Consumer complaint received 2017-07-20
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
This complaint is regarding Coinbase. On the XXXX XXXX 2017 I purchased XXXX Ethereum ( XXXX ) from them. The transaction went through ok and I received my coins. However a few moments later I noticed that they ran the transaction for a second time without my authorisation and a further XXXX Ethereum was deposited in to my account. I sent a message to their tech support via their website alerting them to this however I did n't receive any response and havent to this day. I then phoned my bank on the same day informing them of this. They said they would investigate and get back to me in due course. On the XXXX XXXX, I received an auto generated saying that my bank had removed money from Coinbase for a transaction that went through and that my account would be on hold until I paid the outstanding balance of XXXX. I tried to pay this on the site as I wanted to sell my entire holding of both Litecoin and Ethereum. The total holding was XXXX. However the site prevented an error message to try another payment method, none of them would work. So at this point I am unable to sell my coins or remove any of my funds from the site. I raised a tech support ticket on the XXXX XXXX stating the issue and that I urgently needed this resolved. I received an auto generated email saying someone would be in touch within 72 hours. However I didnt hear anything back and raised another on the XXXX XXXX. I also Tweeted their tech support team to see if that method would work. I tried this multiple times and did n't receive any response. At this moment in time I was very worried that they were running a scam so search the internet for any answers. I came across a XXXX forum where people had similar issues to myself. I found a telephone number for the company but I could only leave a message and no one responded. I found an address for them in the XXXX and when I turned up I was told no one from Coinbase had ever been to the building. I then posted my issue to XXXX on the XXXX XXXX and CC 'd in a number of their tech support and also direct messaged them. I then contacted XXXX XXXX ( Coinbase CEO ) XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) on the XXXX XXXX he responded asking what the issue was. At the same time one of their developers responded on XXXX and looked in to my issue. My account was still locked on the XXXX XXXX and so I raised a tech support ticket again receiving no response. I was finally able to sell my holding on the XXXX XXXX for XXXX. A drop of XXXX. I approached their CEO again to enquire if they could look in to whether I could be recompensed as this loss is down to coinbase. Firstly because they took an unauthorised payment which meant my bank removed funds from them, resulting in my account being put on hold and secondly because they refuse to answer any technical support issues, XXXX or direct messages. A lot of people are having this same problem. I was told by their CEO that there is nothing they can do and now refuses to respond. You are my last hope in trying to get back anything from this sham of a company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation