JM Bullion has been part of the gold industry since 2011, but they've grown into one of the largest precious metals dealers in the entire nation. The company focuses on high quality investment bullion. They do have some IRA services available, but these aren't as comprehensive as with some other gold dealers.
The company warehouse is in Las Vegas, while the headquarters is located in Dallas, Texas. You can create an order directly through the website thanks to their eCommerce platform. Prices for the precious metals products update in real time as the spot price of gold and silver fluctuates.
If you need to speak with an advisor, you can do so. There's a phone number available to call to get guidance or to have your questions answered. The salespeople don't work on commission, so their entire job is to answer questions honestly.
Is JM Bullion a Scam?
JM Bullion is not a scam. The company is one of the largest in the US, and you can find thousands of positive reviews online. Most websites show a relatively high percentage of satisfied consumers. For example, the average BBB customer rating is 4.58 stars with over 800 reviews, and the BBB has accredited the business.
You'll find similar stories on Site Jabber and Trustpilot. Trustpilot has a 4.5 total rating with over 1,000 reviews, while Site Jabber shows a 4.79 rating with over 2,600 reviews. Statistically, there are several thousand people who have written about how they are completely satisfied with their purchase.
However, there are a few red flags. One is the number of complaints. Any company of this size will sometimes have a complaint here and there. But there have been a whopping 277 complaints filed with the BBB over the past three years, 95 of which are in the past year alone. There are so many complaints that the BBB only displays 30% of them online.
Customer Complaints
That's a massive number, even taking into account the company's size and the number of positive reviews. In order for a complaint to be filed with the BBB, a customer must feel that they have not successfully solved the issue through traditional customer service channels. This is a large number of complaints for people to be frustrated enough by that they have to turn to the BBB.
With that said, JM Bullion does still maintain an A+ with the BBB. You can have hundreds of complaints and maintain that rating if you make an effort to resolve each one. By looking at the most recent grievances and the company's responses, we can learn about how they handle issues. We should also be able to see if there are any patterns in the complaints that JM Bullion could handle better internally.
Charged for Company's Cancellation
One customer wrote a complaint on September 14 of 2022. They said that they had placed an order with the company for a gold coin about three weeks prior. The following day, the funds cleared and the transfer went through. The package was paid for in a timely manner and in accordance with the contract.
But then the customer was told that JM Bullion was unable to fulfill the order. Instead of refunding the entire purchase price, the company charged a market loss fee and kept some of the customer's funds. The customer did not believe that this was right, since it was the company that cancelled the order, not them.
The customer had been emailing with the company for three weeks, but somehow they still hadn't yet arrived at a solution. The support team promised a full refund, but it was never processed. The customer had been given a date by which the refund should be fixed, but it had gone by without any changes.
The company responded a week later to say that the customer had been sent an email on the day that they filed the complaint. The refund was initiated that day.
The customer has yet to follow up on whether they accept the solution or not. But given a lack of followup, it seems likely that they received their refund as promised. There was no apology or explanation in the response from JM Bullion.
Allegedly Empty Package
One customer wrote a complaint in July of 2022 regarding an order that they had placed in January of the same year. They had bought a one ounce platinum coin for a little less than $1,100. The customer signed up for an account with the JM Bullion website and paid for the order directly through their bank account.
According to the complaint, when the package arrived, it was empty. The customer signed for it at the post office and opened it at the counter. There was no coin inside.
The insurance coverage for each package only lasts until the package is signed for. Based on this, the customer said that JM Bullion had rejected their insurance claim. The customer had filed a police report and had done everything necessary to document the issue for insurance. They said that they felt misled about the insurance coverage, which was advertised as an essential part of a package.
The company responded about a week later to say that the claim had been denied because there was no evidence that the parcel was damaged or that there was any way for the metal to have been removed. There was not sufficient evidence given regarding the description that the customer had provided.
The company went on to say that all shipments are fully insured, and if a package is worth more than $1,000, then it must be signed for upon delivery. But if something happens to the package while it is in transit, then the insurance policy covers it.
