Consumer complaint received 2019-05-30
Company: Instarem PTE Limited
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
This complaint is about Money Transfer company " InstaRem ''.  These guys are holding my money ( XXXX USD ) for more than 2 weeks now. 

PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!! 

What Happened till now : - 1. On " XXXX XX/XX/2019, XXXX XXXX '' I used their service and initiated transfer of XXXX USD to my XXXX bank account. 

2. Per their process, I had to transfer the money to their bank account - which I did successfully in next 2 days. 

3. Because I used a promocode ( which gave me a discount of XXXX USD ), I only had to transfer them XXXX USD ( i.e. XXXX USD - XXXX USD ). 

4. By mistake, I transferred them XXXX USD ( instead of XXXX USD ) ... .and updated transaction reference number of their application. 

5. On their application, my transaction status wasn't moving so I started follow-ups by calling their customer service and dropping emails.

6. They requested for transaction receipt and I provided them.

7. They donot put any name or signature in their emails so it is impossible to tell to whom I have been communicating. All I know is that, I was connected to their customer service agent 'XXXX ' over phone on " XX/XX/2019 '' and she confirmed me on phone AND email that the receipt proof is sufficient to process the transaction. She also mentioned that my transaction wasn't processed 'probably ' because I transferred 'extra ' money. 

8. When I said that it was a mistake and suggested them to either refund me full amount ( XXXX USD ) 'or ' only XXXX USD ( which I paid extra ) or process whole transaction of XXXX USD ( XXXX USD which I transferred + XXXX USD which I received as promo offer ) at same exchange rate. 

She refused ALL the options and FORCED me to convert the extra amount ( XXXX USD ) to INSTA POINTS. I upfront said NO because it was never an agreement b/w/ me and company that my money will be convereted to some 'points ' because I may not choose to use their service again and will not be able to redeem those points. I don't think it was legal either.

9. All the time, she kept talking to her collegue and manager to provide answers but could not provide a resolution and asked to follow up on emails.

10. I had no option but to follow up on email and provided same options to InstaRem team on email i.e. either refund full/partial money 'or ' process the full amount 'or ' process XXXX USD at previous exchange rate + XXXX USD at current exchange rate. 

11. There email responses are pathetic and they now requested me for my bank account statement to confirm the receipt of transaction ( remember I already provided them transaction receipt earlier ).

May be they are trying to buy some more time by doing all this. Or may be because the exchange rate of USD vs INR was now decreased, they would want customer to get frustated and cancel the old transaction because old transaction was booked at a higher rate. 

Even though I wasn't comfortable sharing my bank statement which had my balance details, etc ... .I provided it to them and they again acknowledged that the document is ENOUGH to process the transaction. I also provided routing numbers on email.

12. Wasted so many days already and these guys were not working with any of the options so I asked them to refund money. I also logged my feedback on their XXXX page.

13. On " XX/XX/2019 '' they confirmed that refund is initiated and I should receive money in 24 to 36 HOURS.

14. I sent them reminders when amount was not received and asked for transaction proof.

15. They kept responding that 'concerned team ' will get back to me with transaction details and receipt information but even after 4-5 biz days they were NOT able to provide that.

16. I again left feedback on facebook page and got an email response that transaction was declined because account number, etc details were NOT correct.

17. They asked to confirm if my account is active, and asked AGAIN for the bank statement. I responded yes it is active and told them to read emails because statement was already provided.

Sir/Ma'am This is utterly frustating. They have my account number from my bank statement. They NEVER gave me a proof that they 'actually ' initiated refund to my account. They again and again asked for bank statements and other information but never helped when I asked the same from them. I am going in circles. There is no responsible person or escalation matrix to deal with this situation. All they have is a standard customer service email. They are literally testing customer 's patience and I doubt if they are utilizing my money probably for their own benefits. Please visit their XXXX   page to see how many customers are complainting daily and most are frustated as the solution is not provided for weeks.

We transfer money to our home country because we need it urgently for some purpose like if someone in family is sick and is in need of money, etc and these guys are literally playing with customer 's sentiments.

I would urge you to please look into this matter on priority and if possible, lodge a complaint with their leadership ( about the way their customer service agents are handling customers ). This should not be acceptable.

I am attaching email screenshots for your kind reference. Screenshots are in order from XX/XX/XXXX till XXXX ( gives an idea of how the communication has been going on between both parties and to let you know that I tried my best to follow-up with InstaRem before logging a complaint with you ). 

Thank you! 

Best Regards '

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation