Chards Sale Now On!

[Wolves]

Hello Forum. Today is the last day of Chards spring sale you may bag a bargain.

[HelpingHands]

@Wolves Ive merged your post here

[Martlet]

Should we draw any significance that the 2019 proof sovereigns have remained on sale all week and still in stock?  Peak proofs?

[Robjw]

On 03/04/2019 at 18:51, kimchi said:

I've never bought from Chards. I tried to once via a local friend in that I would make payment and my friend would collect and post down to me with some other stuff, thus saving me postage and making it cheaper than elsewhere, but for some reason they wouldn't allow it (it wasn't a big purchase) which I found baffling, but all businesses seem to have baffling policies and rules these days. I don't hold it against Chards - I just went somewhere else for that purchase. In fact in this case I can see why Chards might have a blanket policy against someone paying and then someone else collecting (although as any/all authorisation was offered it should have been allowed imvho) - it makes it a tight ship. My own purchase might have been small but where do you draw the line?

Anyway!

@Fastnick brought up Harrington & Byrne, so I think it was absolutely fair for Ian to reply, and in my limited experience he was spot on. I bought 3 bullion Sovs from them and the chap phoned me up to tell me I was basically stupid to buy bullion and that I was missing thousands of pounds of profits from not buying their proofs each time (at 30% plus of recent Mint issue prices - £1500 for a Gruffalo, almost double). He kept me on the phone for an hour with his nonsense (OK I could have ended at any time but I was interested to see the 'tactics').

Since then, and despite opting out of all marketing when I made my internet order, Harrington & Byrne have been bombarding me with daily letters and emails offering me coins I don't want at astronomical prices. A loss leader indeed.

I feel (from friends) with Chards what you see is probably what you get. I might be wrong as I haven't had anything from them. Harrington & Byrne though are extremely aggressive in their upselling, it's becoming a pain here to get their daily post spam every day, and if someone brings up their prices on just one coin (which is undoubtedly a loss leader indeed) in reply to Chards I think it's only right that Chards comment.

Someone thinks that making a topic advertising a price drop on certain coins on here is as aggressive as spamming someone's physical postbox and email account daily with 'fake' claims about coins and potential? They are already selling them to you at (up to) almost twice the issue price, and will tell you on the phone you will make a profit on them? So anyone want to buy my Peter Rabbit 2019 for the £1500 they reckon it's worth and are trying to sell me another one of? Thought not! 🤣

On 02/04/2019 at 12:11, Robjw said:

Some might find dealers signing up to a PM forum to advertise just as aggressive

 

You bought 3 bullion Sovs at a great price, cheaper than you can get them anywhere else, so cheap in fact that you bought 3 of them when I thought it was 2 per household. For this you are expected to get some sort of marketing from them as they attempt to recover losses from the offer.

As for the email spam, phone calls and post:

I have an email for purchases that I keep separate from my personal email, the reason being that for the last couple of decades emails have been spammed by just about anyone you give your email out to, thats not just H&B, Amazon spam me daily and is why I only ever give out my personal email to people I want to receive emails from.

Phone calls are easy to stop, do not call anymore or I will have to report you to my phone provider, even better, dont give them your correct phone number but ultimately try not to stay on the phone to them for an hour, they will get the message and stop calling, not all people are into wasting hours of their time on calls, thats businesses included.

Post is another easy one, in the bin you go. I get spam post all the time from people I have never heard of, its a part of life. (I even asked royal mail not to deliver junk post)

 

H&B had a great sale on a coin, Chards asked for feedback on their sale where some items on "sale" were cheaper other places without a sale, H&B were highlighted as an example of what a sale should be in some eyes and from that Chards started to rip into other companies marketing tactics instead of addressing what was being said about their sale prices.

I am not defending H&B and their tactics however, at the end of the day you got a great price. Most understood they would attempt to recover their money by trying to up sell and get you to purchase coins way overpriced, you knew this, people pointed it out before and its been said before.

