I had my first difficult transaction on Robosats. I was the buyer and made the offer. The seller accepted the offer, and I submitted my invoice The seller then logged off for two and a half hours without chatting. This was annoying, because I didn't want to miss him and forfeit my bond if the time lapsed. He showed up and said "I'm ready." I sent my payment. He waited ten minutes and then said thanks. He then immediately tells me to press the payment sent button (which I knew, of course) to complete the transaction." Right after I pressed the button, he logged off without releasing the bitcoin. I thought that maybe he was double checking my payment, which didn't really make sense, since he already thanked me. That was it. I never heard from him again. I waited a while, thinking he can't be scamming me, because he had to initiate the lightning transfer to accept the offer. He could of course come up with some sort of a contrived dispute, but I heard nothing. I lost patience and pressed the dispute button. I was informed that I needed to wait three hours to enter a dispute. I stayed up late and finally disputed the transaction. I explained everything in the text box, and learned a few things. The first stage of the dispute procedure involves no humans. There was no texting back and forth. You just text your version of the events. If the issue can't be resolved, then you can speak to a coordinator. Just a heads up. for the coordinator stage you need:
- The name of your robot.
- The order number
- The hash of your bond.
You should also export the text record and save it as evidence. The coordinators supposedly have no access to your encrypted texts.
In the end, I think the guy was just an idiot. He didn't dispute my payment in any way. 7 hours later my bitcoin showed up in my lightning wallet, with no contact with a coordinator or any communication about what happened.
Was it frustrating? Yes, but I just am accepting it as the price you pay to avoid an exchange.
Because Robosats runs over tor sometimes you can lose a connection and not get it back.
I'm not saying this happened, but it is a possibility.
correct
Yes, that happens a lot. I don't think that was the case here, because I spend a lot of time on the mobile app and kind have gotten into the rhythm of losing the tor connection. It happens frequently. I wind up closing the app and reconnecting regularly. There are times when I simply can't make a connection, but that didn't happen here, so far as I know. It is still possible. As a side note, it seems much easier to connect through mobile with Orbot.
super cool report ! Thanks!
yes good report, very helpful
I hope he lost the bond
yeah I was thinking about that. A noob that didn't read the documentation and just looking around.
Good looking out
That was a jump scare! Was it a small amount? What was the payment method? Does the seller's Bitcoin stay in the coordinator's custody until both parties confirm?
Small amounts are all I do. It was the principle. It was a gift card transaction. And yes, the coordinator controls the bitcoin until both parties confirm.
Great info.
Thanks for sharing Siggy.
Ultimately I’d chalk this up as a robosats success story actually. Sounds like system worked as intended!
Thank u for sharing! Sorry it’s frustrating
I agree. There are bound to be bumps in the road. It was handled well.
Have you (or anyone here) ever tried LocalCoinSwap.com? It’s not Bitcoin-only but I’ve had success with it. Your payment goes into an escrow that can only be released to the seller once they send the goods.
worthy of a book, entitled "Anecdotes about P2P and exchanging without the watchful eye of Big Brother"
Fortunately, I've never had to deal with a scammer or a dispute that caused me to waste my time. The few transactions I've made on P2P since it began have all been smooth sailing, all flowing as intended.
thanks so much for this break down, I appreciate it, so far touch wood I've only delt with stand up sellers, shout out to all you who traded with me
I assume because this person was a knobber, you got his bond payment too, so a little compensation for your pain no?
I forgot about his bond. I just double checked, and I did not get it. That's curious, isn't it? I will look into this further. Regarding your general impressions of the traders, I agree completely. Everyone so far has been stand up. There's a sense of comraderie. Even this guy wasn't bad. I really think it was a matter of ignorance. In his mind the trade was complete.
i had that where the guy was online, i sent the fiat and was like ok, sent and then he disappeared for like 2 hours before releasing the sats. like dude, click the button so we can wrap up already
That's what happened here, but he never came back.
this is a unique experience, absolutely
You know it also happens while we logistic physical goods. Sometimes it's the bad weather or the vehicle having mechanical trouble.
We always feel satisfied in the send if it reaches even after days.
I mean the person might be facing some difficulty....who knows except him?
So do you know what happened? Did the guy end up sending you the bitcoin or did robosats compensate you?
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A few hours. My family couldn't understand what the big deal was.