Coinbase straight up robbed me

[Gatiltafish]

I bought two bitcoins on dec. 23 which were suppposed to arrive in my account the 26th. My bank account was charged the $1,315 but on the 26th the bitcoins weren't there and the pending transaction disappeared. WTF? Has this happened to anybody else and what sort of recourse do i have against them. I have seen posts about how coinbase seems to engage in some shady practices in other parts of the forum, like denying the transaction of someone who bought bitcoins after the price goes up, but straight theft? I have e-mailed support and am waiting to hear back from them, however i get the feeling they purposefully make it difficult to contact them by not listing any contact info on their website. I have tried mailing support@coinbase.com as i was that was the contact info someone provided in one of the threads. I will provide any updates if and when i hear from them or the bitcoins magically appear in my account.

[Rosta32]

Take a deep breath.  It's the holiday season, Dec 25th was an official bank holiday.  Things get delayed around this time of year.  Banking transactions can take a few days longer than anticipated during normal times.  I find all types of bank transfers and payments to be unreliable around xmas and new year.

Coinbase is a reputable company in the US, probably more reputable that the vast majority BTC companies out there, so you are very likely to get this sorted out either with them or your bank.

[Joey Blaze]

Hopefully everything works out because I was getting read to use coinbase for the first time and this type of thing makes me very reluctant

[Gatiltafish]

Take a deep breath.  It's the holiday season, Dec 25th was an official bank holiday.  Things get delayed around this time of year.  Banking transactions can take a few days longer than anticipated during normal times.  I find all types of bank transfers and payments to be unreliable around xmas and new year.

Coinbase is a reputable company in the US, probably more reputable that the vast majority BTC companies out there, so you are very likely to get this sorted out either with them or your bank.

Ok, thanks for your reply and reassurance! I understand this time of the year is slow in terms of banking transactions, the thing that worries me is that my purchase isnt in the transactions section in my account at coinbase.

[codg5]

be careful

[milly6]

I have mostly not had any problems with coinbase except for one of my SELLs of btc went through as a BUY (?) I got no response from them about this so i just ended up spending the btc (2 days after my bank was charged, when i actually got it) seems to take a long time to buy btc.

[727guy]

Does a safe bitcoin exchange exist? Seems everything these days is shady...

[Gatiltafish]

It's pretty clear coinbase is a scam. They responded with a robotic message about how my transaction was flagged as high risk, although this apparently happened AFTER they charged my bank account. I have been reading many threads on them and there is a clear theme of shady/fraudulent practices on their part. I made an uninformed decision when using them and hopefully through a combination of patience and threats to report them to regulators i will be refunded. If I were someone thinking of using coinbase for the first time i would take this as a warning not to do business with them. At the least read up on them. im sure whoever is running this scheme is stashing A LOT of dough away for when the shit hits the fan and its time to get out of Dodge.

[louietsang]

this is not something i wanna read after the fact i bought from them 2 days ago also, lol... my bank was charged today... tho i didnt invest as much as you still not something i wanna hear... plz report back what goes down and/or resolution, the coins are supposed to be deposited to me by the 2nd so i guess ill see.

[dbradley]

same thing happend to me with coinbase. i made an order, my account was charged but no bitcoins. after 2 weeks and a lot of mails sent i got my money back and no btc. coinbase is not a scam for sure. only thing they have a stupid policy.

[cecil353912]

I've bought about 10BTC from coinbase in the last couple months and never had a problem. They seem the most legit place to go to buy to me.

[jonanon]

Lots of people have been having issue with Coinbase - I would keep on at them and hope for a response and resolution - don't hold your breath!

[Gatiltafish]

thing that is most worrisome is how they charge the account and then tell you you're being flagged as high risk. Wouldn't a normal company just decline the transaction up front?  instead they charge me, price of btc goes up and then flag me.

[Lorem_Ipsum]

I, personally, have done a handful of transactions with Coinbase over the past few months and had no problems other than 1 deposit to my bitcoin wallet was later than the date given. They appear to be a credible company, but maybe slightly understaffed. They just got 25 million from a Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital, so somebody believes in them. Just be patient. They'll come through.

[bitconnect]

holidays!

[jimmyvance]

They are not going to rob you.. They are just really slowwwwwwww.
Don't worry. You can always file a dispute with your bank and get your money back.

[infinitybo]

@Gatiltafish Sure sometimes they are acting weird furthermore Coinbase is pretty hard to contact them.

[Gatiltafish]

So for an update I got a response back from Alex from customer service with a more personalized message acknowledging when the transfer was declined and telling me to complete step 2 verification. Also said they were refunding the money but would take a few days cuz ACH banking is slow. I am relieved they responded so quickly because from what other threads it seemed their customer service could be slow/unresponsive. I'm fine with that but still trying to get them to tell me why my account was charged before i was flagged and why the transaction disappears after the date is reached when i should have received the bit coins.

[odolvlobo]

While it is likely that they screwed up in your case, keep in mind that the inconveniences that people are reporting are due to the banking system.

It takes several days for Coinbase to give you your BTC because that is how long an ACH transaction takes. If you want to learn about the stupidity of ACH transactions, listen to this Planet Money podcast: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/10/04/229224964/episode-489-the-invisible-plumbing-of-our-economy

Coinbase does not give you the BTC immediately because a scammer might simply call up their bank and cancel the ACH transaction and keep the BTC. Furthermore, even after they finally receive your money, it is still possible for the banks to reverse the ACH transaction. I believe this is why they might cancel your transaction after the 4 day wait.

[runlinux]

I am full Level 2 verified and have NEVER had any issues with at all. Just take a deep breath and wait a little bit. It will get worked out one way or another.