Bitcoin Forum

What happened:
On 5 of august 2013 I ordered 10 silver coins from goldsilverbitcoin.com. I received confirmation of payment to my Email but for a month I haven’t received any additional information about order being sent. So, I decided to contact customer service. Pretty soon I got a response from CEO of company Justin, or SilverVigilante on this forum. He informed me that my order has been shipped and I should have received a tracking number. After that I was provided with a tracking number, that doesn’t work on USPS site. Justin wrote me that he filed a report with USPS but we had to wait 2 weeks before anything could be done. I decided to give a guy a benefit of a doubt and waited more, especially, since I was promised a “swift” refund in BTC. Three and a half months (!) after order was placed and after numerous emails back-and-forth I was finally provided not with a refund but with a number that worked on USPS site (LC319311158US). That number supposed to track new envelope with silver. Only tracking stuck at “in transit” since November 26, 2013. I decided to contact US Postal Service to find out point of destination of the envelope or at least a country. They did not provide me with that information however I was informed that the tracking number I received from Justin is a “customs label number” which does not allow international tracking. So here I am, no silver, no BTC. After 5.5 months.
Edit: The envelope SilverVigilante claims to have sent to me, in reality was sent to UK. Please read post #6 for details.
Edit: I've got a new tracking number (that would be the 4-th!). It finally starts with the letter C.
Edit: I've got the package from Justin. Not exactly what I ordered. Please read post #21 for details.
Scammers Profile Link:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=63411
Reference Link:
https://www.goldsilverbitcoin.com/
Amount Scammed: 2.76 BTC 0.09 BTC
Payment Method: Bitcoins
Proof of Payment:
https://blockchain.info/ru/tx/2e9500db81dc26f9be338d9ac5765019fcd7e79b48d484361328b5ed3cdc58f4
Additional Notes:
I did not initially insist on a refund because the price of bitcoin substantially changed. I didn’t want a guy to lose his business and I was not sure if I was really dealing with a scammer or with a victim of Postal Service/customs fraud. Now I am.
In email from September 20-th he wrote me that he filed report with USPS. In email from October 24-th he wrote that he did not. In one of those emails is a lie.
I live in Russia but I have ordered and received items from US in small envelopes and in big boxes, with and without tracking numbers. I received coins from Coinabul despite bad reviews. I even received mining equipment from much hated by everyone BFL. So, to me goldsilverbitcoin.com is one of a kind.
Sorry if my English is not very good.

GoldSilverBitcoin is not a scam.

I have already contacted Comrade Capitalist who sent me an email today to advise me of the issue. I knew of no issue until today.

This item shipped many, many weeks ago.  I am working on the order.

We have since ceased accepting international orders for numerous reasons.

Comrade Capitalist has not been scammed and we will keep this post updated.

I have far more to lose (my reputation) than to gain by defrauding people on the other side of the earth for 10 silver eagles or any value of anything.

Anyway, this issue will be resolved, and likely with me sending 10 Silver Eagles out without knowing much about the previous order due to the nature of international shipping.

Again, in a way, this problem has already been resolved with GSBTC moving to only accept orders from the US.

best,
Justin O'Connell

This is what I got from USPS:
“…if you need to track your International Mail please have the US senders consider using our Global Express Guaranteed or Express Mail International services.  Delivery information is available to most countries for C-series customs label numbers that come with Regular Priority Mail International, or the Medium and Large Flat Rate boxes.  You can also receive confirmation of delivery when using our Registered Mail service in conjunction with the specific class of mail you use.”
I’m sure this information about “nature of international shipping” could have been provided to you in any Post office. And please, don’t promise to send me anything by mail. Those packages tend to get lost, remember? Now I insist on a refund.

I'm going to repeat myself here... don't TEST DRIVE SITES. 

This info doesn't seem to help much; I guess scammer knows what's he doing - whoisguard protection - stupid of whois for offering protection service to scammers. SMH:

Domain Name: GOLDSILVERBITCOIN.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1734607090_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.enom.com
Registrar URL: www.enom.com
Creation Date: 2012-07-19 02:31:00Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2014-07-19 01:31:22Z
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Registrar IANA ID: 48
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@enom.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4252744500
Reseller: NAMECHEAP.COM
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: WHOISGUARD PROTECTED
Registrant Organization: WHOISGUARD, INC.
Registrant Street: P.O. BOX 0823-03411
Registrant City: PANAMA
Registrant State/Province: PANAMA
Registrant Postal Code: NA
Registrant Country: PA
Registrant Phone: +507.8365503
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +51.17057182
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: C0F52C080E1E41CAA4EDD6F905650560.PROTECT@WHOISGUARD.COM
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: WHOISGUARD PROTECTED
Admin Organization: WHOISGUARD, INC.
Admin Street: P.O. BOX 0823-03411
Admin City: PANAMA
Admin State/Province: PANAMA
Admin Postal Code: NA
Admin Country: PA
Admin Phone: +507.8365503
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax: +51.17057182
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: C0F52C080E1E41CAA4EDD6F905650560.PROTECT@WHOISGUARD.COM
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: WHOISGUARD PROTECTED
Tech Organization: WHOISGUARD, INC.
Tech Street: P.O. BOX 0823-03411
Tech City: PANAMA
Tech State/Province: PANAMA
Tech Postal Code: NA
Tech Country: PA
Tech Phone: +507.8365503
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +51.17057182
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: C0F52C080E1E41CAA4EDD6F905650560.PROTECT@WHOISGUARD.COM
Name Server: NS-1014.AWSDNS-62.NET
Name Server: NS-1156.AWSDNS-16.ORG
Name Server: NS-1546.AWSDNS-01.CO.UK
Name Server: NS-276.AWSDNS-34.COM
DNSSEC: unSigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
Last update of WHOIS database: 2013-07-04 07:08:00Z

.

Update:
I filled in contact form on usps.com 2 times because they did not get back to me for about 2 weeks. Today I got a response to my second inquiry:

Either SilverVigilante is a scam artist or he is completely incompetent, because I still live in Russia.

To omegaflare: Thanks for the info. I should make it a habit to check domain registration before ordering.

Hello,

I am not a scam artist. I am better at other arts, like writing and music.

Capitalist Comrade made the post to BitcoinTalk the same day he sent me an email that he had not received his package.

Having a whoisguard on my website also doesn't prove that I am a scam artist.

My name is Justin O'Connell. There's a phone number on my website. An email. I am active in the bitcoin space. etc, etc.

I am on the internet in lots of places.

Please have more faith in humanity, my friends. Y'all gotta chill out..

The proper tracking is LC319311135US. Got tracking numbers mixed up it seems. Or the post office messed up. I am on the phone with them now.

Regardless, the package clearly has not made it to it's destination.

So what will happen?

After I learn a bit more info from the Post Office, I will likely merely end up shipping the customer more Silver Eagles. And I hope you all will praise me as an honest being.

Thanks for your patience everyone while I sort this out :)

To SilverVigilante:
So you are sticking with incompetence then. I thought we already established that numbers LCXXXXXXXXXUS are NOT tracking numbers, they are customs label numbers. And they don’t allow international tracking. So refer to them accordingly.  What happened to the first number you sent me: RE5214267890? Dog ate a couple of letters?

You claim that two packages already did not make it to their destination. And you insist on promising to send me a third one? I’m sorry, that will happen only after you waste some more of my time. And let me guess, that package will still be untraceable like the rest?

I’m not holding my breath about the refund either. I just want others not to make the same mistake I did.
;D Let’s go there! Community should know its “heroes”.

I ship products internationally and never had to give out the customs number of the label to my customers for "tracking".

Only the Registered mail # has ever been used.

To this day after many many orders done not one package has been lost when shipped via Registered mail in the U.S. and internationally.

I think that I should contact USPS again with the new customs label number (LC319311135US), although it seems pretty much pointless at the moment. The only reason for this post is the quote, it won’t allow SilverVigilante to edit away the number he supplied.

Just FYI...

Contrary to what it says on goldsilverbitcoin.com (https://www.goldsilverbitcoin.com/about-gldslvbtc/) there is no Gold Silver Bitcoin LLC, or at least it's not registered/operated by Justin. The name of the company is SV Enterprises LLC. It is registered in Wyoming and you can do a search for it here: https://wyobiz.wy.gov/business/FilingSearch.aspx

Are there any places to buy gold that are legit, out ther?

Hi Everyone,

Looks like I've been scammed (at least up until now). Sorry I was wrong it wasn't a scam. I eventually received my silver.Since other people are having serious problems with delivery. I would advise against using this service. It could be that Justin will not send you anything unless you fight for it.

I ordered some silver on the site but received nothing.

My order is as follows:

Order: #3454

Product   Quantity   Price
Morgan & Peace Dollars
2   ฿0.07
Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
25   ฿0.73
Cart Subtotal:   ฿0.80
Shipping:   ฿0.02 via Flat Rate
Order Total:   ฿0.82

http://blockchain.info/tx/32ffec6ba30e43df3b37aaa6689f0019b65fc2b42d5189d3bd3cbec17cec325a
My correspondence with Justin is as follows:


If I don't receive any news (which I will be posting here) you can assume it's a scam.

UPDATE: Justin called me back and told me he is going to give me the tracking information. Hoping for now that everything works out and that it's just a misunderstanding.

UPDATE: Justin gave me what seems to be an invalid tracking number ( CW719790004US ) and doesn't seem to respond to emails.

UPDATE: Received a new tracking number from Justin (appears to be valid).

UPDATE: Received Silver order!!! Coins were properly enclosed in plastic casing! Thanks Justin!

https://i.imgur.com/EgMyvYG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kFHedud.jpg

@ericdc30:
Wow! What a great success story. I bet you and Justin are the best buddies now. You got your silver and  now you're doing his PR campaign for him. OP's claims can be forgotten because of your glorious photos. I'm a high-risk foreign customer anyway. Good job! Both of you. I'm sure that Mark Karpeles is in desperate need of guys like you Eric. If you successfully traded on Mt.Gox please post about it in details and help him out.
The only thing that Justin can't seem to manage still is copying and pasting the correct tracking numbers. He's got to hire some highly trained professional for that.
If you prefer a version without the sarcasm, then I would write this: As I've mentioned above, I´m a happy Coinabul customer. But I'm not going to post my positive reviews in a thread, that was started by someone who really got defrauded by that company. Positive feedback is just as important, but there's a place for it. In your case its this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=156256 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=156256) If you want to be objective and impartial, read previous 2 posts by smoothie here, you might learn something.
You've been kept in the dark for 1.5 months. Now you're writing “thank you Justin” in large colourful fonts and diverting attention away from this liar. Is it Stockholm syndrome? Or you just have no respect for someone, in who's shoes you nearly ended up yourself?

I am tending to agree with the OP. My simple order of one Silver Eagle has been met with nothing but excuses since I placed the order at GoldSilverBitcoin in September, which was 5 months ago!

Justin has stopped replying to my courteous emails, some of which included every possible screenshot and transaction link one could hope for. I had been watching for this, so I had made screenshots of absolutely everything when I made four identical purchases from four online stores offering precious metals for bitcoin.

http://buygoldwithbitcoin.com

I made a site just for this purpose, to show everyone who's being honest with me, and who just offers excuses while they hold my original payment in bitcoin, which original payment has increased in value from $25 to over $160 while he held onto it. NO COIN HAS SHIPPED from GoldSilverBitcoin.

The other three online stores, Amagi, Agora and Coinabul had no problem shipping, and two of them had my coin in hand WITHIN 4 DAYS including the shipping time.

Beware.

Actually, I didn't mind some delays. It was made obvious at the time of order, that five Mexican Libertads were not in stock. But I didn't expect that the word “delay” meant “never”. And yes, contrary to what Justin wrote, not all coins were Silver Eagles. Only half. So, maybe he wrote that for the argument's sake in the second post, or he just doesn't give a crap about his obligations.
Site buygoldwithbitcoin.com looks very good. Bookmarked it. Can't wait for your review. Don't know what can be Justin's excuse in your case.

Buy Gold With Bitcoin has reviews of online stores that offer precious metals for bitcoin.

The review for GoldSilverBitcoin is posted (http://"http://buygoldwithbitcoin.com/goldsilverbitcoin-review-from-an-actual-purchase-2013-09-23/reviews/").

UPDATE: Justin from GoldSilverBitcoin has finally emailed me. There had previously been no response whatsoever for 75 days despite several emails on my part requesting status on this order.

If the coin finally arrives I'll posted a full update on that page, and you can see the actual coin.

It has been a total of 164 days that this order has failed to ship.

I never received my order from Justin too.  It wasn't a big order, but amounted to US$400.  He claims he never received the transaction when my exchange verifies it was sent to his address plus I have a receipt on my email.  Luckily I diversified and did multiple transactions with other companies in the event this happened.  Funny thing is, out of everyone I expected Justin's business to be the most legit because I used to be a TDV suscriber with Jeff Berwick.  I'm hoping they are just behind and if so then I will definitely retract this statement and put in a good word.  Otherwise, his business is not living up to the standards of "do what you say you are going to do".

