well in an 'interesting' turn of events, I got called by the "withdrawal" department after I stated this morning I was initiating my formal complaints with the CYSEC and BAFIN.
First this person was quite aggressive and didn't understand the problem. He told me the transaction was now approved within their department. First he did like I should check my account as the money should be there. Then I asked some questions and it turns out they only just approved it this very day.
He told me I should have called or chatted. I did the classical thing, and asked him how he would feel in my situation. He told me he would call and ask for a status. I then told him that is exactly what I have been doing over the past days, except I did it via email. Which IO has chosen to ignore. Someone could have told me it is being processed and give me a timeline, but they did not.
So after a bit back and forth he told me he would send me an email (he did: it literally just states: "approved"). My account manager has in the meantime also replied apologising for the delay.
for future generations of people that are bound to be scammed by these guys I am still thinking about initiating BAFIN and CYSEC complaints. After all, I still don't have my money.
I guess I should then change the nature of my complaint (not receiving my money could no longer be relevant) to more of a general business practice concern (trading in name of person without consent, difficulty of withdrawal process, ...).
All the red flags are still there for this broker and it is def. on my list of scammy brokers now.
any hints on the best way to word these complaints or other feedback is more than appreciated.