TL;DR: Quadriga provided this Canadian some wire info for a bank in Poland, it hasn't shown up in 9 days, Quadriga ha no desire apparently to investigate or clarify if I should put a trace on the wire. Post negative review (can be amended) on facebook. QuadrigaCX blocks me from commenting further, I email them saying that I'll go to social media with the details of my negative experience; an hour later they close my account.
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I'm making the social media rounds with this terribly negative experience I've had with QuadrigaCX. I've been in BTC since 2012, and I've never gotten into a dispute with an exchange even once. Guess I was due.
I had high hopes for Quadriga because they offer some of the best (typically THE best) CAD liquidity in Canada; but my experience with them this past 9 days (actually the past few weeks) has been rather absurd...and it all ends with them closing my account after I posted a negative review on their facebook page.
Some time ago, I became more active in trading Bitcoin locally, and needed to start funding exchange accounts to ensure I could facilitate cash trades from people who wanted to buy BTC. It's a great hobby, and it makes me a little bit of money on the side in addition to getting out of the house. One guy posted a gushing review for me on localbitcoins saying how nice I was fort answering all of his questions. Made me feel like it was 2012 again when we were all Bitcoin pioneers. Because Quadriga is well designed and has always appeared to be functional to me, I started to send funds to them to buy Bitcoin to be sold later in meatspace.
Getting verified was a bit of a chore, but it was hardly anything unexpected. After getting interac and bank to bank transfers set up, I found that wiring was probably the best method to fund my account with CAD. Quadriga requires that you ask them for account information before wiring them, because they say that their account information can change. I asked wy, and rather than tel me that it's because they're a bitcoin business and banks limit them, they just refused to explain. Well, ok, not a big deal, I just would have appreciated a simple explanation, and having to wait for a day for wire info added friction to transactions.
So I send a few wires to an account they have in Canada, and then the last wire I request info' for, I get information for a bank in Poland. I ask if there's any Canadian accounts I can wire to, and receive no reply. To be fair, there were only two hours between when I asked about an alternative and when I showed up to my bank to initiate the wire to the Polish account, but in the end they never did answer that query.
So, with my $5,000 in hand, and the information for a Hong Kong company with a Polish bank account receiving CAD, I get the wire sent. My request for clarification on whether or not a domestic account might be available is never answered.
On my Royal Bank of Canada reciept, it's indicated that my wire should post by the 12th, but it's a late afternoon and it's a wednesday, so I give it a 50/50 shot. I'm confident that by Friday the 13th I'll see the wire credited to my Quadriga account. On the 13th, nothing shows up. Fine, No big deal. So I email support to ask if they have seen anything in hopes that they'll double check it. No immediate response, and my impatience does shine though as 4 hours later, I send them a request for some kind of clarification and complain that I guess they don't care about a small fish $5K deposit, but it's important to me.
45 minutes later, they get back to me to tell me that they have double checked their account in Poland, but the wire hasn't shown up yet.
Alright, we'll all have a good weekend and get this sorted later.
So 3 days later, on the afternoon of the 16th, I send another inquiry. "Still nothing? This is pretty bad."
I understand that international wires can take a while, but with the value date provided, this one should have gone through by now if my previous experiences with wiring money has been anything to gauge by...but the response I get from Quadriga really baffled me. Just 9 minutes later, I get a message. The standard "sometimes it can take longer when wiring internationally" is of course included, but then this.
"Where are you compliments? It's been only criticism so far. If you are unhappy, please feel free to use another service."
I should be complimenting Quadriga for failing to poke at their bank and inform me of their response? I should be complimenting them for being unable to provide me a domestic account to wire to instead of some bank in Poland? I should compliment an exchange that has such immense troubles taking my money?
Look, I know that Bitcoin businesses in Canada have to tread lightly around banks, and that the banking system does cause a lot of hiccups for exchanges. I get all of that, and if Quadriga had just explained that these were the obstacles they were running into, I probably wouldn't have taken any offence because at least I'd be assured they were trying to help me out...but what am I supposed to find praiseworthy about making my money illiquid and untradable because their accounts can't handle the load? Maybe after we solve an ongoing issue we can get to the praise...
So I'm being told to go elsewhere because they can't take my money fast enough. Somehow, if they weren't one of only two exchanges in Canada doing hundreds of BTC in daily volume with CAD, I don't know that they'd be so happy to tell someone to leave for being eager to send them money.
So, I propose that a solution be found. I reccomend that they look into using SBI Sumishin Net Bank in Tokyo, the same bank that kraken uses for wires. "Anything to get your ability to accept funds up to snuff" I write. "I don't want to go elsewhere. I want to see your service become more accessible so that it gets better. I'd think you want the same."
16 hours later, Quadriga suggests a crypto capital account, which initially seems like a cool idea, though after doing some research online, I'm not so sure anymore. Anyhow, I'm delighted by this at first, and go sign up for an account straight away! This is great! A solution!
So...waiting for that.
On the evening of Jan 18th, I ask again. "Hi, has this wire still not posted?"
21 hours later on the afternoon of Jan 19th (7 business days have passed now) I send another e-mail asserting that I should have had some kind of response. "I really hope you understand why I keep making inquiries about this." They still haven't even told me if they've even asked anyone at the bank in Poland about the issue. I'm just in the dark. I include an attachment of my wire receipt and ask "can you go over the wire information and make sure it is correct? Maybe it didn't get sent correctly?"
No response.
It occurred to me that when I'd started becoming more active on the Quadriga platform, they encouraged me to post a review as I was pleased with their service. I said something about giving it some time for another wire of mine to show up, and thought I'd do some more transactions first.
In light of just not getting any response through the business day on this issue, I decided that now was the time to post a review on their facebook detailing the situation with my wire, and why I was disappointed. In that same review I started out with praise for Quadriga, and explained that I simply didn't think I was being treated well on this whole wiring issue.
It took Quadriga all of 10 minutes to respond to that. That was quickly followed by me being blocked from commenting further on their page. I wasn't profane or vulgar; but that was that. Just blocked.
So, rather angry I sent an email threatening to post about this publicly; the headache I've had with this wire situation and the unhelpful responses and dismissiveness. "I'm not going to take this dismissive treatment when my money is missing. This is not an acceptable manner of treating a customer who has entrusted money to you.
All I've asked for is timely updates, and some assurance that you're actually trying to act on my behalf as your customer."
Almost exactly one hour later, I receive an email informing me that my account has been closed, and that I'll be getting a refund for my wire, and the current account balance. My threat to make the rounds on social media to tell others about my negative experience is called bullying. My money's missing, Quadriga doesn't seem to care enough to make some inquiries with their bank to find out why, and I'm the big bully here. Am I just seeing this all wrong?
Well...that was a little shocking.
I might concede that expecting responses in just an hour or two can be pushing it rather a lot. I had simply hoped that the exchange operator might be able to find the time to do so during the business day, and certainly the response times are so varied (mere minutes to over a day) that I've no idea as a customer what I should reasonably expect. When moving money around in meat and digital space, you can be wondering how it will all balance, and support is my only window into what's happening with my exchange account...but demanding praise for a problem, and then closing my account because I said I would take this public if the treatment continued...that seems like an overreaction.
So, I suppose I'll make the social media rounds with this story. All I wanted to really know was whether or not someone was at least making inquiries to the bank in Poland to see what the hold up was, or if I should ask my bank to put a trace on the wire. Being dismissed by support and being told to sod off essentially just left me in the dark, unsure of what's going on.
In my estimation, Quadriga support is awful, and I had really hoped that it'd be much much better.
hope I see my $5,000 sometime soon. I just had to do the suspension in my car after all. Ha.
