Worst Ever! Lied to & took my money under false promise

Western Union Money Transfer
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1.3
9.0% of users recommend this
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alwaysdotherightthing's review of Western Union Money Transfer

“Worst Ever! Lied to and took my money under false promise”

★☆☆☆☆

written by alwaysdotherightthing on 24/02/2015

I went to Western Union this morning because I needed to get money into my out of state bank account quickly. To be sure it would be there when I needed it, I called my bank to confirm that they would make the funds immediately available. They said they would be available right away when it hit the account. I asked the counter rep several times to make sure that the money would be available in minutes in my bank account. Was told Yes that if I provided the routing and account number it would be directly deposited into my account and available within 20 minutes. 30 minutes at the latest. I asked again to be sure I clearly understood and she affirmed the same statement. Not having done this with Western Union previously I asked again before I handed the cashier my money. I was again told the same. I stated that I was sorry to keep asking but that I had never done this before and was wanting to be sure if I gave her my money I would have it available in our account for my husband who is traveling today.

Several minutes later I called just to be sure that the transfer was done correctly because there was no note on the receipt about availability of funds. Was told that Bank transfers take 3-5 business days! What?! I just gave them all my money plus a $20 transaction fee for something that was going to take 3-5 business days.

Had I known that I would not have given them the cash but driven an hour to my bank to make deposit.

I have made several calls to Western Union 800 number only to be told different stories by every agent I spoke with. First agent told me since there was a mistake they would refund me money in 10 minutes. Was then put on hold and told they could not refund my money because it was already in process.

Then I was told if I went back to the location that took my money I could get a refund from them. On my way 30 miles back to the original location I called to confirm this and they told me no that wasn't possible. Several more talks with different departments and supervisors. Was actually even told that I should have done a transfer person to person to someone who could make a deposit into my account. Again why would I do that if it could go into my account within minutes.

I was also told I didn't need to worry about how it works. Really, you lie to me take my cash and tell me I don't need to worry about it.

I thought I was speaking to an escalation customer service rep at corporate office 3 different times. The first told me that the other agents were wrong that the 3-5 days was only for international deposits and that US deposits were different and that she could see that the money would be in my account today. Not 20-30 minutes but at least I felt like I was finally getting somewhere 4 hours and multiple phone calls later. I told her I would wait until 2 as she suggested and then call back. 2:00, no money so another call to "corporate headquarters" Insincere apologies and a half hour of waiting for it to be researched I was told 1-3 business days. Again I expressed my frustration that I was again given different information. She said she knew it was a lot to ask but could I please wait to be sent to the right department to speak with a manager. What? I thought I was already at the level that I needed to be at. I asked her how long? I had already been on the phone over 45 minutes. She said she would check back with me every 5 minutes. After 20 minutes there was no one on the line. So I call back and after another 15 minutes on hold I am told they are now going to write an incident report and that I should expect a call back in 1-2 hours time. After banks are closed!

This is by far the shadiest and worst business practices I have ever been a party to.

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