The Coinbase scam
Coinbase is a scam.
It's a bold statement about a legitimate company, but I say it with reason.
In June 2018 I joined Coinbase purely because it was the largest app of its kind, a somewhat naive move.
They immediately verified my account, took my money, and all was well.
In early December 2020, I tried to make my first withdrawal. Coinbase said that before I could do this, they would need to verify my account again. An unexpected surprise, but understandable.
Coinbase said that verifying my account would take either "a few days" or even "a few minutes", depending on which menu you look at.
In late January 2021, Coinbase said that verification was still ongoing. So I emailed them to ask how long it would take.
It was at this stage that I learned that Coinbase Support never replies to customer enquiries. There are numerous threads to this end: 1, 2, 3.
How the Coinbase scam traps you with a verifiation you won't pass.
Coinbase claim that they are "temporarily experiencing delays" due to a high volume but the user reports are clear: this has been going on for at least four years, and the promised reply simply never comes.
Meanwhile, Coinbase Support's lack of replies has created a free reign for scammers who are able to go through and reply to everybody who is waiting for Coinbase, imitating them. The customer is so relieved to have actually received a reply from Coinbase that they don't stop to think that it might not be real. As a good citizen I have reprted some of the scams to Twitter, but of course that is like shouting into a void.
My case, #04726998, had been waiting 13 weeks for somebody to acknowledge it. At this point, they simply closed the ticket without absolutely no assistance provided.
With no other option left for me, I have been trying to contact Coinbase Support on Twitter. I have messaged them no less than 13 times, and have received only one reply, where they asked me for more information and then ignored it.
We now have a situation where Coinbase has taken my money, it hasn't delivered the service advertised, and now they are ignoring my requests for assistance. If I can't get my money back, Coinbase is a scam.
If Coinbase wants me to take back my word, they are welcome to reply to any of my correspondence.
If you want to receive a reply from Coinbase Support, your best bet is to go through the Better Business Bureau, who should be able to force Coinbase's hand. Note that as this is a intermediatory service, you will need your reference number from Coinbase Support, and to have waited enough time to justify complaining about them.