Monex Review Complaints And Fraud
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MONEX GOLD AND SILVER DEALER
I have received a tremendous amount of requests for a Monex review, analysis of any Monex complaints, whether there is a Monex scam or allegations of Monex fraud behavior, etc., have found there is a lack of any thorough Monex reviews and because the Monex gold and silver dealer is very prominently advertised (but not on Run To Gold as we have standards) therefore on 30 Jan 2010 I decided to review Monex.
The Monex Deposit Company’s address is 4910 Birch Street Newport Beach, CA 92660 and their phone number is (949) 752-1400. The Monex silver and gold dealer was established in 1967 and is a large bullion dealer of gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Because I have an interest in gold investors being able to buy gold, silver or platinum without being unjustly or unfairly taken advantage of therefore I have decided to aggregate some information about their business practices. Just because you can find the Monex Deposit Company does not mean you should do business with them.
MONEX REVIEWS AND THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
The Monex review by the Better Business Bureau:
Complainants allege that decisions made based on advice and coaching from account representatives caused them substantial financial losses. A few clients complained that account representatives did not follow directions or instructions on how to apply their investments or failed to keep them informed, and as a result, suffered losses they would not have if directions had been followed. The company [Monex gold and silver dealer] responds to some complaints by disputing the allegations and stating that the investments are self-directed and they are not responsible for losses, denying requests for refunds or monetary compensation. In one case a partial refund was issued, but was conditional upon signing a release waiver composed by the company.
MONEX COMPLAINTS
Some of these Monex complaints and Monex reviews appear to be from people who are failing to take personal responsibility for their own decisions. But as of 30 January 2010 the Monex BBB record indicates that there are 61 Monex complaints; 13 have gone unanswered and with 10 Monex has refused to make any adjustment.
Even when I have had a negative experience with a business I have not filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. This makes me wonder how many other dissatisfied customers there are and what their Monex reviews would be.
NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SO NO PERSONAL MONEX COMPLAINT OR MONEX REVIEW
Before I engage in a large transaction with another party, such as buying gold, silver or platinum, I attempt to perform thorough due diligence. For example, I have thoroughly reviewed the GLD ETFs, which I highly recommend against, and GoldMoney, which I have found to be a reputable company to deal with.
A MONEX FRAUD, MONEX SCAM AND OTHER SHADY CHARACTERS
For example, in June 2007 Morgan Stanley & Co. settled a class action lawsuit for $4.4 million where the complaint alleged ‘that Morgan Stanley told clients it was selling them precious metals that they would own in full and that the company would store. But Morgan Stanley either made no investment specifically on behalf of those clients, or it made entirely different investments of lesser value and security.’ While the efficacy of the claim may still be at issue the Better Business Bureau-like complaint from unsatisfied customers who initiated litigation does not inspire confidence for those seeking to reduce risk.
After a cursory investigation I have been unable to find any currently pending litigation about Monex fraud or a Monex scam with any clients. Monex did file for a temporary restraining order against www.MonexFraud.com.
CONCLUSION AND MONEX REVIEW
After a reasonable investigation of Monex and relying on sources for which I have a reasonable belief to be accurate therefore because of the extremely large number of Monex complaints with the Better Business Bureau and because of the negative Monex reviews I have refrained from doing any business with them. Therefore, I cannot give an opinion based on my personal experience of dealing with the Monex Deposit Company.
Nevertheless, for these reasons my Monex review has led me to the conclusion that they are most likely rotten apples in the gold bullion dealer world and I would not recommend sending any money to Monex. It does not appear likely that there is a Monex scam or Monex fraud being perpetuated but where there is smoke there is often fire so I would be extremely careful. Before dealing with any bullion dealers I recommend reading my best practices on how to buy gold, silver and platinum.
If you have had any dealings and would like to leave your Monex reviews then please do so in the comments.
SAFE & REPUTABLE GOLD DEALER
[NOTE: As of 19 May 2010 due to reader suggestions and investigation I recommend GoldSilver because they have extremely competitive prices and an A+ BBB rating. The Monex BBB rating has fluctuated since this review was written in January 2010.]
