The Western Union Company

I have been going back and forth arguing with your representatives at 800-448-1492 and 866-628-5067. About a 2 weeks ago, I have become a victim of fraudulent activity with individuals from California. I had tried to purchase a puppy, from what I thought were real breeders, and ended up being a scam. I lost $1700 and initially reported this claim with Western Union with a representative named *** (ID ***) and my case # is ***. Per ***'s instructions, I also filed a report with my local police department. The police officer and I have been going back and forth with Western Union and ourselves being told the wrong information and just wasting time. I have spoke with 10 different representatives from all departments and two supervisors by the name of *** (spoke on 10/9/17) and *** (ID ***) and have been trying to help the officer complete the investigation. I spoke with the Consumer Protection department and they were of no help, none of them know what they are talking about and every single representative that the officer or I speak to inform us of something different. I was given a number by *** for the officer to contact and then I was told by the representative that I have speak to the Consumer Fraud department and that the officer would have to call to get that number, email and fax number. I asked her to provide me with the email address so that I may just forward to the officer to expedite the investigation but she refused and said that I needed to have the officer give them a call and that I was not "authorized" to retrieve that information. Also, I have come across many others who have been victims of these individuals and Western Union has yet to post them on the fraud/ scam alert list that you were required to create by the order of the Department of Justice due to your previous litigation in January of 2017. Where you were to pay over $580 million to victims of fraud. I do not understand why the order from court and the Department of Justice has been ignored and why no action was taken. I want to know how you guys are able to let people get scammed, I know it is my fault also, but before sending the money none of the locations ever warned me of possible scams and fraud alerts and seemed kind of suspicious to me because they use the same name and information every time. The many other victims that I have found had posted that the same information was given to them as they were to me. So, I do not understand why they are not on the scam / fraud alert list so that all of your branches and locations are notified once the information is submitted into your computers. All of the representatives are rude, they treat you like you are an it and belittle you (well for me at least, that was the treatment that I received) and it frustrated me that I have to call multiple times to get the right answer. I have been trying to figure out how and where I needed to go to start this investigation with the police officer. The longer we wait the more people will become victims of these people and that is what I want to do. Lastly, I was told that investigation was not to start until the police officer contacted Western Union's Investigation department and that is what we have been trying to do, without success. *** and *** have told me that but, what do we do when we keep getting directed to the wrong department?

Customer Care,

Thanks for your response unfortunately it did not address all the specific assurances/remedies that I am seeking and therefore would suggest/request ask that you escalate this complaint to ensure that WU is aware that I am unsatisfied with the response.

You could also add that I find the practice of not including the complaint poor practice therefore I have included it below.

Thanks

***

Customer care,

I would like to start off by identifying myself as a 30yr+ customer in both the USA and CAN. In this period I have had hundreds of transactions and never have had had such a negative experience so as to make me seriously consider other transfer options.

My customer id in *** is XXXXXXXX. My last transfer XXXXXXX 09-20-2017 10:26 AM EST was an time consuming and disagreeable experience for both myself and the receiver.

Issue 1. As is my practice I sent a transfer from the same agent as I have found all aspects of their operation to be exceptional and superior to others in the area. At that time I was prompted to provide photo identification which they indicated was required to process my transfer. I am/was not aware of this requirement nor did I receive any communications from WU or the agent in advance to that effect despite both having my contact information. Had my receiver not needed the funds right away I would have declined and contacted WU to confirm.

Issue 2. My receiver's name had a slight first name ending misspelling and has had so for from the time it was entered into the system I believe more than ten years ago. This transfer was the first time that a receiving agent to refuse to release funds due to this issue.

Kudos 1. The sending agent corrected the name on the transfer in a very expedient manner.

Issue 2. After the misspelling was corrected the receiving agent again refused to release the funds stating that the receiver had to provide my address. I spoke with one of the agent's staff on the receiver's mobile phone wherein I repeatedly asked for their agent name, location, and telephone number which they refused. The agent did not even attempt to let me explain the policy by repeatedly loudly demanding that I must text my address to the receiver's mobile phone which I declined to do.

Kudos 2. I contacted your support and provided the telephone number that the receiver had been given and asked them to assist in releasing the funds after confirming the requirements do not require the receiver to provide the sender's address.

The telephone number provided by the receiving agent was not in service as indicated by WU support when they tried to reach them. instead support advised me that they entered a note in the transfer with something that convinced the agent adhere to the policy and practice. Since my phone battery died I was not able to conclude the conversation and thank the support agent for their successful resolution.

Issue 3. It has come to my attention that several if not all the WU agents in *** and possibly other locations have posted handwritten signs stating that the receiver must provide the address of the sender.

Issue 4. I am concerned that WU allows agents in *** that its own leaders, scholars, etc. describe their country as having "entrenched and widespread" and or systemic corruption" to have access to my address and possibly other personal and or identifying information.

Summary

My receiver and I have:

Been refused service until personal information that may or may not be required is provided to agents without any assurances and or documentation that they have received such and are liable to secure it.

Incurred long distance communications charges to effect the collection.

Endured physical discomfort we both were outside in the heat for more than an hour with the receiver having to stand outside in the unsafe downtown *** in 90F degree weather without any hydration.

Missed eating our lunch at our normal time

Endure a rude and verbally abusive receiver agent.

Had to manage the practices of the receiving agent due to their refusal to follow the practices and procedures that they are contracted to adhere to.

Spend time to communicate our experiences.

While I am not a proponent of making demands or being arbitrary I do feel it necessary to communicate that for me to be comfortable continuing as a WU customer I am wanting/expecting:

A written apology from (***, ***) if they wish to continue to be the receiving agent.

Documentation from WU as to any increased documentation requirements, what personal information of the sender does the receiving agent have access to and what measures to prevent and mitigate does WU have in case of improper use.

Advice that:

Agents have been advised of and have reference to the to the practices and standards they are contractually obligated to in order that I may refer them to such if needed.

Assurance that corrective actions and monitoring of this agent and other in the area that maybe/are not in compliance with the practices and standards will be put into place.

Thanks

*** ]

Dear ***,

Thank you for contacting Western Union. We are writing regarding your inquiry.

We appreciate your reporting this kind of scenario since this is not a Western Union way of serving customers. This is not tolerated in Western Union Company even with its partner agents. We always make sure that we serve our customers 100% best whenever we can but this display of action is unacceptable.

Rest assured that this complaint you have raised against the agency and the paying agent will be forwarded to proper department for handling. We will make sure that this attitude will not be displayed again not just only to you but also to a lot of customers.

We hope that this will not affect our business partner with you in the future and we will enforce and reiterate our policies to strengthen the ties between Western Union and consumers alike.

Once again, we apologize for what has happened. Let us know if you need further assistance.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us back.

Lastly, our customer care team is dedicated in providing you with the assistance you need and can be contacted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can be reached at our toll free number ***. Or email us directly at ***.

Sincerely,
Western Union Customer Care

sep 24 on the internet I tried to transfer (send) money to my son in ***. I did not get conf no. to my son.
when I called western union they said there was no record of my transaction, so I made other arrangements,
when I later checked my bank records, on sep 25 my bank transferred the money to western union. I called western union, even a number with a *** area code, all calls go to the same place, the ***. they tell me the same thing, no record of me, after 2 weeks I get a call from ***, she says to send her a bank statement and to call back and she will tell me what to do, I called her and its a direct line (no operator) and the call is answered by an answering machine so she knows who is calling and can decide whether to answer. I called for a week with no answer.she finally calls and tells me she is leaving the country and she is no longer handling me. she says to call ***. I call *** and she says to call her back. sane thing. answer machine and no *** for a week. there is no operator to talk to. just the *** and they say that they will not get a message to ***. today oct 17 it is almost a month to transfer $100. they took $117 from my bank sep 25 and don't even have the common courtesy to answer the phone to tell me to drop dead.
it's only $117. it's not so much the money, but the callous and insensitive way of treating people. if this is an indication of how they operate people should be made aware of that they just don't give a damn.
not to mention how screwed up things are

As a customer of Western Union for over 20 years, I am very disappointed with the service I received recently. On October 4, 2017 at 9:58 am, I made two separate transactions simultaneously at a ***. I received two different tracking numbers because I sent money to two different receivers. Only one of the receivers was able to pick up his money (tracking # ***). When the other receiver tried to pick up his money, he was told that the tracking number was incorrect (tracking # ***). I then went back to the store to speak with the manager. He assisted me in trying to rectify the error. The manager told me that Western Union issued me a refund with tracking number ***; however, he couldn’t issue me the money because he needed a tracking number with 8 numbers instead of 10. I then decided to contacted Western Union and spoke to someone named ***. She told me that the money I sent was refunded to me and that I should return to the store with tracking number *** to collect the funds. I explained to her that the store couldn’t accept that tracking number for the refund. She assured me that if I return to the store once more I would receive the money. She also stated that if I experienced a*** further issues that I should contact Western Union again and have one of the representatives speak to the manager of the *** store. When I returned to ***, I experienced the same issue. I followed *** suggestions and called Western Union. I spoke to a lady named ***. When I spoke to her, she stated that the refund money was already picked up with tracking number ***. I explained to her that I never received the refund and no one gave me the tracking # ***. Unfortunately the store manager that processed the original transaction was not present in the store that day, so *** spoke to one of the employees at ***. *** asked the employee if a*** money was issued to me on October 4th, but he couldn’t verify that information because he wasn’t the person who processed the transaction that day. *** then told me that she filed a dispute and gave me the case number ***. It’s been over a week now and no one has contacted me to update me concerning this matter. This has been an extremely unpleasant experience. I am a senior citizen living in ***. I don’t drive so each time I had to return to the store to get this matter resolved, I had to take 2 buses each way. I feel so ripped off by Western Union. I just want my money back because I paid for a transaction and the receiver wasn’t able to pick up his money. I know that the Revdex.com can assist me with this matter. Thant you in advanced for your prompt response.

I AM SOOO DISSATISFIED WITH WESTERN UNION. JUST LAST WEEK MY DAUGHTER SENT MONEY TO HER BROTHER ONLINE WITH HER CREDIT CARD AND MADE AN ERROR THEN WAS ABLE TO CANCEL THE TRANSACTION AND HAVE THE NAME CHANGED TO HERSELF SO SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT UP TO 2 WEEKS TO GET HER MONEY BACK. I SEND MONEY ALL THE TIME TO MY DAUGHTER. I HAVE A STRONG TRACK RECORD OF SENDING HER MONEY, ALMOST WEEKLY WE EXCHANGE MONEY VIA WU A LOT. THIS IS THE LAST TIME I WILL USE WU. I ACCIDENTLY CHECKED ***. INSTEAD OF ***., WHEN I CALLED TO TRY AND CANCEL THE TRANSACTION AND HAVE THE MONEY CHANGE TO MY NAME I WAS REFUSED. I ASKED IF I COULD ATLEAST GET THE $6.50 RETURNED SINCE THE MONEY WAS NEVER PICKED UP AND WAS ALSO REFUSED. WU CHARGES TOO MUCH MONEY FOR A $20 TRANSACTION OF $6.50 NOT BE ABLE TO GET ASSISTANCE WHEN NEEDED. I KNOW MY LITTLE 2'S AND FEW'S DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO A COMPANY LIKE YOURS. AND YOU WON'T MISS MY LITTLE CASH. I WILL MAKE SURE TO SPREAD THE WORD OF HOW UNFAIR WU IS TO EVERYONE I KNOW & I ALSO WILL FOLLOW UP THIS COMPLAINT WITH A COMPLAINT WITH THE Revdex.com.

I sent a money order to one of my creditors and they sent it back to me because they said I did not owe anything. So I took it to *** bank who the money order is drawn on. They would not refund me the money. I took it to *** and they would not refund the money. So, I sent it to Western Union.The money order was for $25. Western Union only refunded $10. I sent the whole money order back to them so there was no need to trace it. They charged me $15. For what? I should have been refunded the whole $15.00.

Back in April and May I made two payment through Western Union to my electric company but it never got to my electric company so when I noticed it I called Western Union and requested to receive a transaction history form. They said that I had ten days till fill it out but it took 6 of those days to get to me by mail. When I got the form I filled it out and mailed it back to them the same day. I gave it six days to get to them before I started calling them and that was on September 8th 2017. I was told then that I would get my history form sent my email on the 21th of September so I watched my email all day and never received the information. When I called them on the 22 of September I was told I would receive the information in 24 to 40 business hours so I kept calling looking for my information and was told on the 25th of September by email the was a problem with my signature so on the 26th of September I emailed them new copies of everything and was told again in 24 to 48 hours a supervisor would be calling me with my information. Here it is the 3rd of October and I am still waiting for my transaction history. I need to now what happened with these two payments so I can get things straightened out with the electric company.

