Western Union Sage, cont.

[Steely]

Obviously meant saga....The saga continues. And at this point all I can do is laugh this is SO outrageous!!! (OK, maybe all I can muster is a small snort snicker.)

Western Union refunded my money to my bank today alright --- all 20.00 of it!!! Where is the other 837.00 you might ask?
They don't know. OMG -- so unbelievable.
I had the bank representative conference call in with me to Western Union, we spoke to them for an hour, and all we got were different answers, all saying the same thing. Western Union no longer has my money.

The bank has re-opened my account to let it be re-deposited, and can see that there is only 20.00 there. They said that if they don't see the money deposited tomorrow they will open a dispute, and investigation.

Meanwhile -- I have called the Attorney General of Washington, and I am filing a formal investigation.

I feel now, that this is beyond error - and realize they have possibly stolen my money.

 

[DammitJanet]

I am so sorry. I am also going to be somewhat tongue in cheek here and say..in retrospect you should have just used paypal! (Sorry, couldnt help myself.)

 

[Steely]

Can paypal transfer money to one account to another?

 

[InsaneCdn]

I'd be sayin' that perhaps the only way to be save is to spend 3x that to drive there in person to withdraw the cash?
Nah, that doesn't make sense either.

GAH!

 

[DammitJanet]

Well, I would say yes since I can paypal from my account to my sons account so I wouldnt see why you couldnt paypal from one bank account to another one. The thing is, you could have just as easily done a bank transfer too. I have transferred money from my bank to another bank over the phone. Simple. All I needed was origination and destination routing numbers.

 

[Steely]

I called the bank in the beginning and they told me they cannot do wire transfers. Had I been patient enough, I am pretty sure they would have...it just was not in their protocol or my timeline.

Insane these people have like 100K+ locations all over the world that are run by grocery stores, etc. Those people know nothing, nor do they care. God only knows where their main office is? Iran?

I guess my whole point in posting this is for my friends to be aware, and not ever use them as a way to get funds to others.

 

[HaoZi]

WU Corporate office is in Colorado according to the BBB link I posted the other day. At this point they should give you your money and investigate their problems AFTER they've solved yours.

 

[cubsgirl]

Wow - I hope your bank can put the pressure on them to do the right thing and give you back ALL of your $$$$. Good Luck.

 

[Hound dog]

I have a sneaky suspicion that one of their employees has stolen the funds. WU should be refunding the cash immediately, then do an investigation. Money was lost on their watch, they need to make restitution pronto! I'd so be on the line with the news, seriously. You want this cleared up, give them a call.

I've never known a single bank not to do bank to bank transfers. It's not like it's a big deal, they just do it via computer, my mom does it often and she only vaguely has an idea of how it works.

I've not used WU in well over a decade so can't comment. But you'd think a company that's entire deal is trust with other peoples money would not be so d@mn flippant about losing nearly 1k in a simple transfer. The news would take that and run with it. ugh

 

[InsaneCdn]

I have a sneaky suspicion that one of their employees has stolen the funds

Either that, or they were hacked...

And either way... it still boils down to plan A: refund the missing money, and then go after the source of the problem.

Given the current reaction? You've gotta wonder if the management structure at that particular branch isn't involved in the scheme somehow?

And in any of the above scenarios? You're right, Lisa... what a news story. I can just imagine a whole string of headlines... none of which WU wants to see.

Any way to leverage that knowledge?

 

[DammitJanet]

Ive never known a bank not to do a bank transfer either. I have done wire transfers several times. I sent the money from my dad's account to Billy's when I needed to get it to NC. I have sent a small amount to a friend years ago. I have wired a small amount from my amount to Billy's to repay a loan. When we needed to send Jamie a small amount of money to help them out with a bill one month we wired it to them. Now granted the only slightly larger amounts were my money from dad and the amount to my friend was around a grand. The other ones were in the 100 to 200 range. I dont like spending the amounts for western union.


I agree that something stinks in Denmark. Either someone in WU has stolen this money at the point that the money was given to transfer or at the end point. I would want to see the exact paperwork where it was shown how much was written down how much was put in as sent....and received at the end point. Someone at both places needs to be given polygraphs. There has to be exact paperwork showing these things.

 

[Malika]

Obviously meant saga....The saga continues. And at this point all I can do is laugh this is SO outrageous!!!

But this is it, Steely, this is the wisdom... and you are the Western Union Sage!! Despite the ludicrous frustration and frustrating ludicrousness of it, please enjoy your day and your Christmas time with family. Don't let it get to you... it will resolve. Easy for me to say from a distance, I know.

 

[Signorina]

Go to the police station & file a police report. Also, contact your states atty. Consider contacting your congressman too- their offices are full of eager interns who may make a call on your behalf!
Stay strong!

 

[Steely]

At this point they should give you your money and investigate their problems AFTER they've solved yours.

The bank is doing the investigation and filing a legal dispute, not WU.

I am filing with the Attorney General and calling the news today.

I guess I am a dork that I couldn't figure out how to wire the money from bank to bank in the beginning. I don't know. My head is not clear at all later. And I have never actually used paypal so I didn't know that existed.

Whatever. Life is too hard lately.

 

[AnnieO]

You are NOT a dork. This was THEIR messup, not yours. As for bank-to-bank, my bank can't seem to figure that one out, either. And PayPal still has $40 of mine and I can't seem to figure out how to get it...

WU is a trusted company. SOMEONE isn't doing their job. And since YOU have paperwork... THEY have to make it right.

Too danged bad they can't get it together and make it right - now.

 

[Malika]

To be honest, it's amazing. If I were running a tiny company, let alone one the size of Western Union, and this happened, there would not be any hesitation about what to do. Our mistake and obviously the customer should be paid at once, as originally intended while we traced the money. But you shouldn't let it affect your state of mind, Steely...

 

[DammitJanet]

No poop. Your money should have been returned as soon as they confirmed that this was actually a true mess up. Im sure some people would claim that they never received their money even though they did but I am sure it is fairly easy to confirm this...especially if it is being transferred into a bank account. Their policy should be to refund your money and then figure it out. If they end up out the money it is simply a tax write off.

 

[klmno]

I agree with the others. I'm sure WU can verify they rec'd the money and at this point, there's no excuse for putting you thru this. WU has a reputation for getting money transferred quick and being dependable and many have used it for years in emergencies, among other things. I'm disappointed they would give you such a go-around when it was their mistake.

 

[Steely]

Just wanted to say that.....

The police were dumbfounded and how no idea how to proceed. (He is contacting his sargeant)

The Attny General was also dumbfounded and had to ask her supervisor how to proceed. (I am filling out "said" paperwork now).

The news has not yet responded.

I called WU main headquarters in CO and talked to their fraud dept. Same, exact, song and dance. In fact I called back twice, just to verify that they are actually all doing the same thing.

I will let you know if I ever get my money. I am sure I will, but it will probably be 2012 at the rate this is all going.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Add to your list of people to contact... your federal and state representatives.
"Sometimes" they know who else to call or what strings to pull... we've had success with political help maybe 1 in 10, but usually with the most unusal stuff, Know what I mean?? ... this is so unreal that it qualifies for political clout too.