Western Union Reviews

This is the worst company ever to receive money from. I'm in Indianapolis. And I've spent the entire day.... 6+ hours going from Western Union to Western Union. That GPS tells me they are located....And here is the scam. Most Western Unions only send money.... And very, very few actually let you receive the money. So you can send money all day long....But you gotta drive all over the city, standing in line and being rejected over and over.

I have the prepaid debit card. False advertisement on receiving pay 2 days early ESPECIALLY a government check. I have never ever waited this long to be paid. ALL OTHER prepaid debit cards release the direct deposit IMMEDIATELY. WHAT A MISTAKE trying to use Western Union. I am going back to PayPal, where they release SSDI IMMEDIATELY and don’t hold YOUR MONEY! I should have received my money on Friday, and still waiting.

I am completely exhausted and frustrated with how Western Union handles refunds. I have been trying to get my money back for over a week, and despite making numerous attempts and following every single piece of advice their agents gave me, I am still being given the runaround. I initiated a transaction at a retail kiosk, but had to immediately cancel it. The phone agent told me it was canceled and said I just had to pick up my cash refund at that same retail location. That was the first wrong instruction—the store cannot give me the total amount back because the refund is above their store cash threshold.

Hello, If I could, I would give them minus 5 stars. What a joke they are! I am trying to send online, using my debit card, but after spending a lot of time on both, their application and their website, which are working very slow, so at the end it gives that they couldn't process the transaction giving me code reference **. I called and spoke to customer service, but they are a joke too. They were advising me to go to Western Union partner location and send from there. But at Western union partners locations the exchange rate is lower, on $2,500 I am losing over $70. I never am gonna use these scumbags!

I uploaded $1860 to a Western Union (WU) prepaid card on 5/18/26. I was told that it would be available for immediate use. I attempted to link the card to the WU site but was unsuccessful. I attempted to use the card for purchase but was unsuccessful. Contacted customer service and was told that there was an error, the issue would be escalated for resolution within 24-48 hrs. I was told that I could use for POS. Reached out again on 5/19/26. I was told that the issue was due to multiple WU accounts needing to be linked.

I recently sent money to my country, MONEY IN MINUTES!! That never happened. I send it on Saturday. 4 days later customer service told me call tomorrow. If the transaction is NOT completed WESTERN Union shouldn’t take the money from your bank account. SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE MAKING MONEY WITH YOUR OWN MONEY.

I did sended some money to my country, the person show up at 2 different banks they said there's no money available, did call Western Union they said that there's no problem with transactions, the person returned to the bank and same thing no money available, I did asked for my refund, yes but you have to wait 7 business days, I still waiting I will make another review, Wester Union should work for faster refund,.

The statements about Western Union being reliable are absolutely false. This statement by Tammy ** needs to be looked at closer and redone. I flew from Europe to Thailand to buy a gem, a very rare gem, so rare you won't ever find one in a jewellery store in an average size city and most Jewellers don't know what it is. I design jewellery as a high-end hobby. I was in Bangkok for 24 hours to make the final payment and receive the gem. I had tried to send it to my home through DHL, but the European customs officials seized it and did not know what it was or what is worth.

I accidentally sent $1500 to an older dormant account of the receiver. Receiver never received the money. I opened up the case with Western Union. Called them a few weeks later. They asked me for this long case number, which I fortunately wrote down. With case #, they said, they'll investigate. I called them today again (4/23/2026 around 6:20 PM Central Time). Operator said he could not find the case number. I told him I was feeling upset. He put me on hold (I think), as I stopped hearing him. I am on hold for last 25 minutes now. No sound.

WU is not responsible and shady. They withheld my money for over 3 months after my family member was refused the money transfer. The clerk put in the system that the money was transferred correctly even though it did not. They said they did investigation and they were bogus. No communication was made to me for months and only until I filed a complaint with BBB that they respond to me. They finally admit their fault but offer no compensation only an apology! They treat their clients like trash.

My experience with Western Union has been average at best. While it is a well known and widely available service, the actual experience can be quite inconsistent. On the positive side, sending money is fairly simple and the platform is easy to use. It is convenient that you can transfer money to many countries, and in some cases the transfer does go through quickly. That level of accessibility is definitely useful. However, the problems start when things do not go as expected. Transfers can be delayed without clear reasons, and the estimated delivery times are not always accurate. This can be stressful, especially when the money is needed urgently.

They are the worst. I sent the money two months ago and they gave the money to the wrong person and wrong state. Now, I opened a case with them and it's now two months that they haven't responded me.

Western Union offers a quick cash transfer service to Mexico from the US. On April 8th I sent a transfer from my US BofA bank account to a store in Loreto, Mexico, to pick up. The website gave my MCT number and said the transfer was in progress and will be available on April 13th!!! I went to the store to pick up the cash and they said it wasn't ready. The only Customer Service available is a recorded message that says it is in progress. There is NO WAY to speak to ANYONE. This is terrible service. The cash left my BofA account already and if I ask to cancel it will take a week to get it back.

I'm disappointed that in Joliet IL the money orders that I buy for many years for 0.99 was not available in Walmart and both Jewels. It's been causing me stress and I got a feeling that they will charge more once the supposed GLITCH is over.

I was scammed out of $4,800 and Western Union refused to reimburse me despite police reports, FTC complaints, multiple CFPB filings, and executive escalation. All I got were template denials, empty apologies, and claims their “position is final” — while scammers get to keep exploiting their system. Their fraud prevention is inadequate, their escalation is meaningless, and their representatives achieve nothing. If you fall victim to fraud, do not expect Western Union to protect you. Document everything, escalate relentlessly, and prepare for a fight — they clearly prioritize procedures over people.

I am extremely dissatisfied with this service. This is the second time my transaction has failed, and requiring up to 20 days to issue a refund is completely unacceptable. Such lack of reliability and excessive delays are not appropriate for a financial service. Immediate improvements are clearly necessary.

On March 23 I send money going to Philippines worth 5,000 because they offer no fee and high exchange rate. They pull out the 5,000 dollars from my bank on that date until March 25 they cancel the transaction. I called WU Customer representative and ask what happen and they told me that they will file a report. Until now I'm still waiting for my money. My advice is don't use WU for money transfer. My rate is zero for my frustration.

I want to caution everyone that you are very likely to have delays picking up your money. Twice in two month I sent money to a family member and WU held it up due to suspicion of fraud. They would tell me what alerted them and finally said it's random, done by the system. I could go on about other aspects of their poor process but I will close by saying, don't use them. You will have problems. Never again for me.

Never used WU before, always via bank transfers from Canada to settle my Dad's business via a lawyer in South America. One time, the lawyer needed to send me a refund, almost $CAD 2K, but his bank system was down, so he used WU. The nearby WU agent on my side to receive funds is in a big retail store using their customer service facilities. The agent there warned me that people receiving money over $1K usually get declined because transfer is only permitted to your debit card, and your daily limit must be high enough.

Absolutely HORRENDOUS “service”. They had me using a calling card to phone in to them because they wouldn’t release the money: then no one knew how to cancel it. On hold over 3 hours with zero service. Manager refused to talk to me. I had to ask for the department's direct number to help myself! WARNING. Stay AWAY.