Am I got ripped off by Coinbase?

[valzav]

I need advice.
I've bought 10BTC 2 weeks ago via Coinbase, money came from my Chase account, transaction was shown in my account on Coinbase and balance was 10BTC.
But to my surprise when I've checked my account 5 days ago it was totally clean - no transactions, no linked bank accounts, 0BTC balance.
I've contacted Coinbase support, next day I've got the following reply:

APR 22, 2013  |  05:36PM PDT
Julian L replied:

hello,
we are looking into the issue, but i can already see you made one successful 10 btc order 6 days ago. this is probably only a disaplaying issue and will resolve soon.
kind regards,
julian

The issue is not resolved until today, they don't answer my emails anymore.
What should I do? Maybe somebody already has dealt with this kind of situations?
Is it possible to cancel/withdraw ACH transaction in my bank two weeks later?

[yeti_alchemist]

Hi,

In my experience (and from what I have read), Coinbase is reputable. They definitely have their share of issues but they seem to resolve them eventually.

I suggest searching the Bitcoin subreddit for similar experiences. I think you will see that most problems are corrected (read the top comments for solutions, most of the headlines are overblown).

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/search?q=coinbase

In addition, it may be worthwhile to try accessing your account with a different browser to see if that changes how the site is displayed.

Good luck.

[valzav]

yeti_alchemist,
Thanks for the advice, I've tried different browser - no luck.
On Reddit I've found there are more people have similar issues, e.g.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1coz10/warning_coinbasecom_is_having_major_problems_keep/

[mastermeow]

Now I'm scared of using coinbase

[BitshireHashaway]

I've started hearing things about coin base having some users get ripped of. I would recommend you do not use Coin base anymore. Work to get your 10 BC back, however, even if you do get them back, move on to another retailer, and use them. If something like that happened to me on my first time, it would not be worth my effort anymore to deal with them, and maybe have to go through that again. Best of luck!

[duhosnyul]

Thanks for this info guys. Hope you get your bitcoin back.

[bstock]

That's kind of scary. I just started with BTC stuff, and I used them to sell 1 BTC on Tuesday. Sent the BTC from my wallet and then immediately sold, and transferred the balance to my Chase account. Hopefully the cash gets there, it said it would arrive no later than Monday.

If it doesn't arrive I'll post an update.

[Wingman4l7]

In my experience (and from what I have read), Coinbase is reputable. They definitely have their share of issues but they seem to resolve them eventually.

I agree with yeti_alchemist; I wouldn't worry.

If it does arrive, please post an update anyway!  That way people will be able to see that the situation was resolved properly, and Coinbase doesn't get a bad name for no good reason.

[millibtc]

I've always wondered if sites like Coinbase have a big risk of going out of business due to the volatility of Bitcoin... Is 1% margins really enough to prevent large losses from big price swings?

[Wingman4l7]

I've always wondered if sites like Coinbase have a big risk of going out of business due to the volatility of Bitcoin... Is 1% margins really enough to prevent large losses from big price swings?

I would say that this depends on the way they handle transactions.

[cp1]

I've always wondered if sites like Coinbase have a big risk of going out of business due to the volatility of Bitcoin... Is 1% margins really enough to prevent large losses from big price swings?

Not if they function as an exchange where they match up buyers and sellers.

[Wingman4l7]

I've always wondered if sites like Coinbase have a big risk of going out of business due to the volatility of Bitcoin... Is 1% margins really enough to prevent large losses from big price swings?

Not if they function as an exchange where they match up buyers and sellers.

I don't think anyone considers them an exchange, though.

[skidelo]

Whats the cheapest/easiest way to buy BTC?  Dwolla?

[Bitsburger]

I would avoid Coinbase.  My experience is that BTC purchases with them take 5 days.  You don't know what BTC value will be in 5 days.  If the transaction is favorable to Coinbase the transaction goes through.  If it's favorable to you, (a lot of BTC per $), then they say you've been flagged as high risk and cancel it at the last minute.

[Aleksei Richards]

I would avoid Coinbase.  My experience is that BTC purchases with them take 5 days.  You don't know what BTC value will be in 5 days.  If the transaction is favorable to Coinbase the transaction goes through.  If it's favorable to you, (a lot of BTC per $), then they say you've been flagged as high risk and cancel it at the last minute.

That's unsubstantiated.

I've read on reddit of people buying BTC then having it delivered even in a rising market. However, I do question there business model.

It's supposed to be buy low sell high, not the other way around. Probably heading for bankruptcy.

[Wingman4l7]

I would avoid Coinbase.  My experience is that BTC purchases with them take 5 days.  You don't know what BTC value will be in 5 days.  If the transaction is favorable to Coinbase the transaction goes through.  If it's favorable to you, (a lot of BTC per $), then they say you've been flagged as high risk and cancel it at the last minute.

That's unsubstantiated.

I've read on reddit of people buying BTC then having it delivered even in a rising market. However, I do question there business model.

It's supposed to be buy low sell high, not the other way around. Probably heading for bankruptcy.

Yup, definitely unsubstantiated.  In fact, there was a case on Reddit recently where a transaction was cancelled for fraud when it would have massively been in their favor.  FWIW, I've bought BTC at least twice from them, and when it was delivered it was worth more than the price I purchased it at. 

As for the purchases taking 5 days, there's a perfectly good reason for that, and it's kinda tiresome to keep explaining it -- it's not some huge secret or conspiracy or due to horrible customer service.  You buy BTC from them via ACH bank transfer.  Those typically take 2-3 days to clear (that's the same for ACH transfers from anyone, anywhere).  I think they may tack on another day or two to make sure your ACH bank transfer to them clears without error.  They have to do this to mitigate fraud, as they're dealing with exchanging USD via a reversible payment (ACH transfer) for BTC, an inherently non-reversible payment -- very risky for them.

As for their business model, they make their money off their transaction fees -- and I can imagine ways of handling the transactions so that they would not be exposed to the risks of market swings.

[DeathProxy]

I got ripped too. Stay away from this scam.

[bstock]

That's kind of scary. I just started with BTC stuff, and I used them to sell 1 BTC on Tuesday. Sent the BTC from my wallet and then immediately sold, and transferred the balance to my Chase account. Hopefully the cash gets there, it said it would arrive no later than Monday.

If it doesn't arrive I'll post an update.

FYI This transaction went through fine. So what I did on Tuesday is transfer 1BTC from my wallet (at blockchain) to Coinbase. I then immediately sold on coinbase and sent the USD to my Chase bank account. Chase received the transfer today (Friday).

If I sell any more BTC I'll likely use them again.

[SilverandBitcoins]

I opened an account with Coinbase a couple weeks back.  I made 2 small buys so far.  The first one went well.  On the second purchase I bought right before the price went way back up and they sent me a notice that they had to cancel that purchase because they thought it was high risk somehow. They suggested trying back in a few weeks.

[Wingman4l7]

I got ripped too. Stay away from this scam.

The OP just posted that the transaction ended up going through fine.  What happened in your case?

I opened an account with Coinbase a couple weeks back.  I made 2 small buys so far.  The first one went well.  On the second purchase I bought right before the price went way back up and they sent me a notice that they had to cancel that purchase because they thought it was high risk somehow. They suggested trying back in a few weeks.

Usually if you contact them about a cancelled transaction they'll push it through.  They're still training their fraud detection algorithm so that happens sometimes.