Consumer complaint received 2023-06-08
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Confusing or missing disclosures

Complaint:
Dear CFPB, Here is an explanation on what happened when I wired money to M & T bank XX/XX/2023 located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NY, XXXX. I wired {$64000.00} to my home country XXXX and sent to XXXX to be received by someone in XXXX. When wiring the money, I showed the bank teller my account number. The bank teller made an error in the last two digits of the receivers account. When the bank teller was doing the paperwork, I asked her if she knew the change in currency from dollars to pesos ; she said she did not know. When I told her the amount I was going to send, she said it was too much money. I told her I really need to send the money as soon as possible due to the closing date of an apartment. I did not realize at the time that she made a mistake. 17 days later, the money had not been transferred. I looked at the paper I was given and the information was incorrect. XX/XX/XXXX, I went to the bank again, and another bank teller fixed the last two numbers of the account number. The new bank teller asked the old bank teller for the paper that was previously made and could not be revealed to me due to the privacy of the bank. The new bank teller said the money had not been transferred due to the error, yet my money is out of my account and not given to the recipient. Neither bank teller understood the issue and couldnt track the money. They gave me the number to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and they as well could not discover the issue or locate the lost money. We called XXXX and neither could they. XXXX would go to XXXX everyday to see if the money had been wired when it had not. After many days passed, I asked my bank to transfer the money back to me as the date of the apartment closing passed. I spent an extra {$5000.00} to extend the closing date of the apartment to no avail as it still was not wired at all. When I asked for the money back, he said there would be an extra {$75.00} fee to send the money back. The next day, another bank teller said that I bought pesos at the bank and I was very confused by this statement as my money is in dollars and I never bought pesos. XXXX is the one that makes the change in currency, not my local bank in New York. I never bought pesos in M & T bank. First, I never even knew where to buy pesos here in New York. The reason I stayed in New York is because I had to stay for a knee XXXX. I was devastated after 45 days and more and still no money has been exchanged to either parties. I feel that there is no priority put on me receiving my money back from the bank. Monday at XXXX, the bank teller told me that they will give back only {$56000.00} from the original {$64000.00} sent. However, the money never arrived in XXXX at all. Why did they give me that money when the money never arrived? Why did they change the pesos to dollars to give me my money back? If I pay in dollars, I should be paid back in dollars. To get the money back, I have to pay {$8000.00}. If the employee of M & T bank spoke spanish, why didnt they tell me the rate of anything. I was not asked to clarify any rate change, or the extra {$8000.00} they would take to get my money back that they never paid in XXXX. They deducted the money without asking me how much they were going to take. If the money is allegedly in XXXX, why did they never get paid? The original bank teller then told me that they sent it through a different company. I believe XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, the bank did not give me any new or valuable information. I am their client that speaks my native language. It is not at all fair that I have to lose {$8000.00} due to negligence and mistake of a bank teller. I received a letter with a number from the bank and they asked me if the money was legal. I told them of course and it was my life savings from working in this country for 18 years in XXXX, as well as compensation checks and XXXX. I have proof of this if necessary. The day I received the {$56000.00}, I began getting messages from other companies and I was really confused as to why. I appreciate any further help and am willing to clarify any misunderstandings. Please help me to receive my {$8000.00} back. 
Thank you.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation