⚠️ Warning about the business practices of Pressburg Mint

[Tobias Honscha]

I would like to share my personal experience with Pressburg Mint (Bratislava).


In spring, I placed an order worth several thousand euros and paid the full amount in advance.
Despite repeated inquiries, I received no delivery for months, but was constantly put off by Alan Behul with new and often contradictory promises.


A selection of actual messages illustrates the pattern of these repeated excuses:

February 26: “... shouldn’t be longer than the end of next week.”
March 27: “We will finally be able to ship next week.”
April 3: “We still don’t have the gold material … we will produce and ship immediately on the day we receive it.”
April 4: “Unfortunately there was another small delay … we will have the gold early next week.”
April 14: “We will receive them tomorrow. Shipping … resumes the same day.”
April 16: “The coins are being produced today.”
April 23: “… there are still quite a few unfilled … we will get the rest near the end of next week.”
May 2: “… we are waiting for confirmation of the date … realistically I would not expect delivery sooner than the week of 19 May … we are offering the option of a refund …”
June 5: “Would an official letter from Pressburg Mint stating that the issue is on our side help calm down the customers?”
June 8: “Please find attached an official statement … regarding the extended lead times …”
July 25: “I have just returned from work after a month … I will check and get back to you.”
July 28: “… we are still waiting for the delivery of the smaller blanks …”
September 2: “… we will receive a larger shipment this week … if you are suggesting we are trying to scam you … we can send you a refund …”
September 17: “… we will receive the material … between 20–25 September, after which we will be able to send all outstanding orders.”

For more than half a year, new reasons and “delivery promises for next week” were made again and again — without any result.
Only after involving a lawyer did the delivery finally take place within a few days.


Pressburg Mint still refuses to reimburse the legal costs incurred as a result, which forced me to take legal action.


In addition, Pressburg Mint continues to advertise an ISO certification on its website that is no longer valid.
Such advertising can be considered misleading and therefore anti-competitive under § 5 of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), as business partners are entitled to assume that any stated certification is current and valid.


In my experience, the conduct of Pressburg Mint is highly unprofessional and damaging to trust.
I therefore strongly advise anyone considering doing business with this company to exercise extreme caution and to use secured payment terms only.


It is also worth mentioning that I placed my order when the gold price was very low – which perhaps explains why I was repeatedly offered a refund instead of delivery.
Ironically, after the coins finally arrived, I sold them to my customers below the then current gold price – unsurprisingly, no one complained about that.
However, I was the one left with the frustration, the months of prepayment, and the legal dispute.


After speaking with colleagues and conducting further research, I have since learned that such business practices by Pressburg Mint are apparently not new and have been known for quite some time.