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Like Shawn has said countless times, how do you people throw hundreds of thousands of dollars in to someone else’s hands without knowing a good amount of investment knowledge. That’s your fault, and that’s how the rich get richer right there.
regis tarr-you got exactly what you deserved foolish person-and then you blame monex-the world is full of people like you-makes me sick to my gut-i wish they would all die but then how would i get my money from people making stupid trades that they know nothing about-for every loser is a winner-tarr, your a loser,keep making your stupid trades so i can make more money
dethray, aren’t you sweet! Somehow I suspect all your money has not made you a happy person — and it certainly hasn’t made you a good one. Yes, I made some foolish decisions, but I sure would not want to trade places and be YOU. I am in a financial mess now because I allowed myself to be influenced by bad advice from reps whose expertise I trusted. But I feel more sorry for YOU! Who is really the loser? The person who has lost someTHING or the person who IS a loser? If you are wishing for people to die, simply because they are trying to help others, you ARE a loser. I’d say, “Think about it,” but I know you won’t.
Hey dethray – do you mean “death ray”?
Take some of that money of yours and invest it in some English grammar and spelling classes. Your stupidity is depressing and your compassion non-existent. Learn how to write beyond your second grade education and then maybe someone might take you seriously. Fortunately, the world is NOT full of people like you, you buffoon.
I don’t care about dethray (death ray?)’s grammar and spelling. I just hope he gets some psychological help before he becomes another Jared Loughner. If people like me makes him sick to his gut and he wishes we would all die, there is something seriously wrong with him. I wish him well.
The Buzzsaw will break down all these comments into one paragragh. Now I am going to be brutally honest and I am sorry that some of you people lost money in their Atlas account but a lot of you lost money because of greed. You should have 100% fully paid for your product and had it delivered. Anytime I make an investment I am aware of the risks and rewards. Any of you buy stocks? Except for the last 7 mo’s how many of you lost money in the stock market or your 401k? Probably a lot. I play around in a lot of investments including riskier ones like stock options thru my Charles Schwab account and using Monex Atlast account. I understand my profit potential is greater and that greed is why i do it but I also understand my downside risk is greater to0. I am willing to use a small portion of my investment dollars to take that risk.
I assume that everyone here is over 18 years old. That makes you an adult. Everyone needs to take responsibility for their own actions. My real estate/stock/gold advisor’s are their to give me their 2 cents but ulitmately I do my research and make the final decision. You should too instead of pointing fingers.
Anyways I am not pro or con Monex. I use them and they have always facilitated my orders with no issues. They do have minimums. I have a couple friends that buy only small quantities at a time and they have used and been happy with Apmex.conm or kitco.com. Their prices are a little higher but they do let you buy a few coins at a time.
I have been a customer of Monex for approximately two years. I have found my account representative and the management of the company to be competent, honest, and responsible. Once there was an account error, but when the matter was brought to Monex’s attention, the error was addressed and corrected. People who trade commodities, and who sometimes may lose money, have to recognize the risks that are inherent in trading, and on those occasions when money is lost, to not assume that it is the fault of the broker. Nothing that is investment-related is guaranteed, whether it be commodities, stocks, bonds, or real estate. So far, my all of my various trades through Monex have been successful. If commodities go south, I am prepared to accept the responsibiltiy for that myself.
monex is a scam they recommend trades to make money for themselves one of their reps insisted metals are on their way down and locked me in a 10,000 loss with no way out beware
stay away from monex they rip you off
With further review it is my humble opinion that most if not all of the Monex complaints were drafted by a single person with an axe to grind against Monex. I find it very unlikely that after reviewing the previous posts, anyone would still claim that Monex is in the wrong despite their own financial illiteracy.
