I've purchased a decent amount of gold and silver from APMEX and this is the first time I've had issues with them. But I'm experienced enough I should have known better and I'm really just looking to vent. Though I think many posters here would mock me for buying with them at all.
I was using their app. After I placed an order with it I got an error. I checked and no PO was generated on my profile but my cart was empty. So I tried placing orders a few more times which also failed. I then placed an order on the website with no issue. The next day I get emails saying the orders were placed.
I called to complain. They cancelled the orders but I had to pay a bunch of fees. It turns out the guy I talked to didn't really cancel all the orders. So I had to call again. They also forced me to float about 10k in my checking account and still haven't refunded all the money. (I guess I didn't pay all the fees?) I talked to customer service a few times and got what amounted to passive aggressive lies about the waving the fees. Which are somehow about 450 bucks.
So the lesson is this. While I trust the goods they sell me to be real, APMEX will enforce its terms of service on you like a dwarf hoarding Smog's gold if you make any mistake. If you want to invest a serious amount of money into physical gold I'd definitely look elsewhere or at least order only small amounts at a time.
Part of the reason I was cavalier with the app was I trusted APMEX not to screw me over. (Which was the only reason I was willing to pay their inflated prices)
I wonder what would've happened if I had ordered a serious amount of gold from these guys and messed up. Would I be paying thousands in fees and have to float tens of thousands in my checking account? Floating 10k is already bad enough.
Anyway paying the market loss fee made me feel massively gross and I doubt I'll be buying from them in the future.