After complaining to support that my bank account would not verify after I made a SEPA transfer, I suddenly had my coinbase account locked. A few days later, I got an email from support telling me my account had been locked for security reasons. I wasn't home so I couldn't do anything. The fun part is that, when back at home, I realized that my coinbase firefox tab was still open (after 2 weeks) (I had only 100$ on it, so I wasn't really careful). I was still logged in, and I was able to transfer those 100$ to uphold.
Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
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Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#12It's been over a month for me. My case hasn't been touched, except for one automated "read the FAQ" update. Lost my ETH transaction. Thousands are having the same issue (lack of support), based on Twitter alone. Tweeting at the CEO is useless, unless you're someone famous. The really sad part - with the amount of money they are making ($1B/yr), they should be able to handle support. It's only several categories (acco…
I'm in the same situation. I'd even be willing to pay a much higher transaction fee for them to resolve it, but they don't seem to care. I switched to Gemini and have been much happier with them.
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#13It's been over a month for me. My case hasn't been touched, except for one automated "read the FAQ" update. Lost my ETH transaction. Thousands are having the same issue (lack of support), based on Twitter alone. Tweeting at the CEO is useless, unless you're someone famous. The really sad part - with the amount of money they are making ($1B/yr), they should be able to handle support. It's only several categories (acco…
I actually founded a company that does ML-based customer service alongside humans. https://www.abotlabs.com
If anybody at Coinbase wants to reach out, I can probably automate 20-50% of your queries with integrations into your backend systems. Email is in my profile.
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#14I always thought it was weird that when you sign up for coinbase they make it clear they will take a % of your transactions... like a bank! So where is the magic?
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#15Is there a reason your account was locked? Something personally incriminating? For instance sending funds directly to a darknet market, or online casino. If not, perhaps hire a lawyer.
It was locked for a quasi-legitimate reason, but one that should be easily resolvable. I accidentally opened the app while on vacation in Iran and got an automated message from Coinbase about Iranian nationals not being allowed to use their service, etc. Fair enough. The email simply asked me to prove that I was a US resident by sending in my driver's license and proof of residence (like a utility bill). Which I prom…
I had a similar issue with Venmo—a friend tried to pay me back for a Cuban sandwich, and the transaction was held up because he just wrote "Cubans" as the description. Only in Venmo's case, the issue was resolved mere hours after he sent an email explaining the situation.
I opened a Coinbase account back in college ~6 years ago when they were giving $10 in Bitcoin to anyone who signed up with a .edu email address. I forgot about it until last summer, when I realized that amount was now worth around $160.
I didn't have access to my college email anymore, so having to provide proof of identity was reasonable; having the entire process take a month wasn't. They also do this particularly insidious thing where if they don't respond to your request for two weeks or so, they automatically close it as unresolved. They do automatically reopen it if you send another email, but that you have to do that in the first place is dumb.
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#16I always thought it was weird that when you sign up for coinbase they make it clear they will take a % of your transactions... like a bank! So where is the magic?
It's a convenient place for a lot of people who don't want to sign up for more "complicated" exchanges or are less familiar with the whole crypto currency ecosystem to buy into the hype.
Also you can transfer your balance to GDAX for free (it's part of Coinbase and trade there with lower fees)
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#17Since they are ignoring your online requests, have you considered simply visiting them in person? I understand that's not an option for many people but your profile indicates you're geographically close. Bring a lawyer for good measure.
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#18It's been over a month for me. My case hasn't been touched, except for one automated "read the FAQ" update. Lost my ETH transaction. Thousands are having the same issue (lack of support), based on Twitter alone. Tweeting at the CEO is useless, unless you're someone famous. The really sad part - with the amount of money they are making ($1B/yr), they should be able to handle support. It's only several categories (acco…
I actually founded a company that does ML-based customer service alongside humans. https://www.abotlabs.com If anybody at Coinbase wants to reach out, I can probably automate 20-50% of your queries with integrations into your backend systems. Email is in my profile.
Awesome, I'd love it if you could help Coinbase resolve poor OPs problem swiftly and economically with the warm friendly response of a robotic rejection.
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#19Since they are ignoring your online requests, have you considered simply visiting them in person? I understand that's not an option for many people but your profile indicates you're geographically close. Bring a lawyer for good measure.
I thought about this but decided it could be construed as creepy, or even harassment. I have to imagine that there are some crazy people out there who are mad at Coinbase and it could be taken the wrong way.
I have tried to be as polite and understanding as possible and not get mad throughout this whole process - even when the customer service rep I waited two hours to talk to told me that the mere act of replying to an open ticket causes a new ticket to be created, and then demotes the old ticket to the bottom of the priority list! (That was absolutely Kafkaesque).
But honestly, I have been so disappointed by the utter lack of concern or sympathy among Coinbase's employees. I can follow them on Twitter and watch them gloating about the enormous profits they and their company are making. Meanwhile hundreds, probably even thousands of people are waiting for weeks and months for basic help. It has been a source of significant anxiety and stress for me to be honest.
Re: Ask HN: 5 months and counting waiting for Coinbase customer support. Advice?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was locked for a quasi-legitimate reason, but one that should be easily resolvable. I accidentally opened the app while on vacation in Iran and got an automated message from Coinbase about Iranian nationals not being allowed to use their service, etc. Fair enough. The email simply asked me to prove that I was a US resident by sending in my driver's license and proof of residence (like a utility bill). Which I prom…
I had a similar issue with Venmo—a friend tried to pay me back for a Cuban sandwich, and the transaction was held up because he just wrote "Cubans" as the description. Only in Venmo's case, the issue was resolved mere hours after he sent an email explaining the situation. I opened a Coinbase account back in college ~6 years ago when they were giving $10 in Bitcoin to anyone who signed up with a .edu email address. I…
Woah. Venmo parses and makes decisions on the description field before performing the transaction? That's wild. I would have thought that to just be a convenience field for the customers. So Venmo decides what you can spend money on and what you can't? Yikes, I'm happy to not use it regularly.