I originally used monex up until 3 years ago and it’s true – MONEX way overcharge. The best company I’ve found to date is Regal Gold Coins. Oh – also don;t forget delivery time – some companys take a month to deliver – Regal Gold Coins has always delivered in 7 days or less.
all the pro monex commentary must be from monex employees
Curtis, your accusation that the pro Monex posts is from Monex employees has absolutely no creditability. If you take the time to review every pro & con Monex post it becomes incredibility clear that every anti Monex post was posted by someone who allegedly lost money with Monex because they were allegedly duped into investing in a precious metals product they did not fully understand. Monex is a broker and not responsible in any way for financial illiteracy of it’s clients.
my moxex rep opted to take my account into his hands by moving me out of silver and into palladium.H e mentioned nothing of putting a stoploss to save my account.As far as financial illiteracy the market took a downturn quickly and it was very hard to get in touch with my rep so I got other reps who had their hands full and could’nt handle my account so I lost it.
I am monex customer and would like to buy silver coins for my sons. what is the minimum buy for silver american eagles? can I commit to an annual amount?
David, the minimums for silver Eagles is 100 coins through Monex.
Curtis, Every time a Monex broker initiates a transaction for an account they must have a voice recording of the principal of the account verifying the transaction before it is initiated. Thus if a “rep took your account into his own hands” it was via your verbal permission. As far as not being able to contact your rep, if the rep you normally deal with is not there another rep will be assigned to handle any transactions or questions you have. To suggest all account reps were busy and unable to assist you is ridiculous. Monex is a for profit brokerage business, they make their money from premiums & commissions and will always jump at the chance to assist their clients. If they dont assist you, they dont get paid.
Everyone that post a positive comment about Monex seems to work for them in some form or capacity. Example: Mark C. Dillon found info that he represented monex in a past case. see for yourself. http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2009/D23075.pdf
Others may have that 1%-5% success rate in not following the Reps advice to actually make money. If you follow the Reps advice you will lose!! It’s a glorified jewlery store and they make their money on trades and by shorting clients accounts. They are not goverend by the SEC so STAY AWAY!!!!
you are wrong Chris.
I know for sure that I live 3000 miles from Monex, and have had nothing but positive experiences.
The fact that you and others of your ilk make these unsubstantiated charges explains why you get bad investment returns!
Chris, Why on Gods great earth would you follow a broker reps advise on how to invest you hard earned money? To do so in gambling not investing! If you prefer to gamble go to Vegas, if you wish to invest educate yourself.
I just went in on the minimum and only bought silver coins. I guess I’ll see what happens.
Sorry all of us did not have rich parents to get started. And in school we get taught dumb crap…not about investing. We then rely on asses like dethray or other smart people to help just as you guys rely on me to fix your car, ac, or other appliances you have no apparent knowledge on. So i think its pathetic to call people like us stupid when you cant even change your own oil or wire a T-stat…oh yeah i forgot…you are rich and waste money and get ripped off by stupid technicians like myself. As you said i am glad that there are dumb people like you so i can get rich fixing your things.
Hi James,
Thanks for a very insightful comment which I think hits on a very important issue: the division of labor. I would like more of the comments in this article to be a little less caustic but I have approved them because I think it is important to not censor on this topic even if the comments wander a little from the essential issues. As you bring up, each of us start at different points when it comes to our knowledge of monetary science and other areas and we all differ in our willingness to trust or other business savvy. The division of labor is a wonderful principle which allows us to each do something better than others which allows us to trade based on our competitive advantages. It is through this trade that both parties are better off and it is largely my assertion that this trading should be done on a purely voluntary basis which includes not engaging in any type of fraud, deceit, force or intimidation.
First of all, I am distrustful of stock brokers, investment advisors and peolpe in that capacity. I have been burned in the past. I accept responsibility for my past bad investments by not paying attention to my portfollio and just listening to my broker telling me “Everything is just fine”. After my broker left his employer and another broker was assigned to my account, he informed me of the damage that was already done and that i had to change things or i was going to go broke. I did. I took complete control of my own accounts and fired them all.. This leads me to Monex gold. I bought 10 ounces of gold, paid the going price plus fees and as promised recieved my gold through the mail. They offered to hold my golod and i said no i could do that all by myself. What i dont understand is who in their right mind would let someone else hold their gold….I am satisfied with my purchase and would use them again once i save up enough for another purchase.
