The money was refunded to my account, and I am now completing step 2 verification. Customer service has been pretty responsive, so I am much less worried about coinbase than before. No word on why the transaction disappeared from my account yet. I guess i'll give them another shot, for anybody thinking about using coinbase for the first time i would make sure you complete step 2 verification by verifying your identity so you don't waste your time having the transaction cancelled and then waiting to have the money refunded. thanks everyone for the input, some of the posts were definitely informative!

So for an update I got a response back from Alex from customer service with a more personalized message acknowledging when the transfer was declined and telling me to complete step 2 verification. Also said they were refunding the money but would take a few days cuz ACH banking is slow. I am relieved they responded so quickly because from what other threads it seemed their customer service could be slow/unresponsive. I'm fine with that but still trying to get them to tell me why my account was charged before i was flagged and why the transaction disappears after the date is reached when i should have received the bit coins.

thing that is most worrisome is how they charge the account and then tell you you're being flagged as high risk. Wouldn't a normal company just decline the transaction up front?  instead they charge me, price of btc goes up and then flag me.

It's pretty clear coinbase is a scam. They responded with a robotic message about how my transaction was flagged as high risk, although this apparently happened AFTER they charged my bank account. I have been reading many threads on them and there is a clear theme of shady/fraudulent practices on their part. I made an uninformed decision when using them and hopefully through a combination of patience and threats to report them to regulators i will be refunded. If I were someone thinking of using coinbase for the first time i would take this as a warning not to do business with them. At the least read up on them. im sure whoever is running this scheme is stashing A LOT of dough away for when the shit hits the fan and its time to get out of Dodge.

Ok, thanks for your reply and reassurance! I understand this time of the year is slow in terms of banking transactions, the thing that worries me is that my purchase isnt in the transactions section in my account at coinbase.

I bought two bitcoins on dec. 23 which were suppposed to arrive in my account the 26th. My bank account was charged the $1,315 but on the 26th the bitcoins weren't there and the pending transaction disappeared. WTF? Has this happened to anybody else and what sort of recourse do i have against them. I have seen posts about how coinbase seems to engage in some shady practices in other parts of the forum, like denying the transaction of someone who bought bitcoins after the price goes up, but straight theft? I have e-mailed support and am waiting to hear back from them, however i get the feeling they purposefully make it difficult to contact them by not listing any contact info on their website. I have tried mailing support@coinbase.com as i was that was the contact info someone provided in one of the threads. I will provide any updates if and when i hear from them or the bitcoins magically appear in my account.