Myers Depot Metal Detectors

My Dealings with ARA

Tom in CA work for this company or something? jeez :laughing:

I for one appreciate the heads up from the OP regardless of his email tones or dirt in his rings grooves etc. so thanks!
 
BRJ123 said:
Tom in CA work for this company or something? jeez :laughing:
Click to expand...

Naw...Toms cool...fosters deeper subject discussion, dialog, and consideration...he was just bussing balz like normal! Its a side skill and sport here...He fllipped out his Hula Popper, gave it a little jiggle, and bang! You freaking hit it serious!!...Over the years, We see this all the time.....damn Tom can make the perfect cast! The rest of us are still learning..join on in...its the only way to get good:laughing: "You gonna talk or you gonna fish?"
 
"See these big fake stones? Could easily be 3-4 set which would equal what you think you are short. You told me you called 4 times in your email. It’s funny how people who find free s*** complain the most. Go play a game of hide and go f*** yourself."

If these were his words then this should be copied and sent to the company president, owner, directors, HR etc.
Its not defendable and this person should not be employed any longer.
We'll see how this turns out but without a company change or acknowledgement/apology I won't be doing business with it.

I would rather get 80-90% locally (and know I'm getting shaved) then send to a place that's advertised 98% and get that response.
 
lawsonland said:
"See these big fake stones? Could easily be 3-4 set which would equal what you think you are short. You told me you called 4 times in your email. It’s funny how people who find free s*** complain the most. Go play a game of hide and go f*** yourself."

If these were his words then this should be copied and sent to the company president, owner, directors, HR etc.
Its not defendable and this person should not be employed any longer.
We'll see how this turns out but without a company change or acknowledgement/apology I won't be doing business with it.

I would rather get 80-90% locally (and know I'm getting shaved) then send to a place that's advertised 98% and get that response.
Click to expand...

THAT was the owners email. Nobody higher to go to.
 
For the owner of a business to use written words like that and treat a (long-time) customer in that way says a lot!
I doubt this new owner will be very successful.

Normally, a successful business person would come up with a compromise to keep the customer (and hundreds of others on this forum) happy.
For only about $75, I bet he could have kept Scuba coming back...
 
Tom_in_CA said:
thanx for posting the original email. I will let that tone speak for itself. And.... I say that with utmost respect. Because you know I/we love your posts, your hunt stories, etc.....
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Tom,

We don't always agree and I for sure won't be offended if you feel I deserved the response I received. I don't believe anyone deserves to be treated that way but we all have our opinions.

I feel I was taken. I can lose that amount of money. Not that big of deal. However, other folks might be counting on 98%. ARA has never done me wrong in the past and I had plenty of dealings with the last owners, John and Nicki and their main receiver Shawn.

They said my weight was right on and so was the spot price. No way those two stones could have weighed that much. My other bands not 14K or 18K? I don't believe it. I know what 10K gold looks like when I find it.

I gave folks the heads up so they can decide for themselves if they want to trust ARA. I will not anymore.

I found another company that will do 96%. I am going to try them as they are family owned.

I didn't come here to bash them. However, as a business owner, you treat nobody the way I was treated. Everyone has their opinion and that is fine by me. If you are happy with the way they have treated you, that is great.
 
I emailed the owner and told him of this post I read and that based on that I would not consider doing business with him.

This is the response I received:

"Oh, no! We will lose tens of dollars a year without ya'll. We are setting a 5 ounce minimum just to weed you dead beats out."
 
choppadude said:
I emailed the owner and told him of this post I read and that based on that I would not consider doing business with him.

This is the response I received:

"Oh, no! We will lose tens of dollars a year without ya'll. We are setting a 5 ounce minimum just to weed you dead beats out."
Click to expand...

Well this just adds proof to positive, the guy’s a real tool, I was considering ARA for a while but obviously no longer, thanks Scuba and Choppa.
 
I wouldn't use them based on his response to both of you. By the way... how exactly is Hide and Go ***k Yourself played??
 
choppadude said:
This is the response I received:

"Oh, no! We will lose tens of dollars a year without ya'll. We are setting a 5 ounce minimum just to weed you dead beats out."
Click to expand...

Good effort there Choppa! Well, now we know, the guy made a business decision and certainly got the message out loud and clear! Very effective communication actually, no misunderstanding this at all!:laughing: The rest of you small unprofitable gold hunting potatoes can go weed yourself out!...

This is possibly an opportunity for several of you to group your finds together to hit the minimum...which COULD very well happen at the other places...Or, for a person so inclined, offer to buy detecting found gold from the members here at a 10% or 15% off spot?

My LCS guy buys gold at 40% off spot, sometimes more than that! Depending on the person bringing it in......all day long, people dont know what they have and/or need the money...Some goes into the scrap bin, some gets put out on the sale shelf at a tremendous jewelry retail markup, some they put up on Ebay...

I asked if he would sell me some of the plain bands out of the scrap...you know, nice 4-6grammers, 14k yellow..things he paid $50 for, I figured I might be able to get them somewhere below spot and he would incur a tidy profit as well....."Sure! for spot plus 20%!" He said! :laughing:

Looks like I need to find Brother Irons coin dealer for an offload someday...
 
choppadude said:
I emailed the owner and told him of this post I read and that based on that I would not consider doing business with him.

This is the response I received:

"Oh, no! We will lose tens of dollars a year without ya'll. We are setting a 5 ounce minimum just to weed you dead beats out."
Click to expand...

:shock::no: well damn...message received.
 
If the guy is making 2% Or so business wise it makes sense to get rid of the little fish. That 2% likely won't even cover the cost to issue the check. Then need pay the employee, roof over head, tax, etc . 5oz minimum or decrease to 90% spot.
Most institutions are being run the same way. Try selling something on ebay. EBay fees, PayPal fees, then tax on top (%22 total cost). Or a bank fee with hidden cost is just as bad.
The little guy is continually being squeezed to feed the big fish. It's a broken system
 
ScubaDetector said:
Just thought everyone would like to know my latest dealings with ARA. I sent into them two weeks ago 1586.00 in scrap wedding rings. 7.24 DTW of 10K, 29.70 DTW of 14K and 4.5 DTW of 18K. I was expecting 1586.00 in cash value. I was very surprised to find they assayed it out 125.00 CHEAPER.

I know they are under new ownership and all the folks I used to deal with are gone. They are no longer a family owned company either. The person that supposedly did all my gold won't let me talk to an owner. I am not impressed with them anymore and will probably go to a different refinery. I have used them exclusively since 2009

I know your results will vary but I wanted to give a heads up to anyone interested.
Click to expand...

Scuba,

Anything there that is flat melted out, seems to go well for me, but the moment I do the "free stone removal" and they do the chemical bath, I lose 10%, instantly. They tell me it's because it's hard to recover, but I've found that it just doesn't make sense. Gold is gold, whether it's chemically recovered or melted. It's not like it disappears. I'm only bringing this up, because I wonder if you had yours melted, or chemical bath'd. If it's the latter, it seems on par with what you've experienced.

I also don't send them diamonds any more. They used to give real bids... the last time they bid, they bid on total weight, and one of the stones was a 3/4 carat stone... they initially offered me $60 for it. I knew the wholesale (not retail) was 997. I figured I should get at least HALF that in a bid... I told them so, they came back with a $250 bid. I told them I'd accept, but I knew they were undercutting, but I'd liked working with them in the past, and that was a gimme for them. They said, "thanks!" I don't think they realized I'd never do it again.

I now rip out all my stones with pliers before sending, and I'm back to the 98% with scrap melt. It's the only way I'll do it. Too expensive to lose 10% just because there's a stone in it. Plus, I can sell diamonds at a higher rate than their bogus bids.

Cheers,

Skippy
 
choppadude said:
I emailed the owner and told him of this post I read and that based on that I would not consider doing business with him.

This is the response I received:

"Oh, no! We will lose tens of dollars a year without ya'll. We are setting a 5 ounce minimum just to weed you dead beats out."
Click to expand...

Good grief. That's too bad. I actually really liked dealing with them. Sent them a couple ounces a year. I could roughly the same results from eBay, though, but ARA was hassle free.

Apparently, being a dead beat isn't a good thing. Time to find a new outlet, I guess.

I wonder how much business we actually (as a community) do with ARA, comparatively. Weird that they'd take that attitude. If they want to do better, just tell us. Give us 92% spot, or whatever, for less than specific weights, but this is lousy.

I may start selling to the local place that gives 90% spot of gold (and they do the special testing that tells exactly what percentage it is.. I forget what the machine/equipment is called). It's always seemed attractive, but I could usually get 2% more from ARA, without the hassle of driving downtown.

Deadbeats. That's amazing...

Skippy
 
Skippy SH13 said:
Scuba,

Anything there that is flat melted out, seems to go well for me, but the moment I do the "free stone removal" and they do the chemical bath, I lose 10%, instantly. They tell me it's because it's hard to recover, but I've found that it just doesn't make sense. Gold is gold, whether it's chemically recovered or melted. It's not like it disappears. I'm only bringing this up, because I wonder if you had yours melted, or chemical bath'd. If it's the latter, it seems on par with what you've experienced.

I also don't send them diamonds any more. They used to give real bids... the last time they bid, they bid on total weight, and one of the stones was a 3/4 carat stone... they initially offered me $60 for it. I knew the wholesale (not retail) was 997. I figured I should get at least HALF that in a bid... I told them so, they came back with a $250 bid. I told them I'd accept, but I knew they were undercutting, but I'd liked working with them in the past, and that was a gimme for them. They said, "thanks!" I don't think they realized I'd never do it again.

I now rip out all my stones with pliers before sending, and I'm back to the 98% with scrap melt. It's the only way I'll do it. Too expensive to lose 10% just because there's a stone in it. Plus, I can sell diamonds at a higher rate than their bogus bids.

Cheers,

Skippy
Click to expand...

Skippy, ALL the folks that ran ARA are gone. Nobody left. Nicky, John and Shawn are history and it was sold to someone else. These folks are not nice to deal with at all. ARA respected everyone, big fish and little fish. These folks don't respect anyone it seems.
 
ScubaDetector said:
Skippy, ALL the folks that ran ARA are gone. Nobody left. Nicky, John and Shawn are history and it was sold to someone else. These folks are not nice to deal with at all. ARA respected everyone, big fish and little fish. These folks don't respect anyone it seems.
Click to expand...

That totally explains the bogus diamond bid, and the recent spate of slightly weird events. I got about 95% with the last "estimated" send in, and that's within the .5 carat margin... But again, I spent an hour ripping out every stone. It's certainly just as easy for me now, to make a button of gold with the Map-pro torch and take it down to the 90% place.

Probably will do that from here on out. Thanks again, for posting your experiences, and helping us get to the bottom of things. Understanding change (and accepting it has happened) is hard to do. The brand identity of ARA was strong enough in the community, we actually were looking for excuses to excuse the low returns. I think that's what I was doing, anyway.

no more. Thanks!

Skippy
 
Gotta wonder if we’re little fish [emoji225] who are the big fish [emoji226]?


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