About Western Union
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Western Union Reviews
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There are far better money sending services that I would prefer to use than WU. So it started with me sending $2.5k dollars to India in mid June 2021. I went for in store transfer in Fred Meyer as the website was not allowing me to schedule an amount of $2.5k online. For some reason, they said that they could not allow so much for cash pick up and told me that I would get a refund and it would take around 14 days to issue.
After 14 days I called them as I could not see the refund, and they told me that they had not acknowledged the transfer, so my bank would have to issue a refund. So I called my bank and they told me to file a dispute and they will investigate it. I did that and after one month, the bank came back and told me that they could not issue me the credit as I had my money already debited.
So I contacted WU again and they told me that the money was ready for the receiver to pick up. And I told them that I had already sent the receiver through some other means and immediately requested to issue me a refund. Since the money was not picked up by the receiver (which is so dangerous, as if the money would have already been picked, I would have lost all the money), they issued me a refund and gave me a new MTCN number which I can take to the store and collect the money. THIS IS SO HORRIBLE, that after assuring me a refund they still went ahead and processed my original request and made money available to the receiver but the story doesn't end here
So I went to the store with my new MTCN number and they told me that they cannot give cash to the tune of $2.5k. So I went to another WU store and they told me the same thing. Then I called the customer service again and the person called Kabir, spoke very rudely with me but still managed to give me the new store address which would be able to process my request. Then I went to that store and they gave me the same reply that they could not arrange for so much money.
Luckily it was a Safeway location and they had the money, so the nice lady did told that they can honor my request. But guess what, when she tried to take the money, WU website showed that I was being serviced at some other terminal. Now this is because the previous 2 stores that I inquired, some idiot WU employee there forgot to log me out and it was another 20 minutes call with their customer service. The safeway store employees then called the WU office from their store and they managed to shut the other location access and give me the refund finally!
To see my own money, I had to go through so many loops which is unacceptable. The entire way in which they run their business is SHADY at best and there are so many loopholes where the customer can easily lose their money. If the money would have been picked up by the receiver (whom I had already sent them money before through other means because WU initially told me they could not honor the request) had picked up the money, I would have lost it. If the store employee would have hit the serviced button, I would have lost it. There are just too many loopholes in their process and I advice everyone not to use WU as you could easily lose your money. At best BEWARE!!
I typed in the WhatsApp phone number for my friend and WU says it was received, but it is not. The chat feature timed me out as I was typing. The other rep said my friend should check his browser and clear cookies. What?!? Horrible customer service as they didn't read my chat messages, repeated the same things and overall, just didn't care. I got a refund, good thing I did it on my credit card, or who knows what would have happened. My friend lives in a third world country and needed this money to feed his family. The rep responded by saying, "Sometimes these things happen."
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I usually use money gram for money transfers and have never had a problem. But yesterday I tried Western Union. They took my money but declined to transfer my transaction. I spent 40 minutes on the phone trying to find out why. I was never given an answer. I will never use western union. I would recommend to others to never use western union. I went today and sent my money via money gram and the transaction and money transfer was complete in 5 minutes. Lesson learned for me. NEVER use WESTERN UNION. In all fairness I was refunded my money but never given a proper explanation as to why they would not make my money transfer. Don't know how they are staying in business.
Western Union canceled my money transfer and will not give me a reason. My refund will take up to 7 business days. So I can't resend and my recipient is without the money that was urgently needed. I will never do business with Western Union again.
I live in CA and have friends from Nigeria and Ghana, those I used to visit before Covid-19 and those on the Continent. Covid-19 really negatively impacted my friends but I seemed to have really benefited financially from it and wanted to start sending money while helping my friends here as well. Friends here suggested Western Union. My first couple of transactions were bumpy but ok, then they took my money. I finally called since my friend didn't receive and they asked me lots of questions and accused me of scamming. Then they canceled my transfer and told me I would get my money back in my account in about 7 business days.
I told them what I am here to say, I have had enough of RACIST companies like this. I have a Masters degree and all my friends are here in school or have degrees and so are the people I was trying to help. The amounts I sent were well below policy and no other WU policies were broken. DON'T USE WU Services. Corrupt companies like this will soon go bankrupt, go out of business. WU will collapse and END. It is time for them to END so don't do business with them to speed their END along.
