Release the Kraken? Narrow escape by the sounds of it!
26th May - trying to open an account with Kraken to buy and sell bitcoin etc.
1st Tier verification - simple, instant.
2nd Tier verification - utter nightmare.
I emailed on 30th May to ask why it was taking so long. I figured maybe they were overwhelmed because of the bank holiday and so I was patient (not like me at all).
I used the form on their website and waited...
Michelle Gent
May 30, 02:17 PDT
Not sure why I'm still waiting to have Tier 2 verification completed when I completed the form on 26th May.
This doesn't bode well for clients if there's a problem - how long would it take to deal with a complex issue?
Thanks for contacting Kraken Support. Your request (315492) has been received.
We'll reply to your ticket as soon as possible, but in some cases it can take several days if we experience a heavy volume of requests.
Kraken User
May 31, 02:43 PDT
Hi,
Please remove all and any details you have on me.
I’m withdrawing my application and will trade with another company.
After waiting for a response for this ticket, I’m now convinced that your company is unable to guarantee swift conclusion to any problems that may arise.
My patience runs only so far.
Regards,
D Michelle Gent
Hi,
Sorry that you haven't received a reply to this support ticket yet.
We have seen a huge wave of incoming support requests and it is currently taking us several days to respond.
We want to apologize for the slow service and to let you know that we are working around the clock to ensure everyone receives a response as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.
The Kraken Team
Quoted from your website:
Verification may take up to 48 hours.
Just for information purposes, 48 hours is 2 days, not 8.
My patience is running thin, if my account is not verified today I will write a report on my blogs.
Far from impressed,
D M Gent
Thanks for contacting Kraken. Due to the recent surge in demand for our service, we are transitioning away from clients opening support tickets via email. Please get in touch with us by navigating here instead: https://support.kraken.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
We're going to close the ticket that's been opened by email and will not respond to it. We're very sorry for the inconvenience this may cause, but we assure you that this will result in faster service.
Our previous process required us to sort client issues that came in via email to the relevant team, and this cost you valuable time.
We have site content that answers many of the most common support questions. Please take a moment to visit the pages below and see if your question is answered there.
https://support.kraken.com/hc/categories/200119723-Kraken-Help-Center
https://support.kraken.com/hc/categories/200187143-Kraken-Trading-Guide
https://www.kraken.com/help/api
The Kraken Support Team
Wow... just, wow.
I finished off this debacle by writing once more to them, including as much detail as I could (see above) and adding this message:
You want detail? Here you go, my problem in email form.
I opened the support ticket via this same form and was in dialogue with one of your support team.
Instead of sorting out the issue opened on this form, you have now closed the issue because it was continued via email. Very smart indeed. Nicely done, I've not seen service like that for a while.
I'm surprised you don't request disgruntled customers snail-mail the issues as it's difficult to wipe with a computer screen.
As requested previously, please remove my details from your system as I do not feel confident in allowing Kraken access to my account with regards to any financial aspects whatsoever.
It does look like they've done me a huge favour. Looking at some of the comments on cryptocompare.com it would appear some people have their funds stuck and are getting the same kind of service as I have.
Thanks Kraken, by being completely inept, inadequate and utterly useless, I've not been caught in that particular trap.
I did not face this many issues with them. I also think their exchange rates beats anyone else. So maybe it might be worth the wait?
Not for me. I'd rather get a lower exchange rate and feel secure in the dealings than this ineptitude.
I heard about this to one of my friends here
I asked her how its goin with her crypto and was surprised they told her to still wait and was still waiting for approval..I wonder what happened to her
oh my.. I should ask and offer help in the morrow
That's not good, especially at this time, when Steem and SBD are going nuts!
I'm glad I got out.
I actually don't know how on earth she got lost into that kraken thing
I hope she can get out of it.
Poloniex is the same. They just can't keep up with the influx of new users.
I think that's probably the problem.
It's a shame that you have encountered this. I was thinking of opening an account myself, but now I'm having second thoughts about it.
Okay, so, as someone who has worked customer support before, I'm going to share an unsolicited view regarding this. I hope you don't mind. Now, this isn't meant to sound as a defense, but rather it's my hope to allay some negative sentiment.
The support staff are in quite a bind. They're the first line of defense against the customers' ire, but they have very little power in terms of bugs or something internally wrong with the system. They can help with the process if it's just a miscommunication between the customer and the documentation, or things that have undocumented easy fixes. That's about it. They can forward customer concerns to the development or support team, but that's about how far their power goes.
Granted, auto responses doesn't really help, and a genuine human response would've been better in this case. If there are let's say a thousand customer complaints, with only a support staff of, I don't know 10 or so people. You could imagine the bulk of complaints that they have to sift through.
I remember times like those whenever something went wrong in the server or code. No matter how bad I feel about what's happening, I was completely powerless to do anything. All I could offer was reassurance that the development team is working their butts off to fix whatever error.
There are times when I go off-script and reply based on the customer's concern, but it's a hit or miss. As a customer myself, I know that it's frustrating to have to go through something expecting a frictionless process. But, everything is fallible. The key thing is compassion for each other.
I've worked in Customer Service too and I agree, it's not the CS representatives to blame, but the company. They obviously can't cope but are not willing to invest in more/better resources to help the customer.
This weekend, I've had two other dealings with Customer Service - one was 'so-so' and the other was exemplary. One company will find I'm looking for another broadband provider and the other has secured a loyal customer.
One thing I never do, is blame the frontline staff, the Customer Service staff (unless they're rude of course).
I used them once, but I did not feel comfortable with their interface, so i did withdrawn everything from their exchange. Damn... their support response... Thanks for sharing your story!
You're welcome and I agree, I'm not comfortable wth any aspect of their service.
I gave up..bittrex all the way..only good one left imo
I'll have to have a look. Thank you
Yeek, never heard of them. They sound rubbish though
You got that? I thought I was being subtle ;)
I'd recommend coinfloor. I only have tier 1 in Kraken.. I think
Oh wait, scratch that. I'm tier 2. I'd wait, they're much better than polo
I'm looking at coinfloor right now, thanks for the recommendation :)
I use Polo, blocktrades.us and shapeshift.io the last 2 don't need an account but the fee is slightly higher. Sometimes it's the same as polo
Thank you, I'll check out everything recommended :)
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