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Customer Feedback about: The British Gold Refinery |
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21st August |
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I sent several items of gold to The British Gold Refinery including 9, 14, 18 and 22ct. I used jeweller’s scales and the site calculator. In total I estimated a total worth of £1180 give or take. After I had sent it I found this website with a lot of negative feedback, I immediately rang the company who assured me that it was all malicious feedback from competitors. Having not heard from them I telephoned and spoke to Brian who quoted me £759.47 and I immediately asked for my gold to be sent back, his response was to say he would get a better quote which I refused. His explanation for the poor quote was that the calculator was only a guide and that the market wasn't static yet this site has consistently quoted the price within a fluctuation per gram of 30p over the last five days. All my gold pieces were hallmarked so there was no need to test, yes you could say there were some administration charges but £436.00 - don't think so especially as they market their website as free testing, no obligation, guaranteed satisfaction. Brian states he will send my request down the line, personally I think I've a problem that’s why I'm contacting Manchester Trading Standards, Action Fraud (Police) and making an appointment with my solicitor.
Garry, Telford
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24th May |
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Stay clear of this company at all costs. I sent in a 12 setting sterling silver cutlery set, they took over a week to value it and then offered me a pittance of its worth. They continued to pester me with further offers despite me asking them to return my items. They then informed me I had to pay £100 for the return of my items if not they would melt it down and that I may not get the money first offered. They even offered to refund the money I deposited in their account if I accepted their offer. I am aware that my silver which is antique is worth more than double what they offered me. They are complete rip off merchants. I will be reporting them to Trading Standards. I am still waiting the return of my silver despite paying £100 for the return of it.
Elizabeth Slight
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23rd May |
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My son is a person with an acquired head injury
He wanted to sell his gold and contacted the above company.
The slider scale on their system indicated that he would receive about £3,400 for 400g of 9 ct gold.
We had expected some fluctuation in the actual price.
The offer actually made came to £2,200.
Their explanation was the price of gold had gone down and they had taken off the weight of stones and other metal.
To our knowledge the gold was British bought 9ct with minimal extras! Any stones etc would have been minimal…
We actually had not noticed anything along these lines. It looked like plain simple gold, some scraps of gold jewellery etc
But they made a big issue of them and the ‘other metals’ that contributed to lowering the price!
My son wanted return of his gold.
He has since received an email stating they want £50 paid into their account within 10 days or they will keep his gold and
sent an automatic payment which may be lower than their original quote!!
Their site, at this juncture, was still offering a higher price than they actually pay!
I think people need to be made aware of this sort of additional charge and business practice!!
Carol Selva
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3rd March |
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“I recently sent my scrap gold to "British Gold Refinery" and was waiting to find out how much they were going to pay me, it wasn't until I checked my bank account that I found that they had deposited a little over £90 a fraction of what it was worth, I contacted by email and they called me back on a mobile saying that all I had sent them wasn't conclusive and only paid me what they said was gold but when I ask them what was the amount of gold they had paid me for they couldn't answer my question, so I asked them to give me a breakdown in an email but they wouldn't so I asked them to return my gold which they replied "It will cost you £50" which is ridiculous, I told them that I wasn't going to leave it at that so they upped the offer by about £7 and if I didn't reply to them in ten days my gold will be refined and the extra will be deposited into my bank account, which it was, if anyone reads this email all I have to say to you is "AVOID THIS SO CALLED FIRM LIKE YOU WOULD AVOID THE PLAUGE ,I have been in touch with the trading standards it may be too late for me to get anything back but it may stop someone else from falling into their trap”
Vincent Tostin
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27th April |
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“This company is a scam that under values your items and then charges £35per pack +£15 postage and packing to get your items back and they threaten to refine your items if you do not pay. The address for this company is Suite 394 ST James Building 79 Oxford ST Manchester M1 6FQ they will not provide this they will only give you a p.o box.Trading standards Manchester are looking into this company.”
S Tomkins
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20th April |
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“I sent 140g of 18ct gold to British Gold Refinery and it took a week to be valued. The value they offered was 20% lower than indicated on their website. The British Gold Refinery has a calculator on their website where they allow you to enter the weight and carat of your gold and a price is displayed. This price is totally misleading because it is not the value the company offers. After I rejected the offer, British Gold Refiners increased its offer three times. However i declined the last offer that was still 15% below the price indicated on their calculator. I requested the return of my gold immediately, however British Gold Refinery informed me I would have to pay a fee of £50 before they would return my item. After protesting that this was extortion, I was forced to pay the fee to regain possession of my gold. They provided me with a sort code and account no for the RBS bank for payment of the £50 fee. I feel I was being held hostage by British Gold Refiners, if I refused to pay the return fee they would automatically give me the offer that I had refused. I intend to contact the Trading Standards in an attempt to pressure British Gold Refiners to return my £50 fee. PLEASE BE WARNED , if you send your gold to British Gold Refiners you will have to pay at least a £50 return fee no matter what they offer for your gold.”
Mick from York
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7th March |
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“AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!!!
