Heubach-edelmetalle vs Auragentum.de?

[Guest]

Hi all, 

I'm looking to buy a Kilo coin from Europe. I'm looking for an alternative to Goldsilver.be, who let me down the last time. I know silvertogo are reliable but unfortunately there's a premium. I've narrowed it down to heubach-edelmetalle and auragentum. 

Couldn't find feedback for the latter on this forum. Mixed reviews for Heubach instead. 

Has anyone  got any recent experiences with either of them? If neither of them can offer solid customer service, I'll have to decide between Goldsilver.be and STG. 

It has to be said that my written German is almost decent, so language wouldn't necessarily be a barrier. 

As usual any input is welcome. 

[Pete]

I've purchased from H-E many times and have been very satisfied with their service.
However I am a tad cheesed off with them today because I entered an order yesterday evening for several coins.
When my emailed invoice was received a coin was missing so I assumed it was no longer available so I checked their website to find I could still order it.
I subsequently sent them an email to see if I could add it to my order just placed because I didn't want another delivery charge or have to pay a second euro transfer fee.
Rather than receive a nice reply appreciating my business I was sent a document to fill out pointing out their legal cancellation T's & C's etc.
Perhaps this was a computer generated response but not giving me a warm feeling towards them at the moment.

On my last order which they accepted, when the coins arrived I was short of one coin and they had substituted Euro notes to refund the missing coin cost.
Had they contacted me stating a coin was no longer available I would have preferred to add a different coin but they did not attempt to notify me.
That's not good customer service.
Other than that I will continue to use them for specific coins

[Tritoon01]

hey savoyard,

 

I live in Belgium, have used goldsilver.be quite a lot (mixed results....above average, but customer service is very bad, had some issues with them).

I ordered some Falkland Britannias with Auragentum 2-3 weeks ago...coins came and ALL coins had black/brown spots (residu from ????)....in a tube, coins mixed up-side-down....so very bad coins....I mailed the company and could return the coins for full refund or they offered a reduction in price.....

 

Now, the fact that they delivered those coins really pissed me off....how can a dealer deliver such coins in such a bad condition ??....in the end, after a couple of emails I got a nice reduction and decided to keep the coins.....cleaned them with a silver bath and almost all coins are now in great shape....but the fact remains that those coins should not have been delivered....but of course....the Falkland Britannias were selling out fast after the decision to stop production....and I believe the dealer decided to deliver the coins anyway...greed....and if the customer does not complain....money in the pocket.

 

silvertogo (is STG short for silvertogo ?) I do not know.

 

greetings

T

[Guest]

Thanks @pete and @Tritoon01 It looks like neither of them are much better than goldsilver.be. I'm not really into collecting. For me silver is silver. 

[Oystonousted]

I recently visited Auragentum In Munich at their central office. I only made a small purchase but the office was busy and everyone had to wait in a reception area whilst being called one by one. 

The set up was professional and English language excellent. Coins received promptly with detailed invoice can't complain. 

Cheers

[swAgger]

4 hours ago, savoyard said:

Hi all, 

I'm looking to buy a Kilo coin from Europe. I'm looking for an alternative to Goldsilver.be, who let me down the last time. I know silvertogo are reliable but unfortunately there's a premium. I've narrowed it down to heubach-edelmetalle and auragentum. 

Couldn't find feedback for the latter on this forum. Mixed reviews for Heubach instead. 

Has anyone  got any recent experiences with either of them? If neither of them can offer solid customer service, I'll have to decide between Goldsilver.be and STG. 

It has to be said that my written German is almost decent, so language wouldn't necessarily be a barrier. 

As usual any input is welcome. 

It all comes down to a balancing act in the end. Lowest prices and great customer service don't often go together. You don't say in what way GS.be let you down. If it's a mess up with the order, or the condition of the coins you got. As far as condition goes, the trouble with most of the lowest premium guys is they won't entertain quality complaints AT ALL when it comes to the condition of bullion classed products. Whether capsuled or not. You take it as is, as far as they're concerned. It's a crap attitude, i know, but GS.be don't hide it. Covered strongly on their faq section.

