software.
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Permalink Reply by Larry on
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Hi, Clair,
I don't want to sound stupid about something I've never been able to do, but how can you get an order placed before the date of issue, notwithstanding a subscription? That's always been the only way that I know of and it's always been the mint that sets off the order. There was never any cancellations before due to this method, so why now? Open to opinions. Thanks, Larry
Clair Alan Hardesty said:I honestly believe that this fiasco falls entirely on the shoulders of PBGS, the private, for-profit company that provides order fulfillment for the mint. They entered subscription orders for several products way ahead of the release dates and I think that part of the ordering software later engaged in wholesale cancellations because it is designed to do so if it finds orders for products in the system before their release date. PBGS had been entering subscription orders two days prior to product release and that was working fine, probably because the software had some built in grace. Why PBGS decided to shift from two days to two weeks is unknown and I don't expect them to admit anything. They may or may not fix this issue. If it goes away on its own, they will simply say all is better now. If they actually figure out what happened they will probably just stay away from making it happen again, as opposed to actually fixing anything. The system first saw the orders and sent out backorder notices because it saw that no products were in stock. Then it came around again (each time at very suspicious 72 hour intervals) and start cancelling orders for unreleased products. If they simply reinstate all of what is probably several hundred thousand cancelled orders, the system might just cancel them again if nothing has been don to turn off the hunter-killer software.
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Permalink Reply by Clair Alan Hardesty on
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Until last year, the subscription orders weren't entered into the system (which in this context means assigned an order number tied to a specific date and time) until the on sale time of the coin in question. After enough complaining by subscription holders that the mint had promised that the reward for subscribing was a place at the head of the buying line (which is why small run items cannot be subscribed to, only annual offerings that are minted in volume) PBGS started entering the subscriptions two days before the official on sale date to ensure that they recieved order numbers ahead of the first internet and phone orders. I think the lead time was done because some items have so many subscribers that it can takes a whole day just to get them all assigned a number. Anyway, technically, it is a violation of written mint policy that orders cannot be entered (even by mint or PBGS personnel) early, to make sure that no one receives favors. For whatever reason, PBGS suddenly decided to enter a bunch of subscriptions into the order numbering system two weeks before the product release date. The reason I believe that the system has some leeway built in (why the two day lead has not caused a problem) is because I am a software engineer and that is the way I would have designed it. If it tried to catch orders entered early on the release day, there would surely be situations where legitimate orders would get cancelled (not every system is on the same clock). The thing that gives me the clue is the 72 hour timer that seems to be running, Three days after the orders were in the system, backorder notices started going out and 72 hours after that cancellations occurred. I have two subscriptions for the SAE and they are about 75000 order numbers apart and my emails are roughly six hours apart each time. The subscription entering software is probably paced so as not to interfere with normal internet and phone ordering going on at the same time and it would appear to run at about 12500 orders per hour. Anyway, I think it was this new two week lead in the order entry that allowed the hunter-killer software to take over and start messing things up. It probably wasn't designed to handle this many early entries and may have gone astray but it looks like it is doing what it is supposed to be doing to me.
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Permalink Reply by Clair Alan Hardesty on
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AS of this morning, both of my SAE subscription orders have been restored and are scheduled to ship on the 28th.
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Permalink Reply by wighty44 on
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Good news!
I just tried to access the "My account" page and was greeted with. "The United States Mint could not find the page you are looking for. If you would like to place an order you can always call..."
Hopefully, this means they are actively working to correct their error and restore all the premature cancellations.
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Permalink Reply by wighty44 on
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Although the "My account" page is still not available, I was able to see via the "Track Orders" link that both my Mt. Hood & SAE subscriptions have been reinstated using the previously assigned order numbers. Both subscriptions show the items are back-ordered with an 11/28/10 ship date.
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Permalink Reply by Anthony Guay on -
Order Status: Your order request is in process. My status went from cancel to being process and my new ship is on the 29 now
2010 AE SILVER PRF 1 OZ 1 $45.95 $45.95 1 unit backordered. Expected to ship on 11/29/2010.
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