'Hard' lessons COINABUL

[I_Wanna_Ride]

First, I love this forum and I love bitcoin.  Studied bitcoin for 2 months watching the price go from $13 to $26 before I got an account with Mt.GOX and Bitcoin-Central.

So, with bitcoins in hand, I went shopping.  Alas, I didn't do enough looking on this forum before choosing Coinabul.  They responded with invoice and promise to ship shortly.  That was March 27.  Now, they do not respond to emails or phone calls.  See other complaints too.  Saw one guy involved with company quit.  Has anyone actually received gold they ordered from Coinabul?  Can anyone shed light on how I might go about corralling these folks and getting my gold coin?

Now this morning, Bitcoin-Central is down due to hack.  Surely, this will also straighten out in time.  Or this newbie will have learned a "hard" lesson x 2.  Argh.

Thanks to all the great participants.  We newbie's would be even worse off without you.

Best, I_Wanna_Ride

[refta]

watched bitcoins rise from $10 to $137.

[mgio]

Have you received your gold yet I_Wanna_Ride?

I ordered from coinabul very recently (just a tiny bit) and I'm a little worried.

[ventrabit]

Have you received your gold yet I_Wanna_Ride?

I ordered from coinabul very recently (just a tiny bit) and I'm a little worried.

I'd like to know to. Was planning to spend a few btc there.

[I_Wanna_Ride]

Follow up. After numerous calls, got email response from Coinabul from "Alessandra" who states she has just been hired to help "clean up" mess after losing one employee. Swears all is well and my coin will be shipped. Still waiting. Will report back if it shows up.

Bitcoin-Central was down several days, back up one and a half days and down today. During the brief up, they did transfer some bitcoins for me, more than some members were stating on another thread ripping them and "davout". Honestly, to date, they have treated me right there.

[snk]

I ordered from Coinabul back in March. It took them 3 weeks from the moment I paid to the product arriving and I live in Canada but there was no communication from them during the whole time. Then I checked on this forum about the guy who lost 81btc because of Coinabul, it got my worried. I emailed them 3 times no answer. The last time I emailed directly at jon@coinabul.com (the person who quit, if I recall) he answered me the day that I received them. The coins I received were in good condition, came in individual folded plastic protector.

Overall, I would not order from them again because of their handling/customer support.

[ventrabit]

I ordered from Coinabul back in March. It took them 3 weeks from the moment I paid to the product arriving and I live in Canada but there was no communication from them during the whole time. Then I checked on this forum about the guy who lost 81btc because of Coinabul, it got my worried. I emailed them 3 times no answer. The last time I emailed directly at jon@coinabul.com (the person who quit, if I recall) he answered me the day that I received them. The coins I received were in good condition, came in individual folded plastic protector.

Overall, I would not order from them again because of their handling/customer support.

That's good news but yeh they should focus on good customer support

[tdahsu]

This is good to read... I was considering ordering from them.

What through me off was that they were collecting billing information.  Um, yeah, you don't need that with bitcoins.  (Though obviously they'd need a shipping address.)

I'll definitely hold off, and it will be interesting to see if I_Wanna_Ride gets his gold.

PS - Has anyone tried ordering bullion from Norway?  They have 0 taxes and low fees, but I don't know of any Norwegian bullion dealer that accepts BTC yet...

[spiral_mind]

bitcoin really needs established escrow services to take off

Satoshi Nakamoto mentioned this in his white paper if you recall

[nominii]

Not to be mr doom'n'gloom but does anyone know if their product is coming from
a reputable mint or if anyone has tested to make sure it's not  just plated ? I considered
ordering from them before but I don't see a way of verifying that what their selling isn't
just plated tungsten .

[coincrunch]

Wishing I read the forums before ordering from Coinabul today.  I only ordered 4 silver eagles, but it was when BTC was at $250.  I promptly paid and sent the bitcoins.  After a couple of hours, everything is fully confirmed as being sent in my wallet, but the order status is "processing" on their end. 

Calls go to voicemail
Emails go unanswered
Contacts through their contact page go unanswered

Does anyone have any recent experience getting in touch with them?

[Virtuall]

I also want to get some info about what's the fastest way to conatct with them.

[Virtuall]

Anyone?

[Digital Precious Metals]

When I researched bitcoin bullion dealers I was not able to find a good choice.

[Cryptonics]

I'm willing to setup a website accepting BTC if I can find a reliable dropshipper. Any input on this?

[Digital Precious Metals]

I'm willing to setup a website accepting BTC if I can find a reliable dropshipper. Any input on this?

I have already done the same thing, except instead of drop shipping I have the products in my inventory. I am going to announce it once I am out of newbie jail.

[Cryptonics]

I'm willing to setup a website accepting BTC if I can find a reliable dropshipper. Any input on this?

I have already done the same thing, except instead of drop shipping I have the products in my inventory. I am going to announce it once I am out of newbie jail.

Yep. Just noticed your thread mate. I'm sending you a PM. We gotta chat.

[desol]

My experience with Coinabul is that if you call one of the phone numbers on your invoice you should get through or Jay will call back. I have only had some luck emailing jon (not sure if he is still there) or jay directly, the general email address doesn't seem to be monitored. Their order system allows you to select standard or overnight insured. I have always selected overnight insured but the shipping method has never been overnight. I wasn't concerned with speed, only insured. Initially, this caused me quite a bit of undue concern when they said the ordered shipped and it took a week to arrive. Also, I sometimes received a shipping notice almost immediately when the order was actually only ordered.

Overall, they run a pretty loose business and what they promise is not what they deliver but their product does eventually arrive. It appears to me that they try to appear bigger than they are and run this business out of a business incubation service at a college. My guess is that they are technical guys that don't understand customer service. Hopefully, they will start to understand that they need to deliver what they promise.

[cusdog]

There is a big gap between the spot price of gold and what they are selling it for. They need to have their prices float and better approximate FMV. For example,

http://coinabul.com/index.php/american-eagle-gold-bullion.html


costs 12.84, which is $1,540USD, almost a $200 premium from current spot prices.

[desol]

You pay a premium for a coin. I just looked at the price for the coin you list on Ebay and at Coinabul. The premium I see is about $50, not $200. The premium is reasonable to me because they are a vendor who delivers and I am risk averse. My primary complaint is that they do not ship as advertised and are slow to respond to inquiries. My suggestion to them would be to ship as advertised, cut their product list to their top items, and maintain some inventory. My guess is that their volume doesn't support better pricing and that they do not maintain an inventory.