On March 21 2014 I finally received a package from goldsilverbitcoin.com.
That's 7.5 months after the order was placed, and after 2 failed attempts to ship the coins, according to Justin. Package has arrived within 10 days after it was sent.

What did I order: 5 Silver Libertads (1.35 BTC) and 5 American Silver Eagles (1.26 BTC) plus shipping (0.15 BTC). Total for the entire order is 2.76 BTC

What did I receive: 10  American Silver Eagles, out of wich 2 have very visible finger prints.

I wrote about the issue in this thread in post #18, before the coins were sent. I contacted Justin by email about the issue. No compensation for switching more expensive coins for the cheaper ones or for the delay was offered. The theme of a refund wasn't mentioned by Justin since October 24 of last  year. I guess I should be glad that I finally received something, if not exactly what I ordered. If what it takes to get your order (in my case not exactly mine though) from Justin is to start a new thread at the forum, then I would still suggest to stay away from goldsilverbitcoin.com. At this moment at least 2 people are in situation similar to mine: BuyGoldWithBitcoin and crabpot and so far they haven't posted information about getting their orders from Justin.

I've deleted my negative feedback from SilverVigilante's profile, since the real issue for me is more or less solved. But I'm leaving my posts in this thread almost unedited, because I don't think that what happened is a set of some freak coincidences.

After 171 days, numerous emails, and being ignored for 75 days, the coin finally arrived.

You can see the actual coin and read the entire correspondence with the owner of GoldSilverBitcoin here (http://"http://"http//buygoldwithbitcoin.com/goldsilverbitcoin-review-from-an-actual-purchase-2013-09-23/reviews/").

There's more than 10 complaints just on this site so you are a scammer.

Another victim here - byers be ware - BuyGoldWithBitcoin may be a scam or/and operated by an incompetent seller!

My coins never arrived (2+ months since ordered)

Had several communications with a person named Justin, he could not produce a proff of shipment nor he would send a refund.

FYI, my order number was 3500, paid with TXN ID: https://blockchain.info/tx/afd777d87a104a42b39e5ee99bbb1c3c25d27e9a00843af3458147702db7aba1

Will be regularuly posting this warning here, on reddit and several other forums to warn others.

kwilliams, would you mind correcting your post? My website BuyGoldWithBitcoin (http://"http://buygoldwithbitcoin.com") provides reviews of online stores offering precious metals for bitcoin, but I do not sell precious metals! I'm only a review site, but you have named BuyGoldWithBitcoin in your post!

Please compare the name BuyGoldWithBitcoin with the subject of this thread GoldSilverBitcoin. Who were you referring to?

I don't believe BuyGoldWithBitcoin is a shop at all, rather it reviews them, which is probably confirmed by the post above mine from the aforementioned person :P

Justin -- are you here?

I'm still waiting for an order of an ounce of platinum that I made two months ago: order #3520.

I got no word from you since my first question about the status of my order.

Could you please clarify the status again, else refund me the BTC that I paid for it?

I just sent you an email.

Thank you for any clarification about the delay,

Benjamin B.


Update: I see that the website says that the order is completed by the tracking number with USPS shows an error on the USPS website. Could you please provide your customers with unambiguous information? Either on the status of the order or provide us with a refund.

I’m writing in here to partially retract some of my earlier statements. Few weeks ago I finally did receive my coins in full and as advertised. While I continue to be unhappy about delivery speed, I have to admit that GoldSilverBitcoin in general and Justin in particular have handled the situation well. Whereas I continue to think that I will never use this site again, my earlier statements about the site being dishonest or or/and the operator being incompetent now feel overly exaggerated.

Not sure why you have to be sarcastic. I reported exactly what happened. I also added a warning so other people know what they are getting into (you are right that my post may be sending the wrong message to someone who doesn't bother reading). Anyway I have to give him the benefit of the doubt because he actually sent me my silver (and still has a neutral rating).

Let me explain through an example. Let's imagine that I put up a huge billboard with Monsanto's logo on it. Then I claim that I'm not advertising this company, because in the corner of the billboard there's a disclaimer, and it's stating in a 100 lines of small text that Monsanto's products cause cancer and destroy ecosphere. In a same way you can't claim that you have zero responsibility for reader's subconscious decisions.
Anyway, thanks for changing at least a part of your post. Sorry, if I've been too aggressive towards you.