If you refuse their offer they will not return your items unless you pay them £50 - even though it clearly states on their website that it does not cost a penny and your items will be returned to you free of charge. Read online reviews before you go near them - I wish I had!! And I am not a rival gold buying competitor (as they told me had written all the bad reviews about them). Just a normal working mum of 3 who cannot afford to be scammed like this!! I now have trading standards and the police involved. Nothing but stress since I posted my gold. ”
Lisa Tait
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3rd March |
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“I sent a 1 x 18ct 25 year service medal which weighed 25 grams (1 gram for each year of service) the medal had a value of £515 at the time this was based on their calculator (which is a joke the calculator apparently is only a guide and not what they are offering WHAT! ) I was offered £331.When I requested the medal be returned to me they quoted a charge of £55.00 to do this.When I queried this cost they stated administration and shipping to be the reason. Lets be honest £10.00 would surely have covered that cost. This left me in a position of a further loss if I had it sent back to me. When I complained again they upped their offer to £369 then I threatened to contact a solicitor and they increased the offer to £440 which I had to accept as I was between a rock and a hard place, as the medal cost me £470 was I prepared to lose 30 quid or have it returned to me and lose even more based on a ridiculous charge of £55.00. I urge anyone who is about to sell any amount of scrap gold to THEBRITISHGOLDREFINERY to avoid these fly by night con artists. Their website is impressive but completely false. I could not find a way of leaving my views on this lot at the time. I would like to thank comparegoldprice.co.uk for giving me the opportunity to leave a review on this dodgy outfit and hope that my experience will help others to avoid the same disappointment.”
Ray Piller
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22nd February |
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“WARNING This is not a genuine outfit. I send some scrap, took 10days to come up with value of less than half was offered local. Then had to pay £50 to get it returned. They did return it after they got the money on the day promised. Prices on their calculator is nothing like they offer and after first offer up the price 3 times. BE WARNED.”
John Marshall
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28th October |
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“Dear Sir/madam, I am sorry to say I had a very negative experience with the British Gold Refinery. I sent them 30g of pure 24 carat gold tablet, issued and marked as from the Toronto dominion bank. British gold refinery were quick to send packing to send then gold to them. Once the gold was there they offered me a price which was 15% below the value of the gold. I said the offer was not acceptable and they should return my gold. They did not act on this instruction but made a second offer which was not acceptable to me. I asked the gold to be returned and was told it would sent out to me in 2 days, 4 days later I had not received my gold. I rang again and spoke to a woman in their call centre, who was polite and helpful but I realised they were reluctant to return my gold as she put forward another poor offer. At this point I had to say that I had asked them to return my gold and they were refusing to do so and I would seek legal action against them as I would now consider the matter as theft. My gold was returned 2 weeks after I had sent it to them and 12 days after I rejected their offer and asked them to return it. People are being taken advantage of. The British Gold Refinery has a calculator on their website where they allow one to enter the weight and carat of the gold and a price is displayed. This price is misleading because it is not the value the company offers. Yes they need to make a profit but their margins are too high. People need to be treated more fairly.”
Satty, Brighton
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27th September |
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“Steer clear from The British Gold Refinery. I sent them my gold which was estimated on their website to be worth £311.64. I didn’t expect the full cost as I understand that companies have to make a profit. I received an email the following day saying that my gold had been received and that I would hear from them in 4 to 5 working days. After 6 days I called and got through to a call centre. The lady on the phone told me the offer they had for me was £163.40. I told her that that was less than I had been offered 4 years previously and that I would rather have the gold back as this was an insult and daylight robbery. She said that she would try and get me a better offer. Two days and 3 phone calls later I was being told that the offer took into consideration the cost of having the gold checked by the lab and that by the time they had got round to making the offer the price of gold had dropped to £12.64, this offer however was at £7 per gramm and I don’t think it was my place to have to pay for the lab testing. I also noticed in the small print that if you refuse an offer and want your gold back you have to write and ask them for it within 3 days or they will automatically give you the offer that you refused. All in all, I’ve had the worse selling experience of my life and would advise anyone to totally steer clear from these ‘cowboys’, I still haven’t received a second offer and I’m now having to involve Trading Standards just to have my own gold back.”
Sylvia McDonald
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15th September |
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“I sent 60g of 9ct gold to The British Gold Refinery. Firstly I was surprised that it took a week for the gold to be valued. The impression from their information was that everything is done very quickly, and so 12 days from start to finish was longer than I'd anticipated. Secondly I had expected to receive a phone call with an offer for my gold, but the money was paid straight into my account, which meant I was then tied into the condition that if I wasn't happy and wanted my gold returned, I would have to inform the company in writing within 3 days, return the money, and then pay at least £35 + postage before they would return my items. There is a 'Spot Checker' on their web site which calculates the price of gold, which varies continuously. The value of my gold according to this varied between £825 and £845. The company paid me £501.80. I was shocked and very disappointed. Obviously I hadn't expected the full value, but I had certainly expected a much higher amount than I'd received. I phoned the company and a very sympathetic lady told me she'd contact the valuers and see if she could get me a better price. She phoned later to say the very best they could do was to give me another £14. I feel I've been robbed, but will accept the money because it's too much trouble to get the gold returned. I've learned a lesson! I wouldn't recommend this company, but if you do use it, please make sure you read and understand the terms and conditions, so that you can consider their offer before they pay you the money.”
Grace from Southampton
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19th August |
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“I am currently in dispute with The British Gold Refinery regarding some items I sent to them. I rejected a very poor offer twice and asked for my items to be returned, to which they have said that want £50 for, because they have extensively tested the gold. Please warn your website readers about this sham firm. I made a mistake when I read your site, I read Gold Refiners, put that into Google and chose the first one that came up.... the wrong one. The customer services are terrible at this company, 5 days to test two item, leaving it late on a Friday evening to contact me, knowing they close at six. Any advice on getting my items back, so I can send them to the correct firm you recommended would be greatly appreciated.”
Ian
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4th August |
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“The British Gold Refinery's advert is very misleading as they give you refined gold price not price as advertised. They gave us just over £700 when our local Jeweller's offered us £945 a big difference. I would not use them again.”
Ellen Gardiner
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