TL;DR Topgrades.co.za is no longer a member of Rand Refinery, their membership has been suspended. Take a look at all rand refinery registered dealers and make sure to only buy from people on this list
Investing in Gold
Investing in gold – you can actually hold – can be a very prudent investment, espescially when global debt continues to rise.
However finding a legit dealer is hard.
You should avoid using Topgrades and Centaurus trading when purchasing Kruger Rands
My Experience with Centaurus Trading
I had dealt with Centuarus Trading by buying through their topgrades.co.za website before and didn’t have much of an issue except that the order did take quite long to be fulfilled. This was in mid 2017.
I had checked at the time and they were a registered dealer.
In late 2018 – I made another purchase, however this time it took 2 weeks without contact.
I had to call the owner of Centaurus and ask him what was going on and he gave me the run around.
I also went to their office in Bryanston and it is a very small operation – not much furniture or equipment like bank door, security etc.
Rand Refinery
Rand Refinery verifies and certifies kruger rand dealers in South Africa.
I called Rand Refinery and was told that Centaurus / Topgrades membership was being reviewed after I noticed they were no longer on the registered coin dealers list.
The next week I called Rand Refinery again and they told me that management had decided to suspend their account and I was to ask for a refund.
Refund Request
I asked for a refund and again I was given the run around. It was not processed immediately I was told to wait 48 hours and then again for the following day.
Eventually I got the refund.
The whole ordeal took 28 days from the day I EFT’ed into their account until I received the refund. Unfortunately it has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
When you are dealing with relatively large transactions it is important that everyone feels safe and secure but in this case I was worried by the shady activity and that it could be a scam.
Fronts for the same Company
At the end of the day it all worked out ok but I want to warn other people to avoid dealing with the following companies:
- Centaurus Trading
- MetalNexus
- www.topgrades.co.za
- www.goudwoud.co.za
- www.centaurus-trading.com
- www.sasilver.co.za
- www.sagold.com
Also always ensure you test the authenticity of KrugerRands using the methods described in the Rand Refinery Testing Guide.
Centaurus Contact Details
You can contact the owner of Centaurus Paul Blundell Gibson on 0835026312.
Chantelle Pretorious also works for the company.