Contact the editorial desk

The one mailbox

The desk uses a single editorial address: [email protected]. Messages about a page that is wrong, a figure that looks out of date, or a source that needs checking all go there. There is no second channel and no phone line, and the address is for editorial matters only.

A useful message names the page and quotes the sentence or figure in question, and says what the reader believes is correct. That makes it possible to check the source and fix the page in place. The desk does not promise a response time, and it answers editorial questions in the order they arrive.

The details that make a message answerable on the first reply

A useful message contains four things: what you were doing, what you expected, what happened, and the evidence. Name the platform, the symbol, the lot size and the time. Say what you expected in concrete terms, for example that a 0.10-lot XAU/USD position at 1:200 should need about $85.50 margin, and what you saw instead. Attach the screenshot or paste the line. With those four elements the desk can answer in one reply; without them it can only ask for them.

Use the instrument code rather than a description. Gold is XAU/USD here, 1 standard lot is 100 oz, and a pip is 0.01; a message about gold that does not say which of those conventions it assumes can be read several ways. State amounts in the currency you actually saw them in, and if that is rand, write R and the figure. Where you are converting, say so and give the rate you used, so the difference between a conversion and a genuine discrepancy is visible.

Keep it to one question per message where you can. Two unrelated questions in one thread tend to get one answered and the other lost, and the reply becomes harder to follow for you as well. Write in plain English; there is no need for formal phrasing or a template. Do not include passwords, card numbers, one-time PINs or identity document numbers, and do not paste your full account number, since none of these help answer a factual question.

Questions the desk answers and questions that need a licensed adviser

The desk answers factual questions about how the instrument and the platforms work: contract size, pip definition, margin arithmetic, order types, chart settings and where to find a report. It can explain that 1 lot of XAU/USD is 100 oz and that a pip is 0.01, and it can walk through the margin figure at a given leverage. What it cannot do is tell you whether to buy or sell gold, where to place a stop, or how much of your portfolio to commit.

No personal trading advice is given, and that is a hard line rather than a preference. Nobody at the desk knows your income, your debts, your time horizon or your tolerance for loss, and gold at 1:200 leverage can move against a position faster than most people expect. A question phrased as what should I do is answered with an explanation of the mechanics and the risks, not with a recommendation. If you need advice tailored to your circumstances, that is the work of a licensed financial services provider.

Regulatory and entity questions are answered factually. FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa; check which entity your own account is opened with. The desk can point you to that wording and explain why the entity matters, but it cannot confirm which entity your account sits with, because that depends on how and where you opened it. Read the client agreement on your own account for the definitive answer.

How long a reply takes and what changes the timing

Expect a reply within two to three business days for a straightforward factual question, counted in South African business days and excluding public holidays. Messages that arrive over a weekend or a public holiday start the clock on the next business day. That window is for questions the desk can answer from published material; anything needing a check against a live account or a third party takes longer, and you will be told so rather than left waiting.

Timing depends on what you sent. A message naming the platform, the symbol, the lot size and the timestamp is usually answered in one pass. A message describing a problem without those details triggers a round of questions, which adds days. Screenshots and pasted statement lines shorten the exchange; long narratives with no figures lengthen it. Sending the same question repeatedly through several channels does not speed anything up and can split the thread.

Market volatility does not change the reply time, because the desk is not a dealing desk and does not answer order queries in real time. If your question is about a live position, a rejected order or a margin call happening now, contact your broker's own support through the platform or the client portal, since only they can see and act on your account. This site is an information desk, and its queue runs on business days, not on the gold price.

How a correction request is logged and what happens next

A correction request is logged as a correction, not as a general query, and it is checked against the source before anything is changed. Send the page address, the exact sentence or figure you believe is wrong, and what you think it should say. If the claim concerns a number, say where your figure comes from. The request is then compared with the facts the page was written from, and the outcome is either a correction, a clarification, or an explanation of why the wording stands.

Only claims that can be checked are corrected. A statement that a figure is wrong without a source is read and noted but may not lead to a change, because replacing one unsourced number with another makes the page worse. Where the page deliberately avoids a number, for example on spreads, commissions, swaps or minimum deposits, a request to insert one will be declined: those costs depend on the account and the market, and stating a figure would mislead other readers.

Corrections that are accepted are applied to the page itself rather than answered only by email, so the next reader benefits. The wording is changed to match the source, and related pages that repeat the same claim are checked at the same time. You do not need to prove a harm or explain your interest in the page; a clear pointer to a checkable error is enough. Requests to remove accurate content because it is unflattering are treated as feedback, not as corrections.

Account access, missing funds and personal advice go to the broker or an adviser

Account access, frozen logins, missing deposits, withdrawal delays and disputed fills cannot be handled here, because this desk has no access to client accounts and no authority over them. Those matters go to your broker's own support, reached through the platform or the client portal you signed in to, and the entity named in your client agreement is the one that must answer. For a deposit that has not arrived, have the rand amount, the date, the method and any bank reference ready before you contact them.

Fund recovery is the same: only the broker holding the funds can trace a payment, and if the matter is not resolved there, the complaint route runs through the regulator named in your agreement. For an account opened under the FSCA-licensed entity, that is the South African route; for another entity, it is the regulator of that entity. FxPro is licensed by the FCA (UK) and CySEC, and an FxPro entity holds an FSCA licence in South Africa, so check which entity your own account is opened with before you escalate.

Personal trading advice goes to a licensed financial services provider who can look at your full circumstances. This desk will not tell you whether to buy or sell gold, what leverage to use, or how to size a position against your income. What it can do is explain the mechanics so that a conversation with an adviser is better informed: that leverage is a cap rather than a target, that retail leverage is up to 1:200, and that gold at that leverage can lose more than the margin committed.

What to put in the message for a platform, pricing or data question

Name the platform and the exact symbol in the first line, because gold on XAU/USD behaves differently from a gold CFD quoted in rand, and the desk cannot check anything until it knows which one you mean. Write the platform as MT4, MT5, cTrader or FxPro Edge, add the position size in lots where it matters (1 standard lot is 100 oz), and state the pip value you are working from, which for XAU/USD is 0.01. A screenshot of the order ticket or the chart beats a description of it.

Send the reference price you saw and the time you saw it, since a question about a fill or a chart gap is unanswerable without a timestamp. Around 4275.0 is the reference price used across this site, so quote your own figure against it rather than saying the price looked wrong. For a margin question, include the leverage on your account and the lot size, because at 1:200 a 0.10-lot gold position needs about $85.50 margin and the arithmetic changes with both inputs.

For anything about money moving in or out, say which method you used: local cards, bank transfers in ZAR, or e-wallets. Include the rand amount and the date, not a rounded guess. Do not send full card numbers, passwords or one-time PINs; the desk never needs them and should not receive them. If your question is about a statement line, paste the line rather than summarising it, so the description and reference can be matched.

No guest posts, no paid placement

The desk does not accept guest posts, sponsored reviews or paid placement at any price. No broker can buy a mention, a ranking position or a softened description of its costs. This is a fixed rule, not a rate card, and it applies to every page on the site.

The only commercial relationship is the affiliate link described on the about page, and it does not change what a page says. A reader who wants to know how a broker was checked can read the methodology page, which sets out the first gate and the dated sources behind each figure.

What the desk will and will not help with

The desk will explain what a page means, where a figure came from and what a term such as margin, pip or swap refers to for gold (XAU/USD). It will also point a reader to the right place when a question is outside its scope, such as a broker's own support or the FSCA for a regulatory matter.

The desk will not help with account problems, cannot intervene in a withdrawal, and does not do fund recovery of any kind. It also does not give personal advice on whether to trade, what position to take or how much to risk. Those questions belong with the broker or with a licensed adviser, not with an editorial desk.