A woman in Zhejiang purchased two 20-gram gold bars for 12,000 yuan at a China Gold counter in Hangzhou 15 years ago. However, when she tried to exchange the bars for cash this year, she found out that they not only fell short in weight but also did not contain any gold at all – they were completely fake.
According to the Ningbo Evening News, Ms. Luo bought the investment gold bars totaling 40 grams in January 2011 at a China Gold counter in West Lake Intime in Hangzhou. At that time, the price of gold was over 300 yuan per gram, amounting to more than 12,000 yuan. Trusting the brand of Intime and China Gold, Ms. Luo did not verify or dismantle the gold bars at that time; she just stored them according to the counter’s standard service.
It was only this year, with the skyrocketing gold prices reaching around 1300 yuan per gram, that Ms. Luo wanted to exchange the gold bars for gold bracelets. Surprisingly, when weighed at the counter, the bars labeled as 20 grams each were actually only slightly over 9 grams. What’s even more outrageous is that a spectroscopic analysis revealed that there was not a trace of gold in the bars; they were made of cheap metals like copper and zinc, rendering the bars that should have been worth over 50,000 yuan completely worthless.
After the incident, Ms. Luo immediately went to West Lake Intime to seek an explanation, but they claimed that the China Gold counter from years ago was not the same company as the current store and thus could not take responsibility for the transaction that happened over a decade ago.
This excuse was unacceptable to Ms. Luo. She stated, “I bought it based on the brand of Intime. The money and receipts all went through Intime’s channel. Can they really ask me to find the gold company from over ten years ago?”
In late January, Ms. Luo officially submitted her customer feedback, and the mall promised to contact her within 48 hours. However, three months have passed and there has been no response yet.
The Market Supervision Bureau of Shangcheng District stated that the seller at that time was Zhejiang Zhongjin Gold Jewelry Sales Co., Ltd., a company that has long been abnormal in operation. In 2022, it was listed in the abnormal operation record due to the inability to locate its business address, and now its phone number is no longer in service.
The China Gold store in West Lake Intime now was established as a franchise in 2024, and the store manager distanced themselves from the issue, claiming that they did not sell the products in question and advised Ms. Luo to report the case to the police for criminal proceedings.
Regarding this matter, the official brand of China Gold only responded by stating they will “report feedback and contact the person in charge,” but as of now, there has been no substantive result in the handling of the case.
With no way to seek justice, Ms. Luo can only speak out publicly for help, urging consumers who purchased investment gold bars at a China Gold counter in West Lake Intime around 2011 to quickly check the authenticity of their gold bars. Those who bought fake goods are encouraged to come together to safeguard their rights and jointly seek accountability.