Topic: Re: Coinbase Warning !!! (Revisited, Somewhat Resolved) - page 3. (Read 16434 times)

He was too stubborn.

Aww, this was the conclusion that the OP was supposed to draw after digging up the contract that they agreed to.

Have you read their ToS?  Ya know, the actual CONTRACT THAT YOU WENT INTO WITH THEM?

I'm sure they disclaim responsibility for this sort of thing, since, you know, they don't want HIGH RISK PURCHASES?

And, do you know that every financial services provider ever does this?

EDIT: Yup, they do!
3.1 Coinbase may cancel or reverse potentially high-risk purchases made using reversible payment methods.
https://coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement

There is no legal basis for this thread whatsoever.  Coinbase wins.  Sorry!

who knows the price doesn't go down!

This is what I'd like to know. Has a large amount of people had their orders cancelled when the price went down?

So it should be pretty easy to determine if these cancellations are genuine.  Has anyone had a contract cancelled where the spot price at cancellation time was lower than at trade time?

The fact we've had a sustained rally makes this difficult to assess, but still there should be at least 2 or 3 people in that situation if the cancellations are legit.  And if the price stabilizes or goes down for 48-72 hours there should be plenty of such examples.

Are there any?

I opened an account and got verified thought it was pretty cool till I go to the last page. It was the 13th or so and it said the coins would be delivered the 21 st ! WTF? Havent been back what a shitty way to get coins.

an option clause is a perfectly legitimate part of a contract

Can you prove they are actually buying the bitcoins with your money ?

If they simply refund the USD its not an issue, you just get screwed by the exchange rate.

However if your money goes through, they buy btc and sit on it while the exchange shoots up then sell some of the loot to return your usd its a problem. Would be hard to prove without a forensic accountant.

To solve things they shouldnt let you buy any coins untill they have cleared the funds to do so.

Ya I live in Oregon too, and I lived in California too - that's why I decided to respond to your post. Would you be willing to make a public wager about the results of your AG inquiry and my claim it will yield nothing beneficial?

I have a lot of experience with the AG. I live in a small county that has done all kinds of illegal things. We're stuck in a standstill because they've found ways to do the illegal things in a nature that is extremely cost prohibitive for us to manage. In short they move money between accounts in municipal resources very wrongly and against their own charter in many many ways. I would care less, but we pay about 80% more and have high minimum payments for resources we do not use. It typically costs at least a $1,400 to even start the process of calling them out on just one of their mishaps, but they've spread it out so that we cannot do anything without bringing them up individually unless we get the AG to help us.

So we went to the AG. Many times. I think this has been going back for about 3 years now.

The AG responded and never disagreed with us, and at times has said they are in motions to help us and will be doing X or Y soon. It never happens, and it never will. The AG resources are spent getting money for Oregon via punishing businesses with big pockets to payout. For them to spend the time on this would cost them revenue they are earning.

Hmm, a "contract" you say? I can't say I've ever heard of such a thing. Could explain in excruciating detail what one is and the "clauses" (oops, sorry for the big word) that it can contain? Then, with that knowledge, apply it to the contract you entered into with Coinbase? Only then can we properly assess the situation at hand.

Legally, they entered into what is called "a contract", specifically, a commitment to do one thing in consideration for another, generally money.

They agreed to take my money and tied it up, then did not deliver.

They WILL be getting attention, trust me.
Laugh all you like, they will be answering some questions to people authorized to shut them down on the spot and seize everything in the place.

Here in the states it is a bit of a challenge to find USD -> BTC exchange.  And with so many scammers out there... it becomes almost too much to be bothered with.

Yes, state Attorney Generals do put their staff on to things like this.

The one in MY state certainly does.

With a physical address and suspicious things with money going down, they will certainly have a look.

Holy shit this thread is hilarious! It's nice to get a good laugh in every once and a while.


I concur, real businesses don't break contracts (at least not intentionally of course).

