American Hartford Gold is one of the best Gold IRA companies in the United States. The company has many customer testimonials praising them for their exemplary account servicing and financial knowledge.
However, American Hartford Gold has its share of disgruntled customers who have, unfortunately, encountered a negative experience with them. It would be unrealistic to expect the company not to have even a single complaint about its services, even though Augusta Precious Metals is one such exception. Augusta Precious Metals did not incur a single customer complaint in all its 10 years of operations.
But this doesn’t mean American Hartford Gold is not a good Gold IRA Company. More important than knowing the company encountered complaints, was the company able to resolve its complaints satisfactorily?
This article presents some of the customer complaints against the American Hartford Gold Group and how they fared in resolving the issues against them. Reading about their negative feedback is worthwhile to help manage expectations in transacting with a Gold IRA company, whether it is with American Hartford Gold or not.
How is the customer support at American Hartford Gold?
Any American Hartford Gold Review available on Google will reveal that the company is revered as one of the best gold IRA companies. American Hartford Gold ratings have always been consistently high regarding product offerings, pricing, and customer service.
American Hartford Gold is the only precious metals company recommended by Rudy Giuliani, Dave Rubin, Roman Balmakov, and Bill O-Reilly. The American Hartford Gold Group can get many investment inquiries through these recommendations.
Despite these recommendations, the company has its share of irate customers that are worth looking into.
When customers complain, it is a company’s opportunity to show how good they are. Did American Hartford Gold take advantage of these complaints and prove their customer service is top-notch?
Customer Complaints Against American Hartford Gold
Here are a few of the customer complaints lifted from the Consumer Affairs and Business Consumer Alliance websites, with American Hartford Gold’s responses through their customer service team.
Incomplete Information dissemination
This customer complaint is just an excerpt from the whole narrative. The customer Terrence expressed that the timeline for delivery should have been shared with him before he paid for the gold coins he purchased. The gold coin purchase was a birthday gift for the customer’s son and daughter. Had Terrence known about the delivery timeline, he would have gone elsewhere to purchase the gold coins. Dissatisfied with his transaction, he wanted a refund.
What further aggravated the situation was how American Hartford’s rep Tyler condescendingly spoke to Terrence. But rather than making the situation a reflection of American Hartford Gold, Terrence interpreted it as an isolated case caused by Tyler, not the company. When he requested to speak to someone else, he was forwarded to Daniel, and this happened.
Daniel turned around the situation and avoided the refund, proving that Tyler’s negative behavior was an isolated case. It was fortunate that Terrence was reasonable and gave the company another chance. American Hartford Gold responded satisfactorily to this complaint.
Slow turnaround response to customer
This is one of the unfortunate circumstances where American Hartford Gold could not save the customer from going to another company because of a slow response from the company agent. American Hartford Gold responded to this feedback, hoping to win back this customer.
Delivery complaint
Delivery complaints are challenging to resolve because it is beyond a Gold IRA company’s control. In this complaint, it was important for the customer to feel that her concerns were being addressed or tried to be addressed by her account handler. The customer ended up resolving the problem by directly communicating with the seller of the gold. American Hartford Gold admitted they were working on improving their shipping procedures to avoid an incident like this happening again. There is also an encouragement for the customer to contact them again for future possible transactions.
Here are two complaints lodged under Business Consumer Alliance that were satisfactorily resolved by American Hartford Gold.
Unnecessary fees/charges
Rude Behavior of the Company Officer to Customer
Customer Complaints Against American Hartford Gold
The customer complaints above do not define American Hartford Gold. Here are some customers raving over their positive customer experience with American Hartford Gold as lifted from Trustpilot:
How can you contact the customer service team of American Hartford Gold?
You can contact the company’s customer service team through their Contact Us page on the website or through the following:
Phone: 800-462-0071
Email: info@hgoldgroup.com
Note that their operating hours are:
Monday to Friday: 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST
Saturday: 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM PST
How important is customer support with a Gold IRA provider?
Customer support is the backbone of Gold IRA companies. For first-time investors, a knowledgeable customer service rep is key to getting the information they need about precious metals, whether it be a physical precious metals investment or precious metals IRA.
Rave reviews of customers for the best gold IRA company are always about the sterling customer support they have experienced. No matter how excellent the precious metal choices available are, if the customer service team is not efficient and knowledgeable, these precious metals won’t be converted into successful investments.
Despite its customer complaints, American Hartford Gold is still a good company to consider for handling your Gold IRA investment. Here is some vital information about the company and its reputation as one of the best Gold IRA companies in the United States.
What is American Hartford Gold?
American Hartford Gold is one of the top precious metals dealers operating in Los Angeles, California. It is a family-owned and operated Gold IRA company founded by its current CEO, Sanford Mann, who built its A+ customer satisfaction rating through his overall strategic direction.
The American Hartford Gold Group was given an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau, and 5-star customer satisfaction ratings on review platforms such as Google, ConsumerAffairs, and Trustpilot. It also garnered an AA rating from the Business Consumer Alliance. American Hartford Gold was also ranked as the #1 Gold Company by Inc.5000’s 2021 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies.
How does American Hartford Gold work?
American Hartford Gold educates customers on the precious metal industry, leading to diversifying their investment portfolio by adding “safe haven” assets, like precious metals IRA. The company provides sound financial advice, the highest quality of Gold and silver coins, and competitive prices with 100% customer satisfaction guaranteed.
What services does American Hartford Gold offer its customers?
The American Hartford Gold Group offers two primary services: selling precious metals such as Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium and facilitating Gold IRAs or IRA rollovers with the help of their impressive network of third-party custodians, such as Equity Trust Company and storage companies such as Brinks, Delaware Depository and International Depository Services.
How can you transfer money into a Gold IRA with American Hartford Gold from another retirement account?
Two penalty-free and tax-free ways to transfer money between two retirement accounts exist. One is the 60-day rollover option, wherein your current IRA provider mails you a check that you mail to American Hartford Gold. If mailed within 60 days, no taxes or penalties shall be incurred.
The other way is the trustee-to-trustee process, wherein your retirement monies are moved from your current IRA provider to American Hartford Gold to open a Gold IRA account for you. American Hartford’s account executives will facilitate the process seamlessly to ensure a stress-free transfer.
Does American Hartford Gold sell precious metals without a Gold IRA?
Yes, American Hartford Gold sells precious metals outside of an IRA account.
What precious metals does American Hartford Gold offer?
American Hartford Gold products include gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins or bars and also as part of Gold IRA investments.
Which fees will you have to pay to American Hartford Gold?
An American Hartford Gold IRA does not incur setup fees, and annual fees are waived on the first year of opening a Gold IRA account. From the second year onwards, they charge an annual fee of $180.
You can read our article about American Hartford Gold Fees to know more about what the annual fee entails and how you can actually get the annual fees waived.
What does American Hartford Gold offer its competitors don't?
American Hartford Gold is one of the few companies offering full Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium IRAs. It also offers a price match guarantee, wherein it will match any pricing offered by competitors.
Investing in Gold and other Precious Metals
One way to avoid customer complaints is to educate oneself about gold investments and understand how it works to make sound decisions and better plan investments. Here are the most asked questions about precious metals IRA and physical gold investments.
Where does American Gold come from?
Most of the US-produced gold is from Nevada mines. The rest is from other mines located in the states of Alaska, California, Colorado, and Arizona. The United States currently has the world's largest volume of gold reserves by a margin of over 8,100 tons.
Are Gold-backed IRAs a good idea?
A Gold-backed IRA is a good way to diversify an investment portfolio. Gold investments are a good hedge against inflation because their prices often rise when the dollar value decreases.
What is the procedure and timescale for setting up a Gold IRA?
Setting up a Gold IRA account can take 10 to 15 minutes, assuming funds are released on time. For 401k, traditional IRA, or Roth IRA, if a custodian responds quickly, the Gold IRA rollover takes around 5-10 business days. Funding the account by mailing a physical check will make the process even longer.
The process for opening a Gold IRA account takes four steps:
Choose a Gold IRA company - the company will help open a precious metal account, transfer funds, purchase precious metals, and ship them to a government-accredited depository.
Fund the IRA - This can be done in three ways;
Select your precious metals - transactions are easier if you open an account with a Gold IRA company that is licensed to sell IRS-approved metals. Not all Gold IRA companies have their own stocks of precious metals, thus necessitating the purchase of the precious metals from a separate precious metals dealer.
Monitor your investment’s performance - Some Gold IRA companies have online dashboards to help you regularly monitor your investments. If your choice of Gold IRA company does not have this monitoring option, inquire if they have investment performance reports that they can provide to you regularly.
Can you receive your precious metals for your Gold IRA in physical form?
Yes, you can receive distributions of your gold IRA as precious metals, depending on what metals are in your IRA account. Precious metals can also be converted into cash.
How much gold can you buy without it being reported?
The U.S. government requires cash transactions worth $10,000 and above to be declared through filing form 8300 by individuals and businesses that made multiple related or unrelated purchases within a 24-hour period. Note that $10,000 transactions using manager’s checks, traveler’s checks, bank drafts, or money orders are classified as cash transactions.
Do gold sales get reported to IRS?
According to the IRS, gold sales are reported when large quantities of a specific gold coin or bullion are being sold and when customers pay $10,000 or more in what is classified as cash.
Non-corporate gold sellers must file Form 1099-B, a set of forms used to report profits, to avoid tax evasion.
Gold, Silver, platinum, and palladium bullion are reported following a set of criteria determined by the purity and quantity of the precious metal. There are different sets of criteria for each type of precious metal and form.
How much gold can a person legally own?
There are no restrictions on gold ownership in the United States.
Can you withdraw from a precious metal IRA?
Yes, withdrawing from a precious metal IRA is possible. You can hold on to the physical gold, sell or use it as currency during a financial crisis, or pass it on to future generations.
What are the withdrawal rules for gold or silver IRAs?
The earliest precious metal IRA withdrawal can be made at 59 ½ years old, and at least minimum withdrawals yearly should be made starting at age 70 ½.
What are the disadvantages of gold investment?
Gold IRA investments require storage and annual fees, unlike traditional IRAs. Though gold investments are a good hedge against inflation, gold also has the potential for a long-term performance lag. Therefore, it is wise not to put too much money into gold investments.
What are the risks of investing in a Gold or Silver IRA?
Just like stock investments, gold and silver prices also rise and fall. Observing its movement before investing in it is still wise to know when is the right time to invest in it. Investing in it when prices are high will make it difficult to gain earnings from it. To include it in an investment portfolio as a cushion against inflation is still good, but not in big amounts, especially since it also incurs fees and maintenance costs.
CONCLUSION
American Hartford Gold may have its share of customer complaints but the company’s customer support and financial advisors are doing a good job of addressing these complaints and still have hundreds of positive customer reviews as proof that the company is held in high esteem.
Aside from American Hartford Gold, here are other precious metal IRA companies worth looking into: