My first experience is not so good. Paid the invoice 8 days ago, but the merchant cancelled the order due to their internal policy of not selling firearms through shopping services like Bitspend. So, I asked Bitspend to instead get me a gift certificate from that same merchant, and I would order using that myself.
Today is 5 days since Bitspend said they would. Since then no answer to repeated emails and phone calls, and no gift certificate.
It seems that Bitspend is not the shysters we have seen in Bitcoin world before. However, they do seem to be the usual pathetic Bitcoin shoe-string start-up, which bit off way more than it can chew. So annoying to keep dealing with these undercapitalized start-ups, which decide to open no matter how bad their service may have to be before they "bootstrap" themselves to greatness. I think I might eventually get the now classic MtGoxy response "Sorry, we are so behind. We are victims of our own success..."
A purchase that even with the problems would have been resolved and done in a matter of a couple of days with a credit card, is now in its 9th day, with no resolution in sight, and complete silence from bitspend.
Considering the exchange fluctuations since I paid the invoice, the fee I paid Bitspend is about 45 USD. So much for the low cost and speed of buying with bitcoin! All these kind of lame start-ups are doing is making Bitcoin look like a convoluted, unnecessary, expensive hassle...
Turned out they were just ignoring my emails and calls, because they "have been swamped with Memorial Day, and some new ideas and improvements we have coming down the pipeline". In the mean time, they were waiting for the merchant,
bud's gun shop, to send them a confirmation that they weren't doing anything illegal by buying a GIFT CERTIFICATE for me.
Instead of new ideas and improvements, they should focus on more basic capabilities, such as having enough staff to answer inquiries in a timely manner...
Remember, this whole mess could have been avoided, the purchase done much cheaper, the same day and been perfectly legal, if I had just used a credit card, and avoided bitcoin and Bitspend.
Would not recommend this service, because it's the kind for which charge-backs were invented!
