What is going on with the U.S. Mint Website?

"Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote in message
...
sgt23 wrote:
On Feb 18, 2:38 pm, shreadvector
wrote:
On Feb 18, 8:15 am, MKW wrote:

Is it just me or is everyone having trouble checking online order
status? And why, on the high relief gold, are they 'Holding"
orders
for credit verification for 2 weeks or more. All they have to do
is
run the charge to see that its valid.

I called last Friday to ask about an order that has been on hold
for
over two weeks. They told me the same thing which is insane since
my
credit card has been used to buy many items over the last few
years
and it is current. I had no problem in early January, but the last
order was placed the last weekend of January and has sat
there......

My belief is that mint has really out done it's self this time.
I've
heard several stories like they don't have the adequate supplies
needed to get all the orders fulfilled right now, or they are
trying
to mint too much at once, and I have even heard they are having
problems with secure deliverers. My question here is what is the
real
truth, because you call the mint and they are not giving any real
answers and why are different phone operators at the mint giving
completely different answers? I know the mint has gone to crap over
the years, but shouldn't they have better standards than this?

The reality at the mint likely resembles that of any other
corporation that has a "customer service" phone. When you call and
get the message that "all of our representatives are busy assisting
other customers...your call is important...answered in order
received", you can assume that there is one person assigned to the
task, two at the max, and they may be assigned other clerical duties
in addition to answering your call. You're lucky if they are
equipped with a terminal and up-to-date data on it. It's no doubt
worse now with economic retrenchment. They can only have as many
employees as the PTB allow, and these days, that number is fewer and
fewer. Just a guess, but based on years and years of experience
with this sort of thing.

It sounds like the classic business problem of do you staff for the
peak loads or for the average load? Some bean counter there probably
has statistics to show that 90% of the time the waiting time is under
two minutes, or some such weasel wording. It may be that it's only
when some really hot item is posted that the system bogs down horribly
on order taking, inventory, and fulfillment. Then everyone notices
it.

"shreadvector" wrote in message
...
On Feb 18, 11:38 am, shreadvector wrote:
On Feb 18, 8:15 am, MKW wrote:

Is it just me or is everyone having trouble checking online order
status? And why, on the high relief gold, are they 'Holding"
orders
for credit verification for 2 weeks or more. All they have to do
is
run the charge to see that its valid.

I called last Friday to ask about an order that has been on hold for
over two weeks. They told me the same thing which is insane since my
credit card has been used to buy many items over the last few years
and it is current. I had no problem in early January, but the last
order was placed the last weekend of January and has sat there......

I just checked on the website and the feature to check your order
status is "temporarily unavailable".....

Ditto at 4:55 p.m.

When I ordered the Lincoln dollars a few days ago, ship date was set
at 4/1/09. Now on my account page it shows as 3/4/09.

"shreadvector" wrote in message
...
On Feb 18, 11:38 am, shreadvector wrote:
On Feb 18, 8:15 am, MKW wrote:

Is it just me or is everyone having trouble checking online order
status? And why, on the high relief gold, are they 'Holding"
orders
for credit verification for 2 weeks or more. All they have to do
is
run the charge to see that its valid.

I called last Friday to ask about an order that has been on hold for
over two weeks. They told me the same thing which is insane since my
credit card has been used to buy many items over the last few years
and it is current. I had no problem in early January, but the last
order was placed the last weekend of January and has sat there......

I just checked on the website and the feature to check your order
status is "temporarily unavailable".....

Here's why - a security loophole that allows others to cancel your
order:

http://coins.about.com/b/2009/02/17/...reach.htm?nl=1

On Feb 18, 3:54*pm, "PC" wrote:
Pretty much my thoughts exactly. *The people answering the phone at the US
Mint are very courteous and pleasant to talk to but are also completely
clueless. *I doubt it is their fault - they simply don't have any
information either except for whatever script is in front of their face.


Doesnt the mint have an outsourced "Product Ordering Group" which will
then transfer you to real CS if needed? They used to do that. Though
it seems the 1-800 USA MINT people have more control to check stuff
now.

On Feb 18, 3:52*pm, "PC" wrote:
"MKW" wrote in message

...

Is it just me or is everyone having trouble checking online order
status? *And why, on the high relief gold, are they 'Holding" orders
for credit verification for 2 weeks or more. *All they have to do is
run the charge to see that its valid.

Someone got me the Bald Eagle gold coin last year for my birthday but it did
not arrive in time. *The order was held. *When they called to inquire they
were told that the mint holds orders for all gold purchases as an extra
precaution against theft and fraud.

This does make some sense. My problem is why does the mint not address
this in an email? It would save a lot of frustration for people.

On Feb 18, 10:10*pm, MKW wrote:
On Feb 18, 3:54*pm, "PC" wrote:

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. *The people answering the phone at the US
Mint are very courteous and pleasant to talk to but are also completely
clueless. *I doubt it is their fault - they simply don't have any
information either except for whatever script is in front of their face..

Doesnt the mint have an outsourced "Product Ordering Group" which will
then transfer you to real CS if needed? *They used to do that. *Though
it seems the 1-800 USA MINT people have more control to check stuff
now.

The mint is like everyone else that runs a business in these time,
they take short cuts to save money.

shreadvector wrote:
On Feb 18, 11:38 am, shreadvector wrote:
On Feb 18, 8:15 am, MKW wrote:

Is it just me or is everyone having trouble checking online order
status? And why, on the high relief gold, are they 'Holding" orders
for credit verification for 2 weeks or more. All they have to do is
run the charge to see that its valid.
I called last Friday to ask about an order that has been on hold for
over two weeks. They told me the same thing which is insane since my
credit card has been used to buy many items over the last few years
and it is current. I had no problem in early January, but the last
order was placed the last weekend of January and has sat there......

I just checked on the website and the feature to check your order
status is "temporarily unavailable".....

And it is now Saturday the 21st at 10:00 AM MST and the site is still

This feature is temporarily unavailable. Please call 1-800-USA-MINT
(872-6468) if you would like to track an order. We apologize for this
inconvenience.

I wonder what constitutes "temporarily"

George

"George D" wrote in message
...


I just checked on the website and the feature to check your order
status is "temporarily unavailable".....

And it is now Saturday the 21st at 10:00 AM MST and the site is still

This feature is temporarily unavailable. Please call 1-800-USA-MINT
(872-6468) if you would like to track an order. We apologize for this
inconvenience.

I wonder what constitutes "temporarily"


So because some people were stupid enough to post their orders and last
names in a public forum we should all suffer?