Gold2Pounds – £4.31 per gram – or £3.45?
Here’s a weird one – and one which I’m not sure about.
First off – they sent me a text with the offer simply saying ‘reply to this text to accept the offer. Well, clearly, at £4.31 per gram I’m not going to – not when todays scrap price for 9ct gold is £8.82 per gram!
So how am I supposed to reject their offer?
Worse than that (in a way) is this –
If this is right, then Gold2Pounds usual price isn’t even as high as £4.31 per gram, but actually £3.45 per gram. So is a bogus offer designed to cynically tempt little old ladies to send their gold in, or is it genuine?
Am I supposed to just assume they’ve added my ‘extra 20%’ on or what? And how do I get my bloody gold back?
UK Cash4Gold – £2.11 per gram.
So – the follow up on UK Cash 4 Gold.
Just had their cheque back and guess what – they’ve only paid me £2.11 per gram. Here’s a scan of the cheque.
So – I’ve just phoned Cash4Gold on 0800 064 1231 and the guy was ok. Looked me up on his system and simply asked me to return the cheque to the Sheffield address.
Which is what I’m about to do.
Cash4Gold
Another bloody ad on telly – this time cramming the ‘We’ll give you an extra 20%’ message down our throats.
We’ll see just how much they pay this time shall we? I’ve just sent some off…..
CashMyGold – £1.97 per gram!
Just had the CashMyGold offer back – a miserly £1.97 per gram!
This is what I sent them -
And this is the letter and cheque I’ve had back this morning.
Does Dale Winton care if you get ripped off?
Cash My Gold UK is another one of these companies that have engaged a ‘celebrity’ to endorse their services. Dale Winton positively glows as he blabs on about how wonderful Cash My Gold are – did he actually look into what this company does before he took their money to appear in their ads? Personally I doubt it – because if he had, he’d have seen that Cash My Gold are yet another company paying out less than one quarter of the real value of your jewellery.
Cash My Golds’ blurb proudly claims (and I quote) “You will get more cash as gold is at its highest price for decades…” – That part is correct – I take issue with the next part of that sentence – “… and with CashMyGold.co.uk you avoid the middleman and go direct to the smelter”. Perhaps factually that is correct too – but it implies you’ll get more money from CashMyGold. Patently this isn’t true. CashMyGold pay considerably less than one quarter of golds real value and perhaps two thirds of what a high street dealer will pay.
Postal Gold – STILL only £1.67 per gram!
It’s now March 2010 – and after the threats from Postal Gold, I decided to run the survey again – after all, they INSISTED that I publish up-to-date results! Remember now – the Gold price per gram as it stands today is (for 9ct) – £8.87 per gram. That figure can be verified on the LBMA website.
Horrifying result folks! – I sent them this -
And this is what they sent back -
£1.67 PER GRAM! – Yes – you read that correctly – £1.67 per gram!
When high street shops are now paying on average £7 plus per gram, Postal Gold haven’t changed their ways one little bit.
From their record low gold price of £1.48 per gram in Nov 2009, they’ve upped it by only 19p per gram.
Funny thing is – if they hadn’t sent me a shitty letter I might not have carried on checking.
Anne Diamond – Liar or Greedy Idiot?
I’ve just seen Anne Diamonds latest ad for postgoldforcash on CH5. Frankly – I’m TRULY astonished! She claims “I shopped around and found postgoldforcash.com offered the most” – Did she? Did she really? Or is she just reading a script from someone who hasn’t got a clue what prices are being paid for gold at the moment? How much cash did they throw at you Anne to say that?
Postgoldforcash dot com offered me just £4.33 per gram less than two weeks ago. On the high street, some pawnbrokers are now paying more than EIGHT pounds per gram!
So – Anne – Dont sit there and make false claims. They don’t impress me one little bit, and I’ll just double my efforts to educate people exactly what a scam the postal gold industy is!
At the time this is written – postgoldforcash are offering HALF of golds true value – DONT GET SCAMMED – DONT POST YOUR GOLD!
Postal Gold Companies – A place to fence stolen gold?
I’m not sure if anyone else has thought of this – but surely the lack of scrutiny of the postal gold industry means that it would be a prime target for burglars and thieves to offload stolen gold with no come backs. In my nephews high street shop, there are multiple security measures – id is photocopied, they take a photo of the customer, there’s CCTV and they work in close co-operation with the Police to help reduce crime. With the postal gold industry, no one asks any questions at all. It’s wide open to abuse. And I would be highly surprised if thieves haven’t used the system to fence off stolen gold. After all – they don’t care if they get a crappy price – as long as they get something and they dont stand a high chance of being caught!
Of course – the companies have the name and address of the person posting gold in. But beyond that nothing. No proof is required of identity, a cheque is posted out without question and that cheque can be cashed in at any cheque cashing shop.
So – If you’ve been burgled, or been targeted by thieves for your gold – I think there should be help from the Police in targetting these companies to see if its been posted in to them.
Postgoldforcash – Weigh My Gold Light!
Not content with offering a rubbish £26 for what they described as 6g of 9ct – They actually under weighed my gold too!.
The picture here shows what has just been returned to me by them.
As you can see, the weight is 6.4g – not just 6. Now I suppose I could be accused of being picky but 6.4g means they should have offered me £27.71 (at £4.33 per gram) not £26.00
It doesn’t take many people to be under valued in the same way for Postgoldforcash to start making a lot more money out of us ’on the side’.