I'm just guessing, but as you said you are looking to buy a kilo coin (bullion?) and thinking hard about who to buy from, then maybe your priority is the top notch condition of it? In that case i would advise go with the dealer who may have a bit extra premium but has a softer attitude to meeting your needs for the quality condition of the coin. And above all - actually personally replies to you, and not just copy/paste their terms and conditions.

Forget about asking for others reviews or opinions on different dealers. Most times, we've all had different experiences with them. The manner you, yourself, write to them when there's a problem has a lot to do with how things end up too, and that is sometimes why different people end up having different experiences.

Satisfy yourself by emailing before you make an order. It's no big deal, a dealer with good customer service will be happy to answer. Find a few dealers where the premiums might not be the absolute lowest, yes, but are still at an acceptable level to you. Explain you would like to order X coin from them but are concerned about (whatever it is). And be honest about what it is, that wasn't met elsewhere. No better way to come to your own judgement by weighing up the tone of their response.

Having said not to listen to others experience with dealers - i'll just give you one. Customer service at Aurinum.de are good when there is an issue. They also, one time, had no problem exchanging a 10oz bullion coin for me when i was disappointed with the condition. I'll point out this has just been my own experience, anyway. Their premiums are in the decent range too.

Wherever you decide to go for your kilo (what one?) good luck with it.

[ifing]

5 hours ago, swAgger said:

.....

Satisfy yourself by emailing before you make an order. It's no big deal, a dealer with good customer service will be happy to answer. Find a few dealers where the premiums might not be the absolute lowest, yes, but are still at an acceptable level to you. Explain you would like to order X coin from them but are concerned about (whatever it is). And be honest about what it is, that wasn't met elsewhere. No better way to come to your own judgement by weighing up the tone of their response.

Having said not to listen to others experience with dealers -

 

i'll just give you one. Customer service at Aurinum.de are good when there is an issue...

 

Wherever you decide to go for your kilo (what one?) good luck with it.

If an unknown person to you say one thing, you judge it by a certain standard.

if a known person to you say one thing, you judge it by another standard.

If several persons known/unknowns you make another judgement.

 

Regarding Aurinum, I personally disagree with you opinion, I will not use them again.

Regarding Heubach and Auragentum, I have used both, but sense I haven't had problems. I can't say how the customer service is.

So far I haven't used Goldsilver be.

 

I also wish you luck in your endeavour. If you get problems, I would like to hear,how it get resolved.

Cheers

[Pete]

For what it's worth I've bought a lot of coins from Aurinum and been very happy with them.
Sometimes delivery can be a bit longer than expected and they like to use up old newspapers etc in packaging but the coins have always been perfect.
Absolutely no hesitation to use them in the future. 

The same goes for GS.be - no problems whatsoever.
STG and CoinInvest also good companies to deal with.

No problems buying from EMK in Germany and other than what niggled me mentioned in an earlier post I will still continue to use Heubach.

[vand]

Consider Celticgold - I've used them and have always had excellent service. Not quite as cheap as GS.be but then who is.

[Pete]

Just opened a package from Heubach and was disappointed to find my confirmed order AGAIN was short of coins and they had substituted Euro notes to reimburse me.
What they don't seem to understand is that I am getting less silver so effectively the cost per coin rises due to fixed shipping charges.
Unless I am heading to Europe in the near future what use are Euros and exchanging them to sterling would make a loss after exchange rate buy / sell differences.
I would rather have the offer of substitutes which they could email for acceptance ( or not ) prior to shipping.
Also a few silver coins were badly stained ( maybe 30% of one side ) with what looks like old acid-etched finger prints.
Since these were "relatively" low value bullion, bought as specific year coins, I had to dip them in e-Z-est which didn't remove all the stains surprisingly, so out came the silver polish.
I could not be bothered trying to return the coins for replacement so they fall into my junk box now.

[Guest]

@Pete they should have at least contacted you and asked what option you would have preferred. Your feedback is important. I'll take this into consideration for next order. 

[Pete]

38 minutes ago, savoyard said:

@Pete they should have at least contacted you and asked what option you would have preferred. Your feedback is important. I'll take this into consideration for next order. 

That's what I would have hoped most dealers would do but it didn't happen with HB and I've been caught out more than once.
When you place an order you are instantly sent a confirmation order stating the amount to pay.
As an example you order 3 coins priced at €30 each and pay €14 for shipping.
At an exchange rate of 1.1€ = £1 and a Transferwise fee of £2 your coins cost £96.55 or £32.18 each

If they send you 2 coins and €30 cash which you convert at 1.05 say, your 2 coins have now cost you £33.99 each i.e. £1.81 more than you ordered.

What they fail to take into account is that in order to minimise cost per ounce I will bulk up an order with miscellaneous coins.
The coins I specifically want are short shipped yet a day later they still appear in stock for ordering.
 

[Guest]

@Pete I wouldn't have taken it. I'd have rung or emailed or both and asked for an explanation. If you think you have been shortchanged or ripped off, you still have your rights.

Give a look at this link:

https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_small_claims-42-en.do

I've never used it myself but I think you can take them to the small claim court.

Thanks for the feedback. Another dealer added to my blacklist.

[FFkook]

Did an order for the first at Heubach Edelmetalle, and let me tell you guys about my experience.

So, to try this company I made it a small one. Ordered a 2018 Silver 1 Oz Krugerrand and a 2017 Silver 2 Oz Queens Beast Dragon, together with a capsule for the Krugerrand. Ordered on the 9th, and delivered today, on the 14th. tracked and insured with DHL. That's not to long in my opinion. It came in the mailbox in this package, anonymously, and was protected pretty well inside.

The Queens Beast is absolutely beautiful, what a coin. This convinced me "gotta catch 'em all"! 

The Krugerrand however, I love the design but darn, this coin is damaged. A big kind of "milky spot" on one side, and scratches on the other. This is officialy my ugliest and most damaged coin of all, and I am a little bit disappointed in that because I really like the design of the Krugerrand, and personally it is not all about stacking but also about having a nice collection/stack.

Returning it is not worth the while, that is simply too expensive.. Over all, a fast shipping, good packaging, but a damaged coin damages my trust. Or am I too critical? What do you guys think?

[SILVERFINGER]

Contact the seller show them close up photographs explaining why you are not happy and ask them what they are going to do about it, in that condition its not worth what you paid for it and you wanted a mint one anyway, if you want to keep it see if they will part refund, if they get shirty, let them know you are a member of this forum and bad word soon gets around especially when there is 3425 members and growing every day.

[FFkook]

36 minutes ago, SILVERFINGER said:

Contact the seller show them close up photographs explaining why you are not happy and ask them what they are going to do about it, in that condition its not worth what you paid for it and you wanted a mint one anyway, if you want to keep it see if they will part refund, if they get shirty, let them know you are a member of this forum and bad word soon gets around especially when there is 3425 members and growing every day.

Hmm, done. I sent them a nice and gentle e-mail, as I plan to order more with them(if they help me out correctly). Let's wait for the reply. Thanks..

[FFkook]

So, after 2 weeks of sending very nice mails, even in German, I'm done. It doesn't matter what I write, they always send me the same automated message to return the coin, even when I tell them it is not an option as it will make coins more expensive.

That was the first and last order with them, too bad as I really had the intention of ordering over there. Seems like those smaller stores just can't match the big guys like EUmint and GS.be(Eva the best)....

[Iamdeadboy]

Just made my first order for coins ever and with Auragentum and got first email right away and waiting on second to get their bank info.

 

hope everything goes smoothly will let you know

 

---

Added 0 minutes later...

Just now, Iamdeadboy said:

Just made my first order for coins ever and with Auragentum and got first email right away and waiting on second to get their bank info. How long does it take for second message?

 

hope everything goes smoothly will let you know

 

[Guest]

I made a few orders from German dealers that I found on Gold.de and so far no problems.

[EDIT: It wasn't either of the two in the topic title]

But I did have problems with Goldsilver.be.

I have to say all my correspondence was in German.

[Bagenz]

On 06/08/2017 at 13:22, Pete said:

For what it's worth I've bought a lot of coins from Aurinum and been very happy with them.
Sometimes delivery can be a bit longer than expected and they like to use up old newspapers etc in packaging but the coins have always been perfect.
Absolutely no hesitation to use them in the future. 