On 9/30/17 I canceled a "Money In Minutes" transaction I created on 9/29/17 at a *** kiosk. I was told my money was available. It is now the evening of 10/2/17 and no one can figure out why I cannot receive my refund for $300. Today they tried to help me at the same *** where I generated the transaction. Store manager called Western Union, which was unable to figure out why I was getting error code ***,. They make the manager call their own *** Western Union support, who also couldn't figure anything out. I was walked through all screens at the kiosk - everything was entered correctly. They even said try entering "***" for the sender state since it's Western Union who's refunding you your money and they're based in ***. Nothing. This is inefficiency at its WORST. So now Western Union has $300 of my money locked, unwilling to refund it. Not to mention I had to cancel another $300 transaction last week and they said it would take up to SEVEN days for me to be refunded. All cancelations due to my desperation to send money to hurricane-devastated *** any which way possible, but it's not going through. So I figured OK, I will cancel - but it is hell on earth to get my money back from Western Union. I will explode social media ensuring NO ONE uses Western Union.

I bought a money order 8-1-17 for $200 and mailed to my credit card company. I called them 2 weeks later to see if they had received my payment of $200.00. They said they hadn't received. I tried to call Western Union to track my money order. I called numerous times and was finally able to talk to someone. I was told someone had cashed the money order but it wasn't my credit card company. I was then told to send a $15 so they could investigate who cashed the check and they would be able to call this bank and retrieve my funds and to investigate. I mailed this $15 on 9-13 my husband said this check has been cashed. I have not heard from Western Union and now I am out $215.00. I have the Western Union tracing number and letter stating they needed the $15 dollars to investigate. Money or When I call the Western Union phone number they say Hi Sherry but no one comes to the phone and they state they cannot find anything regarding this money order. I am very upset due to the fact they have not even attempted to resolve this matter. I need my $215 dollars back to pay on my credit card account.

I contacted Western Union November 2016 for a trace on a money order that was cashed by someone other than my management. Western Union sent me a copy of the money order that was altered to reflect someone else's name and address. I filed a forgery claim with Western Union in January 2017 and was told it would take 90-120 days. Since then I have received several letters from Western Union stating that the bank that cashed the money order hasn't responded so they are going to submit another claim. In the interim I have made several calls to Western Union to follow up because it is coming up on a year that this has not been resolved. The policy on the stub/receipt of the money order states that to prove it's my money order is that I have to have the stub/receipt to match the money order and I have and submitted it to Western Union. The money order that was cashed has a stamp "IN LIEU" meaning or a straight sign to me that the original money order was not submitted when cashed because it was forged/altered. I have proven that this is my money order and followed all of the steps to do so, but I still have not received a refund. This is too much money to just let go.

Western Union has kept money that I have transferred from two trust accounts. They say they have been refunded. I in fact no they have not. They refuse to give me an audit of electronic activity concerning the transfer. I called them about this matter and they sent me an audit request form to fill out. I did and sent it back to them. They had 10 days to reply, it's been two months with no reply.

I was sent a money transfer for $350 to my local *** in ***. When I got to the ***, I was asked to fill out a form and provide ID, which I did. Next, the *** agent began to ask me a number of personal questions including: what is your occupation, what is the purpose of the transaction; Why are you receiving the money; What is the relation of the sender to you; etc. I answered the question despite their being invasive of my privacy. Once I had finished, the *** agent told me that the system was not allowing her to pay out my money and that I would have to call Western Union directly. I left the *** and went home to call WU. When I did so, the automated system informed me that the money had already been collected from the *** I had been to. Yet I never received the money. Both the sender of the transfer and myself, the receiver, have tried to have the issue resolved but we could get absolutely nowhere.

I sent money to *** last year and he never picked up the money. I called Western Union told them that I no longer have the bank account associated with the card and that I would like the refund to be issued at an agent location. They told me this was not possible. They told me they would mail it but at the time told them it was unacceptable and feel it still is. Today I requested they mail my refund and now they tell me it is only possible if I provide them with more banking information which will not happen. I request your assistance in receiving a refund.

I engaged Western Union to transfer funds from two bank accounts within the U.S. after finding out that the transfer was going to take more than two days, I called for a cancelation. I was told that they had canceled the transaction, however funds were taken from my bank account on 9/7/17. As of today, 9/18 I have yet to see the funds returned. It appears Western Union, not only does not take care to process cancelations, they withhold funds for many days. Hello if they are doing this to 100s or 1000s of people, they are probably exploiting their customers' money to acquire additional funds through interest and don't care that said customers are put in hardship.