OFT Investigates Postal Gold Buying Companies
The OFT has requested information from a number of companies that buy gold from consumers using the postal service (NB NOT over the counter transactions) to consider whether they are complying with consumer protection legislation.
Following complaints, the OFT has asked the companies to provide information on their business practices and to explain a number of claims made in their advertising and on their websites.
Among the OFT’s concerns is whether consumers right to reject an offer for their gold and receive it back are being honoured in all cases.
The OFT will also be reviewing the companies’ terms and conditions to assess whether they are fair for consumers.
Once the OFT receives the requested information, it will consider what action, if any, is appropriate.
At this stage no assumption should be made that any companies involved in gold buying have broken the law.
(Source – Addleshaw Goddard).
postgoldforcash.com – £4.33 per gram
Had an email from postgoldforcash this morning – as follows:
Thank you for your email. We are happy to make an offer of a cheque/bank transfer payment of £26. This is based on 6g of 9ct gold. Please can you confirm how you wish to proceed. Kind Regards Gale Thornhill Customer Relations AdvisorI have to say – £26 for 6 grams of 9ct leaves us at £4.33 per gram. The LBMA gold fix this morning (March 8th 2010) is £755.307 per ounce of fine gold. That equates in 9ct terms to £9.10 per gram. With the gold price inexorably rising and the bad press and examinations that these gold buying companies are under, I am staggered they are still offering way less than half its true worth.
Should you send any gold to postgoldforcash? No. Have a walk down your high street, ask a few pawnbrokers and jewellers for quotes and take the best you can. Currently most high street outlets are offering around £7 per gram.
I’ve requested my gold back from them.
Postal Gold – Threatens me!
Well well well….
As you can see from the attached scans on this post, Postal Gold are less than happy with me – and they’ve engaged a big-hitting firm of solicitors to show me the error of my ways!
As far as their concerns about their logo on here – I guess they have a point and I’ll be removing them today – but be assured – the rest of the information (along with the relevant evidence) will remain. And for the avoidance of doubt, the company I’ve upset is POSTAL GOLD (ISLE OF MAN) LTD.
Logo aside, they seem to think the information is innacurate and misleading.
I’m here to let you know that all gold sent was verified on Trading Standards Approved scales, so there is no doubt the information is accurate. Postal Gold also claim I don’t have the right to make specific reference to them – this after saying in the same sentence that they’re not seeking to restrict my right to legally populate the site as I see fit.
As I see it – there’s NOTHING in law that stops me from naming companies in any way. Some companies have had good reviews, some poor. If Postal Gold don’t like the poor review, perhaps they should focus their efforts in paying a fair price for the gold they buy.
They also ask that I make sure the figures are up to date. Well, the survey was undertaken in NOV 2009 and I make that clear all over the place here – not least on the heading banner!
I have a volunteer that will re-test Postal Gold in March – and if they’re any better, I’ll let you know.
How’s That?
EDIT – I was just thinking more about this letter – and the demand that I remove the POSTAL GOLD logo – How do the BBC and CH4 go on in their reports? I’ve seen plenty of TV about these companies and if memory serves, I think CH4 News At Noon showed the POSTAL GOLD logo and the advert too? Did they seek permission? I can imagine the converstaion “Hello? This is CH4, we’re doing a piece about the low prices you pay, can we use your logo please?” – I doubt the answer would have been yes!
One other thing too while my brain is working – they claim there is a lack of information as tro what the price they paid me in NOV 2009 represented – so here, from the original post – “Just had an email from them telling me I’m going to get £9.70 for the 6.52g of 9ct I sent them. So at the moment that puts them halfway between Money4GoldUK and CashMyGold at a miserley £1.48 per gram. Shocking.” Is that accurate enough?
POSTAL GOLD PAID £9.70 FOR 6.52g OF 9ct SCRAP! ON NOV 16TH 2009 (THE DAY THEY POSTED ME THE CHEQUE) THE LOWEST FIX (PM) ACCORDING TO THE LBMA WAS 679.447 – THAT EQUATES TO £8.19 PER GRAM FOR 9CT GOLD. IS THAT ACCURATE ENOUGH DO YOU THINK?
Additional Information – Postal Gold come under the ever watchful eye of CH4 News at Noon….
- IMAGES – My scary solicitors letter – whooooooo
Dispute
For anyone reading the ‘comments’ section of this blog and are wondering what the heck’s going on – Here’s the lowdown.
Months ago there was a post from ‘The Jewellery Workshop’ in Macclesfield claiming to offer 500% more than any postal gold company. I checked the website which had (and still does as I write this) a redirect to Cheshire Diamonds. So – at the time I rang the company and checked their gold buying price. It wasn’t fantastic but was ok – but obviously not the 500% more than claimed. So I simply posted what had happened and told them not to make stupid over inflated claims.
For anyone that doesnt know – comments are logged of course and tied to an ‘IP’ address – essentially a fingerprint of the computer used to post the message. When a comment is posted an email is sent to the posters email address to confirm said comment.
So, last week, Cheshire Diamonds contact me claiming they have no idea where the original post came from, claiming it was ‘Slanderous’ (no, seriously, they are) and most stupidly of all claiming that one of their competitors must have posted it to smear their good name by piggybacking on their unsecure wireless connection to send the message. Moreover – they’re threatening to sue me for all sorts of things.