I sent money using WU app to Russia. There is an option to transfer money straight to the bank account. I paid an extra fee so my receiver will have funds the next day. Transfer was done on 05.16.21, and today is 06.03.21. It's been 17 days and funds were never received. Called customer service on 05.18.21, they asked to allow 48 hours. Called again on 05.25.21, they opened an investigation case. Called 06.03.21, they did nothing and asked me to contact my receiver, so he will send them his bank statement. I don't know why they kept me waiting, why they opened the case if there was NOTHING done. Absolutely nothing. They just kept my money for two weeks, and still don't want to make a refund. I don't if it's the other way of making money for WU. It's frustrating to keep calling my receiver and keep calling WU customer service. With no luck for 17 days.
I transferred funds and the incorrect person picked up the funds and Western Union solution was for me to contact the local authorities! It was my understanding that folks need to provide ID when picking up funds but Western Union would not answer any questions regarding why the funds went to the incorrect person? Their customer service is the worst and the most irritating portion was they made no attempt to resolve the issue!
Transfer was cancelled without any notification. Went to pick up money only to find out it's not there. No reason for why it was cancelled. Money has not been refunded to my account. No one is helping me resolve this. I am just keep being told by bank call Western Union and western union keeps telling me to call my bank! It very frustrating and not getting any answers.
I will never use Western Union again, they totally decimated both ends of the transaction. They were so interested in protecting me that they totally ransacked the transaction. I gave them the transaction number, but they not only wanted to know who I was, but insisted on information from me that I had no intention of sharing. Finally, I gave in and I had to provide them with not only my name, address, phone, email, but also my social security number, driver's license number, who I was sending money to and why was I sending it, what state was I in, and what state was I sending money to. They wouldn't explain to me why they had put a hold on the transaction in the first place and then they wanted to know why I wanted to know.
Then they asked, "how did I know it was my daughter I was sending $ to; what was her phone number, did I recognize her voice, and how much was the financial transaction for." They just kept telling me they were protecting me and my money. "From whom," I asked, "from my daughter?" They wouldn't explain to me why they had put a hold on the transaction in the first place and when I asked to speak to a supervisor they wanted to know why. When I said, "It's none of your business," they told me a supervisor would have to call me. I haven't heard from them and I will never use Western Union again. I'm all for protecting the elderly, but are we all suspect of being demented, unable to handle our own financial affairs, of of even being capable of knowing if we know who we are talking to when we are talking to our own children on the phone.
Recently, I transferred money to a recipient in Brazil. Western Union sent me a receipt with the exact dollar amount my parents were supposed to receive. Two weeks later, my parents received about $150 less than the amount shown on my receipt. After numerous attempts to call, email, send information to western union, they simply ignore my request. Many excuses were given to me, like taxes were taken out, different money conversion rates were used, errors in paperwork. However, no real attempt to understand what happened was made. To this day, I lost $150 and have no idea if I will ever get it back, needless to say, be careful with western union.
Western Union author review by ConsumerAffairs
Western Union (WU) was founded in 1851 as an American telegraph company, and it began offering money transfer services in 1871. Now, Western Union is one of the world’s largest and most well-known money transfer companies. In 2015, it facilitated the transfer of more than $150 billion. It offers consumers and businesses options for sending and receiving money both domestically and internationally.
Fee tool: Consumers can use the fee estimator on WU’s website to see how much it will cost to send money to someone else online, in person, over the telephone or through the WU app. The tool will also show consumers how long it will take for the funds to be available to the recipient.
App: The Western Union Money Transfer app, available for both iOS and Android devices, allows consumers to send money directly from their mobile phones. Money can be sent to other individuals or be used to pay bills at select businesses.
Rewards: The My WU rewards program lets customers earn points for money spent on transfer fees. Rewards points can be used to make free transfers, enroll in select Udemy online courses or make matched donations to the Western Union Foundation.
NGOs: Western Union partners with the Clinton Global Initiative to help non-governmental organizations (NGOs) get money to individuals around the globe who do not have access to traditional financial institutions. In some locations, funds can be sent to users’ mobile wallets.
Refer-a-Friend: The Refer-a-Friend promotional program rewards customers who invite others to use Western Union. The first time the invitee sends money, both the original customer and the new customer receive a $20 Amazon gift card.
The ConsumerAffairs Research Team believes everyone deserves to make smart decisions. We aim to provide readers with the most up-to-date information available about today's consumer products and services.
Western Union Company Information
- Company Name:
- Western Union
- Website:
- www.westernunion.com
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