Consumer complaint received 2015-07-07
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE
State: NJ
Product: Money transfers
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Other transaction issues

Complaint:
I made a payment of {$1200.00} via Western Union. I was charged a fee of {$93.00} to make a payment from the XXXX to XXXX. {$1300.00} was the total, including the transfer fee that Western Union charges. This was on XX/XX/XXXX. I am writing this on XX/XX/XXXX. Almost a year later. 

The person I was making the payment to could not pick up the funds that day, and we decided it was best to cancel and complete via another avenue given that my client was traveling and would not be in that XXXX for long and Western Unions tend to be closed early over there. Honestly, it just did not work out that day. 

Since I made the payment in CASH, and I have dealt with Western Union before ( long time customer ), I thought getting a refund on the same day, back from the agent where I had made my CASH payment, would have been a trivial thing. For I have done exactly the same before. 

The first thing I am told is that the {$93.00} would not be refunded to me. Which I found ridiculous in itself. Then I was told I would be given a check, because that the agent location did not have {$1200.00}. Even at this point, I reasoned and tried to look at it positively. I was given XXXX checks, signed by western union. XXXX of them was for {$1000.00} and the XXXX one was for {$270.00}. XXXX checks, I was told, because the largest they can write checks for is $ XXXXAfter speaking with the cash agent location, having them call WU, and WU kept saying to call back between 24-48hrs because there check department was independent from their customer service. Which makes no sense. the agent location by my house called them weekly and weekly they said they would call us back with a resolution. 

Every single time I 've called, i 've had to first give my MTCN number, which then the customer service rep says is not in the system..I then have to explain to them it was a refund that was given and withdrawn from my account, after maybe XXXX minutes of them trying to help, I get transferred, exactly the same thing happens, they have NO CLUE where to find the transaction, then I get transferred to someone else. which at this point they find the transaction, and open a new investigation and am told that I would be called back in XXXX hrs. I always tell them I already had an investigation and nobody has called. At which point they go on to open a new XXXX anyway because they have no way of helping me either. so every time I call, I spend XXXX mins if i 'm lucky .... just to get to someone who finds the case on their computer, and reopens an " investigation ''. Nobody ever called me back. I 've been given other refunds for other transactions, but I 've never been contacted by western union regarding this XXXX particular refund. Over XXXX calls7 months ago I thought the amount of time I was spending trying to resolve this matter was reaching the total amount I was owed anyway. And I reasoned that Western Union, with due time.. actually complete their " investigation '' and refund me my money. However almost a year later, and I have lost all hope. I will now take the appropriate steps to recovering my money, even if that means bringing Western Union to a small claims court because a XXXX later. this is just complete wreck of their moral compass for conducting business. 

So at this point, I 've lost the {$93.00} ( wu fee ) + the {$24.00} ( bank fee ) + {$1200.00} ( attempted money transfer which I never saw again ), a grand total of {$1300.00}. That number is still not even correct because it fails to factor in a year of un-accounted accumulated compounded interest because this whole time Western Union has held on to my funds, has invested, and paid to investor time and time again, but has failed to address the money it owes to me. Western Union has the ability to make a payment from XXXX part of world to another in a few seconds, I still do n't understand why it has taken this long for money to be refunded.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation