BitInstant extremely poor design, lots of confusion, poor service

[zvs]

I filed a complaint with the BBB, so hopefully BitInstant will be a listed business on there sometime in the next 24hrs.

Complete with original order web page showing guaranteed delivery in 1hr, as well as correspondence (two emails to support, one 1hr15m after transaction, another 3hrs after).

If I don't receive a response in another several hours, I'll file a fraud complaint with the government (IC3).

update:  at 5:30GMT, about 12 or 13 minutes after this post, I received an email from support saying that my transaction was processed.  however, I asked for a full refund as they were unable to fulfill their one hour obligation.

5:35GMT - replied to the support letter, informing them that I had asked for a full refund.  asked how to return the amount that was issued and receive my refund for the full amt, due to their inability to meet their obligation. 

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[Yankee (BitInstant)]

I filed a complaint with the BBB, so hopefully BitInstant will be a listed business on there sometime in the next 24hrs.

Hey, whats the deal? Why are you filing a complaint? We processed your order!

Please see my PM. This is not fair.

Charlie

[chungenhung]

I filed a complaint with the BBB, so hopefully BitInstant will be a listed business on there sometime in the next 24hrs.

Hey, whats the deal? Why are you filing a complaint? We processed your order!

Please see my PM. This is not fair.

Charlie

Life is not fair.
If you have processed the order, just tell BBB that... nothing's gonna happen.

[chungenhung]

How many is this now, 5 recent complaints about bitinstant? Mostly noob accounts and now posters with high post counts not using the stickied bitinstant support thread. No exclamation marks in this title so better quality than usual but the way complaints about respected bitcoin services come in waves is suspicious, kind of like scam spam.

Not everyone is aware of the bitinstant support thread. I wasn't when I first started using.

[pof]

I had a transaction delayed 4+ hours some month ago ( the deadline was 1 hour). I complained by mail but i didn't receive a reply. I didn't care very much about it, so i gave up.
If they don't want to give a refund for every transaction processed after the deadline i understand them, but at least they should change their FAQ.


"Our service aims to make most deposits happen instantly - within a matter of seconds in ideal cases, and in an absolute worst-case scenario we will still aim to have funds into your exchange account before a stated maximum deadline (on average about 60 minutes depending on various conditions). We are an agent of the exchanges. So, when you pay us, you have effectively paid the exchange. If we screw up and fail to deliver on time, we will always investigate and we will always refund our fees."
https://www.bitinstant.com/faq

[the joint]

@ OP,

This thread is childish.  I used BitInstant for my first time a few weeks ago and I experienced a smooth transaction with zero confusion using BitInstant's simple interface.  I used Dwolla to purchase BTC sent directly to a wallet address and received them within 5-10 minutes.

The title of this thread should be changed.  Website design is not poor; it's about as clear and simple as you can get given that every time you change your payment method or target destination, the website automatically refreshes to reflect the change.

Now, let's say you choose "BitStamp" as your destination account.  The website will show three fields:  one to enter "Account ID or Username," one for "Amount (USD) to Pay," and one for your "Notification Email."  If instead you choose something like "Mt. Gox" for your target destination, you will notice the top field has changed from "Account ID or Username" to "MtGox Account #."   This should make it extremely obvious that the account ID BitInstant was requesting for your transaction was a BitStamp ID, not a MtGox ID.

To demonstrate the point further, select any of the target destinations, but then cycle through the different funding options.  You will notice that no matter what funding option you pick, (MtGox, Dwolla, BTC-e coupon, etc.) the text fields now remain exactly the same.  This should make it even more obvious that the account ID requested will ALWAYS be that of the target destination and not the funding option.

My guess is that if the OP had taken even 5-10 more seconds to look at the site, he would have solved his own confusion.  Now, please change the title of this thread.

 

[chungenhung]

@ OP,

This thread is childish.  I used BitInstant for my first time a few weeks ago and I experienced a smooth transaction with zero confusion using BitInstant's simple interface.  I used Dwolla to purchase BTC sent directly to a wallet address and received them within 5-10 minutes.

The title of this thread should be changed.  Website design is not poor; it's about as clear and simple as you can get given that every time you change your payment method or target destination, the website automatically refreshes to reflect the change.

Now, let's say you choose "BitStamp" as your destination account.  The website will show three fields:  one to enter "Account ID or Username," one for "Amount (USD) to Pay," and one for your "Notification Email."  If instead you choose something like "Mt. Gox" for your target destination, you will notice the top field has changed from "Account ID or Username" to "MtGox Account #."   This should make it extremely obvious that the account ID BitInstant was requesting for your transaction was a BitStamp ID, not a MtGox ID.

To demonstrate the point further, select any of the target destinations, but then cycle through the different funding options.  You will notice that no matter what funding option you pick, (MtGox, Dwolla, BTC-e coupon, etc.) the text fields now remain exactly the same.  This should make it even more obvious that the account ID requested will ALWAYS be that of the target destination and not the funding option.

My guess is that if the OP had taken even 5-10 more seconds to look at the site, he would have solved his own confusion.  Now, please change the title of this thread.

 

No it is not obvious. Why would I cycle through the options when I know I am going from MtGox to BitStamp? What makes me want to try out all the options?
Website design is about what the user experience, and that was my experience when I first started to use it.
You've only addressed one issue, if you look at the other issues I've stated, you'll know what I mean by poor design.
Look at all the other complaints too, it's not like I am the only one having the problem.
I haven't been really using the site since.

[the joint]

@ OP,

This thread is childish.  I used BitInstant for my first time a few weeks ago and I experienced a smooth transaction with zero confusion using BitInstant's simple interface.  I used Dwolla to purchase BTC sent directly to a wallet address and received them within 5-10 minutes.

The title of this thread should be changed.  Website design is not poor; it's about as clear and simple as you can get given that every time you change your payment method or target destination, the website automatically refreshes to reflect the change.

Now, let's say you choose "BitStamp" as your destination account.  The website will show three fields:  one to enter "Account ID or Username," one for "Amount (USD) to Pay," and one for your "Notification Email."  If instead you choose something like "Mt. Gox" for your target destination, you will notice the top field has changed from "Account ID or Username" to "MtGox Account #."   This should make it extremely obvious that the account ID BitInstant was requesting for your transaction was a BitStamp ID, not a MtGox ID.

To demonstrate the point further, select any of the target destinations, but then cycle through the different funding options.  You will notice that no matter what funding option you pick, (MtGox, Dwolla, BTC-e coupon, etc.) the text fields now remain exactly the same.  This should make it even more obvious that the account ID requested will ALWAYS be that of the target destination and not the funding option.

My guess is that if the OP had taken even 5-10 more seconds to look at the site, he would have solved his own confusion.  Now, please change the title of this thread.

 

No it is not obvious. Why would I cycle through the options when I know I am going from MtGox to BitStamp? What makes me want to try out all the options?
Website design is about what the user experience, and that was my experience when I first started to use it.
You've only addressed one issue, if you look at the other issues I've stated, you'll know what I mean by poor design.
Look at all the other complaints too, it's not like I am the only one having the problem.
I haven't been really using the site since.

It's obvious to those who take an extra minute to see how the site works.  It sounds to me like you were hasty and you wanted your BTC right away, so you gambled your money and made a transaction even though you were still confused.  Why would you use a site you weren't 100% sure about how it operates, anyway?  Especially with Bitcoin?  But instead of taking that extra minute to figure it out, or even instead of contacting support for clarification, you acted out of confusion and then decided that BitInstant should take the blame for it. 

It's not fair to call BitInstant a "poor service" when it works.  It's not fair to call it "confusing" when the whole site has step-by-step instructions, an FAQ, and a live support chat to help remedy that confusion.  Anything can be confusing, but it's not fair to call it such when you didn't take any of the available steps to try to fix your confusion.  Instead, you acted out of confusion as if it were a sound financial decision, then you freaked out because you didn't know what you were doing and you blamed BitInstant for it.

[chungenhung]

I spend at least a good hour trying to figure it out.
The "live chat" have no one on it.
The "support" have no one responding. The earliest response was 2 days after I submitted it, and they only responded b/c I started this thread.

[the joint]

I spend at least a good hour trying to figure it out.
The "live chat" have no one on it.
The "support" have no one responding. The earliest response was 2 days after I submitted it, and they only responded b/c I started this thread.

I just tried "live chat" on BitInstant and received a live operator in about 15 seconds.  Can't speak for other cases, but...

[zvs]

I spend at least a good hour trying to figure it out.
The "live chat" have no one on it.
The "support" have no one responding. The earliest response was 2 days after I submitted it, and they only responded b/c I started this thread.

I just tried "live chat" on BitInstant and received a live operator in about 15 seconds.  Can't speak for other cases, but...

I sent 2 emails to support and didn't receive a response until 11:30am central, on a transaction that was 'guaranteed' to be completed in one hour.  You'd think they'd have someone around 24/7, throwing around guarantees like that

I tried calling the BBB to expedite (at around 3:20pm central) but they close at 4 EST, lol.

I am waiting on a refund now, for several hours.

as long as that is done, it isn't bad to be listed on BBB anyway, and there would be 1 out of 1 resolved complaints

(i've gone thru the BBB four times and only had one complaint stick.   you have to make sure to keep track of everything, record phone conversations, all emails, etc.  they are 99% for business, that is where nearly all their donations come from anyway)

(ed one last time:  it would be easy just to change this wording.  make it our guaranteed delivery time or your transaction fee back or somesuch.. dont tell me expected delivery time is in 4 minutes and guaranteed is in one hour then ignore 2 support emails for 7 hours).  i suppose in some cases it could be the fault of the exchange, but in my case it wasn't

[chungenhung]

I spend at least a good hour trying to figure it out.
The "live chat" have no one on it.
The "support" have no one responding. The earliest response was 2 days after I submitted it, and they only responded b/c I started this thread.

I just tried "live chat" on BitInstant and received a live operator in about 15 seconds.  Can't speak for other cases, but...

1. They happen to be working now?
2. It has been a LONG time since my first post.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

How many is this now, 5 recent complaints about bitinstant? Mostly noob accounts and now posters with high post counts not using the stickied bitinstant support thread. No exclamation marks in this title so better quality than usual but the way complaints about respected bitcoin services come in waves is suspicious, kind of like scam spam.

Not everyone is aware of the bitinstant support thread. I wasn't when I first started using.

That, and the we've been having growing pains lately especially with this rally. We literlally just brought on another support member to help with the new issues.

BitInstant has never scammed or robbed anyone.

I had a transaction delayed 4+ hours some month ago ( the deadline was 1 hour). I complained by mail but i didn't receive a reply. I didn't care very much about it, so i gave up.
If they don't want to give a refund for every transaction processed after the deadline i understand them, but at least they should change their FAQ.


"Our service aims to make most deposits happen instantly - within a matter of seconds in ideal cases, and in an absolute worst-case scenario we will still aim to have funds into your exchange account before a stated maximum deadline (on average about 60 minutes depending on various conditions). We are an agent of the exchanges. So, when you pay us, you have effectively paid the exchange. If we screw up and fail to deliver on time, we will always investigate and we will always refund our fees."
https://www.bitinstant.com/faq

Hey, we do always return fees. If yours was not, Im sorry. Please PM me your Order ID and Ill promptly do it.

I sent 2 emails to support and didn't receive a response until 11:30am central, on a transaction that was 'guaranteed' to be completed in one hour.  You'd think they'd have someone around 24/7, throwing around guarantees like that

I tried calling the BBB to expedite (at around 3:20pm central) but they close at 4 EST, lol.

I am waiting on a refund now, for several hours.

as long as that is done, it isn't bad to be listed on BBB anyway, and there would be 1 out of 1 resolved complaints

(i've gone thru the BBB four times and only had one complaint stick.   you have to make sure to keep track of everything, record phone conversations, all emails, etc.  they are 99% for business, that is where nearly all their donations come from anyway)

(ed one last time:  it would be easy just to change this wording.  make it our guaranteed delivery time or your transaction fee back or somesuch.. dont tell me expected delivery time is in 4 minutes and guaranteed is in one hour then ignore 2 support emails for 7 hours).  i suppose in some cases it could be the fault of the exchange, but in my case it wasn't

Im checking my PM's now for your info

I spend at least a good hour trying to figure it out.
The "live chat" have no one on it.
The "support" have no one responding. The earliest response was 2 days after I submitted it, and they only responded b/c I started this thread.

I just tried "live chat" on BitInstant and received a live operator in about 15 seconds.  Can't speak for other cases, but...

1. They happen to be working now?
2. It has been a LONG time since my first post.

Just for the record chungenhung, we took all your suggestions and redesigned our whole site.

I want to personally thank you for helping us our with your ideas. The new site should be live within a few weeks 

Your next transfer is on the house my man.

[zvs]

I've sent everything thru the BitInstant support email address.  I've still yet to receive a refund, approx. 28 hrs later.  I shot off an email to the NY BBB and plan on ringing them when they finally open.  10 EST til 4 EST?  The Tyler branch is open 8 hours..

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

I've sent everything thru the BitInstant support email address.  I've still yet to receive a refund, approx. 28 hrs later.  I shot off an email to the NY BBB and plan on ringing them when they finally open.  10 EST til 4 EST?  The Tyler branch is open 8 hours..

Hey, you sent me a PM saying you'd rather speak thru email. I sent you two emails last night waiting for reply.

[pof]

I had a transaction delayed 4+ hours some month ago ( the deadline was 1 hour). I complained by mail but i didn't receive a reply. I didn't care very much about it, so i gave up.
If they don't want to give a refund for every transaction processed after the deadline i understand them, but at least they should change their FAQ.


"Our service aims to make most deposits happen instantly - within a matter of seconds in ideal cases, and in an absolute worst-case scenario we will still aim to have funds into your exchange account before a stated maximum deadline (on average about 60 minutes depending on various conditions). We are an agent of the exchanges. So, when you pay us, you have effectively paid the exchange. If we screw up and fail to deliver on time, we will always investigate and we will always refund our fees."
https://www.bitinstant.com/faq

Hey, we do always return fees. If yours was not, Im sorry. Please PM me your Order ID and Ill promptly do it.

I have received the refund! Thanks for your help!

I'm looking forward to see the new site! 

[zvs]

I've sent everything thru the BitInstant support email address.  I've still yet to receive a refund, approx. 28 hrs later.  I shot off an email to the NY BBB and plan on ringing them when they finally open.  10 EST til 4 EST?  The Tyler branch is open 8 hours..

Hey, you sent me a PM saying you'd rather speak thru email. I sent you two emails last night waiting for reply.

I sent a PM requesting all further communication occur directly from a Bitinstant email address.  

I sent this email:

From: xxxx@hotmail.com
To: xxxx@bitinstant.ladesk.com; xxxx@bitinstant.com; xxxx@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:21:15 -0600

got a response here:

To: xxxx@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:52:09 -0800
From: xxxx@bitinstant.ladesk.com

sent this email in reply:

From: xxxx@hotmail.com
To: xxxx@bitinstant.ladesk.com; xxxx@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:13:02 -0600

several hours later, after not receiving a response, I then sent another email:

From: xxxx@hotmail.com
To: xxxx@hotmail.com; xxxx@bitinstant.ladesk.com; xxxx@bitinstant.com      (trying to cover as many bases as possible, here)
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:27:14 -0600

This morning, I got a response from you:

To: xxxx@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:38:09 -0800
From: xxxx@bitinstant.ladesk.com

Indicating that you had sent me an email 15 hours ago and were still awaiting my reply.  My reply to that message is here:

From: xxxx@hotmail.com
To: xxxx@bitinstant.ladesk.com; xxxx@bitinstant.com; xxxx@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:57:10 -0600

I wanted to avoid discussing it on here, but I felt a response was needed in regard to the insinuation that I was the one causing delays by ignoring your recompense offer.

From now on I won't talk about the issue here.  Again, I'd like all further correspondence to be conducted via an entity recognizeable as BitInstant rather than these forums.

One last thing to some other folks on this thread,  I spoke to the BBB mediator and she said that it usually takes a couple of complaints for a company to get listed on the BBB Website (assuming that the first few complaints are resolved in a positive manner).  I was told I was the first person to file a BBB complaint against BitInstant. 

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

I've sent everything thru the BitInstant support email address.  I've still yet to receive a refund, approx. 28 hrs later.  I shot off an email to the NY BBB and plan on ringing them when they finally open.  10 EST til 4 EST?  The Tyler branch is open 8 hours..

Hey, you sent me a PM saying you'd rather speak thru email. I sent you two emails last night waiting for reply.

I sent a PM requesting all further communication occur directly from a Bitinstant email address.  

Agreed, I sent you an two emails last night from my charlie@bitinstant.com address, please reply there so we can resolve this!

Charlie

[chungenhung]

Glad to see Yankee is out here resolving issues. Keep improving...

[21after2]

5:35GMT - replied to the support letter, informing them that I had asked for a full refund.  asked how to return the amount that was issued and receive my refund for the full amt, due to their inability to meet their obligation. 

In defense of BitInstant, they don't have an obligation or anything on their website guaranteeing that it only takes an hour:

Funds can be available in as little as 15 minutes and are typically available within one hour at the exchange or other merchant selected by the Customer

Our service aims to make most deposits happen instantly - within a matter of seconds in ideal cases, and in an absolute worst-case scenario we will still aim to have funds into your exchange account before a stated maximum deadline (on average about 60 minutes depending on various conditions)

The hour deadline is an average estimate, and if they offer to refund your fees if it takes longer and you're unhappy with the delay.

From what I've seen on the support thread and in complaint threads on the forum, it seems like people with the longer delays tend to have them because of their resistance to supply information relating to the order or to accept the support that's given to them. You wanted Charlie to email you, which he did, and you're upset about the email address he sent it from? The reply address he used was one of the three you sent you message to in your original email. Doesn't look to me like he was the one delaying things at all.