CoinBase Bait and Switch & Reddit Shutdown

[mintmelph]

Howdy,

I wanted to dip my toes into this whole Bitcoin thing, so I decided to open an account after getting a referral link.  TL/DR; Coinbase scammed me and my referrer out of money and has made their subreddit private to try to cover it up.

Google doesn't forget, though: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6S7Fu9PXt3QJ:https://www.reddit.com/r/CoinBase/comments/3ombjy/coinbase_referral_bait_and_switch/+&cd=11&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

On September 29th I created a Coinbase account using a referral link while their bonus program was for $75 to the referring party.  I immediately initiated a qualifying balance transfer from my bank and received a notice that my Coinbase account should be funded the next week.  Of course, no referral bonus was paid out until the funds cleared my account – not a problem.  When the bonus was finally paid out however, I received $10 and the referrer received $10 as well.  Turns out they changed their referral program on the 30th.  That doesn't matter to me, though.  I accepted an offer on the 29th, they changed the bargain on the 30th and in turn are costing me money.  

They claim that they can change the terms of the program at any time.  Fine, you can change the terms for all future referrals, but you can’t unilaterally change the terms of a contract after the terms are agreed upon.  What’s next, they change the referral program terms to now claim ownership of my first-born?!

I feel scammed.  Govern yourself accordingly.

[Mickeyb]

Hey mate, I see that nobody has responded to you so let me try and give you some support!

First of all welcome to the forum and to the Bitcoin world. I am sorry you had encountered problems with your first touch with Bitcoin. This is a shame and I know it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth and your first impression about the Bitcoin. But it's not Bitcoin's fault. Bitcoin is a protocol that works very well, Coinbase is a third party service. Don't blame Bitcoin more than you would blame cash if you had problem with PayPal let's say.

About the Coinbase. They are not that liked on the Bitcoin community. The word is that they are tracking Bitcoin users habits, the way we are spending our coins and that they are even providing these info to the government. So any real bitcoiner doesn't like Coinbase that much.

About your referral, you have absolute right. If there was a banner in the left side (where now says refer a customer and you will bother get $10) where it said refer a customer to us and you will get $75 than you should get your $75.

You re-contact them. Open the reads everywhere about your issue, reddit, here, on their community Web site as well. Be loud, threaten them. Demand yours and maybe they will honor their word as they so house honor it in the first place.

Good luck to you!

[Pattart]

They did say that you would only get the reward after the payment has completed, so it makes sense for them to credit you with the revised reward since your payment completed AFTER the change occurred.

[PhilMianus]

What is a good site to buy BTC in USA ? No Local Bitcoins.

[n2004al]

I am sorry about your experience with coinbase. I am user of such wallet since more than two years and have not any kind of problem with them. I haven't try and did not be in your situation never but all the other things with those were fine. Great support and helpful almost "just in time". Hope that you find yourself where you will feel better.

[pooya87]

What is a good site to buy BTC in USA ? No Local Bitcoins.

circle.com

i haven't used it myself but i have not read any horrifying losses or any major negative reviews about them. but you should do your own research though!

[mintmelph]

They did say that you would only get the reward after the payment has completed, so it makes sense for them to credit you with the revised reward since your payment completed AFTER the change occurred.

I respectfully disagree.  You can't lawfully change an agreement like this after the fact.  For example, they could have just as easily changed it from being a $75 bonus paid out to being a $75 fee that they withdraw from my account.  Would it make sense to you in that example?  All I've done is changed the $ amount and now it should be clear that it doesn't pass the sniff test.

[mintmelph]

Hey mate, I see that nobody has responded to you so let me try and give you some support!

First of all welcome to the forum and to the Bitcoin world. I am sorry you had encountered problems with your first touch with Bitcoin. This is a shame and I know it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth and your first impression about the Bitcoin. But it's not Bitcoin's fault. Bitcoin is a protocol that works very well, Coinbase is a third party service. Don't blame Bitcoin more than you would blame cash if you had problem with PayPal let's say.

About the Coinbase. They are not that liked on the Bitcoin community. The word is that they are tracking Bitcoin users habits, the way we are spending our coins and that they are even providing these info to the government. So any real bitcoiner doesn't like Coinbase that much.

About your referral, you have absolute right. If there was a banner in the left side (where now says refer a customer and you will bother get $10) where it said refer a customer to us and you will get $75 than you should get your $75.

You re-contact them. Open the reads everywhere about your issue, reddit, here, on their community Web site as well. Be loud, threaten them. Demand yours and maybe they will honor their word as they so house honor it in the first place.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the warm welcome!  Now that I've read more about Coinbase, I see the problems associated with them.  Unfortunately, I haven't really had the time to research Bitcoin enough prior, and I generally like to put a lot of thought into things like before jumping in.  This seemed like an easy way to get involved so I took a chance because of the generous payout.

I'm doing my best to post this to as many places I can find so that others can know about these dishonest tactics.  It's going to cost them one way or another.

Once I've done my research I'll have more confidence in the mechanics of Bitcoin so that I don't have to rely on this McBitcoin outfit or others like it.

Cheers!

[mintmelph]

I am sorry about your experience with coinbase. I am user of such wallet since more than two years and have not any kind of problem with them. I haven't try and did not be in your situation never but all the other things with those were fine. Great support and helpful almost "just in time". Hope that you find yourself when you will feel better.

Yes, I have no doubt that they're doing at least some things right, based on the fact that they've gotten large amounts of venture capital invested into the company.  My problem is with this "gotcha" type of bait and switch.  They've cheated me and others out of money they agreed to pay.

[Pattart]

They did say that you would only get the reward after the payment has completed, so it makes sense for them to credit you with the revised reward since your payment completed AFTER the change occurred.

I respectfully disagree.  You can't lawfully change an agreement like this after the fact.  For example, they could have just as easily changed it from being a $75 bonus paid out to being a $75 fee that they withdraw from my account.  Would it make sense to you in that example?  All I've done is changed the $ amount and now it should be clear that it doesn't pass the sniff test.

It all really depends on when you considered the agreement to be entered. If you say that you enter the agreement when you place that order, then yes they can't change the terms. But a close read of the referral program shows that the agreements appears to be entered as soon as the payment completes (e.g. 4 days after you ordered) and ends when they pay you, about ten minutes later. Thus they can say that you are wrong since you entered the agreement after it had changed since your payment completed after they changed the terms.

[mintmelph]

They did say that you would only get the reward after the payment has completed, so it makes sense for them to credit you with the revised reward since your payment completed AFTER the change occurred.

I respectfully disagree.  You can't lawfully change an agreement like this after the fact.  For example, they could have just as easily changed it from being a $75 bonus paid out to being a $75 fee that they withdraw from my account.  Would it make sense to you in that example?  All I've done is changed the $ amount and now it should be clear that it doesn't pass the sniff test.

It all really depends on when you considered the agreement to be entered. If you say that you enter the agreement when you place that order, then yes they can't change the terms. But a close read of the referral program shows that the agreements appears to be entered as soon as the payment completes (e.g. 4 days after you ordered) and ends when they pay you, about ten minutes later. Thus they can say that you are wrong since you entered the agreement after it had changed since your payment completed after they changed the terms.

Okay, let's say you're correct, and the agreement happens only when payment completes (which is not how contract law works in the US, but I'll go down this path with you).  What do you say about my example above?  They change the program after I've initiated the payment - and there's nothing I can do to stop payment - and the new terms are instead of a $75 bonus it's now a $75 charge against my account.  Do you actually believe they have a legal footing to do that?  I'm not talking about what they can or can't actually do - companies screw people all the time and get away with it.  I'm just wondering whether you believe it's legal, and heck let's even examine whether it's moral.

[Pattart]

They did say that you would only get the reward after the payment has completed, so it makes sense for them to credit you with the revised reward since your payment completed AFTER the change occurred.

I respectfully disagree.  You can't lawfully change an agreement like this after the fact.  For example, they could have just as easily changed it from being a $75 bonus paid out to being a $75 fee that they withdraw from my account.  Would it make sense to you in that example?  All I've done is changed the $ amount and now it should be clear that it doesn't pass the sniff test.

It all really depends on when you considered the agreement to be entered. If you say that you enter the agreement when you place that order, then yes they can't change the terms. But a close read of the referral program shows that the agreements appears to be entered as soon as the payment completes (e.g. 4 days after you ordered) and ends when they pay you, about ten minutes later. Thus they can say that you are wrong since you entered the agreement after it had changed since your payment completed after they changed the terms.

Okay, let's say you're correct, and the agreement happens only when payment completes (which is not how contract law works in the US, but I'll go down this path with you).  What do you say about my example above?  They change the program after I've initiated the payment - and there's nothing I can do to stop payment - and the new terms are instead of a $75 bonus it's now a $75 charge against my account.  Do you actually believe they have a legal footing to do that?  I'm not talking about what they can or can't actually do - companies screw people all the time and get away with it.  I'm just wondering whether you believe it's legal, and heck let's even examine whether it's moral.

I would say that if you gave you fair warning (e.g. email with change to terms or big really noticable warning on the website) and you had the option to cancel the payment after you started it, then yes I would say that it is legal and moral. Otherwise, I would say it is not legal nor moral.

[Mickeyb]

Hey mate, I see that nobody has responded to you so let me try and give you some support!

First of all welcome to the forum and to the Bitcoin world. I am sorry you had encountered problems with your first touch with Bitcoin. This is a shame and I know it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth and your first impression about the Bitcoin. But it's not Bitcoin's fault. Bitcoin is a protocol that works very well, Coinbase is a third party service. Don't blame Bitcoin more than you would blame cash if you had problem with PayPal let's say.

About the Coinbase. They are not that liked on the Bitcoin community. The word is that they are tracking Bitcoin users habits, the way we are spending our coins and that they are even providing these info to the government. So any real bitcoiner doesn't like Coinbase that much.

About your referral, you have absolute right. If there was a banner in the left side (where now says refer a customer and you will bother get $10) where it said refer a customer to us and you will get $75 than you should get your $75.

You re-contact them. Open the reads everywhere about your issue, reddit, here, on their community Web site as well. Be loud, threaten them. Demand yours and maybe they will honor their word as they so house honor it in the first place.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the warm welcome!  Now that I've read more about Coinbase, I see the problems associated with them.  Unfortunately, I haven't really had the time to research Bitcoin enough prior, and I generally like to put a lot of thought into things like before jumping in.  This seemed like an easy way to get involved so I took a chance because of the generous payout.

I'm doing my best to post this to as many places I can find so that others can know about these dishonest tactics.  It's going to cost them one way or another.

Once I've done my research I'll have more confidence in the mechanics of Bitcoin so that I don't have to rely on this McBitcoin outfit or others like it.

Cheers!

Just a word of advice here. This is a single and most important thing that you need to do every time that you send somebody your hard earned money for a service or a payment in Bitcoin space at the moment.

This space is very new and like every new space, full of scams and people that want to take advantage. Google, research and ask questions from now on. At least that's what I am doing.