As I have pointed out to them – had they just come to me originally and said – sorry – we made a mistake in the original comment please can we ammend it, all would have been well and that would have been done.
Instead – they insist on persuing this vendetta against me – which serves only to make them look more idiotic by the minute and make me dig my heels in more. The threats of legal action don’t scare me at all – and in view of the IP evidence there’s not a judge in the land that would rule against me.
Personally, I think that if the owner of Cheshire Diamonds didn’t make the post – a member of their staff did. So, instead of threatening me, perhaps they should have an internal investigation to ascertain exactly who did post it.
When they’ve done that, however red faced they may be, if they come to me and admit it did come from them, apologise accordingly and make a commitment to leave it be, I’ll be happy to remove all trace of the comments and this post.
Price of Gold Rises – Your Gold For Cash Pay LESS?…
According to this website – http://www.prlog.org/10198805-new-website-yourgoldforcash-helps-consumers-cash-in-on-the-gold-rush.html - Your Gold For Cash were paying £7.20 per gram in March 2009. So what went wrong? Why (when the gold price has risen considerably since then) has the amount paid out dropped so dramatically? To put this in perspective, according to thier own press release – they’re paying 50% LESS than they were back in March – odd huh?
Oh the cheek of it!
I had a comment today from Cheshire Diamonds claiming they pay (get this) 500% more than ANY postal gold company.
So I rang H and T in Macclesfield to see what they’re paying (£5.50 per gram for 9ct) then Cheshire Diamonds to see what they would offer. Hummmm. Well – far from their claimed 500% more than any other postal gold company (even though they offer a postal gold service too) – theire offer? £5.68 a gram.
So here’s a lesson to all you Jewellers thinking you can scam your way along and con people with wild, exaggerated and plain stupid claims – you can’t.
Cheshire Diamonds – £5.68 per gram. Todays 9ct scrap price according to the LBMA - £8.43 PER GRAM ON 9CT. (THIS MORNINGS FIX £699.694 per ounce on fine gold – divide by 31.1 (grams per ounce) and then multiply by .375 (purity of gold per one thousand parts) = £8.43.
You know the really stupid thing? £5.68 (whilst not overly generous) isn’t too shabby a price and if they’d only posted that instead of a stupid false claim I wouldn’t have taken them to task.
BBC Prove my point
Copied from the BBC website
“There has been an increase in demand for gold in recent years
With the price of gold near a record high, it’s an offer that’s hard to ignore: send us your unwanted jewellery and we’ll send you a cheque straight back.
Over the last year there’s been an boom in the number of shops and websites offering to take those old rings and trinkets off your hands.
But Newsbeat’s found out that some of the biggest names in the industry are paying just a fraction of the amount that gold could be worth if it was taken to a jeweller or pawnbroker.
“Some of the quotes are just shockingly low,” said Alonso Ercilla from the Trading Standards Institute.
“It boils down to shopping around because, in theory, traders can just offer what they want.”
‘Thought it was a joke’
29-year-old Nic from Huddersfield wanted to sell four of her old rings to raise money for Christmas presents.
Continue reading the main story
I was just shocked. I was hoping for something around the £200 mark
Nic, Huddersfield
“I was off work poorly and the adverts were all over daytime TV. I thought it would give me a bit of extra money,” she said.
Nic went online and ordered a free postal packet. She sent the rings off and waited a couple of weeks. Then a quote came back for just £27.
“I was just shocked. I was hoping for something around the £200 mark,” she said.
“I sent them an email asking if it was a misprint. The valuation was so low I thought it was missing a digit.”
She asked for her rings back and was later quoted £125 from a local company in Huddersfield offering a similar cash-in service.
What’s it worth?
We wanted to try it out for ourselves so asked Tony Jarvis, an independent gold bullion dealer in Mayfair, London, to value a bunch of old earrings, chains and lockets.
He told us that a “fair price” for the nine carat scrap gold would be around £300, although daily variations in the gold price could push that number up or down slightly.
We double-checked and took the gold anonymously to a number of shops in London’s famous old jewellery market, Hatton Garden, specialising in scrap metal.
The value of gold can vary slightly from day to day
Sure enough, the best price we were offered was £318.
We then sent exactly the same set of rings and chains to three of the biggest players in the postal market.
American giant Cash4Gold has grown quickly off the back of heavy TV advertising, including expensive primetime slots in this year’s US Superbowl.
It claims that 94% of its 900,000 customers in the US accept the valuation they are offered.
The firm is now expanding internationally and opened its British operation over the summer.
Customers call a telephone helpline or log on to the firm’s website and order a free gold pack containing a pre-paid envelope.
As with all the other firms featured here, the value of the package is insured up to £500. You drop in your old jewellery, fill out a basic form and put it in the post box.
Staff at the firm’s British headquarters value the metal and a week or so later send you a cheque back which you can either bank or return within 12 days to get your jewellery back.
‘Hassle-free’
So how did Cash4Gold compare with our “fair valuation” of £300?
The firm sent us a cheque for just £63. When we called to ask for our jewellery back that offer was increased to £100.
The firm’s boss, Jeff Aronson, makes no apologies for pricing, claiming that some people are willing to accept less for their gold in return for convenience and speed.
“Our customers are not interested in going to a pawnshop or a jewellery store,” he said.
“They would be mortified if a friend saw them doing that. We are serving a new industry that we have created. We are not here to price fight against a jeweller.”
Crewe-based CashMyGold is the most high profile British company in the market. Like its American namesake it spends heavily on advertising, especially on daytime TV.
It works in an identical way: users call or go online, order an envelope, post off their gold and wait for the cheque to arrive.
Continue reading the main story
We offer a fair price for those who are looking for a hassle free, door-to-door service
CashMyGold statement
The company uses the slogan “best prices paid for your gold” but its offer was the lowest of the three at just £60.20.
We called to ask for our jewellery back and a sales rep immediately offered to increase the offer to “£150 maximum”.
In a statement the firm said it has a “very different business model” to high street gold dealers with “different costs such as postal insurance and administration” to consider.
“Taking this into account, we believe we offer a fair price for those who are looking for a hassle free, door-to-door service,” it said.
Finally high street jeweller H.Samuel launched its own postal gold service over the summer.
Unlike other firms, it always telephones customers to ask if they will accept an offer rather than sending a cheque straight back.
Its quote? The highest of the three at £182 rising to £210 if we agreed to take gift vouchers instead of a cheque, still significantly below the £300 quoted by our gold bullion dealer.
Again the firm claimed its offers are fair.
“By using our service customers are dealing with a well-known and established high street jeweller with national store coverage,” it said.
“If the customer does not want to accept our offer the jewellery is returned at no cost to them.”
‘Shop around’
We put the findings to the Trading Standards Institute. Its joint lead officer for fair trading, Alonso Ercilla, said offering a low price for gold might be irritating but it’s not illegal.
“Unfortunately there isn’t much Trading Standards can do if people are getting a bad deal, provided the trader is not actually misleading the seller about the gold’s worth,” he said.
“Customers need to shop around and try to establish the price per gram.
“If you are using a website, read their terms and conditions. And don’t automatically take the first price you are offered.”
Gold buying companies fleecing unsuspecting consumers, councils warn
LGA press release: 30th November 2009
Gold-buying companies are fleecing unsuspecting consumers by offering rock-bottom prices for unwanted jewellery, council trading standards officers warned today.
With Christmas approaching and everyone feeling the pinch of the recession, companies are setting up stalls in shopping centres and advertising online and on national television.
The value of gold is currently at record-breaking levels(2), but in Sutton, for example, council trading standards officers found that prices being quoted by gold traders for a bracelet varied by almost 90 per cent.
Cllr Paul Bettison, chairman of LACORS, the regulatory body for councils, said:
“Unfortunately there are some people finding themselves in very difficult financial circumstances this year, who could well be lured into giving up their jewellery to help fund Christmas. Whilst a number of gold trading companies are quoting legitimate prices, trading standards officers have uncovered some companies happy to exploit consumers.
“People should not take the first offer they get but shop around as prices can vary significantly. I’d hate to think how much the £3 million Anglo-Saxon treasure unearthed in Staffordshire earlier this year would fetch if it were to be sent off to be valued.
“Others are using postal gold services as they are seen as a convenient way of gaining some extra money quickly. However, consumers only have a short time to either accept or decline an offer, so councils are recommending that people gain proof of postage if they want their gold back.
“Entering into discussions on doorsteps with uninvited traders is also not recommended. It is a well known distraction method for burglars.”
Examples of how trading standards have investigated traders, include:
- Sutton Council Trading Standards Officers took a 9ct gold bracelet to six different outlets and were offered prices ranging from £17 to £32 – a difference of almost 90 per cent.
- Hertfordshire County Council Trading Standards sent a bracelet which had previously been valued between £40 and £60 to a trading company advertising on national television and received a first offer of just £5.31. After the offer was refused, another offer of £30.62 was received.
The offer was made by cheque that had to be returned within seven days if the consumer wanted their gold back. However, no return address was provided. Despite several emails and phone calls, Hertfordshire trading standards were unable to indentify a return address and subsequently lost the bracelet.
- The London Borough of Barnet has received more than 130 complaints since July from consumers who are unhappy with the procedures of `cash for gold’ postal companies operating in the borough. A Trading Standards Officer took five items of 9ct gold jewellery: a ring, two bracelets and two broken gold necklaces, to a variety of premises and was offered between £40 and £80 for exactly the same items.
- Trading Standards Officers at Lincolnshire County Council have urged residents to photograph any items of jewellery together with any written valuations from other retailers, before sending gold to postal companies.
If anyone is concerned or feels that they have been exploited by a trader, they should contact either their council trading standards department or Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
ENDS
Note to editors
1) For further information on the case studies included above, please contact:
- Cristian Marcucci, Senior Media Officer, LB of Sutton Council, 0208 770 5131
- Andrew Dawson, Senior Press Officer, Hertfordshire County Council, 01992 588516
- Johnathan Schroder, London Borough of Barnet Press Office, 0208 359 7954
- Marianne Marshall, Lincolnshire County Council Press Office, 01522 553939
2) Gold hit $1,195.13 per ounce at around 4am GMT on 26/11 on the London Bullion Market, extending its record-breaking run. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/gold/6660647/Gold-price-breaks-1195-an-ounce.html
Author: LGA Media Office
Contact: LGA Media Office, Tel: 020 7664 3333
Trading Standards
Seems the Trading Standards Institute has taken issue with the way the postal gold companies deem silence as acceptance of an offer. On Radio 5 Live last night during Richard Bacons show, a spokesman told Nick Cosgrove (from the prestigious 5 Live Money Department) it was a grey area, but just because you may not contact the gold buyers instantly to perhaps refuse an offer they are most likely outside of the law in deeming your acceptance and smelting your gold.
