The London Mint Office - scam? 18 October 2009 at 2:07PM in Praise, vent & warnings 162 replies 318.4K views

top_drawer_2

hi,

I have been seeing the ads on television a lot recently for a free Golden Britannia penny so rang and applied .... I received a letter stating that my appl has been assepted and its on it way.... where is the catch?

TD

PrincessPlaty

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1180975

musemad

This giveaway is a pile of rubbish spend your penny on the end of southport pier in a amusement machine
That is all it is good for

Mely

The London Mint office has absolutely nothing to do with The Royal mint, but they try to portray themselves as official. The catch is that they now have your details and you will be on their database, so that they can try and sell you their stuff.

tandraig

The Royal Mint is in Llantrisant, South Wales! this London Mint is a private company who have commissioned coins. they will then entice you with a 'free coin' into buying more of the series!
if you want to buy them fine!
but i wouldnt!

kittiej

Yes the Royal Mint is about 3 miles away from myself. they are the true coinage mint. Notes are made elsewhere.

grahamt69

the scam is that they send you coins 'on approval' that you do not want.
you can email and write (recorded delivery) telling them you don't want any, but they still send them, together with demands for payment.
the coins are worthless, just manufactured by themselves, who have no official standing whatsoever. They are a scam company hoping to con you into responding to them, then intimidating you into paying. Avoid at all costs.

BFB13

I ORDERED THE GOLDEN PENNY AND RECIEVED IT I THEN RECIEVED OTHER COINS ON APPROVAL WHICH I KEPT, I THEN TOOK ANOTHER COLLECTION OF SILVER COINS PRICED £49.95 + P&P AFTER ABOUT 5 COINS THE PRICE WENT UP TO £59.95 +P&P WITHOUT ANY WARNING, I PHONED TO CANCEL THE COLLECTION AS I FELT THE PRICE RISE WAS OUT OF ORDER, I ALSO REQUESTED A RETURNS LABEL AND TOLD THEM TO CANCEL THE ORDER, ANOTHER COIN ARRIVED I PHONED FOR ANOTHER RETURNS LABEL BUT NEVER RECIEVED ONE INSTEAD ALL I RECIEVED WAS LETTERS DEMANDING PAYMENT AS MY CANCELLATION HAD NOT BEEN ENTERED ON THERE SYSTEM. ALSO IF YOU TRY TO PHONE TO COMPLAIN YOU HAVE TO WAIT AGES TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN MY EXPERIENCE UPTO 20 MINS ON AN 0845 No. I WOULD ADVISE PEOPLE DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THE LONDON MINT OFFICE.

welshmoneylover

I've bought from The Royal Mint and ever since I've been bombarded with letters detailing their many offers!!

My recycling bag is full of their leaflets!

Dyllane

Hi,

I have fallen for this scam! I ordered the free coin, was sent another one alongside, with an invoice demanding payment for £35. I rang the company, waited 18 minutes to speak to someone and was told that I would recieve a returns pack to send the coin back. I waited, recieved their letter which turned out to be just more offers and an application form to accept additional coins.. nothing about returns!

I don't know what to do! It states on their t&c's on the invoice that if the payment is late there is a charge, 4% interest rate and an administration fee (but no due date). I am going to return the coin by recorded delivery and hope to recieve no further offers (as I have already requested on the phone).. but as their returns pack is more literature on coins I just hope i'm not trapped!

trumpton

Hi - I answered this on the Vent forum. But in case you haven't seen it, here's a copy of the post.

If you were sent stuff you didn't ask for, I understand you can keep them.

From the Consumer Direct site:

"The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 state that unsolicited goods which have not been ordered and are sent ‘out of the blue’ can be treated as an unconditional gift; in other words, you can keep them or dispose of them as you wish. The Regulations make it a criminal offence to demand payment or threaten legal action to obtain payment for unsolicited goods or services."


They do suggest writing to them and asking them to collect the goods:

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/aft...R_unsolicited/

Personally, I would just write or email and remind them that it is an offence to demand payment. I would be wary of ringing because the phone line tarrif could be expensive and another way of making money.

A complaint about the London Mint Office was upheld by Advertising Standards Agency in 2008, ie. sending people coins and wording the letter to make it look like they had committed to the purchase:

http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and...ADJ_45199.aspx

Hope this helps.