Official Newbie BitInstant Support Thread (Active Customer Support)

[TheGoodDoctor420]

I expect BitInstant will not be giving any answers any time soon. I feel they more likely than not are turned Ripper, or had ANOTHER attack. Either way, they have promised results over multiple deadlines, and none have come of it whatsoever. I hope they do come back and rectify all issues with existing customers, but I am not banking on it. ): The BTC community is being dealt a harsh blow with this. My advice for any BitInstant customers who need a new, simple, BTC vendor...use btcquick.com if you wish to use direct CC funding for BTC (I am aware of how many sites have done this and either gone bankrupt from chargebacks or ripped/stole CC info...but these guys use Google Checkout which unlike PP, they do not attack purveyors/purchasers of BTC as an "e-currency". I use them as my main source of BTC and they are AMAZING with customer service IMO), or use bitfloor.com for bank deposit-to-instant-funding (generally within half an hour of payment received). Simple, and proven to be trusted by many BTC clients.

I hope this post helps someone! (:

Thanks, I'll use these next time. This is fucking unbelievable. I've had better experiences dealing with the DMV.

Go for it! They are both GREAT services! I personally prefer btcquick, but bitfloor has had awesome reviews amongst the people I know who are active members in the BTC community!

[TheGoodDoctor420]

I expect BitInstant will not be giving any answers any time soon. I feel they more likely than not are turned Ripper, or had ANOTHER attack. Either way, they have promised results over multiple deadlines, and none have come of it whatsoever. I hope they do come back and rectify all issues with existing customers, but I am not banking on it. ): The BTC community is being dealt a harsh blow with this. My advice for any BitInstant customers who need a new, simple, BTC vendor...use btcquick.com if you wish to use direct CC funding for BTC (I am aware of how many sites have done this and either gone bankrupt from chargebacks or ripped/stole CC info...but these guys use Google Checkout which unlike PP, they do not attack purveyors/purchasers of BTC as an "e-currency". I use them as my main source of BTC and they are AMAZING with customer service IMO), or use bitfloor.com for bank deposit-to-instant-funding (generally within half an hour of payment received). Simple, and proven to be trusted by many BTC clients.

I hope this post helps someone! (:

I have heard good things about btcquick, however, bitinstant is really dropping the ball here.  Sitting on thousands of dollars with no responses from customer service as to what they are going to do to rectify.  What's even more saddening is the people who have been waiting since the original outage.  Yeah, I guess those of us who placed orders when they came back again did not extensively do their 'homework' on them, but from personal experience they have been flawless.  Still absurd that this is happening with no end in sight.

btcquick has my undying loyalty as long as they last! The one thing separating them from most other CC to BTC services is that Google Checkout gives them only a one-time-use card number generated by Google to hold only the amount of funds needed for the order, rather than them having all your CC info themselves, thus they can not rip. You can still chargeback, but Google does fraud checks like hell, so fraudulent chargebacks will be most likely busted and Google offers a payment guarantee to the vendor using their service, so even in this situation, they are protected. Their Customer Support is awesome, they have good rates, and they are speedy. The only thing I look forward to seeing improved is the variety of payment methods (only CC payment via Google as of meow), and getting the system to be automated rather than the staff having to manually accept payment once Google has verified funds and releasing BTC to your email/btcquick account (they process orders from 7am to 7pm-ish EST, so ordering outside of those hours you must wait until they are open for processing).

[ekarleke]

I'm pissed! I've used bitinstant a dozen times to send money directly to a bitcoin address, via mtgox of course. It was literally the easiest and only way to send cash to an address without using a wallet. I really dont want to have to spend ten freakin hours trying to figure out a means to do a transaction as easily! Does anyone know a website that offers a service similar to what bitinstant used to offer... sending money via western union/zip zap to bitcoin adress!? I dont want to start having to use a wallet after all this time! Thanks!!!

[peeShivers]

Please bear with us, as we are short staffed at the moment.

I would absolutely 'bear with you', except that this is the 5th time in a row over the last 3 months where I have had to send multiple emails to get my coins, and that is not how I prefer to do business. That is not 'instant', or professional, and indicates to me that there are far deeper issues. Fortunately, I have other options available, and will utilize those instead.

[nurbili]

If I only read this thread before I tried to send $500 from Mt.Gox to BTC-e via BitInstant. This was a really annoying experience! My money was tied way more than 24h (BitInstant: "Pay for Your Bitcoins in Under an Hour"). After several mails they managed to refund my MtGox-account a few minutes ago. Costed me one BTC (BitInstant: "time is money"), not to mention the hassle.

[shkiser]

Im still waiting on a $484 Refund, that was supposedly mailed a week ago.. I should have just took their offer to deposit to my bitstamp account. Even tho it was several days later, Id be much better off than I am now. Only empty promises, with no way to prove they did or didnt send the refund check..

[joele]

Hi,
Yesterday I saw BTC-e on the transfer to section.
When will the BTC-e be available on the transfer to section?

Thanks

[bigbtc]

I have money in limbo also. 

[thatoneguy69]

Hey it's been 2 weeks now and my money has not been sent to my bitstamp account

Please reply Yankee

quote id 59c99b2e-3d87-4f37-adbe-5acd5bbfa12a


Edit: Seth responded to an e-mail and said they just need to add money to their bitstamp. Hopefully soon?

[montana]

OK, this is my first visit to this thread.  thanks for it being here.

My take away message is that bitinstant is not a viable concern at present, but may become so in the future, if it can get itself together, and repair PR damage.

For now I will look at the other alternatives above, thanks!

[crazylikeafox]

I guess it's safe to assume at this point that Cash to Bitcoin Address is never going to come back.  Sad.  I wonder how long they are going to keep up the charade on the home page about it always come back online tomorrow.  Reminds me of a song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_dBep_55mI

[sandvchips]

Im still waiting on a $484 Refund, that was supposedly mailed a week ago.. I should have just took their offer to deposit to my bitstamp account. Even tho it was several days later, Id be much better off than I am now. Only empty promises, with no way to prove they did or didnt send the refund check..

Trust me, you would not be in any better shape. I was offered that option as well a couple months ago when there was an issue with my coins, and I never received them after probably close to 10 to 15 emails I sent them.

[orion007]

Just to reassure some. I did a Moneygram to Mt. Gox transfer tonight and it was in my account before I got back home. So that option is working very well.

[SamPryce]

I think one thing that would help with my concerns would be to know how many problems there have been compared to how many transactions. That is, what percent of the orders are having problems. If BitInstant is getting thousands of orders per day and only a few have problems, then your chances are pretty good. But if they are only getting a few dozen to a hundred or so orders with several problems per day then that looks worse for them. As far as I can tell they've done a mostly good job responding to problems, so I am hopeful that they will continue to improve.

[c4n10]

Hello,

I was here previously to complain that I was not receiving the quoted full amount to my PayPal. You compensated me, assured me everything was fixed and encouraged me to try your service again.

I have used the service twice since my last complaint and the problem still persists:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Complaint #1:


As you can see the quoted amount that I should receive says "$42.53356"

As you can see below, I only received $40.83 to my PayPal:


Order ID   f9d90ffd-9e4a-4459-bd99-fd17384e844f
Quote ID   3e091653-4714-4d55-a901-7f702e517af6
Event ID   7b189459-5b8a-4bb7-ad3f-8f39d99f517c

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Complaint #2

On March 6, 2013 I used your services and was quoted that I would receive "$27.33964".

As you can see below, I only received "$25.77" on March 6, 2013:


Order ID   3592bade-5ae9-40f5-a7cf-eac82d674828
Quote ID   43cfe52e-8539-44f8-a734-d9a711cef9ed
Event ID   0e7db67e-59b2-4f03-8f62-6b11a4abf1b9

[variables]

6 days and still no coins for me still.  finally received an e-mail back from charlie asking for the order number on Friday and i replied with the details as well as zipzap support.  Haven't heard anything since.

[crazylikeafox]

6 days and still no coins for me still.  finally received an e-mail back from charlie asking for the order number on Friday and i replied with the details as well as zipzap support.  Haven't heard anything since.

If you saw this thread before sending, then you knew what was going to happen.  They can't really even be blamed for not processing the orders when people know they won't be processed and send them money anyway.  It's unbelievable.  Harvard Business School should do a case study on this whole thing - how do otherwise rational people decide to send money to a service that is in a very public death spiral and refuses to even communicate with its own customers?  They are processing a few transactions here and there just to keep a trickle of positive posts in here, but that's all.  Send them money right now, and you have very little chance of it coming out in the way you wanted.  Those are just the facts.

[variables]

6 days and still no coins for me still.  finally received an e-mail back from charlie asking for the order number on Friday and i replied with the details as well as zipzap support.  Haven't heard anything since.

If you saw this thread before sending, then you knew what was going to happen.  They can't really even be blamed for not processing the orders when people know they won't be processed and send them money anyway.  It's unbelievable.  Harvard Business School should do a case study on this whole thing - how do otherwise rational people decide to send money to a service that is in a very public death spiral and refuses to even communicate with its own customers?  They are processing a few transactions here and there just to keep a trickle of positive posts in here, but that's all.  Send them money right now, and you have very little chance of it coming out in the way you wanted.  Those are just the facts.

As I previously mentioned, no I did not see this thread before purchasing.  That is entirely my fault, but I shouldn't have needed to do more research after having flawless transactions with them before.  I'll take the blame for that, but the lack of customer service and assistance is mind boggling.  I have seen other users on another forum receive help from bitinstant nearly "instantly".  Nothing makes sense at this point.

[c4n10]

I have seen other users on another forum receive help from bitinstant nearly "instantly".  Nothing makes sense at this point.

Please point me to this other forum so I may go harass them there as well since no one has responded from BitInstant's support here OR on their website...

I've used BitInstant 4 or 5 times now to transfer USD from BTC-e to PayPal and EVERY time there has been a problem.

Anyone know another way to get USD from BTC-e to my PayPal without paying 5.5% or needing $100 minimum to withdraw (which is what BTC-e requires for direct PP withdrawal)...?

[dave859]

Has anyone been able to reach the alleged "live chat?" Has anyone ever gotten an answer on the phone?