Consumer complaint received 2017-12-19
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
HI, 
My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
On XX/XX/XXXX I made several sales of Bitcoin for a total amount of XXXX which was deposited into my USD wallet. I was able to withdraw XXXX Of it before an error saying more information was necessary before I could continue to withdraw my money. 

I have an associated XXXX account that is about 15 years old by now. Attached to the account along with two bank accounts all in my name as well as two debit cards. 
I submitted my ID and verified my account information and social security number months before I began trading. 

The system began requesting the same information again now that i have money to withdraw. 
When I try to verify my very simple information (billing address last four of social) 
The software fails to verify my identity and I am sent back to the home page to try again in 8 hours. 
It has now been 11 days of me attempting to verify my own identity which i had already verified previous to getting large amounts of money into the account.  Now that I am trying to withdraw they are hiding behind my inability to verify my identity as to why they are holding my funds hostage.  They will also not allow me to convert the USD currency back into bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency s that I could transfer it out of my account. 
I have submitted support tickets 
and got unhelpful responses like the following 

"On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX PST "Coinbase Support"  wrote:

Hi,

Im sorry to hear that you are still having difficulty verifying your ID through the quiz. As I mentioned we use a third party to facilitate the quiz, and sometimes they just dont have enough or up-to-date information.

If youve tried several times and still cant successfully complete the quiz, unfortunately there may just not be enough information to verify you at this time.

You are welcome to continue trying to take the quiz as often as youd like (there is a limit to the number of times you can try per day), as it is possible that the information may update and you could pass. You may also want to try entering different variations of your address, as that is one of the most common causes of not passing the quiz.

In some cases, this verification may be required to continue purchasing through Coinbase. However, in many cases it is not required, and you should still be able to purchase digital currency up to your daily limit with an unverified account as well as use many of Coinbases features for buying, selling and transferring digital currency.

In the future we may be able to implement a different method for verifying identity, but at this time we cannot manually verify your ID.

Again Im sorry for the difficulty with the quiz. Thank you for using Coinbase.

For other concerns, please dont hesitate to contact us or you can simply visit https://support.coinbase.com/

Kind regards,
XXXX"

The problem with this is you get anywhere between 1-3 attempts every 24 hours to pass the quiz. 


Keep in mind.  I have verified accounts with other entities like XXXX, and XXXX 
So there are other ways of "verifying my identity" to make sure everything is on the up and up. 

Long story short, i am not in the shadows i provided all forms of ID and verification I have complied with all regulations I pay taxes etc. 

Mathematically speaking there are at least 20 different combinations of how to provide my very simple details in order to satisfy this ridiculous quiz. 
I responded to this unhelpful template response and have gotten no response.  I have tweeted them, direct messaged them via XXXX, emailed them, put up several other support tickets and have also called. I spent an hour and a half on hold for the person on the other line to be quite friendly and pleasant, tell me she was going to connect me directly to a support representative via email so that we could resolve the issue.  The email i received was simply her forwarding what i referenced above with a personal note "thank you for calling coinbase"

to me this kind of irresponsible lack of transparency with handling peoples money by a financial institution is just completely unacceptable.  People have a right to know why their funds are being held up and why they are being forced to jump through hoops they had already jumped through prior to funding the account. 


Enclosed is the log of the support tickets and responses 
Here is the log of tickets and responses: 
XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Your site is saying it's unable to recognize me and it's likely I a a minor. This is untrue I already provided state issued identification. I am highly googlable and my info is correct. I am a cloud miner. I work at all access tickets. Last 4 are XXXX Please advise.
Coinbase Support
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Thank you again for submitting your request to Coinbase. Our support agents are still hard at work getting to your case. In the meantime, this automated message may contain some useful information regarding your inquiry.


Are you having issues uploading your ID to our system?


If youre having trouble verifying your ID, please take a look here for some helpful tips.


You may also upload your ID using our mobile smartphone app. You can download the app here:

- XXXX

- XXXX 

If your ID does not match the country your account is set to, then it will be necessary to begin the country change process prior to uploading your ID. Click here for info on changing the country associated with your account.


Found what you were looking for? Please visit this link to close your support request (you may need to use this link to log in first)


Otherwise, we thank you for your patience, and we look forward to assisting you.

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
hi i am within my sell and withdrawl limits, 
i have provided photo id 
social security number 
bank account 
and credit card verification 
I am unable to sell my litecoin at the high price. 
I am unable to withdraw my funds in my USD wallet. 
Please advise. I had just received notification that trade limits were increased this seems a bit odd.
XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Thank you for contacting Coinbase support. Coinbase has experienced unprecedented levels of website traffic resulting in increased support wait times. The purpose of this notice is to explain how we are prioritizing our responses.


Our first priority will be resolving trust and safety issues and payment issues. These specifically include:



Account compromises

Account lockouts (password resets, 2-factor authentication, device verification)

Delayed payments or orders

Lost access to email address

ID verification preventing sell orders if you have a digital currency balance


If your issue is one of these priority issues::



Review our Support Center content: https://support.coinbase.com/

If you are still unable to resolve your issue, reply to this message with as much detail as possible


Our next priority will be the issues listed below. You can find solutions to these issues in our Support Center: https://support.coinbase.com/. Please carefully review the solutions presented in the Support Center as this will be quickest way to resolve your issue.


These issues include:



New account registration

Limit increase requests

ID verification not related to lockouts, etc.

Bypassing 24-hour lock-out windows

Buy and Sell restrictions

Country changes

Linking new cards

Order cancellations

Bypassing transaction times

Referral bonus inquiries

Digital currency transactions external to Coinbase

General questions about Coinbase and digital currencies


Coinbase is committed to providing excellent customer support. We are improving our systems to reduce the possibility of outages as well as increasing Support capacity. You can monitor the status of our site here: https://status.coinbase.com/


We know that being able to access our site is very important to you. Its equally important to us. Thanks for your patience with us as we grow with the digital currency community.

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hi
You have my ID my social, I have plenty of transaction history i am trying
to sell my litecoin to make profit and you are preventing me from doing any
transaction on the site when i try to verify my identity it says you were
unable to verify my identity most likely because i am a minor.
Please advise i can provide whatever documentation to prove i am me but you
have 2 bank accounts a credit card a debit card and my photo id and social
so i dont get it.

My limits have not even been reached yet.
[image: Inline image 1]
Attachments | image.png
XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hi,


Thank you for contacting Coinbase Support.


Im sorry to hear that youre having difficulty verifying your ID through the ID quiz. We use a third party service to offer the quiz, and there are several reasons why it may not succeed on your first attempt.


I definitely want to help you complete the quiz, and here are the most common reasons and solutions that may allow you to do so successfully:


1  If you have recently changed your address or made other changes in your identifying information, it may not be recognized. For example, as a US resident you may have received a new Social Security Number which may not be recognized yet. In these cases, you may be able to verify your ID by using your previous address or information.


2  The address you entered may be right, but the quiz still says its invalid. If this happens you may need to try different variations on your address, for example including the apartment number on a separate line or the first line, or only entering the apartment/unit number and not the words apt or unit.


3  All information must appear exactly as it does on your legal documents. Youll want to be sure youre using your full legal name, and not a nickname, for example.


4  There may just not be enough information on record to sufficiently verify your identity at this time. This usually affects our younger customers more often. Unfortunately, theres not much to be done in these cases but to continue trying the quiz, possibly with some variations of the information to be sure its not just an address issue.


I know how frustrating it can be when the information youre entering is correct, but not being recognized by the quiz. I also recommend that you continue to try the ID quiz periodically, as it may just take some time for your information to be added or updated to the system.


Thank you for choosing Coinbase.


For other concerns, please dont hesitate to contact us or you can simply visit https://support.coinbase.com/


Kind regards,

XXXX XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Just took the quiz and matched everything exactly as it is on my ID.
None of your solutions are valid.
XXXX me XXXX XXXX I have XXXX XXXX and XXXX all of which point to my address and
verify my employment. You are holding my money hostage and preventing me
from exiting positions when I can be most profitable. I have not even
reached my agreed limits. Release the holds or I will seek legal counsel.
This isnt right.
XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
It says on your site I can sell XXXX worth of crypto a week I have not sold
anywhere near that. Also what does that have to do with me withdrawing my
own money into my bank account??? How long is the hold when can I make the
next trade of any kind? Why is there a hold when I have not breached my
limits. Do i need to contact that fcc sec attorney general and any
government entity that will hear me?

It's not my fault your third party site is ertoring out. And as your email
clearly states it's not just with me. I've presented government issued Id.
I live at the address on my ID and I presented the correct information
during the test. I can provide further proof of my identity but i have
rights to my money. I want answers.
XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hi,


Im sorry to hear that you are still having difficulty verifying your ID through the quiz. As I mentioned we use a third party to facilitate the quiz, and sometimes they just dont have enough or up-to-date information.


If youve tried several times and still cant successfully complete the quiz, unfortunately there may just not be enough information to verify you at this time.


You are welcome to continue trying to take the quiz as often as youd like (there is a limit to the number of times you can try per day), as it is possible that the information may update and you could pass. You may also want to try entering different variations of your address, as that is one of the most common causes of not passing the quiz.


In some cases, this verification may be required to continue purchasing through Coinbase. However, in many cases it is not required, and you should still be able to purchase digital currency up to your daily limit with an unverified account as well as use many of Coinbases features for buying, selling and transferring digital currency.


In the future we may be able to implement a different method for verifying identity, but at this time we cannot manually verify your ID.


Again Im sorry for the difficulty with the quiz. Thank you for using Coinbase.


For other concerns, please dont hesitate to contact us or you can simply visit https://support.coinbase.com/


Kind regards,

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hey thanks for calling in today

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
this is incorrect i have passed the quiz before.Is that what i waited an
hour and a half on hold for?
XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
I am verified at OTHER EXCHANGES LIKE YOUR COMPETITOR XXXX please explain
why are you holding on to my funds. Its very easy to verify my identity
there are other institutions that can verify me just fine. Stop saying you
are unable to verify my identity. its something else.

Another:

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hi, 
I got a generic response to my question in regards to the "photo ID quiz" 
the responses i received were invalid. 
I am highly XXXX i am a XXXX XXXX so my name is everywhere on the internet, i do business out of my home which is the address on my ID, also all over the internet. 

I am well within my buy and sell limits, it says i have XXXX left but you are not allowing me to make any moves with my funds. 
I have over 3k in USD from a sale i made. I need to withdraw it into my bank account. 
This is also not being allowed. 
You do not specify any limits to withdrawing your own money back into your account. So when can i withdraw my own money back into my account?

XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Thank you for submitting your request.


Are you having difficulty verifying your ID through the ID quiz? There are several reasons why it may not succeed on your first attempt:


1  If you have recently changed your address or made other changes in your identifying information, we may not recognize you. For example, as a US resident you may have received a new Social Security Number (SSN). In these cases, you may be able to verify your ID by using your previous address or information.


2  The address you entered may be correct, but the quiz still says its invalid. If this happens you may need to try different variations on your address, for example including the apartment number on a separate line or the first line, or only entering the apartment/unit number and not the words apt or unit.


3  All information must appear exactly as it does on your legal documents. Youll want to be sure youre using your full legal name, and not a nickname, for example and entering your first and last names in the appropriate fields.


4  There may not be enough information on record to sufficiently verify your identity at this time. This affects our younger customers more often. Unfortunately, theres not much to be done in these cases but to continue trying the quiz, possibly with some variations of the information to be sure its not an address issue.


We recommend you continue to try the ID quiz periodically, as it may be updated in the system after some time.


In some cases, this verification may be required to continue purchasing through Coinbase. However, in many cases it is not required, and you should still be able to purchase digital currency up to your daily limit as well as use many of Coinbase features for buying, selling and transferring digital currency.


Thank you for choosing Coinbase. If you need further assistance or information, please reply to this message and well be in touch as soon as possible.

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hi you are not answering my question. I was not told prior to depositing my
funds that there was any possibility I would not be able to withdraw my own
usd back into my account. The message only began during this recent price
surge. Before that I was reading freely for months because you had already
verified my account. Are you saying you are holding on to my funds
indefinitely????
XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hi, 
I have a verified state issued license on file. 
I have also passed the ID quiz 
Thats how my usd wallet was enabled in the first place. 
I have been unable to make any transactions since XX/XX/XXXX.

I try re uploading my documents to just repeat the proccess and your server just keeps erroring out regardless as to what time I try. 
You also restrict the attempts so after 2 failures on your end i have to wait another 24 hours to try to get my money out. 

This is a very weird thing. 
The only reason I trusted you enough to transfer large quantities of currency with your exchange was under the safety of knowing I had certain limits that were agreed upon ahead of time. Now i just have USD stuck in your exchange and I have no control over how to get it out now. I ask that you please release my account given the fact that it is verified I am a US citizen and I pay taxes. Or allow me to re exchange my USD for a crypto and move it out of your exchange to cash out. 

Its not right to just hold your customers money hostage without giving them a proper reason or some sort of support.
Coinbase Support
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Thank you again for submitting your request to Coinbase. Our support agents are still hard at work getting to your case. In the meantime, this automated message may contain some useful information regarding your inquiry.


Are you having issues uploading your ID to our system?


If youre having trouble verifying your ID, please take a look here for some helpful tips.


You may also upload your ID using our mobile smartphone app. You can download the app here:

- XXXX

- XXXX


If your ID does not match the country your account is set to, then it will be necessary to begin the country change process prior to uploading your ID. Click here for info on changing the country associated with your account.


Found what you were looking for? Please visit this link to close your support request (you may need to use this link to log in first)


Otherwise, we thank you for your patience, and we look forward to assisting you.

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
update. 
i reuploaded my ID 
after 100 attempts over the course of a few days i got a successful id verification email saying i was free to buy currency. I attempt to convert my funds in the USd wallet into ether btc or litecoin all fail i get the same error ive been getting. 
Attachments | 1.PNG
XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
I then go to the url 
www.coinbase.com/XXXX 
as instructed thinking ok this is a clean clear new scan of my ID should work in passing the quiz... get this error.
Attachments | 3.PNG
XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
I go to www.coinbase.com/XXXX 
and get this even though no attempts were made yet other than the successful uploading of the ID
Attachments | 2.PNG

XXXX XXXX
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX
Hello
I recently completed a sale of some bitcoin i had in my account for about
7500 dollars. I was able to withdraw about 3500 of it when i started
getting a message saying that I needed to complete more information
www.coinbase.comXXXX.

This was surprising as I had a fully verified account before I started
trading.
I did this on purpose as I did not want to do lots of transactions or have
a lot of money sitting in an account where it would be possible for the
funds to be held hostage as they are being held at this moment.

I have provided my information several times
i resubmitted my IDs only for the verification to fail
yet it says i have a verified california id document on file.
I can provide whatever data u need to verify my identity I am in california
just a few hours away from your home office.


Please allow me to withdraw my USD funds into my bank account
Or at least allow me to convert into some sort of crypto u offer ether
litecoin or bitcoin and allow me to move it off your exchange.

this is not right to not be fully transparent with your patrons and tell us
whats really going on, these are the holidays and people are trying to get
their cash out to take care of their families...i really do need my funds
so I would appreciate some sort of response that is not a preconceived form
response that helps no one and frustrates this end user.

Please do the right thing and respond with some sort of actual solution
rather than "trying the quiz again with various variations of how the
address should be typed"
you only give us 2 chances every 24 hours... getting every variation of ave
avenue apt apartment suite etc it could take weeks before i get my money
out.

I exist. I am a citizen of the united states. you do business in the united
states.
your customers have rights too. please i implore you treat us like human
beings and provide a solution or a legitimate reason why this is happening.

thank you

-- 
XXXX XXXX 
XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation