Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 515 posts

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#411

Post by ceol »

logjam wrote: post #253

So wonderful to watch this little drama (complete with breathless appeals to get the news media involved) play out today on HN, which appears to have become "Bitcoin News". A match made in heaven, between this genius financial entrepreneur and this competent, reliable trading platform, seems to at least sum up Bitcoin nicely, if not the brainless economic philosophies underlying this horseshit.

> HN, which appears to have become "Bitcoin News".

Seriously, what's up with this? There are at least two Bitcoin articles on the front page every day.

I had no idea Coinbase was funded by YC, though. I wonder if there's any correlation.

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#412

Post by PeterisP »

CyrusL wrote: post #136
bonemachine wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If in fact there's been no fault on the customer side, then obviously he deserves not only a (profuse) apology -- but fair restitution for any losses suffered while your people were dithering on how to follow up to his perfectly reasonable request. BTW in equities trading I believe this kind of botched transaction would be treaated as a "Failed to Deliver" (FTD), and that's exactly how these things are handled.

Coinbase is not an exchange like Bitstamp or Mt.Gox. This fact is not just something buried in their T&C. Their company communication has never described their product as a tool for day-trading. They made a promise to deliver bitcoins at a certain price and on a certain date. The original poster's issue is equivalent to Amazon promising 2 day shipping but the book came a few days late.

If I order a $30000 shipment of fish and you deliver them 2 days late, I have all legal rights to refuse the shipment and require the full amount back + my losses or lost profit (in the amount I can prove in court) for not having the fish back when you agreed to deliver them.

You don't need to be called an exchange or sell currencies in order to be financially liable for delays; and the more perishable/volatile the product is, the larger the possible liabilities.

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#413

Post by mrud »

cromulent wrote: post #88
kolev wrote: post #78

I've had poor experiences with Coinbase as well, hit major bugs, which cost me hundreds. The only reason people use them is that they are the only choice at the moment. Can't wait for more alternatives such as Circle to launch! In cases like this , regulation and compliance don't sound like something negative!

> The only reason people use them is that they are the only choice at the moment Has anyone tried Kraken.com ? Registered there, but no transactions yet. Serious question.

Yes, I personally like them. I don't have much money with them but it works.

The only minor problems are the verification time and the API rate-limits. They don't publish the rate-limits. :/

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#414

Post by jboggan »

girvo wrote: post #376
TylerE wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Financial transactions are really almost never implemented with database transactions.

A lot of people truly don't understand how financial companies do stuff. Hell, Financial companies are ones who are adopting Mongo and the like themselves. We all assume it's one way, when it's actually done another....

I'd love for you to expound on this point. I'm curious, what are they doing?

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#415

Post by coin »

cehlen wrote: post #323
seldo wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget the difference in the exchange rates. Are you saying you have no system in place to monitor if transactions execute successfully ? I'm not trying to be hyperbolic but that's really shocking for a company that is trying to play a role as a financial institution.

Take it EASY everyone! They made a mistake, took responsibility for the error, resolved the issue, and compensated the user for his inconvenience. Good for them!

Only because the poster brought this to light publicly

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#416

Post by PeterisP »

codegeek wrote: post #45
7Figures2Commas wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case, the counterparty to the transaction appears unable to meet its obligations, at least according to the OP. That's counterparty risk.

But the ACH is completely reversible. So not really a risk specially considering that price has fallen :).

ACH is not completely reversible - it's reversible in certain cases depending on the legal reasons for the reversal. IANAL, but I believe that simply having a dispute with the other party is not valid grounds - you authorised the payment, it went to the intended beneficiary, so if they don't / can't pay you back, it's your loss.

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#417

Post by kudu »

kordless wrote: post #353
anonymoushn wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This objection is pretty flimsy. HN is very frequently used as a customer support forum for large tech companies not funded by YC. A policy that it is okay to use HN as a customer support forum for Google, Amazon, and Facebook but not for Coinbase does not look very good.

HN is run by YC. While it may feel like a public forum, it is owned by a private entity. I'm OK with a benevolent dictator taking care of matters here, and trust PG to do the right thing by all of us.

On HN, there is an expectation of a certain degree of impartiality and free speech. Of course, YC doesn't have to provide it, but that's irrelevant: it's just something that is expected.

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#418

Post by krapp »

Loughla wrote: post #373
devcpp wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, I'll remember the "take it to HN" option if I ever run into big problems with a high-tech company.

That's pretty much the lesson learned for everyone here today. People won't see that you have to complete 18 steps with their customer service beforehand. Instead, they'll see complain on HN = instant gratification. Look for an increase in this kind of whinging in the very near future, and it won't be fun for anyone.

On the one hand, that kind of thing would probably bring the community down, but on the other, given how this site is such a tech company nexus, would that even be surprising?

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#419

Post by Asparagirl »

makomk wrote: post #359
joezydeco wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been keeping my mouth shut here about Coinbase after starting that thread 9 months ago. I feel bad for someone that can't put a finger on his 30K, but I can't feel that bad if he didn't do a little research here first. Hopefully on the next bubble people will be a little more enlightened.

If you're to believe the press they've received, Coinbase are basically the most reputable and trustworthy company in Bitcoin and the one that's going to bring it into the mainstream.

Scariest comment of the thread, surely.

Re: Sent $35,104.11 USD to CoinBase. Never received Bitcoins

#420

Post by glcbitcoin »

quack wrote: post #227
slg wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>that's really shocking for a company that is trying to play a role as a financial institution. That is probably the scariest part about the current Bitcoin community. Many of the big names are simply "playing a role". We have no idea of their technical expertise, the viability of their software, their USD/Bitcoin reserves, how they plan to address disputes like this, or even whether they are skimming of the top.

No. The joke is that people are demanding a product so badly that theyre doing business with kiddies who dont know how to run a financial institution. This is literally an economy of "shut up and take my money," but no one wants to play ball.

Wait! One of the founders was a currency trader at GS?! Doesn't that make them trustworthy?
Post reply on HN