Has anyone ever used BitNZ?

[CodyCot]

I am thinking about jumping on the (albeit late) bandwagon for BTC, if all goes to plan I could potentially make a few $$ off it.

As a Kiwi, I am wanting to know other peoples experiences with BitNZ, did it work out for you? Anything I should be watching out for? Could it be a scam?

Also as a side, have you got any knowledge of where I could find LiteCoins in NZ? I cannot seem to find any of the Internet.

Many thanks.

[jago25_98]

I've been using BitNZ to transfer between my account in another country. The reason for this is the annoying charges that you get to and from NZ accounts - do you know any way to avoid these? I looked at CurrencyFair and their NZD account is in Australia so you still get that $15 charge. klickex was a full 0.01 off the interbank rate (!) so it's only cheaper than xe.com or oanda if you transfer less than $1000

My experience with BitNZ has been very good. You do have to set the rate you wish to buy or sell your BTC at manually. I suggest looking at the order book and typing in your price according to what is available to get the match instantly.

Even so, be sure to do a few test payments first and take your time. The guy running it seems la bit busy and probably has other things on his plate, running this as a contribution to the community rather than for the cash - just bear that in mind. It's a lot quieter and slower than other exchanges but it has worked well for me. YMMV

[Takeshi_Kovacs]

I used them 4 days ago.

After mining my first 5 LTC, I converted them to BTC, lodged the BTCs with  BitNZ, converted them to NZ$ and then tried to withdraw the NZ$ to my bank account.

That was 4 days ago and there is no sign of the money in my account.

Perhaps it is a scam or perhaps the guy running it is just slow to action transfer requests but I will not be going back there until my money turns up.

As for your other question. Do you want to buy LTC for NZ$? We could talk.

[Takeshi_Kovacs]

The BitNZ site went away a few hours ago to be replaced by a holding page saying that it was down for maintenance. A short time earlier, I had sent an email asking when I might expect to see my transfer go through. I have not had a reply to that email.

[Takeshi_Kovacs]

The BitNZ website has reappeared but there is no sign of my money so I would not recommend them.

[Takeshi_Kovacs]

I received an email from the site-op apologizing for the delay and promising payment which duly arrived so it seems that they just had some temporary problems which are all done.

I will be happy to continue to use the site.