My Gold Trickles Back
Had three packets of my gold finally returned yesterday. Money 4 Gold, Cash My Gold – and yes – Your Gold For Cash all sent it back! Had a call from Gold 2 Pounds yesterday afternoon offering to up the cash – but I was so busy I never asked what the new offer was, I simply asked them to return it to me.
Radio Five Live’s Nick Cosgrove
Just heard BBC R5 Live have also picked this story up. Well done them! Listen to Richard Bacon around midnight to hear what they think!
Your Cash For Gold – My Response.
I’m a bit pissed off with myself really. I backed down too quick in the face of threats. Not again. As I re-read the threat from Your Cash For Gold (after I’d removed the offending ‘name’ from the blog) I realised several things.
First off – (quote)
- “but you have no legal rights to personalise this matter.”- I’m not personalising it – his name happens to appear on thier stuff and I’ve published it, that’s all.
Second – (quote)
“The degree of defamation is extremely high and we hold you responsible. We have the means to pursue every legal avenue available to us and shall”- Well – what defamation EXACTLY have I commited? All I’ve done is to re-tell a sequence of events.
Third – (quote)
“It is not legally correct that the name David S****** has been associated with your complaints as this is not a personal matter and nothing to do with this person. It is your legal right to express your disappointment to the company Your Gold For Cash, but personalising this matter you have dishonoured an individual and we have to file a complaint against you for insulting Mr S**********”- Again – I haven’t personalised anything at all – I haven’t called him names, I haven’t implied he’s personally responsible in ANY WAY, I haven’t even associated him with Your Gold For Cash – his name just happened to appear on that companies paperwork, which I have showed here. And DISHONOURED? Gimme a break!
Finally (quote) -
“or you leave no other choice to us than fail a legal actions against you.”- Someone ought to use a spell checker at Your Gold For Cash. Unless they knew an action would ‘fail’ in any case?
Your Gold For Cash Get Upset
Email just recieved as follows.
Dear Andy, We are sending your gold back to you today. Please confirm when you will receive it. However, even though we asked you kindly to remove any names from your blog regarding the company and its employees, you have not comply with this request so we have no other option now than take a legal actions against you. Please feel free to leave the company name and any bad things said about the company in your blog, but you have no legal rights to personalise this matter. We view this as a publication. As a publication it is defamation. The degree of defamation is extremely high and we hold you responsible. We have the means to pursue every legal avenue available to us and shall.Well. I’ve really upset them haven’t I?
I’ll remove ‘his’ name from the blog. I guess the point has been made….
Goldmate – £8.44 per gram?
Just found a site called Goldmate. This is copied from their ‘Latest Gold Price’ page.
Latest Gold Price:
£8.44
This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 5:15 am and is filed under Latest Gold Price.
What I’d like to know is this. Are they paying this amount or trying to mislead me into believing that’s what I’ll get?
Your Cash For Gold – I get my gold back!
Copy of the email I just received -
Dear Andy, Thank you for your email. We will send your pack back, not a problem at all. Just to clarify couple points as part of our services. Indeed we did receive your gold on 2nd November and made you an offer the same day by email. As stated in our terms and conditions which you have also read and agreed with, it is made clear that the offer is made first for customer before sending any payments. As we never received any correspondence from you for more than 7 days we decided finally to send you a cheque. It is also stated in our webpage and in our terms and conditions how to act if you are not happy with our valuation. In all fairness, we have not destroyed your items but kept them in a safe place, and are willing to return those to you, though legally we are not obliged to do so. We appreciate that you have blurred the account number and in fairness we would appreciate if you could blur also all names as this is not a personal matter. Please note, that after all we are just trying to run a business and our intention is not to scam anyone. We apologise this misunderstanding and all the inconvenience this has caused to you. Please see below a chapter from our terms and conditions. Kind Regards, Customer Service Your Gold For Cash 10.������ You have read, understood and agreed to Your Gold for Cash purchasing policy �and that if we are unsuccessful in contacting you for more than seven consecutive business days we reserve the right to process your property (and make payment) without further reference to you and that once processed, the property cannot be recovered. �Furthermore once you have agreed with our valuation and requested payment this is an irrevocable transaction binding both you and Your Gold for Cash.Now, obviously I cannot prove I didn’t get an email with this offer – but trust me – I didn’t see it.
Something else that doesn’t add up to me is this. If normal practice is to smelt after seven business days and send a cheque – why didn’t that happen?
Why did it take THREE WEEKS to get a cheque?
No one will probably ever know…..
Post Gold For Cash – Confused dot com?
Had a lovely letter in the post today from my new ‘Gold Friend’ (their words, not mine!) Anne Diamond.
It tells me they’ve valued my items and are ready to make me an offer.
Slightly odd, because anyone reading this entire blog will know they rang me last week with an offer which I rejected.
Doh!
YourGoldForCash Email Me.
Yep – I’ve just had it in my inbox. This is the crowd you might remember who took weeks to send a cheque, didn’t return my calls and generally didn’t cover themselves in glory.
Email as follows
Dear Andy, It has brought to our attention that you have not been happy with our services. Could you please clarify the problem in full details as we still have your pack and there has been a misunderstanding in terms of your payment and correspondence in general. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience and are willing to comply with you. We understand that you have posted our cheque online, which is a huge security risk. We kindly ask you to remove it for security reason. This would be really helpful thanks. Otherwise we appreciate your opinion and freedom of expression Kind Regards Customer Service Your Gold For Cash.I’m considering my reply – and as much as I don’t think posting their cheque is a ‘huge security risk’ (after all – anyone can send them some gold and get one – eventually) I have blurred out their account number.
EDIT – My reply as follows
POSTAL GOLD EXPOSED BY CH4 NEWS
Just seen brilliant item on CH4 News at Noon confirming that Trading Standards are now heavily into investigating and exposing the postal gold companies.
The main one CH4 focused on was PostalGold.com who, it was claimed both undervalued and failed to return the customers items when the offer was rejected.
PostalGold had a weak response and simply stated they now offered longer for people to get their gold back.
Well Done CH4 for picking this story up.
Gold price hits a record high
Updated on 02 December 2009
Source PA News
Gold has surged to a new record high as investors seek a refuge from the weakness in the US dollar.
The precious metal raced above the 1,200 US dollars an ounce mark, to a high of 1,217 dollars, having tested the psychologically important level for the first time on Tuesday.
Gold prices have rocketed in recent months in correlation to the difficulties suffered by the dollar, which has been hurt by fears over the US economy.
Investors with large dollar holdings – including countries’ central banks – have focused on gold as a safe haven.
The pound and the euro are both now close to year-high levels against the greenback, worth around 1.67 US dollars and 1.51 dollars respectively.
Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets, said central banks in China, Russia and India had all looked to hedge their exposure to the falling dollar by buying into gold.
Improved access to the precious metal by small shareholders has also boosted its popularity.
“It is a store of value while investors have serious doubts about the global financial system,” he said.
“It is something that is not going to lose its value like a currency.”
The gold price is already climbing towards his prediction of 1,250 US dollars an ounce by the end of the year and he said there was “no reason” why it could not reach 1,500 dollars by the middle of next year.
Cash For Gold Complaints
Found a site this morning – http://cashforgoldcomplaints.com/ - Some VERY interesting information on there – mostly on the US version of our own UK postal gold buying scams, but still good.
The only thing is – the site is full of Google Ads – almost all sending you to those very companies!
GoldenOwl
I came across a new buyer today – a friend of mine had been approached in THE STREET nonetheless, and had been given a flyer for GoldenOwl. The leaflet says – and I quote – “And we’ll guarantee you won’t get a better price for your jewellery – anywhere”
Utter Bullshit folks. Their own site proudly rediorects you to the Compare My Gold site that boasts GoldenOwl paying £35.43 for 10 grams of 9ct. That’s only £3.54 per gram!
I SAY AGAIN – LOUD AND CLEAR – SHOP AROUND folks – walk around your home town and ask your local jewellers – You’ll double the price they pay. And maybe even more.
DONT LET THESE RIP OFF MERCHANTS GET AWAY WITH IT!
How Clever Are You?
Just surfing around today and came across ‘Compare My Gold – a site that apparently shows what everyone’s paying.
And it just proves what I’ve been saying all along – it’s cloaked up a bit to make GoldenOwl look good – (I do wonder if they’re sponsoring the site somehow since they appear to be best at everything) – but they have a table with prices confusingly listed per 10 grams. So I’ve converted it to per gram for you. See how bloody cheap they all are as compared to High Street Buyers. For Goodness sake – please dont fall for the hype folks – DONT POST YOUR GOLD – TO ANYONE!!!!!
-
Golden Owl £ 3.54
Goldmate £ 3.37
Gold2Pounds £ 3.33
Cash4jewellery £ 3.02
Guardian Jewellery £ 2.96
Cash4Gold £ 2.22
Money4Gold £ 2.02
Cashyourgoldnow £ 1.89
Cashmygold £ 1.67
Postal Gold £ 1.55
Shocking Eh?
Post Gold For Cash
Anne Diamond stars in this companies TV adverts (is there nothing she’ll do to get on tv?) and so I sent them 6.41 grams on Saturday 21st Nov.
Here is a story with a slight difference. I had a call from them on Monday evening offering me £32.90. When I declined the offer, there was no argument at all – the girl said she’d get my gold back into the post to me straight away.
As for the offer – not bad, but still not great. £32.90 equates to £5.13 per gram. Impressive eh? Well – not so impressive when you consider that had I sent them a larger quantity (lets say 25 grams) I would still have lost more than twenty quid against what the vast majority of high street dealers are offering. What’s more – I wouldn’t have had any waiting for the money either.
So – I guess if I was rating these companies out of ten, PGFC would score about seven out of ten.
Your Gold For Cash Cheque
As promised yesterday, here’s the scan of the cheque from ‘Your Gold For Cash’. It has to be said – 24 hours now since I rang to ask for the return of my gold – and still no contact back from them…. Note also the cheque is dated Nov 23rd – they signed for my gold on Nov 2nd. Am I impressed with this ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’ service? No. Would I advise you to sell to ‘Your Gold For Cash’? – NO!.
