Important warning to all would-be customers of Lawrence Chard (t/a Chards in Blackpool, and Tax Free Gold, Gold Sovereigns, 24 Carat and Eurocoins on the Internet)

All would-be customers of Lawrence Chard, trading as Chards in Blackpool (and Tax Free Gold, Gold Sovereigns, 24 Carat and Eurocoins on the Internet) should urgently be aware of the following facts:

- Lawrence Chard has been suspended from Ebay because of massive negative feedback and failure to provide real contact details for clients;

- Lawrence Chard has been expelled from the British Numismatic Trade Association (the umbrella body representing coin dealers) for “bringing that body into disrepute.”

- Lawrence Chard was censured by the UK Internet Domain Registration Authority, Nominet UK, for a series of “abusive registrations” where domains were registered with the express intention of impersonating other institutions. The most important attempted Chard impersonation was of the Royal Mint, and that body was forced to take legal action against Chard.

- Lawrence Chard is notorious for advertising items for sale which he does not have in stock, and then making customers wait months while he attempts to find the items which he has “sold” but did not have. Many complaints on Ebay testify to this fact.

- Lawrence Chard’s dubious business dealings and questionable ethics have caused a number of dissatisfied customers to start a thread on the monmeysupermarket.com website listing their disastrous interactions with Chards.

As the Romans used to say:  ‘Caveat Emptor’ – Let the Buyer Beware.

You deal with Lawrence Chard and his internet ghost companies at your own risk!

Read on below to find out more.

Lawrence Chard Suspended from Ebay

Lawrence Chard has been expelled from Ebay because of a number of irregularities.  This alone should give any potential customer cause for concern.

According to an email sent to Chard by Ebay: “details on [his] account including your telephone number to be invalid and we wanted to make sure that all your details were correct as you were selling so many items.

“Your account suspension is due to several discrepancies in your registration information as outlined in Section 8 of the eBay User Agreement. The section is entitled "Breach" and contains the following text:

"Without limiting our other remedies, we may immediately issue a warning, suspend or terminate your user registration and refuse to provide our services to you without notice to you: (a) if you breach this Agreement or the documents incorporated by reference; (b) if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us ; or (c) if we believe that your actions may cause legal liability for you, our users or us.

“In order for your account to be reinstated we also request that you fax us or send us proof of ownership, for instance a copy of the receipts for:

100 x 2004 Silver 1 Ounce Bullion Britannias

which you have listed on eBay.

Evidence of Ownership:

* Copy of Title * Copy of Bill of Sale * Copy of Receipts * Copy of Agreement with Supplier * Copy of Shipping Invoices

“Please either fax, or post us this information. Please write: "Appeals - Attn: Pat Wall" on your cover page, and include your User ID on the documentation. Hard copy appeals often take up to 10 days to process.

Our fax number is:

020 7681 2214

“If you prefer to mail us this information please send it to us at the following address:

“eBay UK Investigations PO Box 39711 London W4 5WF

“As soon as your identity has been verified, we will be happy to review this suspension.

“Please ensure that you quote your email address and eBay User ID clearly on every correspondence and allow at least 48 to 72 hours from receipt of the requested information for it to be processed. Emailing us before that time may result in delays.

“In order for your account to be considered for reinstatement, you will also be required to send in an accurate telephone number preferably a land line and a time I might be able to call you.

“Please write: "Appeals - Attn: Pat Wall" in the subject line of emails as I have done, and include the item number and your User ID on the documentation.

“Thank you for your patience and cooperation in helping us to resolve this matter.

Best wishes,

Pat Wall eBay Trust and Safety ___ eBay Your Personal Trading Community”  – official email sent to Lawrence Chard.

Ebay obviously had no luck in trying to get Lawrence Chard to provide any basic details and verification, and subsequently sent him this email:

Dear Lawrence Chard (ebay@24carat.co.uk),

Your auction(s) … have been ended early and all fees credited to your account. Your auctions were ended for the following reason:

* Account Suspension

You will be sent a separate notification regarding your account suspension.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Respectfully,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)

eBay Inc”

Ebay is one of the world’s largest and most trusted online auction portals. What does it say about Lawrence Chard and his dodgy businesses that Ebay refuses to deal with him anymore?

Caveat Emptor: Let the Buyer Beware!

Complaints Against Lawrence Chad Listed on EBay

“Worst Seller and Communication I EVER DEALT WITH IN 9 YRS ONLINE!”

“When I phoned to check on delivery, your staff said you did not have the coin.”

“DISHONEST SELLER - BWARE PICTURE ARE NOT OF ACTUAL ITEMS. CROOK!”

