BitPay and Me
I'm new to the whole crypto thing. But that doesn't make me a skeptic. BitPay, however, has made me homicidal. At least for the moment.
"Shop anywhere that accepts VISA."
Except for Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and a whole other long list of "brick and mortar retailers" who won't take the card. So much for truth in advertising.
I asked Customer Support at FirstView Financial if they intend to change the wording of their advertisements. Nope. "Because there are memos. . . ." At that point I tuned him out. I don't give an eff about "memos." I care that I spent $9.99 for this card so I could use it "anywhere," and can't use it the very first place I try. This doesn't bode well for my future relationship with BitPay.
But it gets worse.
Now my BitPay Wallet has "locked" almost $50 USD of my money. No explanation, no warning. I just can't touch it. At all. Can't even load it on that BitPay VISA I paid $9.99 for. What am I doing wrong here? Bittrex shows the transfer as "complete." It's not pending. Is there a mandatory hold? Looks like they'd tell us that.
I'll admit--I'm a newbie at this. Prone to make lots of mistakes. But being deliberately misled by BitPay VISA has put a sour taste in my mouth. I understand they have no control over which retailers choose to boycott their product. But don't lie about it, for goodness sakes. That's just bad business. They clearly know an issue exists, so they can't claim ignorance.
(UPDATE: I was able to get the funds "unlocked" and that part, at least, is resolved. Still, though--very frustrating that I can't use the card at several local retailers. Now, to shop those stores with money I earn at Steemit, I have to withdraw from an ATM, which will result in more fees. Ugggh!!!)
hello. it is very frustrating dealing with these modern day companies. i just want to tell you that i use a bitpay visa card and i have never had any problems but i also have to say i don't use it too often. i used it to pay for my car repairs this past spring and i bought some bitcoin from someone for cash that i used the card to get. they likely will resolve your issue, i wouldn't think they are trying to rob you. it takes a while to figure all this stuff out i didn't even know how to send or receive at first it was all a mystery. now it's matter of fact and i am on bittrex too. good luck. peace.
I don't think they're out to rob me. Thank goodness! LOL It's all just soo frustrating.
Yep... they are on their learning curve as well..
That's disappointing. I've bought things over the internet with Bitcoin but have yet to try to use a card or an ATM. This new currency is definitely in its "Wild west" phase.
DEFINITELY. I ended up going to an ATM, which cashed me out with no problem--for the small "test" amount. That's what I posted on Facebook earlier. Hey--at least I enjoyed my NOS, right? LOL
I am also new on this Rhonda but I use Xapo and it seems, it works fine. I tried to withdraw yesterday. Anyway, It's good that they're responding quickly to your problem. Hope it'll get resolved soon. Good luck Rhonda.
Hi, @macchiata! :-) Good to see you outside the Workshop. :-) BitPay finally did help me get the issue resolved, and all the money is loaded on the card. Still doesn't help when I need to spend that money at certain local merchants. Because now I have to pay an additional ATM fee to withdraw it. Uggggghhhh. . . .
Ughhh the fee, I know right, it was even too much when I only wanted to withdraw a little amount. But I am glad that it has been resolved. I haven't had the chance to hang around much at the Workshop, I am currently working on all of the corrections while also trying to brainstorming. I'll hang around when I am free. It's really great there! I am happy I found the Workshop channel.
See you around @rhondak
Did they end up telling you why it was locked in the first place? Need to know how it was resolved! Lol
Apparently it was just a glitch. About an hour after I spoke with tech support, I suddenly had the option to cancel the transfer that was hung. So I did, tried again, and it worked perfectly. Who knows. Maybe the bandwidth devils got them, too.
That is real strange. Growing pains maybe, only you were the one to feel all of the pain.
Oh, yeah--I felt it all right. LOL
@rhondak Something important I like to keep in mind for myself with consideration of how to apply crypto funds into a FIAT market; Though the creation of these funds exists in a decentralized and user-controlled space, once these funds are brought from this space and applied into a financial platform where such fees and 3rd party control exists, it's inevitable that these paths will cross. What I mean by this is that though you control your cryptocurrency, remember that once this control is relinquished to another party (payment vendor, card issurance), the same rules apply as any FIAT currency and you are going to be susceptible to the same application (fees, holds, taxation). I don't know if this will always be the case, but right now it is unavoidable.
Yes, this is true. But if I can't spend it, then it holds no value to me. I run a 501c3 tax exempt nonprofit, and the bulk of any funds I transfer will go into that bank account. That was the whole point of me joining Steemit--to try and generate funds to keep the nonprofit afloat, since I live in such a third-world region of the U.S. that local support isn't an option. For this reason I think I may be a lot different from others using this platform--it is strictly a means to an end for me, with very literal life and death stakes for hundreds of Appalachian animals.
@rhondak When you set up your business model, did this include financial fees as part of your cost planning? I don't know much about nonprofit finances but I am assuming the transaction fees aren't able to be rolled into a tax credit in your case. So it's more of a loss event? If that's the case I understand your frustration as you wouldn't see the return of those funds at the end of the year.
There are no tax credits for a tax exempt organization. :-) So yeah, fees are just a loss.
That's a sad thing for your organization, with such a noble cause. I really like the concept of the idea. I am hopeful for your sake that other alternatives will emerge soon that allow you to avoid the FIAT fees in a more reliable manner.
Who knows-Maybe EOS has plans for STEEM in this regard?
That would be really cool. I would love to be able to say I run a nonprofit charity powered almost exclusively by STEEM. :-)