because of your delay, he lost $13226.98 at current market rate: http://www.wickedfire.com/shooting-shit/177828-where-my-bitc... I hardly think $50 is going to make him feel happy.
The OP thought it was worth it then, and bought them then.
This is a pretty close to being a classic contract law case, except with bitcoins rather than tangible goods. If this goes to trial, the outcome is not likely to be favorable to Coinbase.
Only if Coinbase can prove to the public that they are consistent on matters like this would your assertion be correct. But if Coinbase were inconsistently applying their policies... they can make a very pretty penny on scamming their customers.
Transaction Delays are a serious problem.
Now, according to the edit, Coinbase did the right thing here and are eating the loss. So Coinbase is doing a good job at damage control...