Acre Gold Review

Acre Gold is an online platform designed to make gold more accessible to people. It was designed by a group of corporate executives and fintech experts with a background in precious metals. By using the service, you can slowly save up to purchase gold bars. The bars are automatically shipped to you once you reach the price threshold.

How It Works

The company's premise is simple. You sign up and pay a minimum of $50 per month, which goes into your online account. Once you have enough in this account to buy a 2.5 gram or 5 gram gold bar, the item will be automatically shipped to you. Customers typically reach the threshold over a period of several months.

However, there are a few things that people online seem to be confused about. Here are some important clarifications about Acre Gold:

Is Acre Gold a Scam?

Acre Gold doesn't seem to be a scam in the traditional sense. The company does have services and a platform that they legitimately offer. They respond to every complaint against them online, and they do have a location listed with the Better Business Bureau. Recently, the company was acquired by Brendon McQueen, who is functioning as the CEO.

Unfortunately, even though they are a legitimate business, they don't seem to follow through on their promises. On the surface, this seems like a great way for people to break into the precious metals investment process. The platform should make gold purchasing more accessible to the average American. But the customer reviews don't indicate that that's happened.

There are occasional good reviews. But on the BBB website, the average of 31 reviews is 2.52/5 stars, indicating that at least half of the responses are majorly negative. On top of that, there are nearly twice as many complaints as reviews. A staggering 50 complaints have been filed within the last three years, with 18 of those coming in the last year alone.

The Better Business Bureau has a webpage and information about the company. But they have not accredited the business, meaning that they have not verified its legitimacy. In addition, Acre Gold has a B- rating. That's partly because they have only been operating since 2020, making them a newcomer in the precious metals scene. But it's also because of the massive volume of complaints.

Acre Gold has replied to every complaint, which is the bare minimum that the BBB asks for. However, several of the complaints have never been resolved. In addition, the patterns of problems in the company seem to have continued up through the past few months.

Customer Complaints

There are far too many complaints and bad reviews of Acre Gold to list them all. But we can look at some of the common and recent grievances that people have had. It's important to see how a company responds to negative feedback. That way, you know going in what to expect from the customer service if you happen to have a negative experience.

No Shipped Products

One customer wrote a negative review in September of 2022 regarding a lack of shipments. He had been paying his monthly fees and had accrued over $400 in his account, which should have been enough to buy at least one product. He said that he was sent a confusing letter that said that the shipment had been sent. So he asked to be given proof that the shipment was on its way.

The customer alleged that the company made up new membership fees and charges in order to detract from his account balance. In addition, he was disgruntled by how sales tax was not factored into the base price of the metals. He stated that he had screenshots of his correspondence, but that he had never been sent any proof that his shipment was in the mail.

The company's Head of Operations responded to say that he had worked directly with the customer over email. He stated that he had explained the situation to the customer. The customer was supposed to receive a fulfillment email, a correspondence that would confirm that the threshold had been reached and the order had been shipped.

The representative stated that he had never told the customer that the gold had already shipped. He also said that he had explained the fees and sales taxes to the customer to try to help him understand why he hadn't yet broached the threshold.

Then he went on to detail the schedule by which the company processes, fulfills, and ships orders. The customer stated that he wasn't satisfied with an order taking more than one day to be packaged and shipped. So the representative cancelled the request and sent the customer a refund. The dispute was closed, and the customer said that he accepted the resolution.

Sudden Cancellation

One customer left a complaint in June of 2022 regarding their gold subscription account. Their account had reached a certain amount, but then the company ceased to take monthly payments. The customer was unaware that the payments had ceased six months prior because they had not been given a notification or any warning.

Upon investigating, the customer discovered that their subscription had been cancelled. In addition, only part of their money had been refunded. Acre Gold had kept $23. The customer said that the entire situation felt fishy and like the company was purposefully cancelling accounts to make money on the cancellation fees.

The business responded to say that they had been in contact with the customer over email. The subscription had been cancelled due to ten failed payments. Following every payment, the customer had been sent an email notification about the failure. Then they were sent an email notification about the cancellation.

The representative said that the customer was misrepresenting the situation by saying that there was no notice. In addition, they pointed out that the customer had agreed to the company's refund terms already.

The customer responded to say that they were not satisfied. They were certain that the company had not sent those emails. In addition, they stated that Acre Gold had blocked their Facebook account and refused to take their public complaints seriously.

Acre Gold responded again to tell the customer that they had been given a screenshot of their failed payments in their Facebook thread. This had been accompanied by an exhaustive explanation of how the system sends notifications. The customer admitted on Facebook that the emails might have gotten buried, but then tried to continue arguing. At that point, the company blocked them.

Supposed Discounts

One customer left a complaint in May of 2022. While it did not contain much information, they stated that they were part of a subscription for discounted gold bars. They had been using this subscription for about a year and had saved up over 900 dollars. But they had only been sent a single bar, when they expected more.

Acre Gold responded to say that none of their services include discounted gold, and that they have never claimed to sell discounted gold. They clarified that the customer was subscribed to multiple different items. Different amounts of money were being divided between each product.

In addition, Acre Gold explained to the customer that there is a difference between the retail price and spot price of gold. They told the customer that there is not a one-size-fits-all price per gram for all gold products. According to the representative, the customer had in fact received the correct products, and had another bar prepared to ship next month.

Negligent Communication

Another complaint from May of 2022 is from a customer who says that Acre Gold is negligent when they communicate with their client base. The customer was disgruntled about their subscription, which had been begun in December of the previous year.

After three months, the customer called Acre Gold to find out about the progress on his account. It was only after establishing this contact that he began to get weekly progress updates. But then he was charged for his sixth month of the subscription without being given any account updates.

Frustrated with the service and the lack of communication, he decided to cancel his account. He called but was not able to get in contact with anybody for three days. He said that now the company was purposefully refusing to process his refund paperwork so that they wouldn't have to stop charging his account.

He pointed out that he was still within the company's refund guidelines, since he hadn't reached the threshold for a full shipment yet. His goal was to get a refund and cancel his subscription without any further hassle. He said that he had read other complaints filed about the business and saw a pattern of communication issues.

Acre Gold responded to say that the customer had already received an explanation about when the prices of gold are updated. The prices are updated on Monday, and then the information in the Customer Portal is subsequently updated for accuracy. Then progress emails are sent out.

The representative said that the customer had admitted that he'd gotten the progress updates, but he didn't understand them. After the updates were explained, the customer said that he actually hadn't gotten any until contacting Acre Gold.

The representative went on to say that they had explained to the customer that there was a difference between retail and spot price. Sales tax is charged based on the customer's state of residence. They further stated that the customer had actually passed their shipment threshold for a bar of gold, but the customer decided that he wanted a refund.

There was a cancellation fee for the refund, but the customer disputed it. Then he insisted that he be given a full refund. The representative pointed out that there is a policy in place of charging $20 when an account is cancelled before an item is shipped.

The customer's refund had been processed, minus the fees. When the company sent him an email with information about the refund and when the money would arrive, the customer said that he wanted to stop receiving Acre Gold's emails.

Overpriced Gold Bars

Yet another complaint from May of 2022 was from a customer who said that she was saving up for a five gram gold bar. She stated that she had searched up the price of her bar online, and she found that it was much cheaper than what she was being asked to pay. She should have reached the payment threshold already, but she was told that she needed to make additional payments before it would be shipped.

The customer said that the fees, commissions, and markups were an outrageous percentage of the total cost. Since the BBB omits specific financial information, we can't see the exact percentage or cost. But she sent three emails asking for a refund without getting any response. It was only when she stated that she would file a complaint that she was given a response.

The customer said that she knew that it had only been a week, but the lack of communication was bothersome. It was like the company had purposefully begun ignoring her because she was asking for a refund.

The business responded to say that they had indeed received several emails from the customer. One of the emails had been replied to with the information that the refund had been processed.

They further went on to say that the customer was confused about the price of the metals. She was quoting the spot price of the gold, but Acre Gold was selling it at retail price. Retail costs are always above the spot price, though by how much depends on the involved company.

The customer said that she accepted the refund but that she did not accept the excuses. She said that Acre Gold's website only had one email to contact, and that she received a response from an entirely different email. She further went on to note that she had the email chain saved, and that she'd only received a response once she threatened to make a complaint to the BBB.

She pointed out that other people have had the same exact trouble getting in contact with the company to offer a refund, which is true. She said that she wasn't upset about the pricing or the amount that she had been charged. But she was upset by the rude response.

Final Thoughts

Acre Gold is a company with a great concept. In theory, it should also have a great execution. After all, there are many fintech experts behind the platform. It should be a way for people to more accessibly buy gold online without needing to have a huge amount in their checking account.

But there are enough red flags that we can't recommend this company. Most crucially, there is a huge number of complaints about the business. Many customers have said that the company doesn't return calls or emails, especially about cancelling an account. They also say that the business has not been transparent about its pricing or policies.

The responses to these complaints are also concerning. The company representative seems more interested in proving that they're right than in satisfying the customer's needs. These patterns of complaint about communication and refunds have existed for three years without stopping. Other businesses don't get this many complaints without any legitimate reason.

Too many people seem to have had frustrating experiences with Acre Gold. If you want to buy gold by saving up for it incrementally, we recommend doing so with your own budgeting app or bank account. Then you can contact one of our top recommended firms once you're ready to make a purchase. They will answer your questions, give you an appropriate price quote, and help demystify the investment process.