Coinbase sees complaints grow

[alyssa85]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-30/bitcoin-exchange-sees-complaints-soar-as-users-demand-money

The most popular online exchange for trading digital currencies is generating a surge in customer complaints this year even as investors are lured by a dramatic rise in prices.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received at least 293 complaints about Coinbase Inc., according to data reviewed by Bloomberg. That compares with about six complaints for all of 2016, and makes Coinbase the biggest recipient of CFPB virtual currency complaints this year. The website has struggled to keep up with spiking volume and longer transaction processing times as the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies soared to record highs.

More than a third of the grievances came from individuals who said they were unable to access their money when promised. Many people also complained about other transaction or service problems. Accusations of fraud represented less than 15 percent of the complaints.

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[lumeire]

Probably an impact of the current high fees and transaction times.

Man imagine all the legal expenses for these.

[LeGaulois]

Probably an impact of the current high fees and transaction times.

Man imagine all the legal expenses for these.

And how it can be an impact of the high fees and transaction times? So you are telling us that if Coinbase support sucks a lot it is because f the bitcoin's high fees. And since the transactions times can be very long, it is the reason why Coinbasse support takes so long to reply to people.

Totally logic

[TryNinja]

Probably an impact of the current high fees and transaction times.

Man imagine all the legal expenses for these.

I would say that the main issues are: lack of support, freezing accounts without good reasons and withdraw/deposits delays. Not really Bitcoin's fault, only a bad management from Coinbase.
Taken from the same article:

"The funds were supposed to be transferred to my checking account within three-to-five business days," one customer complained to the CFPB in May. "I need the money."

"Over the past few months, we’ve seen an unprecedented increase in the number of customers signing up to use Coinbase," wrote the company’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Armstrong, in a June 6 blog post. "As a result, our systems have been pushed to the limit. This has caused many customers to have a negative experience."

[warningsigns]

When you don't deliver what you promised to deliver in lieu of value received, you are a fraudster. If your website advertises The easiest place to buy, use, and accept bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin. Using digital currency has never been so safe and easy. and yet you have terms and conditions which negate that, you are a fraudster.

Complaints will keep soaring for as long as people don't realize that they are dealing with a tolerated fraudster. A fraudster with FinCEN credentials and the government's blessings to operate with impunity. Doesn't it surprise anyone how easy and fast it is to inject funds into the Coinbase system and how difficult and cumbersome it is to remove those very same funds or coins from their coffers?

And of course their spokewoman declined to comment on the CFPB complaints. Silence is the best defense.

[Rahar02]

When you don't deliver what you promised to deliver in lieu of value received, you are a fraudster. If your website advertises The easiest place to buy, use, and accept bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin. Using digital currency has never been so safe and easy. and yet you have terms and conditions which negate that, you are a fraudster.

Complaints will keep soaring for as long as people don't realize that they are dealing with a tolerated fraudster. A fraudster with FinCEN credentials and the government's blessings to operate with impunity. Doesn't it surprise anyone how easy and fast it is to inject funds into the Coinbase system and how difficult and cumbersome it is to remove those very same funds or coins from their coffers?

And of course their spokewoman declined to comment on the CFPB complaints. Silence is the best defense.

Agree, people deserve what they have bought or deposited before which exchange make it easier to inject funds to them but so complicated to withdraw it, that's the problem. But, we only knew what people are complaining about and don't know the whole story from coinbase point of view. It will be fair if coinbase clarify those problems and restore what are belongs to their customers.

[magneto]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-30/bitcoin-exchange-sees-complaints-soar-as-users-demand-money

The most popular online exchange for trading digital currencies is generating a surge in customer complaints this year even as investors are lured by a dramatic rise in prices.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received at least 293 complaints about Coinbase Inc., according to data reviewed by Bloomberg. That compares with about six complaints for all of 2016, and makes Coinbase the biggest recipient of CFPB virtual currency complaints this year. The website has struggled to keep up with spiking volume and longer transaction processing times as the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies soared to record highs.

More than a third of the grievances came from individuals who said they were unable to access their money when promised. Many people also complained about other transaction or service problems. Accusations of fraud represented less than 15 percent of the complaints.

Brian Armstrong(founder of coinbase) has actually addressed this in his post back in June: https://blog.coinbase.com/improving-customer-support-139d99e72876

Honestly i do not see anything being done after that post has been posted. The customer support is still full of delays, buying and selling bitcoin is still full of problems that could be easily solved if you just hire a dev to fix it, and the whole process is not smooth.

Yet, they are out there advertising themselves as the easiest platform to buy and sell btc and ethereum. THis is misleading advertising and incredibly shady behaviour.

[bL4nkcode]

This always happens to Coinbase whenever Bitcoin price increasing rapidly, it's not that they lack supports but they just do it for their own purpose IMO, of course, they get huge benefits when the price increased that why they just hold the withdrawing process for their clients and will release soon when price got stable at the moment. And I'm not wondering if this exchange got the highest received complaints for this year since they always do even last year.

[warningsigns]

This always happens to Coinbase whenever Bitcoin price increasing rapidly, it's not that they lack supports but they just do it for their own purpose IMO, of course, they get huge benefits when the price increased that why they just hold the withdrawing process for their clients and will release soon when price got stable at the moment. And I'm not wondering if this exchange got the highest received complaints for this year since they always do even last year.

Manipulating transactions is a fraudulent act. If the manipulation is perpetrated to gain a pecuniary advantage while causing losses or inconveniencing their customers, then this is fraud. If their customers were to reverse roles and conduct trades where Coinbase feels they are disadvantaged, I'm sure this company would use every legal tool in their arsenal to not only financially ruin them but to also make them suffer the full brunt of the law. This is a company operating negligently with impunity.

Their excuses and apologies mean nothing if they actually do not implement changes to their operational procedures. Have a look at their pitiful reviews:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/coinbase.com
http://bittrust.org/coinbase

[hello_good_sir]

This always happens to Coinbase whenever Bitcoin price increasing rapidly, it's not that they lack supports but they just do it for their own purpose IMO, of course, they get huge benefits when the price increased that why they just hold the withdrawing process for their clients and will release soon when price got stable at the moment. And I'm not wondering if this exchange got the highest received complaints for this year since they always do even last year.

Manipulating transactions is a fraudulent act. If the manipulation is perpetrated to gain a pecuniary advantage while causing losses or inconveniencing their customers, then this is fraud. If their customers were to reverse roles and conduct trades where Coinbase feels they are disadvantaged, I'm sure this company would use every legal tool in their arsenal to not only financially ruin them but to also make them suffer the full brunt of the law. This is a company operating negligently with impunity.

Their excuses and apologies mean nothing if they actually do not implement changes to their operational procedures. Have a look at their pitiful reviews:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/coinbase.com
http://bittrust.org/coinbase

Well, trustpilot is always inaccurate because it is filled with competitors trying to defame their opponents. But that is the general picture here. Coinbase has almost poloniex and yobit like support right now, and the situation seems to be only getting worse.

The CEO has recognized the problem but has done nothing about it.

He says that he will reduce the wait time to 6 hours, which is far from accurate. And he said that he'll focus Q3 on fundamentals like user experience, which he did not do well at all. If anything, it got worse.

I wouldn't be using coinbase at all, even though it might seem convenient. Full of booby traps.

[Kemarit]

This always happens to Coinbase whenever Bitcoin price increasing rapidly, it's not that they lack supports but they just do it for their own purpose IMO, of course, they get huge benefits when the price increased that why they just hold the withdrawing process for their clients and will release soon when price got stable at the moment. And I'm not wondering if this exchange got the highest received complaints for this year since they always do even last year.

Manipulating transactions is a fraudulent act. If the manipulation is perpetrated to gain a pecuniary advantage while causing losses or inconveniencing their customers, then this is fraud. If their customers were to reverse roles and conduct trades where Coinbase feels they are disadvantaged, I'm sure this company would use every legal tool in their arsenal to not only financially ruin them but to also make them suffer the full brunt of the law. This is a company operating negligently with impunity.

Their excuses and apologies mean nothing if they actually do not implement changes to their operational procedures. Have a look at their pitiful reviews:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/coinbase.com
http://bittrust.org/coinbase

Well, trustpilot is always inaccurate because it is filled with competitors trying to defame their opponents. But that is the general picture here. Coinbase has almost poloniex and yobit like support right now, and the situation seems to be only getting worse.

The CEO has recognized the problem but has done nothing about it.

He says that he will reduce the wait time to 6 hours, which is far from accurate. And he said that he'll focus Q3 on fundamentals like user experience, which he did not do well at all. If anything, it got worse.

I wouldn't be using coinbase at all, even though it might seem convenient. Full of booby traps.

This is the very same reason that's why I quit coinbase and moved somewhere else. There is no improvement after the CEO said that he will address this issue, on the contrary it gotten worst already. I surmised that in a average, they are at least receiving 1 complaints a day and nothing has been done about it that's why the queue has clog and a lot of backlogs aren't even answered. We understand that it is a difficult task to operate an exchange especially now since the user based is growing exponentially, but at least they should have upgrade their support and infrastructure to be able to deal effectively with the difficult situation. I guess they have earn millions and millions and it should be easy for them to improved and raised their standards. Sadly this is not the case, they let their customers down by falling on deaf ears.

[maeusi]

Maybe it is more save to use a multicoin wallet with cold storage with integrated exchange and only exchange little amounts. There are many reported issues on well known exchangers.

[UCHCHILD]

I wonder why do coinbase do not make things smooth with the transactions done under their hands inspite of the fast growing of the volume of its users, they must put good people to operate those systems. Complaints will might cause of people to leave their site, even the fee grows so high every no and then, I cannot get why.

[guoyu78]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-30/bitcoin-exchange-sees-complaints-soar-as-users-demand-money

The most popular online exchange for trading digital currencies is generating a surge in customer complaints this year even as investors are lured by a dramatic rise in prices.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received at least 293 complaints about Coinbase Inc., according to data reviewed by Bloomberg. That compares with about six complaints for all of 2016, and makes Coinbase the biggest recipient of CFPB virtual currency complaints this year. The website has struggled to keep up with spiking volume and longer transaction processing times as the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies soared to record highs.

More than a third of the grievances came from individuals who said they were unable to access their money when promised. Many people also complained about other transaction or service problems. Accusations of fraud represented less than 15 percent of the complaints.

Brian Armstrong(founder of coinbase) has actually addressed this in his post back in June: https://blog.coinbase.com/improving-customer-support-139d99e72876

Honestly i do not see anything being done after that post has been posted. The customer support is still full of delays, buying and selling bitcoin is still full of problems that could be easily solved if you just hire a dev to fix it, and the whole process is not smooth.

Yet, they are out there advertising themselves as the easiest platform to buy and sell btc and ethereum. THis is misleading advertising and incredibly shady behaviour.

I wonder why not coinbase does not seems to bother this kinds of issues, many complaint comes but they do not mind it, especially the delay of the outbound money which is surely people needs that is why they withdraw or transfer the money, I think the best solution is to hire a high quality and more professional dev that can make things easy in both party the coinbase and the customers.

[alyssa85]

When you don't deliver what you promised to deliver in lieu of value received, you are a fraudster. If your website advertises The easiest place to buy, use, and accept bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin. Using digital currency has never been so safe and easy. and yet you have terms and conditions which negate that, you are a fraudster.

Complaints will keep soaring for as long as people don't realize that they are dealing with a tolerated fraudster. A fraudster with FinCEN credentials and the government's blessings to operate with impunity. Doesn't it surprise anyone how easy and fast it is to inject funds into the Coinbase system and how difficult and cumbersome it is to remove those very same funds or coins from their coffers?

And of course their spokewoman declined to comment on the CFPB complaints. Silence is the best defense.

It's a combination of several things - yes, Coinbase should have forseen the jump in interest from the public and should have added capacity and made their systems more robust. But they've also had to cope with mempool problems and delays in transactions being confirmed. Just prior to the August 1st fork, they actually warned people to withdraw in advance because of this, and STILL had problems because some people left it too late, plus everyone and their dog was withdrawing from all over the place, which meant serious mempool backlogs.

That's why I'm surprised they haven't embraced bitcoincash - the 8mg blocks solve the problem and eat up the mempool very quickly.

[Qartersa]

This was brought about by the company's weakness, which is support. Their support is one of the worst I've seen in any service or website. For such a large company with a lot of users they did not even bother to invest in their support system. It takes days and even weeks to even get a reply from their support. That is why we see a lot of people complaining tot he government because they do not get any support from the company itself. If only they gave support to these users then they would not get complaints to the government agencies.

[frowsiter]

Probably an impact of the current high fees and transaction times.


Man imagine all the legal expenses for these.

But the reason for higher fees and transaction time is also related with increased price of bitcoin. What they say is government might be forcing down the use of more digital currency because its already against the law and defined as impunity of government letting you use the currency anyway. If it really comes in the jurisdiction of government which is already on the verge of it will lead to fall of digital wallets.

[pinkflower]

Is Coinbase hiding something and that its really running a fractional reserve now? Its supposed to be one of the most professional services out there in Bitcoin. What happened to them?

This is from Peter Todd on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/petertoddbtc/status/891662660454010881

The "congestion" explanation doesn't make any sense.

I'd recommend the precaution of taking you BTC out, as they may be covering up a hack.

[Zocadas]

I think, it was a big mistake of coinbase as they announced, they would not support BCH. I understood them, butbthey thaught they could decide for/against their customers. As they supported BCH after many posts of upset customers it was to late.

[hello_good_sir]

This always happens to Coinbase whenever Bitcoin price increasing rapidly, it's not that they lack supports but they just do it for their own purpose IMO, of course, they get huge benefits when the price increased that why they just hold the withdrawing process for their clients and will release soon when price got stable at the moment. And I'm not wondering if this exchange got the highest received complaints for this year since they always do even last year.

Manipulating transactions is a fraudulent act. If the manipulation is perpetrated to gain a pecuniary advantage while causing losses or inconveniencing their customers, then this is fraud. If their customers were to reverse roles and conduct trades where Coinbase feels they are disadvantaged, I'm sure this company would use every legal tool in their arsenal to not only financially ruin them but to also make them suffer the full brunt of the law. This is a company operating negligently with impunity.

Their excuses and apologies mean nothing if they actually do not implement changes to their operational procedures. Have a look at their pitiful reviews:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/coinbase.com
http://bittrust.org/coinbase

Well, trustpilot is always inaccurate because it is filled with competitors trying to defame their opponents. But that is the general picture here. Coinbase has almost poloniex and yobit like support right now, and the situation seems to be only getting worse.

The CEO has recognized the problem but has done nothing about it.

He says that he will reduce the wait time to 6 hours, which is far from accurate. And he said that he'll focus Q3 on fundamentals like user experience, which he did not do well at all. If anything, it got worse.

I wouldn't be using coinbase at all, even though it might seem convenient. Full of booby traps.

This is the very same reason that's why I quit coinbase and moved somewhere else. There is no improvement after the CEO said that he will address this issue, on the contrary it gotten worst already. I surmised that in a average, they are at least receiving 1 complaints a day and nothing has been done about it that's why the queue has clog and a lot of backlogs aren't even answered. We understand that it is a difficult task to operate an exchange especially now since the user based is growing exponentially, but at least they should have upgrade their support and infrastructure to be able to deal effectively with the difficult situation. I guess they have earn millions and millions and it should be easy for them to improved and raised their standards. Sadly this is not the case, they let their customers down by falling on deaf ears.

Precisely. When you are a multimillion company that is considered to be one of the go to wallets for new bitcoin users, you better make a good product with a team of quality customer support. They keep on adding new features and coins, but seem to have completely forgotten that what people really look for is just a fast response to their tickets. And this is what makes all the difference really between a good exchange and a great exchange.

Especially after the founder himself said this, in public, viewable to anyone on their blog. This is unacceptable...

Hopefully they can sort their crap out before the end of the year. Otherwise if the amount of unanswered support tickets continue to rise, then i'm sure we'll see a sharp decline in active users on coinbase.