The customer never followed up, so it's difficult to ascertain how much of their story is truthful. Generally insurance investigations will involve looking at security footage and package data. Packages are often weighed several times while in transit to make sure that the contents remain the same. Similarly, precious metals companies typically have cameras on the packages being prepared, so they can review the tape if there are any discrepancies.
Out-of-Stock Delays
Another complaint was filed in July of 2022 regarding an order that the customer had placed a few weeks prior. He had bought several gold American Eagles, which the company website promised were in stock. Fifteen days went by without the order being shipped. The customer was then sent an email saying that the item was actually out of stock, but hopefully it would arrive soon.
The customer had called the customer service team and told them that it is illegal to misrepresent their inventory. He said that the company had stated that they had the items in stock when they didn't, collected his money, and then purposefully not provided the item.
The service rep told the customer that they didn't know when the company would next have American Eagles in stock. If the customer wanted to cancel the order, he would be subject to a 10% cancellation penalty.
Several days after this, the customer called the company and asked if there were any gold American Eagles available to purchase. The rep told him that there were several in the inventory. The customer then explained that he had already placed an order, at which point he was told that the items were not in stock.
He believed that he had been lied to by the company. In addition to filing a complaint with the BBB, he had filed a complaint with the SEC and CFTC.
The business responded to say that they were unable to find any order matching the customer's phone number, email, or name. There was no record of the customer ever placing an order. They suggested that the customer might have placed an order with a different company instead.
The senior operations manager at the company had tried to get in contact with the customer via phone, but didn't receive an answer. The company asked that the customer provide an order number. The customer never responded publicly, so it's uncertain whether this issue was ever resolved. It does seem like JM Bullion did everything they could to have a good faith followup, though.
Missing Package
A customer left a complaint in May of 2022 regarding an order that he had placed the previous month. When he bought the precious metals, the package was supposed to be sent using the UPS 3 day service. There would be up to 48 hours for processing, so the package should have arrived within 5 days.
The customer was sent an email with tracking information about the package. He made a UPS account to get tracking updates. Over the next several days, the tracking info became nonsensical, with the package being shipped to strange locations and missing flights. The customer kept track of all of the strange tracking data and saved it.
On the day that the package was supposed to arrive, the customer stayed home to receive it. The tracking information stated that arrival would happen between 10 AM and 1 PM. But there wasn't any delivery. The customer was sent an email that the delivery had been rescheduled for the following Monday.
On Sunday, the customer was sent an email reiterating the arrival time of the package. It was supposed to get there between noon and 4 PM. He stayed home and called UPS at about 11 AM. The UPS rep called the distribution center and said he would provide an update. But nobody called back, so the customer called again at about 5 PM.
This was when the customer was told that the package could not be located. Once the customer was given the info about the missing package, he filed a report with UPS. He also sent JM Bullion an email to inform them of the situation. On May 6, the insurance claim for the package was filed.
The customer was given several followup emails indicating that the claim had been accepted. JM Bullion had been sent paperwork to complete the claim. When the customer contacted UPS again, he was told that they were still waiting for the paperwork from JM Bullion. He was filing the complaint to have JM Bullion finish the designated paperwork.
JM Bullion responded to say that the customer had been emailed the insurance declaration, which needed a signature. Once he signed it, the claim would be processed and approved.
The customer did not follow up on whether he was satisfied with the solution or not. But in the absence of an update, we can assume that the paperwork was filed and the claim was settled. This mostly seems like a problem with UPS rather than JM Bullion. The only thing that JM Bullion might have done wrong is forgetting to send the customer the insurance paperwork to sign.
Pros & Cons of JM Bullion
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Final Thoughts
JM Bullion is an extremely popular precious metals dealer that offers a variety of services. Many of their policies seem solid, especially judging by the positive customer reviews. Thousands of people have detailed their experiences with glowing feedback.
However, the company does seem to fall into the trap of some larger precious metals dealers. They have garnered a few hundred complaints over the past few years. The content of the complaints is all over the board: issues with inventory, shipping delays, lost packages, and disappointment with the shipped products.
Some of the complaints are based on misunderstandings or circumstances outside of JM Bullion's control. But it does seem like an unusual number of customers are frustrated by the company's services. Based on this, we don't highly recommend them. Instead, we recommend working with a reputable competitor like Goldco.