Why is this a problem, exactly?
It's not a huge problem now but imagine (maybe somewhat in the future) you paid for something in a shop of a significant value (say $100) in bitcoin and the vendor required one confirmation for payment to be accepted. Waiting 10 minutes wouldn't be a problem but 1 hour or more would start to be really inconvenient. You could also find that so many transactions had built up during that hour that your transaction would be delayed by a block or two (even with a miners fee).
If bitcoin wants to replace existing payment structures then we want to think of ways we can avoid these delays even if they are occasional.
3 days ago there were 2 long waits within a 2 hour period
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I agree with you. When you pay with a bank card then the merchant instantly knows the payment is safe. It's not the same with bitcoins unfortunately.
Sure, merchants might sell on zero confirmations but it sounds like a risk when the network is spammed and someone sends a zero fee transaction.
And i was in the situation that i sold something and waited with the seller for a confirmation. It's no fun. Especially when the seller needs to get his train or something.
If possible, a solution here would be nice.