Westminster Mint Will not honor Advertised prices, bait and switch, surcharges added not shown in Ads madison, Wisconsin

My name is Ian Clay Im the president of Westminster Mint. At no time
was the reader refused the opportunity to buy coins for the low
advertised price. No unauthorized fees were charged to his credit card.
He could have made payment by
check or by money order. The reader objected to paying a $6 fee for
making payment by credit card and was upset that the fee was not posted
in our advert. We like most bullion dealers accept payment by check,
money order, bank wire and credit card. Because
it is a common practice for bullion dealers to charge a fee for
processing orders on a credit card; we do not post the terms of payment
in our adverts nor do any of our major competitors.  We do post that the
offer is valid while supplies last, that no additional
purchase is required, that the price is subject to change and that we
offer a 30-day money back guarantee.  Westminster Mint is an honest and
ethical business and is not involved in deceptive, false or misleading
advertising. Our adverts are approved by our
legal department and meet all of the disclosure requirements of the
publications in which we advertise. 

Westminster Mint is engaged in bait and switch by merits of their deceptive Ad- lets go over the facts

1- The Ad no where states that when you place an order with a credit card that you will charged a surcharge. Westminster Mint paid for this Ad and as such they have an obligation towards consumers to put in the fine print any sort of extra fees.

2- Clearly is is not an issue of limited supply, as they never stated on the phone that I was paying more because of the offer had run out, rather the price was increased for using a credit card.

3- Westminster Mint should take responsiblity for their costs, telling us what their costs are is irrelevant to this discussion.

Again, if you advertise a price for a product, a reputable honest business will accept and honor the sale. There was NO mention in the Ad about a surcharge for credit cards. One can google Westminster Mint online and see countless complaints in regards to their steering and not honoring their prices.

Anyone can be a member of the BBB, and even with complaints u can still be a member of the BBB so long as u respond to the complaints. However, the real test of Westminster Mint is , have they won a COMPLAINT FREE BBB AWARD? clearly they havent because they are involved in bait and switch tactics.

Westminster Mint advertised silver bullion coins for the low price of $33.95 on December 10th. The terms stated "offer valid while supplies last". The reader called two days after the advert was posted and after the price of silver had gone up.



The reader was offered coins for $34.95, which was still the lowest price in the country for these items. The reader could have paid for the coins by check or money order without incurring any fees. The reader opted to pay by credit card. In the case of accepting payment by credit card for a bullion item there is a 3% surcharge. This is the fee we pay to the credit card company for accepting the payment.



The gross mark up on the coins we offer is typically $1.00 above the price of silver or our buying price. A 3% fee to the credit card company would eat up 99c leaving us with a 1c profit. This is why we and ALL other gold and silver bullion dealers in the country charge a fee for processing orders on a credit card.



Our fees and business practices are inline with ALL other gold and silver bullion dealers. We met the terms of our offer and were not and are not involved in a switch and bait scheme. Westminster Mint has an A+ rating by the BBB.