Hey, I can't seem to find the Coinbase contract. Can you post it here so we can review the terms together and find where they broke their own rules?

I haven't lol'd that hard in a while on these boards. Are you familiar with Trendon Shavers and the SEC fiasco? The law is either unwilling or incapable of helping, neither of which surprise me. Your time wasted typing at the state employee that will read your inquiry, give some tripe response to appease you or remind you they are protecting you, and you'll never hear back about it again.

Really I don't know if they are a scam or not but either way I can find a ton of places to swap BTC and USD without their problems.

There, and now the State of Oregon Attorney General as well.

So, presently, Coinbase should either be cleaning up its act, or, if the authorities find sufficient problem, will be closing its act.

Thanks for goading me.  It inspired me to start taking action.

I just filed this complaint with the California Dept of Justice.



Coinbase (https://coinbase.com/) is an internet business, ostensibly, that converts dollars to Bitcoins (bitcoins is an internet currency, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin)

How coinbase works is you open an account, then hook your bank account to it by sending them the routing and account numbers, and then they send you two microdeposits.  Once that is done you then go to their site and purchase bitcoins for the current rate, which fluctuates quite a bit.

They accepted a contract to buy 4 BTC for $120.99, and it became apparent that I would have to wait 5 days for this to "clear".  The transaction showed on my account the whole time as pending, with the clearing time set at 6 PM PST Feb 26.   Briefly, just after the appointed time, the account showed the transaction as "completed".  I then tried to transfer this product to another site, and the Bitcoin simply disappeared, along with all record that I could see of the transaction.

Hours later I received this email from them:

On Feb 21, 2013 you purchased 4.00 BTC via bank transfer for $120.99.

Unfortunately, we have decided to cancel this order because it appears to be high risk. We do not send out any bitcoins on high risk transactions, and your bank account will not be charged.

Please understand that we do this to keep the community safe and avoid fraudulent transactions. Apologies if you are one of the good users who gets caught up in this preventitive measure - we don't get it right 100% of the time, but we need to be cautious when it comes to preventing fraud.

You may have more luck trying again in a few weeks. Best of luck and thank you for trying Coinbase.

Kind regards,
The Coinbase Team

It is to be noted that the value of BTC relative to the dollar was significantly higher at the time of cancellation.  In other words, when it becomes clearing time, they keep the currency of their choice, the consumer can go to hell. 

I am personally only mildly inconvenienced, and, I suppose you could say, out a few dollars.  But they are doing this sort of thing with lots and lots of people.

Here is a link to my complaint about it on a BTC related forum:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/re-coinbase-warning-revisited-somewhat-resolved-147341

and as you read down, others have noted lots of similar problems. 

If you google "coinbase complaint" or "Coinbase Scam" you will find pages and pages of material.

So clearly, there is enough going on here to merit a thorough investigation... lots of people are upset with them.  If they are a legit operation with perhaps some short sighted management, the problem can maybe corrected.  If else, then it is good that they receive some attention.

Thanks,

"Also: I don't understand what the problem is here.  You didn't ever lose any money, so why are you making a big deal about this?"


BECAUSE THEY BROKE A F###ING CONTRACT!!!

Real businesses don't do that.

If you don't contact support, there is absolutely nothing they can do for you.
Also: I don't understand what the problem is here.  You didn't ever lose any money, so why are you making a big deal about this?

I haven't even got an email back yet.

It's not whining bud, it is keeping it in the pubic awareness so that others don't get ripped off.

Maybe you're right... rather than isolatedly try to warn others, I need to put the law on their scamming butts.



Let's see, so far I have identified two bases of operations:

1 Bluxome St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

Coinbase, Inc. 14525 SW Millikan Way #26680 Beaverton, OR 97005-2343.



Oregon Attorney General:
http://www.doj.state.or.us/Pages/index.aspx

California Attorney General:
http://oag.ca.gov/