H&B are and have been very aggressive with phone calls, emails and post but I am sure Chards post, email and call their customers too, it might not be as aggressively but they do the same thing just like all other businesses. So it is and was totally unreasonable to justify their "sale" by shifting over to another companies marketing tactics.

[kimchi]

4 hours ago, Robjw said:

You bought 3 bullion Sovs at a great price, cheaper than you can get them anywhere else, so cheap in fact that you bought 3 of them when I thought it was 2 per household. For this you are expected to get some sort of marketing from them as they attempt to recover losses from the offer.

I'm not quite sure why I'm bothering to answer someone who doesn't even know what the offer was (3 coins per household was clear as day on the order page) but heigh ho, I wouldn't like to see such nonsense go unchallenged on here - we try to look after each other.

I wasn't expected to get anything since I opted out of ALL marketing on the order page. So they are breaking the new rules.

Chard were challenged on their deals versus this one and explained the reason for that other company's offer, quite professionally but at the same time nicely informal I thought. They engage with us here, so many other companies don't. They are not above criticism (see the recent Sovereign thread) but I have no reason myself to criticise nor praise them as I've never used them. I like it here - companies receive good and/or critical reviews from trusted members, I think that's important.

I would like to see Harrington & Byrne come on here and persuade any of us that any of the recent gold proof 50ps will be a huge money maker even if we buy from them at twice the Mint price. They would be ridiculed beyond belief.

[Robjw]

31 minutes ago, kimchi said:

I'm not quite sure why I'm bothering to answer someone who doesn't even know what the offer was (3 coins per household was clear as day on the order page) but heigh ho, I wouldn't like to see such nonsense go unchallenged on here - we try to look after each other.

I wasn't expected to get anything since I opted out of ALL marketing on the order page. So they are breaking the new rules.

Chard were challenged on their deals versus this one and explained the reason for that other company's offer, quite professionally but at the same time nicely informal I thought. They engage with us here, so many other companies don't. They are not above criticism (see the recent Sovereign thread) but I have no reason myself to criticise nor praise them as I've never used them. I like it here - companies receive good and/or critical reviews from trusted members, I think that's important.

I would like to see Harrington & Byrne come on here and persuade any of us that any of the recent gold proof 50ps will be a huge money maker even if we buy from them at twice the Mint price. They would be ridiculed beyond belief.

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I'm not quite sure why I'm bothering to answer someone who doesn't even know what the offer was (3 coins per household was clear as day on the order page) but heigh ho, I wouldn't like to see such nonsense go unchallenged on here - we try to look after each other.

2 - 3 - 4 or 10 makes no difference, whats nonsense is you defending another company attacking another for their marketing tactics, you took advantage of a deal and in that deal you were fully aware that they are going to try and sell you to make up for that loss in some way. 

As for looking after each other not really sure what that means in regards to the amount you could buy, I do apologise I thought it was 2 but clearly I was mistaken.

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I wasn't expected to get anything since I opted out of ALL marketing on the order page. So they are breaking the new rules.

Report them, dont use a email you care about getting spam email on and dont use your correct phone number, removes those problems right out the gate and after all youre taking advantage of their deal but then crying about the personal cost of you buying them. You were aware of their "tactics" as you stated so you cant then cry foul.

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Chard were challenged on their deals versus this one and explained the reason for that other company's offer, quite professionally but at the same time nicely informal I thought. 

Accusing another company of dishonest selling in relation to their own deals being called out is again nonsense, nothing professional about that at all. 

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They engage with us here, so many other companies don't. They are not above criticism (see the recent Sovereign thread) but I have no reason myself to criticise nor praise them as I've never used them. I like it here - companies receive good and/or critical reviews from trusted members, I think that's important.

I stated many times over that I  was also very grateful that they engage on the forum and post here, I assume you missed that part on my posts.

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I would like to see Harrington & Byrne come on here and persuade any of us that any of the recent gold proof 50ps will be a huge money maker even if we buy from them at twice the Mint price. They would be ridiculed beyond belief.

You have a company, they list coins for at stupid prices, as a knowledgeable person in the PM world you understand that these are stupid prices and do not buy them. If someone else does because they could not be bothered to research the prices before buying then that is their choice, ignorance is not a valid excuse.

I agree they would be ridiculed and I personally would never buy from them unless it was one of those crazy deals.

 

 

Thank you for the feedback, our prices are set at the lowest we can offer as a business but if we have a better single sale or deal in the future we will be sure to post and let people know. The H&B was a great deal but from what we hear they are really aggressive and end up spamming you with marketing to make up for the losses they take when running such deals.

We have much better selection of coins compared to H&B and our prices are much more realistic right across our products.

 

The above is what I call professional, it doesnt call another company  and accuse them of dishonest selling or being shady in some way, regardless of if they are right or not. Its bad form in my eyes. In other more legal forms its called slander.

Either way its nothing personal, it was me giving my feedback on a company not an individual, you took what I said and decided to make it about me personally like I feel dealers signing up to the forum is aggressive marketing, I said some people might, not that I do.

[SILVERFINGER]

Cant believe I wasted 5 minutes of my life reading that.

[kimchi]

8 minutes ago, Robjw said:

2 - 3 - 4 or 10 makes no difference, whats nonsense is you defending another company attacking another for their marketing tactics, you took advantage of a deal and in that deal you were fully aware that they are going to try and sell you to make up for that loss in some way.

I don't see any 'attack', I see a company explaining exactly how another one operates when asked why they can't match that kind of deal - and in fact I thought they could have said an awful lot worse (first hand experience as a customer).

How was I 'fully aware' that I was going to get anything other than simply the coins I purchased, seeing as i opted out of Harrington & Byrne's exhaustive marketing options before I bought the coins?

[Bullionaire]

4 minutes ago, kimchi said:

How was I 'fully aware' that I was going to get anything other than simply the coins I purchased, seeing as i opted out of Harrington & Byrne's exhaustive marketing options before I bought the coins?

Whilst i don't really want to get involved in this little argument, I've been doing some research on this today (as I'm trying to stop the physical H+B spam myself) and the boxes you can tick online were only to opt out of junk emails and phone calls (I haven't received either of those after ticking the opt out boxes). Apparently the GDPR doesn't require an opt-in box for physical (direct) marketing. As per the H+B privacy policy though, you can write or email them to be removed from the physical mailing list. I wrote to them a week or two ago requesting this, however this has been ignored. I've emailed them today reiterating my opt-out and told them that if they send more marketing I would report them to the ICO for violating their own privacy policy. I'm not 100% sure if this is a GDPR breach, but it's worth a go imo.

[Robjw]

 

39 minutes ago, kimchi said:

I don't see any 'attack', I see a company explaining exactly how another one operates when asked why they can't match that kind of deal - and in fact I thought they could have said an awful lot worse (first hand experience as a customer).

 

Ill just go with the one that stands out the most, "dishonest selling" thats an attack at another company. 

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I see a company explaining exactly how another one operates

Interesting I assume they have first hand knowledge because they work for H&B on the weekend?

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and in fact I thought they could have said an awful lot worse (first hand experience as a customer).

If Ian made an account and wanted to give his "first and experience as a customer" feedback then by all means and I would of ignored the post and gone about my day.

However as the post is by a company account for a company sale I find it very unprofessional to "attack" another company because they cant compete on their deals.

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How was I 'fully aware' that I was going to get anything other than simply the coins I purchased, seeing as i opted out of Harrington & Byrne's exhaustive marketing options before I bought the coins?

Well you spent an hour on the phone to them so clearly it wasnt that big of a deal to you anyway, lesson learnt for the future and now you can share you feedback on the forum about their marketing. When they have another deal in the future you can avoid buying anything.