The same goes for GS.be - no problems whatsoever.
STG and CoinInvest also good companies to deal with.

No problems buying from EMK in Germany and other than what niggled me mentioned in an earlier post I will still continue to use Heubach.

I have also purchased alot from Aurinum, all coins have been perfect well packed, slow to ship but thats not an issue for me, recent order included a 5oz libertad that was advertised comes in a capsule, it arrived loose in a jiffy bag,  I have sent two emails but unfortunately I havent received a reply, I find it the best way to judge a company is how they deal with issues, I guess I will have to get a capsule from somewhere else. I will still order from them if the price is right.

I have also purchased from Auragentum with no issues.

[FFkook]

Little update. A lot of mails with Heubach-Edelmetalle. Everytime the same automated answer about sending the coin back(which costs half the price of the coin itself). Asking for another solution after 3 times finally got me a personal email from them, but no answers after that. They are just ignoring me. Never again at Heubach!!!

[NeutronJack]

Hi @savoyard and others,

I’ve purchased from Auragentum a couple of times over the last few months without any issues and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase from them again in future.

On each occasion, delivery (to the UK) was relatively fast (2-3 business days only), items were packaged safely and securely, and all received in excellent condition.

They’re not always the cheapest when it comes to silver, but do offer considerable variety in that metal. Whereas, I’ve found them to be very competitive when it comes to gold.

Since I’ve never actually experienced any problems with them, I’ve not had cause to call upon their customer services directly, nor had the opportunity to objectively assess their performance in this area.

But, having communicated directly with the owner before making my first purchase, I can say that they’re very friendly and approachable (all staff speak English very fluently, so no communication problems, either via phone or email).

Moreover, they’re a certified member of the European Trusted Shops* buyer protection scheme which requires them to have met and maintain certain standards of service quality and legal compliance in the field of e-commerce, so I believe customer service is something they take seriously. Not least, because every buyer is given the opportunity to evaluate their purchase experience upon completion, and influence the store’s quality ranking accordingly.

*For more details, follow this link: https://www.trustedshops.eu/

So, in the event that a problem did occur, this does offer an extra layer of protection for the buyer, in that this particular seller has committed to complying with strict guidelines and procedures on how it goes about resolving it.

I hope this information is of some use. Good luck with your purchase!

NeutronJack

[Reichpapers]

On 14/08/2018 at 14:00, FFkook said:

Did an order for the first at Heubach Edelmetalle, and let me tell you guys about my experience.

So, to try this company I made it a small one. Ordered a 2018 Silver 1 Oz Krugerrand and a 2017 Silver 2 Oz Queens Beast Dragon, together with a capsule for the Krugerrand. Ordered on the 9th, and delivered today, on the 14th. tracked and insured with DHL. That's not to long in my opinion. It came in the mailbox in this package, anonymously, and was protected pretty well inside.

The Queens Beast is absolutely beautiful, what a coin. This convinced me "gotta catch 'em all"! 

The Krugerrand however, I love the design but darn, this coin is damaged. A big kind of "milky spot" on one side, and scratches on the other. This is officialy my ugliest and most damaged coin of all, and I am a little bit disappointed in that because I really like the design of the Krugerrand, and personally it is not all about stacking but also about having a nice collection/stack.

Returning it is not worth the while, that is simply too expensive.. Over all, a fast shipping, good packaging, but a damaged coin damages my trust. Or am I too critical? What do you guys think?

In my opinion, Krugerrands just have poor QC.  I bought two separate tubes, and most of the coins had various forms of issues, from stains, to milk spots to scratch marks.  It's a real bad shoot.

[FFkook]

1 hour ago, Reichpapers said:

In my opinion, Krugerrands just have poor QC.  I bought two separate tubes, and most of the coins had various forms of issues, from stains, to milk spots to scratch marks.  It's a real bad shoot.

Yeah I know, but besides that it's ridiculous that they won't reply on my complaint, not even saying that it's the minting process or something. Just ignore your customers. Way to go Heubach..