Blocked from buying gold

[SovereignStacker4]

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me understand I little bit more about why my bank won’t allow me to buy any gold from ATS Bullion and if anyone else has had anything similar. 
 

I’ve just tried buying some Tudor beasts coins from ATS bullion as they're having a sale and upon attempting to make a bank transfer to them my bank account got blocked. After speaking on the phone to them for 30 minutes and getting passed on to the fraud team and answering a few questions they decided they’re not going to go ahead and grant me access to buy from that site and have blocked any attempts I might make in the future and told me to do “ some research” when/where I spend my own money
 

Is this a normal thing for a bank to do? I’ve never had this happen before and just a little shocked that a bank would block me from spending my own money. 

[Zhorro]

3 minutes ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me understand I little bit more about why my bank won’t allow me to buy any gold from ATS Bullion and if anyone else has had anything similar. 
 

I’ve just tried buying some Tudor beasts coins from ATS bullion as they're having a sale and upon attempting to make a bank transfer to them my bank account got blocked. After speaking on the phone to them for 30 minutes and getting passed on to the fraud team and answering a few questions they decided they’re not going to go ahead and grant me access to buy from that site and have blocked any attempts I might make in the future and told me to do “ some research” when/where I spend my own money
 

Is this a normal thing for a bank to do? I’ve never had this happen before and just a little shocked that a bank would block me from spending my own money. 

This is the problem with everything being on-line now.  Yes, it is easy, and common, for banks to block transactions, but I am really surprised that after you had spoken to them, they still did not allow the transaction.

I like to deal with dealers/people that take cheques - yes, there is a delay whilst the cheque clears, but I've never had any of my cheques stopped.

I think you have to take things further with your bank, and threaten to report them to the banking ombudsman.

[goldlips]

get back on to the phone to them NOW and tell them you want to make a official complaint, NOW

[goldlips]

play your cards right, threaten them with the banking obudsman, and you might get £25 out of them, when they ask you how you want the compaint resolved, tell them you want your purchase to go through, and you want £25 credited to your account for the inconvenience and you having to make phone calls

[SovereignStacker4]

1 minute ago, Zhorro said:

This is the problem with everything being on-line now.  Yes, it is easy, and common, for banks to block transactions, but I am really surprised that after you had spoken to them, they still did not allow the transaction.

I like to deal with dealers/people that take cheques - yes, there is a delay whilst the cheque clears, but I've never had any of my cheques stopped.

I think you have to take things further with your bank, and threaten to report them to the banking ombudsman.

I’ve never had a problem with everything being online, in fact I thought it was actually quite handy and convenient not having to do anything and just buying everything from the comfort of my home but not anymore. I’m tempted to go down to my bank and withdraw all my money from them lol 

Im surprised they blocked me after talking to them as well. I thought it was annoying at first that the payments wouldn’t go through but no biggie, I’ll just phone them up and explain to them that everything is okay, figured they’ll say no worries it’s just precaution and allow me to spend my money but to then block me after answering questions and telling me “to do some research” that part has annoyed me a little. 
 

 

[Darr3nG]

 

[SovereignStacker4]

8 minutes ago, goldlips said:

get back on to the phone to them NOW and tell them you want to make a official complaint, NOW

It is tempting to do that, I’m more annoyed that they’re dictating what I can/can’t spend my own money on. I think I might close my account with them and open up with a different branch instead and be done with them, Although they’ll probably have the exact same policies. 

[goldlips]

2 minutes ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

I’ve never had a problem with everything being online, in fact I thought it was actually quite handy and convenient not having to do anything and just buying everything from the comfort of my home but not anymore. I’m tempted to go down to my bank and withdraw all my money from them lol 

Im surprised they blocked me after talking to them as well. I thought it was annoying at first that the payments wouldn’t go through but no biggie, I’ll just phone them up and explain to them that everything is okay, figured they’ll say no worries it’s just precaution and allow me to spend my money but to then block me after answering questions and telling me “to do some research” that part has annoyed me a little. 
 

 

buddy dont let them get away with it stand up for youself and get on to the phone, tell them you want to make a official complaint.

Just now, SovereignStacker4 said:

It is tempting to do that, I’m more annoyed that they’re dictating what I can/can’t spend my own money on. I think I might close my account with them and open up with a different branch instead and be done with them, Although they’ll probably have the exact same policies. 

dont be tempted DO it, after what the banks did to farage, i hate these scum bags even more now

[Zhorro]

2 minutes ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

I’ve never had a problem with everything being online, in fact I thought it was actually quite handy and convenient not having to do anything and just buying everything from the comfort of my home but not anymore. I’m tempted to go down to my bank and withdraw all my money from them lol 

Im surprised they blocked me after talking to them as well. I thought it was annoying at first that the payments wouldn’t go through but no biggie, I’ll just phone them up and explain to them that everything is okay, figured they’ll say no worries it’s just precaution and allow me to spend my money but to then block me after answering questions and telling me “to do some research” that part has annoyed me a little. 
 

 

I think you have to take it further otherwise you are never going to be able to buy gold again!

Maybe ask them whether they have run out of money, and whether this is the reason they are not able to complete your transaction.  And then say to are going to report this to the news media!

