Consumer complaint received 2020-06-05
Company: MONEYGRAM PAYMENT SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE INC
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MD XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2020 CEO/Director Money Gram Payment Systems, Inc XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX MN XXXX To Whom It May Concern RE : MONEY TRANSFER REFERENCE NUMBER XXXX I am very angry and upset to say the least for many reasons. I have done two writings at your website and officially writing this letter hoping to hear from someone since to make matters worse there is no avenue for meeting to speak to a person in higher management or director of money gram face-to-face in Maryland where i live since the headquarters of Money gram is in Minneapolis. 
I have called customer service multiple times and all i have gotten is we will have to investigate and get back to you and may take several months. 
For your information in addition to this, i am sending a formal complaint in writing also to consumer rights, consumer financial protection bureau and Maryland XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
These bad experiences should stop and no other consumer should be made to experience this type of behavior from money gram or any other such financial establishments who promise to transfer securely and safely money paid to them to a designated receiver at a fee. 
How can such a promise made by money gram to consumers not kept and money gram not held accountable but rather put the responsibility on the consumer who trusted money gram for its promise of safe and secure transfers. This in itself can imply defrauding of consumers by money gram even if that is not what money gram intends because come to find out i realize there is no measures or system in place by which Money Gram is able to monitor and account for every phase of money transfer transactions up to its point of delivery such that Money Gram is able to tell exactly where and who or which agent or representative disbursed the money transferred and documents showing proof of the identity of the receiver which can be traced to. 
I feel defrauded by Money Gram even if that is not their intention. This is the experience i just had transferring money using the services of Money Gram. On Saturday XX/XX/2020 i paid {$500.00} ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) to money gram for transfer to a relative  in XXXX. This was one of the few occasions i have had to send money using money gram and the receiver who is a close relative of mine has been able to receive money transferred using money gram in the past with no problems. So as always i sent him the reference number and he went with his ID and details required to money gram agent in XXXX to try and get the money transferred but since Monday XX/XX/2020 he has kept going and always being told by the money gram agents in XXXX they can not complete the transaction and are unable to access the money so can not pay money to him. As i write today XX/XX/2020, the money has still not been paid to my relative who is the designated receiver. The money gram financial institution or agent in XXXX advised my designated receiver that there must be a problem with the transaction and the problem must be from Money Gram in USA and he should have the sender contact Money Gram USA and  have transaction canceled and resent. 
This is where i get very angry, upset and feel defrauded by money gram. i called money gram customer service ( XXXX ) right away and have been calling since Monday XX/XX/2020 to make them aware of the problem with the transaction and made them aware the designated receiver has not been able to receive the money ( {$500.00} ) i paid to money gram. They got the reference number of the transaction and came back to tell me the system shows the money has been received. This is where there exists a problem. Because it is a fact that my designated receiver has not been able to receive the money i sent through money gram and money gram on the other hand is telling me the money has been received. 
I smell fraud here and i know in today 's world, hacking, identity theft etc can occur and for that reason there should be a system in place to safe guard money transfers and the onus is on money gram Payment systems Inc who have taken on the task as a business to provide such a service at a fee with the promise of safe and secure money transfers. Also, who is the onus on to proof that the money has been sent to the designated receiver. The onus is on money gram and money gram should be able to show when, where, which money gram agent disbursed the money and show documentation of the identity of the person the money was paid to. 
Up to today XXXX with all the calls made to customer service Money Gram, they have not been able to confirm exactly where in XXXX If money really got to XXXX, which money gram agent disbursed the money and show documentation of the identity of the person the money was paid to. All they keep telling me is the money has been received. 
That can mean anything. Any ones guess could be as good as my guess. Possibilities could include ; Money accessed along the way at any point of the transfer and being documented as has been received. 
This is not acceptable and a failure of the money gram system and promise. I think consumers deserve a better service than this and money gram may have to stop promising safe and secure money transfers since that seems not to be always true and consumers and the public should be made aware of this risk and failure of the system and not count on any safe and secure transfers by money gram. 
I am going to make this a mission of mine because i will not want anybody else to go through this type of experience. 
Also just as banks, credit card companies, etc, who take peoples monies for business, guarantee to consumers to be responsible for any liabilities associated with failures of their system, Money Gram Payment systems Inc should be responsible for monies paid to  them to transfer which do not get to the designated receiver period. If Money gram claim money has been received as I am being told, the onus is on Money Gram to show documentation of proof of the ID of receiver and exact money gram place and Money Gram agent money was disbursed otherwise Money gram should refund the money no matter what. 
That assurance is needed to foster consumer trust in Money gram and also will make money gram make sure it has a system that is truly safe and secure. Otherwise, Money gram will be taking consumers for granted and for a ride. 
This is the exact thing I am experiencing right now and do expect a quick attention to my case and a full refund of my money of {$500.00} ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) without fail. 
Thank you for your cooperation and quick attention to this very serious matter Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Cell # : XXXX Cc : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Maryland XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief