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Topic: Face to face trade, my story. - page 2. (Read 2022 times)

hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 522
May 08, 2013, 06:46:59 AM
#4
Don't you have ATMs over there in Britain?
legendary
Activity: 1092
Merit: 1001
Touchdown
May 08, 2013, 06:41:12 AM
#3
So in UK they let you withdraw money from a bank account at the counter without an ID, unless its a "big amount"?

Surprised, all my life they asked for ID even if I withdraw 1 Euro, 1 dollar or whatever. Otherwise anybody could come and steal money from my account, no?

So better not keep any cash in UK banks, as anyone can walk up to the counter, and chances are he could steal my money without having to show my ID.
Nowadays they usually have a card machine at the counter and you have to enter your pin, so no ID is fine (up to a point).
sr. member
Activity: 334
Merit: 250
May 08, 2013, 06:33:34 AM
#2
So in UK they let you withdraw money from a bank account at the counter without an ID, unless its a "big amount"?

Surprised, all my life they asked for ID even if I withdraw 1 Euro, 1 dollar or whatever. Otherwise anybody could come and steal money from my account, no?

So better not keep any cash in UK banks, as anyone can walk up to the counter, and chances are he could steal my money without having to show my ID.
newbie
Activity: 14
Merit: 0
May 08, 2013, 02:15:51 AM
#1
Hello, just a little background before I type it up. I only really got back into Bitcoin a couple of days ago and  before I found this forum I used Local Bitcoin to found a local seller so this is how it went.


Around 7PM the night before I checked to see if there was any sellers, with luck there was a seller selling at £75. I was a little skeptical at first but I have done a previous face to face trade around a year ago while I was at university. So I took the plunge and contacted them, I managed to get their phone number and I gave him a call the night before. Everything seemed good and he was a nice person on the phone and we went ahead and arranged a place to meet. After a little bit of a discussion about the right place to meet we settled on a McDonalds on Oxford street in central London, all different thoughts were going though my head from getting robbed to them not turning up and wasting my time but he seemed serious so I agreed and we worked out a deal on 8 Bitcoins at £75 each.

I decided to hit the sack at around 10PM due to having to get up early as we arranged to meet at 10:30PM the following day and I had to go to the bank first to get the cash. So tomorrow comes around and I get ready and grab my Laptop, bank card and my wallet and off I went. Still a little nervous I caught the next train into town which only takes 15 minutes to get there. On the train I started to get butterflies in my stomach because I am a pretty shy person to people I haven't met before but still I was on my way now and didn't want to let them down. Once in London I head to the bank, walk in and ask to withdraw £650, 600 for the coins and the extra 50 just in case. They turn round and go, "Sir, since it's quite a big transaction we're going to need to see some ID." Alarm bells started going off in my head and I didn't have ID. I was really starting to panic at this point and didn't know what to do so I grabbed my card back and headed to the local coffee shop nearby to think what I could do. By this point I still had about a hour till we planned to meet. Then, I had a amazing idea. I could connect to the WIFI in the coffee shop I was in and transfer my funds online to my other bank account with a different bank and try my luck at that bank. So I quickly transferred my funds, put away my laptop and headed straight for the bank without even drinking a sip of my coffee as I was so apprehensive about if this was going to work. I went into the bank and it was empty, not a single customer. I head up to the counter and give them my bank card and say I would like to withdraw £650 please. She checks my account, I was a bit worried at this point because I haven't used this account in a year as I didn't keep anything in it and had switched to my new one which had just let me down. She comes back to the counter and explains my account was empty and nothing was in it, another blow but I explained I literally just put money into the account so she goes and speaks to someone and then tells me to go sit down and wait 5 minutes and come back to the counter.

At this point I was starting to panic, I had traveled all the way up to town and didn't have the cash to give to the seller and he had started texting me to say he was heading to the McDonalds now if I was ready. I replied and said I was "In the bank now, just getting the cash" and hoped for the best. The women calls me back over and asked for my card again and explained it can take a little while for a transfer so she checks again and tells me it's all fine and she can now give me my funds. I felt relieved and she handed me my money. I was just about to text the guy back to say I couldn't get the money and I was going to meet him anyway and give him £20 I had in my wallet to cover his travels due to wasting his time but I now had the funds and headed to the McDonalds.

It was about 10:10AM at this point and I was still a little early so I walked into the location and looked around for someone with a laptop and guess what it was full of people with laptops so no hope there. I send him a text and he texts me back he is in line to get some food so I look at the line and he is at the back so I join him in the line. I walk over to him and introduce myself and shake his hand and we make some small talk while in the line and we each grab some McDonalds breakfast each and head over to the seats. We both load up our laptops and I grab the money out of my pocket while he loads up his Bitcoin wallet and then I proceed to do get my receiving address up. I then give him my address and he types it in and then he sends the 8 Bitcoin and I hand him over the cash. He does a quick check to see if it is all there and the deal is done. I now have 8 Bitcoin successfully bought.

After this it was kind of awkward at first, you try eat a McMuffin and a Hash Brown with a guy you met 5 minutes ago haha. After a while we really started to get chatting about all sorts of things. He mostly told me stuff due to not being in the Bitcoin loop for nearly a year, after we finished we headed for the door and said goodbye and he gave me his number in case we wanted to do it again sometime and there I was, walking away with 8 Bitcoin and the taste of success.

If you actually read this, hope it helps you experience what it is like to do a Face 2 Face trade with a stranger and what you can expect. I had a bit of fun writing this out and if I do anymore trades I will write another one.

Thanks.
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