[Robjw]

4 minutes ago, Bullionaire said:

Whilst i don't really want to get involved in this little argument, I've been doing some research on this today (as I'm trying to stop the physical H+B spam myself) and the boxes you can tick online were only to opt out of junk emails and phone calls (I haven't received either of those after ticking the opt out boxes). Apparently the GDPR doesn't require an opt-in box for physical (direct) marketing. As per the H+B privacy policy though, you can write or email them to be removed from the physical mailing list. I wrote to them a week or two ago requesting this, however this has been ignored. I've emailed them today reiterating my opt-out and told them that if they send more marketing I would report them to the ICO for violating their own privacy policy. I'm not 100% sure if this is a GDPR breach, but it's worth a go imo.

Hopefully they stop after getting your email, I think a lot of companies who spam their customers wont stop unless you have recorded delivery or as you have done today email them asking for it to stop.

 

[kimchi]

4 minutes ago, Robjw said:

Ill just go with the one that stands out the most, "dishonest selling" thats an attack at another company.

Sounds pretty representative of what I've experienced so far (and quite a polite way of putting it).

Not sure how describing exactly how a business operates is an 'attack'.

5 minutes ago, Robjw said:

Well you spent an hour on the phone to them so clearly it wasnt that bog of a deal to you anyway, lesson learnt for the future and now you can share you feedback on the forum about their marketing. When they have another deal the you can avoid buying them.

I could have politely tied up the conversation in a minute or two (I wasn't given much of a chance, but I'm old and ugly enough etc). I was at a loose end, and never having experienced such a condescending and (imo) lying upsell before, I was interested to see how they worked it. There are vulnerable people who receive these kinds of calls. I was recommended a set at almost £30k as I said with the assurance that I would be able to break it up and make a fortune. That sort of money/bad advice could bankrupt someone.

I was also interested in how much they reckon my own recent proof purchases are 'worth' so I went through some of those with the chap. He didn't even know the mintages of some of the most recent proof 50ps but was still telling me that I would make money if I e.g. bought a Gruffalo from them for £1500, or £1200 for Paddington (still in stock at the Mint for hundreds less).

I actually had another bullion order with them, a 1/4 Beast. I cancelled that despite the good price, on principle.

[Robjw]

1 minute ago, kimchi said:

Sounds pretty representative of what I've experienced so far (and quite a polite way of putting it).

Not sure how describing exactly how a business operates is an 'attack'.

I could have politely tied up the conversation in a minute or two (I wasn't given much of a chance, but I'm old and ugly enough etc). I was at a loose end, and never having experienced such a condescending and (imo) lying upsell before, I was interested to see how they worked it. There are vulnerable people who receive these kinds of calls. I was recommended a set at almost £30k as I said with the assurance that I would be able to break it up and make a fortune. That sort of money/bad advice could bankrupt someone.

I was also interested in how much they reckon my own recent proof purchases are 'worth' so I went through some of those with the chap. He didn't even know the mintages of some of the most recent proof 50ps but was still telling me that I would make money if I e.g. bought a Gruffalo from them for £1500, or £1200 for Paddington (still in stock at the Mint for hundreds less).

I actually had another bullion order with them, a 1/4 Beast. I cancelled that despite the good price, on principle.

You are moving away from my point though, I understand what you are saying when it comes to H&B but my argument was that Chards, the company posting under their own brand on the forum should not be attacking another company because their deal was mentioned.

In monetary terms at least it was a great deal and there was no reason for Chards to then call this company out for how they operate, true or not. This is not a personal thing at all, I would of called out any company doing the same.

Ive admitted it already, I let this get to me more than it should of and ive apologised for that too but I will not just be called out for my opinion and let it go unquestioned either like you said in your last post, on principle.

 

As for everything you pointed out, vulnerable people, lying to upsell and all the other issues with H&B, I think it is disgusting what they do and people that have bought from them facing the same problems should report them, even start a thread here on the forum so that others can be aware of it.