I had my taxes done April 11th, 2017 with *** (they deal with Western Union), they didn't have enough money to provide me that day so they had given me a money order which I had accidently thrown away (a total of $729.10). The process you then are meant to go through is filling a "money order research request form," which can be found online. I have filled out this form a total of six times, each time requesting new information which I was not told to provide the previous time, including information that they have said is classified as "if known." I do understand that they have certain policies in place to make it a safe transfer but the issue is that no one is willing to help me. I have placed a number of calls, many of which they have returned my call, or tell me that it is not their department to deal with. When I ask for the right department they have told me that the people dealing with these request forms do not have a phone number to call. I have also asked that they call me or email me when there is a problem with my form and they end up mailing me back weeks later. I have talked to their manager ***, and ***, as well as customer service representatives *** and none of them were able to help me. Recently they have asked for a document showing a receipt and that I am the person purchasing the money order... when I myself and the manager of *** had provided them with a transaction receipt showing my name, money order number and amount. I don't know what more they want and it is apparent that they are just giving me the wrap around to get my money.

The USPS lost the Western Union in the mail. After finally getting through to customer service, they instructed us to fill out a form and send them a non-refundable $30 fee in order to open the investigation as to whether or not the money had been turned in. I unfortunately DID NOT have the entire order number but did have the last 4 digits, the name, address, phone number of the location it was purchased along with the date and time of the purchase. After not hearing anything, I called them and after 30 minutes of trying to talk to something other than a machine, was told that my information was not in the system, despite the fact that my check had been CASHED by WU! They told me that since it had not been an exact month to call back Friday or Monday since that's when the "exact month" was up. After finally getting through to someone, the unbelievable RUDE customer service person continuously interrupted me telling me that it was my fault and that there was just nothing they could do. When asked about what was told to me previously she talked me in circles and said that it did not matter; that she was not going to look in the system because I never would be in there. Nothing could be done without the full number. I then asked about the fact that they cashed my check and she told me that unless I had a number it was my own problem and there would be no investigation...despite that that is not what was told to me before (less than a week ago) and NOT what was indicated on the investigation form. TERRIBLE customer service and to me they are scammers and thieves. Will be figuring out how to take further action against this business.

On 11/21/2016, I purchased a money order in the amount of $87.50. Unfortunately, the money order was mad out to the wrong company and the seller of the money would not issue a new one. On July 17, 2017, I requested a refund for the amount of the money order. I followed the procedures and returned the money order to Western Union (proof of delivery) along with my check number to pay for the processing fee. My check has been cashed, yet I have not received my refund. I attempted to call Western Union regarding the money order, however, I could not get pass the screening machine to speak with anyone.

Western Union sucks!!! You would think to make things easier on yourself you can send money to your love ones online but apparently they put you through the ringer either they will decline your transaction or they'll have your transaction on hold and asked you to call and when you do give them a call they ask you all these personal questions to still decline you're just your transaction never again will I ever use Western Union has been the worst experience and I was not able to send my love ones the money they needed. I strongly suggest to anyone DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!! THEY SUCK!!!!

My money was lost from my previous landlord. I sent in all the information over 8 weeks ago and with the information that was stated I needed. Everytime I called I was told to check on the status I was told to call back. When I was checked it through their automated system,it always said there was not a hold and it is outstanding. I finally got someone to admit they never received it and they gave me an email to submit a copy of the forms I sent. When I did this, and called back 24 hours later then more run arounds. Now it is 72 hours later and I'm told to cal back in 3 hours. I finally got a number and a extension which is ***. They have the worst and most timely procedure when it comes to a problem or to get a refund.

I purchased an item through an auction house. I paid for the auction item with a western union money order. The auction house says they never got the money order. Western union says the money order has been cashed. I have spent hours literally hours on hold with Western Union with the simple request to provide proof that the money order was cashed, by whom, and where. That way I can provide this proof to the auction house to receive my purchase. I have never dealt with such an incompetent company in my 60 years. As stated, I have been on hold with Western Union for hours and hours and no one is capable of answering questions, providing documentation or returning my calls. One of the hurdles might possibly be the language barrier but ultimately the hurdle is Western Union is a horrible company. Before filing this complaint I did, a suggestion by this website, Contact Western Union first. Out of courtesy I did that. Days later a young lady called to tell me that someone will be calling me. That was a week ago and I have not received any further communication. Ultimately I would like to get proof that the money order was cashed so I can receive the item I bid on, but at this point I'll just take a refund.