I admit to only peeking into this thread on occasion and I don't currently use the service. But from I've been reading, things don't look so good.
So is the general consensus that this is just a well-disguised Ponzi or other scam?
I still haven't figured out how BAN can possibly pay 112.5% PPS and giveaway S3s and continue to operate for any length of time. But the answer appears that they simply don't payout as they promise and the S3s never ship.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Can not be a Ponzi and payments when working right come every 2 hours, that and the pool does not want you to keep coin with them so not sure how they will scam anyone at the most a few hours or a day of mining but most that have been here any time at all is more than that ahead.
The pool operator has said that this pool is only a small part of his over all plans so I am not sure the pool is where the money will be made. You will find some of this information in the first 5-10 pages of this thread.
excatly when payments are working its a great pool but everyday theres the same promblem of missing payments
This the exact reason I won't mine on this pool at this moment. I don't want to have to babysit my stats to make sure I'm getting paid what I'm owed. I need to be able to trust that pool is not shorting me by accident or on purpose. If they get the problems sorted, I may look into it again.
unfortunately I came to the same conclusion. I do like all the interface work and the notifications too. But having to track my work and not having the site up on numerous occasions it upsetting to me.
I get the idea that for s0ber the Pool is not his/her fulltime gig yet either.
I will continue to watch the board postings here and check the dashboard too. If it becomes stable I'll move my multi-terrahashing operation back.
Yup, I'm out too. Not only for the reasons above, but also due to the spew of unanswered/ignored questions, lack of attendance/diligence by s0br, the lies by Phwner, as well as the ridiculous & childish remarks/picture posting by the numerous aliases/shills/sock puppets here - it's like being in a playground of 2 year olds at times.
I've given up on ever getting the S3, as everyone else here has too I think - what a complete con that was/is - the fact that it is still advertised in the header is just more shameless lies to add to the list. The tipping point for me was the thread here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=769417.0Where it is made clear that this kind of manipulation can only be done on a pool using PPS (which BAN recently changed to - not from), and is also generally regarded as an unsustainable payment system in itself, let alone adding free hardware, bonuses & no Tx fees into the mix - it just doesn't add up. There are many other pools that not only pay better & on time, but also have an excellent support system in place where you get an answer either instantly or the same day - none of this ghash style "send us a support ticket" crap - I require completely open & transparent support. Nothing close to that exists here I'm afraid, quite the opposite in fact.
I'm done here.