Your Gold For Cash FINALLY Pay Up
Anyone reading this blog will see that I spoke to Your Gold For Cash on Saturday regarding my gold and why they hadn’t paid me anything, even though they’d had my gold since Nov 2nd. Well, today – a cheque arrived. £19.93 has been sent for 5.42 grams of 9ct gold. So – that puts them at £3.67 per gram. Well less than half what high street shops are paying – but more worrying – if I hadn’t called – would they have ever sent me anything at all? The cheque is dated 23 Nov – so that’s exactly THREE WEEKS since the package was signed for.
Further – there’s just a cheque – no indication of what to do if I’m not happy and want my gold back, so when I’ve finished todays other work, I’ll go back to their site, have a look and see what I can do.
I’ll also post a scan of the cheque in due course.
EDIT – Just been to their site and they still claim to pay more than ‘the highstreet’. Sorry Your Cash Fo Gold – but that is an outright lie, decieving and utter bullshit.. – So – I’ve again called their number and demanded my gold be returned. Again – the operator has told me ‘a colleague’ will call me back in due course to arrange to return my gold. We’ll see – my betting is that after three weeks, they’ll have smelted it by now…
The Daily Mail Article….
There are growing concerns that Britons risk being ripped off to the tune of £500m as they lose their heads in the dash for cash
Read more –
Your Gold For Cash – £0.00 Per gram!
Your Gold For Cash – or not, as the case may be….
As you can see from the letter I got with the pre-paid envelope, they are by far the least professional looking crowd so far.
THE HISTORY
I got their letter on the 28th Oct, and returned the prepaid envelope on the 30th Oct. Oddly, the postcode supplied by them doesn’t actually have thier name on it all, but a company called James Needs and Associates… Anyway, after a visit to the Post Office this morning, they tell me it was delivered successfully on November 2nd before 10am. It was the second attempt at delivery by the way – no one there to sign for it on the first attempt. I’ve called Your Gold For Cash just now on 0871 666 1147 and it was answered by a polite fella who has promised me ‘one of his colleagues’ will call me back shortly to explain what’s gone wrong. I’m not rushing to judgement completely yet – but I have to say – it’s not looking good is it?
Here’s the letter they sent…
Have you sent anything to Your Gold For Cash and havent had a response? Tell me here using the Comment button please.
CYGN – Best of a Bad Bunch
Had the cheque from Cash Your Gold Now is todays post. And again – it’s bad – not nearly as bad as the others so far, but still very poor compared to high street buyers.
For 5.76G 0f 9ct they’ve paid me £23.06. That works out at exactly £4.00 per gram. Still though – only two thirds of what high street pawnbrokers and jewellers are paying – and they have shops to maintain! – and it’s certainly not the ‘best price’.
More Proof!
I’ve just seen a new ad on TV for ‘Postgoldforcash’… so, like a good investigator I went and had a look at their site and have ordered a bag… Interestingly, they have an anonymous survey posted on their site which reveals amounts paid out by various companies on 23g gold. Naturally, they pay ‘the most’ and trumpet £97 for 23g. This equates to £4.21 per gram. That’s the highest I’ve seen – so it’ll be interesting to see what they actually pay when the deal is done. Moreover – the survey shows the following…
- Gold To Pounds – £3.65 per gram
- Money 4 Gold – £2.07 per gram
- Postal Gold – £1.59 per gram
- Cash 4 Gold – £1.58 per gram
- Cash My Gold – £1.46 per gram
All the above are derived from another website so cannot guarantee the validity. But I will say they’re not so far off what I’ve found. Even the most generous dealer is paying less than two thirds of real value, the worst offender one quarter….
THE PRICES SO FAR
If you’re selling gold – beware – most high street pawnbrokers are now paying at least £6.00 per gram for 9ct gold.
This is what the TV Advertised companies are paying.
-
Money4Gold – £1.55 per gram
-
PostalGold.com – £1.48 per gram
-
Cash 4 Gold – £1.90 per gram
-
Cash My Gold – £1.34 per gram
-
Cash Your Gold Now – £4.00 per gram
S0 – the truth is revealed – if you’re selling gold – DONT POST IT!
I HAVE ALL THE EVIDENCE – DONT GET CONNED – DONT BE SCAMMED!!!!!
Cash4Gold – £1.90 per gram
Well – Cash4Gold’s cheque and letter arrived in the post today.
Still not good folks – but the best result in terms of what they pay so far. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still far from fair – at £1.90 per gram they’re still only paying less than one third of most high street pawnbrokers..
A tint bit of credit to them though – they’re the ONLY one so far that’s actually informed me what I’ve sold to them.
So – an actual analasys of what they’ve bought. They have listed the gold as 5.22 grams when it was actually 5.23, but I guess I can let one tenth of a gram go by.
When I looked closely at the cheque, I saw an extra ‘9′ that had been blanked out – maybe they were going to send me ninety nine quid and changed their minds? What do you think?
I’ve just called them to arrange return of the cheque…
The call was answered by a call centre (sounded Indian) which is fine. The girl was helpful and told me the address to return to which is
PO BOX 739, SHEFFIELD, S60 9HB.
Moments after hanging up, I then got a call from 01954 960 7000. A man apologised for missing the call, and was there anything he could do for me. I said no, everything was sorted and that was that. The slighty odd part of this is that 01954 code is in the Cambridge area, not Sheffield, where the rest of the operation appears to be based…
The cheque is going in the post today – Cash4Gold tell me it could be 7 to 10 days for me to get my gold back. We’ll see.
