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For
those who remember, I wrote a letter asking about taking delivery from the
COMEX. Well I would like to tell you about a very educational experience.
Recently,
we took a delivery from the Comex. The process was a bit cumbersome but very
enlightening. First, I would like to say that the process of dealing with the
custodians was very professional. However, let me begin my story of
amazement.
The
silver and gold were to be prepared and packaged for shipment by the existing
custodian. As I understand it, this was part of the delivery out fee. We
will get back to the packaging later.
The
metal was arranged for a pick up and delivery using a very well known armored
carrier. Initially, everything was going as planned. After the metal was
gathered from various custodians, it was on its way to Boise, Idaho. We were
in contact with the armored carrier who laid out a time frame of when to
expect arrival of the armored truck. We were told that shipment arrivals
usually occur in the morning and with plenty of notice.
Well
this is when the story gets interesting. Three days after the shipment leaves
New York, I get a call at 4:50 pm from one of our vault managers. He
mentioned if the armored carrier ever called with a delivery notice time. I
told him the armored carrier was supposed to call us with an estimated time
of arrival. Our vault manger paused and said, I have a big armored truck
sitting outside. He mentioned to me later that the truck was fairly weighed
down in the back with the headlights shooting up in the air. Anyone in the
armored transportation business would say at this point we have a problem. An
unscheduled delivery, 10 minutes before the vault is locked down, darkness
setting in, and a truck with obvious big payload sounds like a setting for a
Jessie James novel.
But
wait it gets better.
The
packaging which the Comex custodian charged for consisted of pallets of
silver with metal bands over the bars. The gold bars were in a simple
cardboard box. There was no shrink wrap over the pallets or secured container
holding the gold bars. It seemed like a $10 glass bowl bought on the internet
was better prepared for shipment than this extremely valuable cargo.
Somehow
during the transportation, the bands on the pallets holding the silver bars
broke and some of the bars were scattered in the armored truck. To make
matters worse there was no invoice providing an itemized list of bars and
their serial numbers. In fact on the invoice that I did sign off on, the
delivery date was to be two days later.
Typically,
this is a point when you get someone in charge on the phone. Well that is
what we did. We contacted the carrier’s regional transportation
official. We told him in most cases a delivery like this is usually not
accepted. There is too much risk and liability. Well after a few words the
carrier’s manger said if you do not take delivery we will send the metal
back to our regional office, load it on a trailer, and send it back to New
York.
Well
when you are talking several tons of metal, you think twice about moving this
around. After I inspected the metal for damage and counted the bars, we
accepted the shipment.
What
I would like everyone to understand is those taking delivery entails some
risk. But for many proponents of gold and silver to simply say, “have
the metal shipped to a business, store it at home or do not let a third party
handle or store your metal,” might consider my experience. When you
have armed guards show up at your doorstep with a shipment, they are trained
to carry out a certain function. They are not there to greet you with a smile
like a mailman or newspaper delivery boy.
Our
armored facility is very well equipped to handle deliveries whether scheduled
or unscheduled. Fortunately, the experience of our management team turned a
potentially costly situation into safe and secure delivery.
Do
not let this story dissuade you from taking delivery off the Comex. The above
story is not your typical delivery. But understand that the process for us is
routine. Our facility can support you in preparing the three items requested
by the Comex custodian for delivery, arranging for a pick up and
transportation, and securing valuable assets in a fully insured/segregated
facility.
Bob Coleman
Dollars
and Sense
Also
by Bob Coleman
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