How will bitcoin go mainstream with payments malingering for days?

[gcgipson]

I was excited about bitcoin a short while ago, but with my bitcoin payments still unprocessed (unconfirmed transactions) I think bitcoin will be a customer service nightmare.  Sure, I could take on a bitcoin payment processor that gives the bitcoins immediately, like bitpay, but then you're dealing with a middle man all over again (PayPal 2.0?)  And what if I have a business model that relies on giving payments back to the customer?What am I going to tell my customer, who's payment is in limbo?  Even with a transaction fee, there is no way to know if your payment will take 1 hour or 2 days to go through.  This would drive the average consumer nuts!

[OutCast3k]

I was excited about bitcoin a short while ago, but with my bitcoin payments still unprocessed (unconfirmed transactions) I think bitcoin will be a customer service nightmare.  Sure, I could take on a bitcoin payment processor that gives the bitcoins immediately, like bitpay, but then you're dealing with a middle man all over again (PayPal 2.0?)  And what if I have a business model that relies on giving payments back to the customer?What am I going to tell my customer, who's payment is in limbo?  Even with a transaction fee, there is no way to know if your payment will take 1 hour or 2 days to go through.  This would drive the average consumer nuts!

How much did you try and send? And did you attach a fee? Mind sharing your transaction id?

You can always process and automate payments yourself, using bitcoind.

[cr1776]

A fee usually helps get the transaction in a black.  As was said above, if you show the transaction, people will be able to give more insight.

I was excited about bitcoin a short while ago, but with my bitcoin payments still unprocessed (unconfirmed transactions) I think bitcoin will be a customer service nightmare.  Sure, I could take on a bitcoin payment processor that gives the bitcoins immediately, like bitpay, but then you're dealing with a middle man all over again (PayPal 2.0?)  And what if I have a business model that relies on giving payments back to the customer?What am I going to tell my customer, who's payment is in limbo?  Even with a transaction fee, there is no way to know if your payment will take 1 hour or 2 days to go through.  This would drive the average consumer nuts!

[mirage]

Even with a transaction fee, there is no way to know if your payment will take 1 hour or 2 days to go through.  This would drive the average consumer nuts!

You are right, that's why I just don't see this hitting the mainstream where people are purchasing stuff from the regular stores.

[serrveraside]

but then you're dealing with a middle man all over again (PayPal 2.0?) 

You raise a good point there.  With BTC though there are less restrictions than a bank account, but a paypal clone would be a nightmare to use.