Postal Gold – £1.48 per Gram
Here’s a copy of an email I’ve just received. They had 6.52g of 9ct gold. The cheque they’re sending me means they are only paying £1.48 per gram – halfway in between the other two at the moment.
email as follows
Dear Mr. Andy Lockwood,
Congratulations! We have analysed the items you sent us using your Gold Kit and your gold has been
converted into cash!
Your Postal Gold payment has been sent; please find the details of the payment below:
Payment Method:CHEQUE
Payment Amount: £9.70
You should receive your payment via the method above over the next few days.
To take advantage of our 100% Satisfaction or Gold-Back Guarantee contact us within 10 days of the payment issue date by phone (0800 007 5807)
or email (support @ postalgold.com ).
Only then you will have an additional 7 days to return the payment to us.
We therefore strongly advise you to phone us before returning your payment.
After receipt of your payment we will send your jewellery back to you.
For full information, please refer to our terms and conditions which can be found at
www.postalgold.com/termsconditions .
We hope that you have enjoyed your experience with Postal Gold. If you, or your
friends and family, have any further old gold that you would like to turn into
cash; please contact us on freephone 0800 007 5807 or visit www.postalgold.com and order another
FREE Gold Kit.
Sincerely,
Postal Gold
The cheque has arrived – so here is the proof that yet another postal gold company is being unfair to you – the customer – in the extreme.
CashMyGold – £1.34 per gram Paid!!!!
I’m absolutely STAGGERED by this result – I really thought that Money4Gold UK would be the worst – as the first one back, they offered me just £1.55 per gram.
Well – Saturdays post gave me CashMyGold’s cheque. And it beggars belief – a derisory £1.34 per gram!!!!
I sent them an old sovereign mount of my wife’s – quite a nice piece actually, but she decided to let me use it. It weighed 5.95 grams and as you can see from the scan of the letter below, CashMyGold (with the tagline Best Prices Paid For Your Gold!!!!) have sent me a cheque for £8.03.
Needless to say, the cheque will be back to them in the post first thing this morning…
The company my nephew works for are now offering £6.00 per gram for the scrap stuff they buy – which means he will give me £35.70 for the same item. I’m not sure I want to let CashMyGold rob me of more than twenty seven quid!
Here’s the proof – the letter and cheque from CashMyGold. Again, I’ve blurred out my home address.
Have you been ripped off like this? If so – leave a comment here – I’d love to know! And so would Trading Standards I’m betting!
Money 4 Gold and that ‘Double G Guarantee’
You’ll have seen by now if you’ve read any of this blog or site so far, the scale of the loss you stand to make if you post off your gold to this new raft of companies advertising on TV all the time.
I just took another look at the bumf sent out to me by Money For Gold. They claim on their lefalet (and I quote) “Get the Highest Payout for your Broken or Unwanted Gold – That’s Our Guarantee” and then – “Find a higher price and we’ll double it”.
Rubbish – Crap – With the trading price of gold being £7.93 per gram for 9ct gold when they got my gold – and they paid £1.55 per gram – who’s the mug? Even with their supposed ‘Double G Guarantee’ they would still pay LESS THAN HALF of its REAL VALUE!
The Great Postal Gold Scam – Revealed at last
So – If you’ve found this blog you’ll have Googled the words gold scam or gold rip off or whatever.
I have to admit – I was expecting these postal gold companies to be stitching up the great British public – but until the envelope arrived from Money 4 Gold yesterday I had no idea exactly how much people are being conned out of.
I know TV adverts are expensive – and I know now every time time one of you good people out there posts your gold off it costs them a fiver (almost) – but still – but really – can that justify companies like Cash 4 Gold only paying a fraction of your golds real value?
I suppose it’s all about education isn’t it. If you don’t know – you’ll think you’ve done well – maybe.
Well – let me educate you – sell your gold by all means – but shop around first folks! Go down town and ask several pawnbrokers for a price.
I’m damn sure you’ll be better off. I’d bet a weeks pay on it actually.
HALL OF SHAME MAR 2010
- PostalGold.com - £1.67 per gram
- Cash My Gold - £1.97 per gram
- UK Cash4Gold.com -£ 2.11 per gram
HALL OF SHAME NOV 2009
- Cash My Gold - £1.34 per gram
- PostalGold.com - £1.48 per gram
- Money4Gold - £1.55 per gram
- Cash 4 Gold - £1.90 per gram
- Your Cash For Gold - £3.67 per gram
- GoldenOwl - £3.54 per gram
- Cash Your Gold Now - £4.00 per gram
- Post Gold For Cash - £5.13 per gram.
Links
- 10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee
- A Daily Mail Article
- AAA – The Great Fools Gold Rush (Daily Mail)
- Cash 4 Gold – Scam!
- Cash for Gold Scam – Andrew's Blog
- Cash For Gold Scams
- Cash4Gold Lawsuit
- Cockeyed Citizen
- Complaints Board
- Consumer Alert
- Daily Express Article
- David Icke Reveals The Truth
- Foul Business – Postal Gold
- Foul Business Report
- Lawers View of the Great Gold Rip Off
- Money Watch
- Money Watch – Have Money4Gold Stolen Your Gold?
- Newser.com
- Official Geezer Guide – Gold SCams
- Scrap Gold .Org Tips
- Tech Dirt
- UK Chatterbox
- X Complaints