[Tn21]

Is it NatWest bank ?

[SovereignStacker4]

I’ve just phoned them up again and asked if I could get the block removed/a better reason on why they have blocked me from making any purchases from them and they said they’ve had recent complaints of scams from that site so as a prevention they’ve blocked my account from them. I’ve asked for it to be lifted and have someone phoning me within a couple of days to discuss it further. 
 

Appreciate all your help and advice! 

Just now, Tn21 said:

Is it NatWest bank ?

It’s nationwide 

[Tn21]

The process may take a few days. Very frustrating but the payment should get authorised with some human intervention 

[Darr3nG]

1 minute ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

recent complaints of scams from that site

I doubt the scam is from the ATS side, more likely credit-card charge backs!

[SovereignStacker4]

This is the site that I had been trying to buy from, could anyone confirm that this is in fact the correct site and I’m not being dumb and got the wrong one 😅

https://www.atsbullion.com

if anyone is after a deal they’re selling the Tudor beats Yale and bull for £1600 each as long as your bank doesn’t block you 😅

 

[SovereignStacker4]

4 minutes ago, Tn21 said:

The process may take a few days. Very frustrating but the payment should get authorised with some human intervention 

I have brought the two items but they are “on hold” until I make the bank the transfer, do you know how long they usually keep things on hold for? 
 

I’m not sure whether to go ahead and buy them from a different site, just a little hesitant incase the order with ATS does get authorised and I’ve then brought 4 lots of items lol 

[Tn21]

Well my issue was with NatWest, a bank transfer got blocked on Friday. 

Tuesday it got resolved

 

[JohnA1]

47 minutes ago, goldlips said:

get back on to the phone to them NOW and tell them you want to make a official complaint, NOW

Commendable attitude, however it may be worth going through the terms&conditions. There are just so many weasel words and hazy definitions when it comes to intervention on transactions.

They have the upper hand, the final say and you've agreed in advance.

They're all like this now, even building societies it seems 😒

[SovereignStacker4]

1 minute ago, JohnA1 said:

Commendable attitude, however it may be worth going through the terms&conditions. There are just so many weasel words and hazy definitions when it comes to intervention on transactions.

They have the upper hand, the final say and you've agreed in advance.

They're all like this now, even building societies it seems 😒

Seems crazy to me that they have the upper hand regarding what I’m allowed to spend my own money on. Even after answering their questions and confirming I’m okay with the purchase going ahead they still say no! 
 

Will hopefully get the block lifted when they phone me up 🤞

[JohnA1]

1 minute ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

Seems crazy to me that they have the upper hand regarding what I’m allowed to spend my own money on. Even after answering their questions and confirming I’m okay with the purchase going ahead they still say no! 
 

Will hopefully get the block lifted when they phone me up 🤞

Well technically it is NOT your money. You've transfered ownership.

Now you are just an unsecured creditor to the bank.

[SovereignStacker4]

2 minutes ago, JohnA1 said:

Well technically it is NOT your money. You've transfered ownership.

Now you are just an unsecured creditor to the bank.

Damn I hate technicalities 😅

Tbh I’ve never really had any problems with banks before in the past so never cared to read up on all the legalities and whatnot but having this experience with them is kind of an eye opener. 

[Spyder]

7 minutes ago, JohnA1 said:

Well technically it is NOT your money. You've transfered ownership.

Now you are just an unsecured creditor to the bank.

That is how all those Cypriots got their money taken from their accounts a few years ago. 

If I find a bank that wants to tell me how to spend my money, then the next day that account gets cancel and closed.  I always have three to four banks at any one time. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by Spyder

[SovereignStacker4]

5 minutes ago, Spyder said:

If I find a bank that wants to tell me how to spend my money, then the next day that account gets cancel and closed.  I always have three to four banks at any one time. 

I’m thinking about closing my account with nationwide and moving elsewhere but it seems like every bank is going through the same thing, idk how much help it’d be. 

[Spyder]

1 minute ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

I’m thinking about closing my account with nationwide and moving elsewhere but it seems like every bank is going through the same thing, idk how much help it’d be. 

I have had very little trouble with Santander with buying precious metal online, nor Barclays.  I have also opened an account the an Italian bank called Fineco Bank I use this account to trade currency and to buy American shares and it is excellent to use to buy for things in Europe as not only do they give you a UK debit card but also a Euro debit card.

[SovereignStacker4]

1 minute ago, Spyder said:

I have had very little trouble with Santander with buying precious metal online, nor Barclays.  I have also opened an account the an Italian bank called Fineco Bank I use this account to trade currency and to buy American shares and it is excellent to use to buy for things in Europe as not only do they give you a UK debit card but also a Euro debit card.

Ah I might look into opening an account with one of those. Even if I do get this problem resolved with nationwide I’ve lost my confidence in them massively. Thanks for the info!

[Spyder]

1 minute ago, SovereignStacker4 said:

Ah I might look into opening an account with one of those. Even if I do get this problem resolved with nationwide I’ve lost my confidence in them massively. Thanks for the info!

I can not remember off the top of my head, but I think first direct are giving up to £150 to switch account, that is almost a half sovereign