Consumer complaint received 2023-11-28
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE
State: IN
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
Ref : XXXX Western Union replied on XX/XX/2023 as below : Western Union relies on the information provided by the sender and would have no way to know that any of the information provided was no longer correct. Prior to completing the transaction, Western Union provided you with a Pre-Disclosure Statement ( PDS ) that listed the destination, receiver 's name, amount to be paid, fee, the amount your receiver will get in local currency, date of availability and the exchange rate at the time of sending the money transfer. By funding the money transfer, you are accepting the terms presented on the PDS. 

My concern : 1. Who reads the tiny fine print before making a transaction. The Sender trusts the service provider ( here being Western Union ) and makes the transaction, with an intention of making the funds available to the receiver at the earliest. 
2. If WU states that they rely on the information provided, why did WU not take correct steps and retrieve the transaction when I raised a concern within 2 days on non-receipt of the funds by the mentioned beneficiary? 
3. In this process, does WU authorize the transaction themselves or they have a banking partner in the receiving country? If the banking partner found the name mismatch against the account number, why did the banking partner not hold the transaction for even a single error? Who should be held accountable for this ignorance/ oversighting? 
4. I agree there was an error in typing 1 digit incorrect. But WU reply ( dated XX/XX/2023 ) states that they do not have a process in their app/portal to retrieve information before hitting the SEND button to verify if the information is correct or not. So, if they agree there is a flaw in their system, why shall I bear the loss for a system error? 

Summed up : My mistake : - Typo of 1 digit. But, I tried to verify the information before hitting the SEND button, but the Account details were masked and WU site does not have the option to verify the full account information of the beneficiary. 

WU mistake : - 1 ) Their app/portal do not have the option of verifying the information before hitting the SEND button. 
2 ) If the beneficiary name, bank location and account number is a mismatch, why was the transaction not HELD and verified back with me before transferring the funds?

3 ) Why did WU not take immediate action when I called WU within 2 days of not receipt of funds by the beneficiary by recalling the funds sensing my repeated calls? Why were the representatives not proactive enough to ask for more information to resolve my complain immediately, instead they kept on saying the funds were released and they can not provide more information. Why can not provide more information when it's my money?

4 ) If WU has a bank partner who authorizes the transaction, the payment authorizer also ignored/ overlooked the details of the transaction. Had that person being vigilant enough, this blunder wouldn't have happened. 

Sir, Madam, my only urge is the dispute resolution authority should settle my claim and process the full refund at the earliest.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation