Coinbase has taken my money.

[romeo4141]

I can't believe that I am even having to report something like this.  My paranoid, conspiracy theorist brain tells me this post will be removed in less than 5 minutes or less.

I am one of what appears to be many people who are unable to withdraw funds from Coinbase.

I had a verified account because I had already made SEPA withdrawals.  The the second from last, was for 300 Euros.  The transaction is shown as completed on their website, and the amount has been deducted from my Euro wallet.   Yeah!!  Nothing even to do with the Bitcoin just plain ordinary theft  - as in the transaction was on the 12th of December.    The money has not gone back into my bank account.   I have tried every method possible to contact the elusive customer services.   They were not able to respond except with a barrage of automated responses trying to shift the attention away from the fact that they have just stolen 300 Euros from me.

I find that there are many many other similar reports on various review threads.  I am surprised and deeply suspicious as to why I am not hearing about this on the news.

[Lauda]

Withdrawing 300 Euro from Coinbase has failed? Use social media to push them to handle your case or lawyer up. I'm not sure whether the latter is worth it given the amount that we are talking about. I'm not sure that they have a representative on this forum (or an active one at least).

[DarkStar_]

I'd complain on their subreddit /r/Coinbase as it seems they actually have a presence there (I don't think they are active on this forum). I've seen some speedy resolutions for cases posted on there in the past, but given how many there are complaining, it still might take a while. Make sure to tag the coinbase employees in your post.

Also try submitting a complaint here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

Good luck.

[romeo4141]

Thank you  - both of you for your replies.    I will follow up on your suggestions.   I am scared now because I still have some Bitcoin stashed in one of their vaults and the only way to get that out is by selling it and withdrawing the cash - so if they decide that they just can't be bothered to do the transfer one is proverbially shafted.

  I am just amazed because there seem to be so many people like me having exactly the same problems and their customer service is like the garbage end of a hyaenas bachelor party.

[Lauda]

I am just amazed because there seem to be so many people like me having exactly the same problems and their customer service is like the garbage end of a hyaenas bachelor party.

Coinbase is a, straight-out and shameless, money grab. They have absolutely no morals of any kind, nor do they care about the fundamentals behind cryptocurrencies. You shouldn't be surprised. Move your business somewhere else as soon as you can.

[BTCforJoe]

Thank you  - both of you for your replies.    I will follow up on your suggestions.   I am scared now because I still have some Bitcoin stashed in one of their vaults and the only way to get that out is by selling it and withdrawing the cash - so if they decide that they just can't be bothered to do the transfer one is proverbially shafted.

  I am just amazed because there seem to be so many people like me having exactly the same problems and their customer service is like the garbage end of a hyaenas bachelor party.

I'm not that familiar with Coinbase's vault features, but is there any way to withdraw the bitcoin directly from Coinbase into another wallet? If so, check out this article: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Once you've created a wallet, you may explore other options of getting your money out after you transfer your crypto to your newly created wallet. The best? Look for a trusted reputable bitcoin buyer here to do an exchange for you. You may have to send the bitcoin first, but make sure that the buyer is very reputable.

Don't sell your bitcoin and try to withdraw it from coinbase. Simply withdraw your balance to your own wallet ASAP.

[Lauda]

Simply withdraw your balance to your own wallet ASAP.

While you're at it, OP, withdraw to a SegWit supporting wallet:

Desktop: Electrum.
Hardware: Ledger, Trezor.
Android: Samourai Wallet.
iOS: GreenAddress.

[warningsigns]

Don't blame Coinbase exclusively. There is a small chance of your bank being the culprit. Some banks see the money is coming from a cryptocurrency exchange or from a correspondent bank which has flagged the transaction as high risk. Your bank will then refuse to credit your account with those inward funds. What they then do is hold the funds in a suspense account while they do internal check on the source of funds or even a discreet AML investigation. They won't tell you about it. It's all behind the scenes and the purpose of the non-disclosure is to prevent you from doing something that might materially affect the outcome of their investigation. Now this is one situation to consider if you definitely see a "settled" transaction descriptor on your Coinbase account.

It's either your bank or Coinbase. Nothing in between. So you can narrow down the blame to both. If it's not your bank, then Coinbase might have marked the transaction as settled but has still not executed the transfer. Some payment processors execute wires in time (or even day) specific batches for cost reasons. Now you mentioned 12th December so you can conclusively exclude this assumption.

Try contacting your bank and ask if they can check for inward wires on your account. If they can't help, then you will need to wait for Coinbase to address and resolve the issue.

[romeo4141]

Don't blame Coinbase exclusively. There is a small chance of your bank being the culprit. Some banks see the money is coming from a cryptocurrency exchange or from a correspondent bank which has flagged the transaction as high risk. Your bank will then refuse to credit your account with those inward funds. What they then do is hold the funds in a suspense account while they do internal check on the source of funds or even a discreet AML investigation. They won't tell you about it. It's all behind the scenes and the purpose of the non-disclosure is to prevent you from doing something that might materially affect the outcome of their investigation. Now this is one situation to consider if you definitely see a "settled" transaction descriptor on your Coinbase account.

It's either your bank or Coinbase. Nothing in between. So you can narrow down the blame to both. If it's not your bank, then Coinbase might have marked the transaction as settled but has still not executed the transfer. Some payment processors execute wires in time (or even day) specific batches for cost reasons. Now you mentioned 12th December so you can conclusively exclude this assumption.

Try contacting your bank and ask if they can check for inward wires on your account. If they can't help, then you will need to wait for Coinbase to address and resolve the issue.



That's useful information.   I will check with my bank.   

Are there are any exchanges out there that can really be trusted?

[BTCforJoe]

That's useful information.   I will check with my bank.   

Are there are any exchanges out there that can really be trusted?

Short answer, no.

However, you may want to check out localbitcoins.com. It's essentially a service that keeps reputation ratings of Bitcoin buyers/sellers, and you can find someone to sell you Bitcoin for most any kind of payments, including physical transactions. Make sure to look for sellers who have a high amount of trade volume and reputation, and make sure that they don't have many gaps in their trading history. Most sellers will charge a premium, but lbc is currently my preferred method of buying bitcoins.

[romeo4141]

So the money did turn up eventually in my bank account.   I would be interested to know why it too so long - just as a general point of interest.   

Coinbase's customer service nevertheless still sucks beyond belief.

Thanks once more to all you who replied and gave me
advise.  I am very grateful.  Thanks.