I just received my Gold Golden Gate Bridge today (Serial Number 236) and upon examining it I noticed some pitting (1/8 " pitholes) that are turning green from corrosion. At least that is they way I would refer to it. As you look at the front of the bridge (with Golden Gate Nameplate facing you), look to the right hand end of the bridge on the "shiny road surface" from the end of the road surface to about 1/2" inch in from the end. There are numerous pits ranging from 1/8" in diameter to minor, almost unoticeable, pits. They are all in variouse stages of turning a green color similier to corrosion that you see when brass plating starts to pit.

I called Harbour Lights and the first person I talked to was not very helpful and said this was normal, but, said that they would have UPS pick the piece up and they would send me another one to replace it. The fact that she said this was normal makes me wonder if I send this piece back, whats to say that I won't receive another piece with the same condition or even worst pitting. I called the dealer that got the piece for me and he said that all the pieces he got in displayed this pitting and when he called Harbour Lights they told them they knew about it but they weren't going to replace all the ones that had this problem. I then called Harbour Lights again and got Michelle and she said that she would do some checking and ask questions about the pitting and would call me tomorrow evening with some answers to my questions.

My question to the Forum Members is "Do any of the pieces that have been received by Forum Members have this same pitting/corrosion problem and if they do is this a NORMAL problem with gold pieces. I don't have another gold piece to compare this problem with. I don't want to send the piece back if this is normal and other people have the same symptoms on their GGB. I have until tomorrow evening to make a decision and cancel the UPS pickup on Monday so PLEASE get back to me with your answers.

Rich,
After reading your post I checked my bridge #21.
The road surface is a bright shiny and smooth with no pitting at all.Help this helps you out. Ron

Maybe it's one of those rare, highly sought after pothole variations

MIke

Hope you receive a good one.

Hi Rich
I sent my 250 back because it was in two pieces. I was temped to just glue it myself. But customer service said it was defective and to send it back.
I sure hope Harbour Lights don’t send me the pothole variation to replace with.

Daniel,

Only time will tell if you and I have made the right decision. I have packaged my GGB up and waiting for HL to send UPS to pick it up. I talked to Harry Hines and he was quite interested in the pitting. He wanted me to send it to his attention so he could see it and he said that my replacement will be perfect even if he has to get into Bill's stash, as he calls it. But, as I said, only time will tell.

STILL WAITING for Harbour Lights to send out a will call for UPS to pick up my Golden Gate Bridge. It seems that no one at HL can seem to get their act together or no one wants to get their act together. This is not the first time that HL has shied away from doing what they did so well in the beginning and that is making their collectors come first. I personally think they have too much going, and too many irons in the fire, and the thing that has taken a back seat for them is total customer satisfaction. Used to be if a customer called, they acted the same day and not like now when you have to call them several times to get something done. It seems like their philosophy is now that once they make the sale it is buyer beware and take care of yourself if you make enough calls. I think that overall their products are still the best, but, it's that occasional "defect" that they want to wash their hands on and hope that you will go away and forget it by giving up. Does anyone else feel this way or is this just the rantings and raving of a 60 year old that has his 60th birthday present sitting in the corner boxed up and waiting to be picked up and replaced with a perfect piece?

Rich
It took around 10 days for UPS to pick up my Golden bridge. I just called Friday and HL-HQ haven't recieved it yet.

"Does anyone else feel this way or is this just the rantings and raving of a 60 year old that has his 60th birthday present sitting in the corner boxed up"

Yes, rantings and raving. Let's not forget that HL is still (literally) a Mom & Pop operation, despite their efforts not to appear that way and probably doesn't have a permanent plan in place to pick up stuff from collectors since in almost every instance you would have received your lighthouse directly from the dealer and would return a defective piece to the dealer. I highly doubt that they are avoiding picking it up, HL has always gone the extra mile to keep their customers/collectors happy, and also now you have a third party in the mix (UPS) maybe they dropped the ball, possibly a communication problem between them. If you have been to an in store or regional event you know they spend a lot of money to feed you (at the regional) and give their own product away and lets not forget the gold pieces given away at the in store and regional events, the collectors reunions and so on. HL spends a small fortune every year on good public relations, I highly doubt that they would even consider leaving you hanging and risk the bad PR, They have always stood behind their product. Cut them a little slack, call them up and find out what's going on.

Just my opinion, Mark

What Mark said...

...plus that UPS pick up order may be waiting for a time when they have something to deliver to your house. Have you had a UPS delivery lately.

BTW, happy birthday, Rich. This is the big 6-0 year for me, too. Better get that prescription refilled.

No UPS deliveries recently, but, the real problem from what I've been told is the UPS pickup was cut last Wednesday and never made it out of shipping to UPS. I've been assured that this will happen Monday and UPS should show this Wednesday. This will be 2 weeks after I first notified HL. I guess things work slow in business. I am so used to the the company I work for that has things happen overnight because the Military is our customers. I'll just keep biding my time I guess.

I had to have some deliveries picked up by UPS and they were there onb the 3rd day from my complaint. The notifcations went out electronically from the company (not HL) to UPS. Even though I live 48 miles from the UPS delivery center, their trucks are ALWAYS in the region ( within 1-3 miles) and made the pickup in a reasonable timeframe. I'm not pointing fngers at HL, but it sounds like a miscommunication or lack thereof has posed you this dilemma. I rather doubt that UPS is waiting for a delivery to your house since they get paid for the pickup as well as a delivery, it is not a wasted trip for them.

Just some thoughts from an almost 60 yr old as well.

I'd have to say in all of my years with dealing with any business, Harbour Lights impresses me the most, particularly in customer satisfaction and APPRECIATION.

I am sure this whole Golden Gate situation is a nightmare for the company. Given the cost, limited number etc. of this piece, every collector will want it perfect, particularly if they purchased this for speculation.

I would bet that anyone with an apparent defect will get a replacement, or their money back, even if Harbour Lights has to replace every last one of them!

As far as customer service, generally very helpful although they often are very hesitant to give out information (and I'm not talking about things like, "what will be your future releases")

The replacement Gold GGB arrived yesterday and was in perfect shape. I thank Michelle for all her hard work in trying to make things happen. I am just impatient when it come to dealing with companies, large or small, and should have held back and given them a chance to react. It is good to see that HL still values their customers and does the right thing by them.

I am glad it worked out positively Rich, It is easy to become impatient in this increasing "instant gratification" type society where you can get almost anything anytime.

Rich different bridge same number??? or different number??

Different bridge, different number(a little lower).

I am still waiting
I requested the same number
250. I will probally have to wait a long time for that request.

Does this mean that now there are only 248???

I thought the total issue was sold out. ..how did you end up with a lower number instead of a replacement of your original number? Or will someone else receive your old number if/when it is remade?

I would assume that possibly this was one that may have been returned for repair or possibly was originally purchased by someone during the call in and then maybe the buyer did not qualify and it was left over. The one that I sent in will also probably be repaired and then be used for a turnaround replacement or it may be discarded and there will be one less then 250.

My number 250 golden gate bridge finally arrived last week. It came from the factory and Harry Hines wrote in the number.

Speaking of Golden gate bridge has everyone been following the ebay price for one. $402.98