U.S. Gold Bureau REVIEW: U.S. Gold Bureau dedicated to total customer satisfaction. U.S. Gold Bureau is leading choice for education & investments in precious metal bullion bars, coins, Investment Grade & numismatic coins, diamonds, & other alternative assets.
At the end of 2010 I purchased a 1989 set of gold coins from United States Gold Bureau for $6,900. I received many call from them trying to sell me more sets. 1 week ago I received one of these calls and asked what my set was worth. I was told it is worth $9,300 and it was a good investment.
I called them on April 23 regarding selling my set and they informed me that their "buyback" price was $6,600. When I told them what I had been told by one of their salemen about the value of my set in todays market being $9,300 he told me that this was correct and that I needed to hold on to the set for at least 3 years to get maximum return. I then confronted him on why they pay $6,600 when it is worth $9,300 and he did not have any answer other thatn this is their buyback policy and they are "for-profit".
THESE ARE SCAMMERS. They are reprehensible and should be taken to court on their business practices and lies.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Golden Service
Austin,Texas,
United States of America
Settling confusion regarding this customer's purchase
#3UPDATE Employee
Wed, April 25, 2012
We personally spoke with the individual that filed this complaint in an attempt to better understand why he felt that he had been misled. I have worked for this company for years, and they are not in the business of trying to mislead anybody. And, after speaking with this consumer, we believe that he better understands the relationship between the buy-sell spread on the product that he owns.
First of all, it may not be clear that the product the customer is referring to is a very rare specimen of a 1989 four coin set. In fact, at the time that this is being written, there are only 262 of them known to exist of that exact same type from the exact same grading agency. As such, this demands a much higher spread than if the customer had purchased, for example, a raw 1989 gold bullion coin - of which there were more than 807,000 produced that year.
Second, the consumer has only owned this particular product for about 1.5 years; when it was purchased it was clearly explained that in normal market conditions, you must plan to retain the product for three to five years in order to allow for average appreciation to cover the spread difference. The product is difficult to acquire, costly to carry, and in high demand with low supply - all of these characteristics add up to a wider spread than products that are in significant abundance, such as bullion coins.
Fortunately for this customer, our knowledgeable staff sold him one of the most rare four coin sets in that series. The customer may not have made the decision to purchase that particular coin set had he not received the recommendation from our firm.
Finally, the consumer in this situation is already "in the money" depending upon the method he chooses to liquidate his investment. Based on the conversation we had with the client today, we learned that we did not have the opportunity to explain to him all of the various options for liquidating his investment at the time of the first call. Unfortunately, this caused some confusion and frustration, which lead to the filing of his complaint on this site.
Obviously, we would not have been in the business that we are in for as long as we have if we were attempting to mislead our valued customers. Were sorry that a misunderstanding led to this customers position regarding the matter, and we believe that he now better understands the relationship between the spreads on the product that he owns.
Flynrider
Phoenix,Arizona,
USA
I don't get it.
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, April 23, 2012
Your complaint seems to be that they will not buy your coins back for $9,300. Are they obligated to buy your coins back? Does that obligation stipulate at what price? What's stopping you from selling them to some other buyer?
Since you apparently have Internet access, it should be easy to find out what your coins are worth on the open market. You seem to be relying on the seller to advise you on pricing (for buying and selling). That's not a wise investment strategy.