Got my silver coins, no problem. I actually received them quicker than I thought I would. I will probably use them again.
First of all I’d like to mention that Monex does NOT have an “F” rating. They have a “D-” rating and I’m sure they worked very hard to achieve that. Congrats to everyone at Monex for making the move from” F” to “D-”. Keep shooting for the stars. They have over 40 years of experience. Why would you ever do business with the likes of el camino coins, Gainsville coins, Apex etc. Can they match the reputation of MONEX?
I just purchased a large amount of silver from Monex. This was my first transaction with this company. My account rep was very helpful as was the staff. He made recommendations about other metals but never pushed anything on me, in fact we talked about other things in common interest than we did about metals. I felt very comfortable doing business with Monex. I purchased my silver and received it in about a week an a half. No problems.
If I choose to by, well then I choose to buy. If you make a bad decision on investing your money, time or what ever you make that decision nobody else does don’t blame the account rep or the company he or she works for.
I think some people have not accepted the fact if you loose you loose and there will be no soccer mom running to the rescue with a cookie and fruit drink absolving your loss.
palerider,
What other companies did you consider buying from? What made you decide on Monex? Did you view their “D-” rating with the BBB as a negative or positive? Do you feel that the rating was undeserved? How can Monex better serve their customers so that they could move up to a “C-” rating or at least a D+?
I am a novice investor in metals but want to learn. From all indications, at this point, silver is the way to go. I would start small and if all goes well, move up. How much is the commision and/or fees for investing? What about reselling? Thanks for any advice.
Between Oct 2009 and Feb 2011 I made six different purchases of gold and silver coins from Monex. I had no problems, although it did take three to four weeks for delivery. Where I live it takes USP seven days from pick up from the vault to delivery.
“I am a novice investor in metals but want to learn. From all indications, at this point, silver is the way to go…”
So you’re a novice investor but you know silver is the way to go. I wonder if this is a sign to sell now.
So, you are interested in silver because it has gone up a lot recently. That sounds like some of the logic that surrounded the housing boom. So when silver was at 9$ or $11/oz it was not the way to go but at near $50/oz taking out an all time high you feel it’s the way to go. This concerns me.
T- Dog, The main reason precious metals are gaining value is because of worldwide currency devaluation. Those who bought silver at $9 were told the same thing the so called “investment experts” are saying today ” precious metals are overvalued”. I store my savings in precious metals as pm for me is insurance against inflation and not a speculative investment. Those who dont trade their ever devaluing currency today for pm will wish they had in the near future. Preform your due diligence by looking at both the pros & cons of pm. You will find truth somewhere in the middle, and that truth can make you very wealthy. Even if you dont get it, do yourself a big favor and pick up a few oz of silver, you’ll be glad you did. Also a great resource for information on pm can be found at GoldSilverchat.com Cheers.
Hi:
Still waiting for an answer on how much fees/commisions are to purchase/sell precious metals. Thanks.
Northernlady, The price you pay above the current “Spot Price” is called a premimum. Permimums differ between precious metals brokers and should be shopped around for the lowest premimums. If you’re going to purchase 100 oz or more then you will not find a lower premimum than Monex. I always shop for the absoulte lowest premimum and Monex has been the winner every time. That said I my purchases are 100 oz or more as I get the lowest cost basis by doing so. I hope that helped.
You can check out the following companies for pricing/fees, etc.
Camino coins (burlingame,CA)
CNI (Inglewood, CA)
gainsville coins (FL)
Apex
Investment Rarities
Franklin Saunders ‘the money changer’
JH Mint
I think you should check out their respective websites and talk to them if you want more info. Compare fees. Check them out with the BBB. Also check out some local coin shops and compare. Many of the local places can compete pretty well if you are making small purchases for gold.
My understanding is, if you lost money with precious metal then go long. I do not think metal should be bought for a quick profit. Gold is Gold, if it goes down today; it will recover and maybe make you a profit. I am an “illiterate investor”, please some one tell me if my understanding is wrong. Always in the market to learn.
SHAQ Precious metals should be used as insurance against inflation and economic turmoil and not for speculation. Quick profits can be made with PM but the potential of quick profits comes with added risk of trying to time the market. Trading for quick profits is not for the novice investor. Hopefully you did not loose money with PM. Many did experience losses because of taking so called “financial experts” advise that PM was over valued. Do yourself a great service and continue your financial education, become your very own financial expert. This is the greatest time in history to be an investor with a strong financial IQ. The only person stopping you is you. Cheers!
Monex commission rate is way too high for every transaction, so you are double ditched while buying and selling and for reaching the breakeven point to profits, Really one has to hold the patience, and when you want to sell it is very hard for you to get a hold of your representative, and when you want to buy it is the other way.
Monex company has to increase their representatives numbers for serving better,but not at the cost of charging more commission from the customers.
I have used monex twice. Once to buy 50 oz of gold coins and 1000 face of old silver quarters. Both transactions were very satisfactory. The rep called me once and said it was a good time to get into Palladium.At the time it was 200 and oz, still kicking myself for not doing it. I would use them again
I purchased 20 ounces of gold coins from monex a few years back, (very simple transaction) and it turned into a very painfull experience, thank god I got my coins at very last(three months after transaction) Will not do any business with them again!
Jay
What reason did they give for the delay? Just curious.
wow i hear lots of people crying on here these must be the same people that refinanced there homes so deep they need help from the rest of us that make good
decisions i used monex i knew what i wanted and my rep made it happen i bought
400 ozs of siver and 24 ozs of gold best investment i ever made my silver has doubled and my gold is almost there take resonsibility america use your own brain for once in your life and stop blamming everyone but yourself
Surprised at this article — I am a small person who has done some casual, small-scale buying and selling of metals — ALL WITH MONEX — off and on for over 25 years. Have bought gold way back when $280 through Monex, have bought and sold with them palladian (wish I’d held it), platinum (ditto), gold and silver — ALL of my buying and selling has been seamless, and I’m surprised that there is even this article or any issue about them. I cannot speak for people doing day trading and getting advice from Monex dealers on what and when to buy or sell — I just know I have done many transactions with them, both directions, and they have always been top-notch (last dealing, though, was several years ago, but still, they are whom I would turn to).
Buy Silver Now! I just did. I used Monex and it was fine. Do your own research, don’t rely on a broker over the phone that you’ve never even met to decide on your future for you…There’s very little doubt at this point that the US dollar is going down in value and that precious metals will continue to rise… Good luck!
I purchased 340 slilver american eagle coins from Monex a few months ago and it was a very clean transaction, I recently just purchased 1000 more coins a few days ago and plan on picking them up this week. I’ll keep everyone posted on how my transaction goes. So far my dealings have been positive and my rep is very helpful.
Alex
First dealings with Monex was back in 1999 and that was my first purchase of gold. Purchased a sizable sum of American Eagles. Most recent purchase was for American Buffaloes and that was couple weeks ago. Have NO complaints with Monex.
Wow. I’m so surprised at all the negativity about Monex. I started working with them several years ago. My rep has been absolutely awesome. Because of him I have doubled my profit with gold purchases because he advised when to sell, make some profit and then buy again when it corrected and having bought on margin I have profited much more than I would have had I only bought with cash. The gold and silver I had delivered & is in my possession has not given me as much profit because I have not traded with it, but I am happy with knowing I have that stash in my possession. My broker calls that “my core position”. I would say I have received great advice and fantastic results with Monex. The only purchase I regret is when I insisted on buying silver when it had gone high and my broker was hesitant but followed MY WISHES. Now I wish I had followed his advice….I love Monex and have recommended it to my son who went online and sent me this link so I thought I should voice my experience and opinion.
I got my medals and it was clean as simple. I went to pick them up myself since im local. Very professional and im very satisfied with both my recent transactions with Monex. I would recommend them to anyone. I will be buying more in the near future.
Alex
Alex, what did you get ‘medals’ for? :)
Hi
I am just starting a precious metals company and am seeking a good reliable and well priced wholesaler to buy metals from- who do you recommend? Who do the brokers buy from like silevergold.com? Your help would be appreciated
Thanks
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