These are just some of the comments left by angry former customers of Lawrence Chard on Ebay, and which doubtless led to his suspension from that auction house.

Item Number	Member ID	Member Screenname	Date	Comment
1	3036005160	dgl16	09-Aug-03	CHARGED £2.00 P&P YET GOLD SOVEREIGN WAS SENT WITH 19p STAMP !!!
2	3048156285	gaz123321	11-Oct-03	PAID £5 INSURED DELIVERY, ITEM SENT BY 2ND CLASS POST ! NO ANSWER TO MY E-MAILS?
3	3053084196	jalonso63	29-Oct-03	I didn't receive any information from you.
4	2198398882	naldermanotc	06-Nov-03	Tried contacting Chard via phone (engaged) & does not reply to emails 3 attempts
5	3051496748	dzori	07-Nov-03	no answer of any mail - should not be able to send the article
6	3048627172	Buyer No longer a registered user	21-Nov-03	never reciever any information about nugget
7	2205286272	scaffman* no longer a registered user	02-Dec-03	Lack of communication,will not send me address to send payment.after 6 Emails
8	2208220776	friendlyfred2005	13-Dec-03	I give up. Tried Trans Atlantic fax..failed.Phone..busy. email silent. Keep item Follow-up: I'm not going to spend a fortune trying to contact this dealer in phone charges.
9	2212423857	stockpicker99	08-Jan-04	Poor comunicator, Won't get in touch with me to complete the sale..No responses
10	2214787262	bddyuk1	23-Jan-04	Specialist presentation packaging reason for purchase at high price not sent .
11	2226315260	skiing2004	02-Apr-04	You never answered my numerous emails about how to pay (Paypal - Bipay).
12	3906736066 2217767992	magictooth		Worst Seller Ever!! Worst Communication! 3 Mos Later Still Out $5800 Email Me Follow-up by magictooth: Clarification: Worst Seller and Communcation I EVER DEALT WITH IN 9 YRS ONLINE!
13	3901529175	1fede1	30-Apr-04	Gives a bad evaluation to me,thought I toled him that the letter of money is los Follow-up I toled him the letter is lost + I check whith the DP, but he has no patience!
14	3908413881	harleydavidsona7	06-May-04	BEWARE This seller plays by thir own set of rules. DONT waste Your time here
15	3905888758	anthonyjallen	13-May-04	Never again. Stressful experience exacerbated by sellers lack of communications. $US5,200+ sale & you are too up yourself to reply to a request for post cost
16	3900937806	hawkeyehoosier	14-May-04	Won Bid 03/10 Check Cashed 04/05 Rec'd Coin 05/11 Don't think he had when listed Follow-up by hawkeyehoosier: When I phoned to check on delivery, your staff said you did not have the coin
17	3900937887	chelvam no longer a registered user	18-May-04	i questioned the authenticity of the coin and your staff became unfriendly.
18	3908205632	wannacoin no longer a registered user	20-May-04	taken payment still not received item this one's a con BEWARE ALL
19	3903332721	cruffyinaz (private)	21-May-04	Seller chose to post negative whn i snt pymnt but thy cld not rspnd to my emails Follow-up: I sent a chqe lk I told you! U nvr replied 2 any emails that I have proof I snt!
20	3040590577	thebirm		Didn't answer any emails after sale. Re-sold the item I won for more money. BEWARE
21	3904427844	1969wildcatbuick	22-May-04	Worst ebay member never returned emails then claims non-payment
22	3905071067	ttm456	24-May-04	Beware this ebayer. duplicates order. doesnt respond to email. posts neg. feedbak
23	3909957154	erie2121	26-May-04	did not send item
24	3912840606	brookestrade (now gavintrade	31-May-04	Where are my coins and why will you not contact me for payment? Poor Ebayer
25	3906594288	tams1984	14-Jun-04	Very bad contact
26	3925720584	bidancients	24-Oct-04	DISHONEST SELLER - BWARE PICTURE ARE NOT OF ACTUAL ITEMS. CROOK!
27	3925718758	mgr1970	04-Nov-04	sent emails no reply, phoned shop the price had gone up from the win bid price not tit for tat if they replied to emails and price was winning bid no problem
28	3934637565	caledane	14-Nov-04	Late Delivery. Poor Communication. Listed item not in stock at end of auction!!!!

Caveat Emptor: Let the Buyer Beware!

Lawrence Chard Expelled from the British Numismatic Trade Association

Lawrence Chard and his “businesses” were expelled from the British Numismatic Trade Association in 2008.

The BNTA is a self-governing umbrella body which represents coin dealers in Britain. It is dedicated to ensuring that the public have a resource for finding out who is a trusted and genuine coin dealer, and as an avenue for complaints or disputes within the industry.

The BNTA was compelled to remove Lawrence Chard and his “businesses” from membership  of the association for a breach of its rules, namely “bringing the association into disrepute.”

Although the exact nature of the offences were not detailed, one of the charges was that Lawrence Chard used the BNTA logo in his business promotional material without obtaining authority.

This offence meant that Chard falsely claimed that the BTNA had endorsed one of his shady business ventures.

The BTNA refused to have anything more to do with Chard, which means that the self-governing coin seller industry body has refused to be associated with him anymore.

Caveat Emptor!  Let the Buyer Beware!

Fraud? Lawrence Chard Rebuked by Internet Domain Authority for Attempting to Impersonate the Royal Mint

Lawrence Chard has been officially rebuked and branded as a serial “abusive registrar” of domains which are designed to impersonate other companies, including the Royal Mint.

This shocking state of affairs reveals precisely the extremely low level of business “ethics” which Chard and his “companies” employ.

In a ruling made in March 2006 by Nominet UK, the official statutory body which regulates Internet domain registrations in Britain, that organisation declared Chard to be guilty of “abusive registration” when he attempted to impersonate the Royal Mint by registering the domain royalmint.co.uk .

According to the Nominet UK ruling, the original of which can be found here, the facts of the case were as follows:

“The (Royal) Mint owns two domain names: <royalmint.gov.uk> and <royalmint.com>. It has owned these domain names since 1997 and 1996 respectively, and has operated websites at internet addresses which incorporate these domain names since 2005 and 1996 respectively.

“As a result of the above, the Mint owns the substantial and valuable goodwill and reputation in the ROYAL MINT name, amounting to rights enforceable under English law via the tort of passing-off.

“The Respondent (and registrant of the Domain Name) is an individual, Lawrence Chard. Lawrence Chard is, and has at all relevant times been, a director and shareholder of a company incorporated in England and Wales as company number 01378220: Chard (1964) Limited.

“Chard (1964) Limited appear to do business via a website at <www.chards.co.uk>. Lawrence Chard is the registrant of the <chards.co.uk> domain name. There are numerous links from the website at <www.chards.co.uk> to a website (described as one of “Chard’s websites”) at <www.24carat.co.uk>.

““Chard Limited” is the registrant of the <24carat.co.uk> domain name. It should be noted that no such company exists (at least not one registered in England and Wales) and it is presumed that Chard Limited is an erroneous reference to Chard (1964) Limited.

“The Complainant submits that the Domain Name is an Abusive Registration as the Respondent acquired and is using the Domain Name in a way which takes unfair advantage of and is unfairly detrimental to the Complainant’s Rights.”

Nominet UK ruled that the domain be seized from Lawrence Chard and retuned to the Royal Mint.

  

The question any potential customer must ask is this: why would Lawrence Chard attempt to impersonate the Royal Mint?

The only answer can be that he was attempting to deceive Internet users by yet another fake internet front company.

That time, however, the Chard charade was caught out.

* Of significance in the Nominet ruling, was the following paragraphs:

“The expert notes the submission by the Complainant that the Respondent (either directly or through businesses with which he has some connection appear to have been engaged in a pattern of abusive registrations.

"It appears that in this regard, there are associated registrants / websites: -

Lawrence Chard

www.chards.co.uk

"These associated parties have now been the subject of a number of previous Decisions which have found against them: -

DRS -570 Blackpooltower.co.uk

DRS – 2921 Alternate.co.uk

WIPO Case No. D2001-1501 - garrards.com

"Additionally, the Complainant has provided a list of .co.uk domains which appear to satisfy the test of paragraph 3.a.iii, namely: -

“The Complainant can demonstrate that the Respondent is engaged in a pattern of registrations where the Respondent is the registrant of domain names (under .uk or otherwise) which correspond to well known names or trade marks in which the Respondent has no apparent rights, and the Domain Name is part of that pattern;”

"The Expert finds that the Complainant has so demonstrated and that the provisions of paragraph 3c are satisfied.”

In other words, Lawrence Chard has a confirmed track record of internet impersonation and misrepresentation and has done this to more than one company.  

Is he a crook?  Well. Some of his unhappy eBay customers called him that, but we will let the readers make up their own minds….

Caveat Emptor!  Let the Buyer Beware!

Lawrence Chard Panned on Money Supermarket.com

Lawrence Chard’s questionable business “ethics” have elicited much negative comment on the independent consumer-focussed website, Moneysupermarket.com.

Here are the comments, as they were posted up for all to see. You can find the original comments on moneysupermarket.com by clicking here.

Mon, Aug 20 2007, 9:51 PM

By KAC

Chard & Tax Free Gold

Has anyone had any problems with these companies? (same company, different trading names). They sell Gold coins, mainly for investment - not sure if the name means there is some kind of VAT avoidance possible?

I came across them as I am a coin collector, and had started a collection of the £1 Bridge coins, in Gold proof quality.

One of the coins was unavailable through the usual sources, The Royal Mint, Westminster coins etc.

Chard were advertising the coin I wanted and their web site stated that the coin came with the signed authenticity document from The Royal Mint (all these coins were issued with a certificate).

I rang to check this fact, was told "yes" and I sent off my cheque, receiving a coin with no certificate!

I rang and got an acknowledgement that I should have the certificate, but then they rang me back and said that the director wanted an extra £20. No way!

In the meantime they altered their web site, but I have print outs of the original.

This has gone on almost a year. They ignored my letter, their trade organisation BNTA have investigated and asked Lawrence Chard to supply me a certificate and a box free of charge.

He has ignored that. I have had help from Consumer Direct.

He has ignored my reordered letter giving him 14 days to supply the certificate.

So it looks like I will have to go to the small claims court. As the company is in Blackpool he probably won't turn up, so I will have to instruct bailiffs to go to his premises etc etc.

Apparently I can use my local small claims court as the transaction took place on my computer screen.

What a conceited little man. All I want is something he advertised, he must have, but he won't give it to me.

I believe that a number of people had fallen foul of his e-bay dealings, where he has an online shop.

Although a retailer can refuse to sell something advertised at a certain price on the Internet, I think the law says that if he goes on to take the money and supply the goods, they have to be as described and at that price.

Could do without the hassle, and nearly gave up a few times, but I really want to cause this guy as much trouble as he has caused me.

His shop is on Lytham Road in Blackpool. I am going there soon.... wonder if standing outside with leaflets will do any good?

Tue, Feb 23 2010, 6:13 PM

By chocko10

Re: Chard & Tax Free Gold

I would avoid using Chard. I recently sold my entire gold coin and gold bar collection to them. The amount in question was in the £10's of thousands.

They promised to pay me over two days, but I didn't receive full funds for a week.

It was an extremely worrying transaction, not assisted by their salesperson admitting to me on the phone that "we haven’t got the cash to pay you".

In the end, they did pay, but I would never deal with them again.

Unprofessional and untrustworthy.

Tue, Aug 24 2010, 10:16 AM

By Citizen of Dulwich

Re: Chard & Tax Free Gold

Ditto for me in August 2010.

I thought Chard were a leading 'safe' company - not any more.

They clearly advertise goods for sale that not only do they not have but have no prospect of obtaining for SIX MONTHS!

They claim exemption from distance selling rules but I didn't test this.

I was refused a refund and elected to buy other objects instead rather than lose my money altogether (potentially).

The exemption from distance selling is for prices that fluctuate with markets and Chard has elected to extend this to include such items that they don't even have as a means to 'lock' you into a trade with them on beneficial terms to themselves.

If you read the literally hundreds of pages on his website you will gather, as I now have, that Chard believes that he has a divine right and leads the fight against the darkness.

A very worrying personality.

I just wish that I had read some of this before contacting him.

My very, very strong advice is - get absolute delivery detail before using him or even better still DON'T!

Tue, Aug 24 2010, 10:42 AM

By Citizen of Dulwich

Re: Chard & Tax Free Gold

An addendum to my post, Chard has now altered his website to actually state that there will be a six month delay in the supply of Sovereigns.

This is in direct response to my very serious complaint to him about his underhand and questionable methods.

He acknowledged to me in writing that his site needed clarification but still refuses to accept that he was wrong.

A thoroughly unwholesome experience with this man and his company that I will never use again.

Wed, Aug 25 2010, 12:29 PM

By eyeglass

Re: Chard & Tax Free Gold

I also wish I had joined this site before I did business with CHARD.

It would seem we have had an identical experience with this company.

I paid £9450.00 pounds for 50 sovereigns and received a receipt from a company called SAGEPAY ON THE 27 JULY 2010 and as you have found out silence was the order of the day.

I also rang chards on Friday 6th July and asked when I could expect my order and was informed by the operator that they did not have any sovereigns and it could be six months before they had.

I too asked the question ‘Surely it’s against the law to ask for money for something you do not have.’

I have emailed them, no answer yet.

I will let you know the outcome of this transaction and would be grateful if you would do the same.

Caveat Emptor! Let the Buyer Beware!