Consumer complaint received 2021-05-12
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
In an effort to add more security wtih my account login at Coinbase I added two-factor authentication to the account, suggested by Coinbase. The entity I chose was XXXX XXXX. Within 24hrs of adding this my cell phone started having issues with text messages, etc. I spoke to a friend about this and was informed that he experienced the same issues when using XXXX XXXX. Furthermore, I read of more troubles with others about this online. So, I chose to remove it from my phone. Upon attempting to login to my Coinbase account at a later time I learned that I would need to submit the front and back of my driver 's license and a webcam picture of my face as well. I completed this. Additionally, I re-installed XXXX XXXX to my cell phone and re-linked Coinbase to the XXXX XXXX app. I was not able to login. Upon original installation of XXXX XXXX to my cell phone, I had to take a picture of a barcode on the Coinbase site using the XXXX XXXX  app to take the picture. This was to link XXXX XXXX to Coinbase. When I uninstalled the XXXX XXXX app from my phone, this, I suppose, caused the barcode to get lost in space. So, even though I re-installed XXXX XXXX and re-linked Coinbase to XXXX the barcode was lost. I was told this was the case by a XXXX XXXX tech person. They did inform me that I would need to communicate with a Coinbase tech person to resolve this issue ( impossible ). Some of the additional efforts I've made to resolve this issue are as follows : Re-submitted front and back of driver 's license and webcam picture of my face, opened a Coinbase  Pro account, in addtion to the XXXX account ( traditional/problem account ) with all of my credentials ( includes webcam picture of my face and front and back of driver 's license- did this in hopes of transferring assets from problem account to new Pro account ), spent hours upon hours online reading about other 's having the same issues and efforts they made to resolve being locked out of account, mostly unfruitful ). One of the criteria I considered when opening an account with Coinbase was that they had a phone number if I ever needed to speak to someone. However, that one and only phone number was not for customer service to speak to anyone. It is only for reporting that an account has been compromised. I learned this when I attempted to contact them on XX/XX/21. When I called I first chose the option for did not have six digit code anymore, then the option that I no longer had device ( cell phone ) and finally out of frustration, due to realizing it was not likely I'd be able to talk to anyone, I selected the option that my account had been compromised, thinking for sure this would bring me in contact with someone. That was not so, and I believe my account was locked. However, when I arrived home that day, I discovered while online on my desktop pc and on the Coinbase site, that there was an option, which I chose, saying that I made a mistake indicating my account had been compromised. This phone call event actually led up to the procedure of my having to submit the front and back of my driver 's license. I specifically bought a webcam for {$50.00} at XXXX XXXX just to do as Coinbase requested of me, in supplying them with a webcam picture of my face. So far, that was a waste of time, as I am still not able to login to my account ( as of XXXX-1.5 months later ), nor, it seems, get an actual person to communicate with me to resolve this. I believe all email I have received has been auto responses telling me that someone will be in touch with me soon to address the problem, but soon never comes with Coinbase. I have asked the question about transferring my problem account to my XXXX  account, which I believe is a possibility, but Coinbase will not address that question at all, though I've asked multiple times. I've asked many of the same questions and others dozens of times, but no response from a person. I have never received such atrocious customer service in all my life and I'm XXXX years old, so I've been around at least a little while.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief