"In most cases, Coinbase does not cover any losses resulting from unauthorized access to Coinbase accounts due to a breach," which is often a phishing attack, the statement said.Įarlier this month, in a note to Coinbase customers, the company disclosed that funds were stolen from about 6,000 customers in a phishing attack that took place from March to May 20. Improving our customer experience continues to remain a top priority."
Our goal is to be the most trusted and easy to use platform in the crypto economy, but we recognize the challenges some of our customers have experienced with their Coinbase accounts.
"The system recognizes that the account associated with my phone number is not locked and doesn't let me reach live support," Boulos wrote.Īnother customer, Don Pirtle, called the phone line "a joke."Īnd after unsuccessfully trying to restore access to his account, customer Conrad Yiu said, "It seems like they've failed in every single part."Ī Coinbase spokesperson said in a statement that the company will deliver "global phone support for all customers, and live messaging by end of year. You know what Coinbase did two days after I got hacked? They sent me a customer survey and they asked me to rate their service."Ĭoinbase customers around the country told similar stories to CNBC since the live phone support began.įor example, customer Marc Boulos said in an email that "the live support is only for accounts that are actively locked since my account is no longer locked, I can't even reach live support even if I try to do so." And there's nobody who has any decision-making power at customer service," Erick said. "It was a joke it just makes me a little more angry. The 10-minute call ended not with a resolution, but with more frustration. The agent told Erick that he didn't have access to the case file and suggested he respond to the last email from Coinbase, which he had already answered. In September, the Richardsons called the new Coinbase phone support line. "I still have no idea how it happened," he said. But he said for more than two months, no one reached out to help the couple get their money back or unlock the account. In the Richardsons' case, Erick said it took only about 20 minutes for the fraudsters to withdraw 21 Bitcoin in 110 different transactions.Įrick reported the theft to Coinbase, which locked the account. However, dozens of customers whose accounts were hacked and drained told CNBC the so-called help didn't result in their problem getting resolved. Other cryptocurrency exchanges have faced similar complaints, but less numerous than the complaints for Coinbase, which is the largest exchange in the U.S.Ĭoinbase, responding to criticism that customers couldn't talk to anyone at the company, set up the live support line in August. An additional 1,500 complaints have been filed since August. Since 2016, users have filed more than 12,000 complaints against Coinbase with the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau, mostly related to customer service, according to public records. Coinbase, which went public in April, has a market cap of more than $50 billion.
A CNBC investigation in August found thousands of customers' accounts were hacked and they were left hanging by the company, according to government records and interviews. The Richardsons could not call Coinbase for help because when the account takeover happened in July, the company only offered email support.