Consumer complaint received 2016-07-21
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE
State: WA
Product: Money transfers
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Other transaction issues

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2016, I used my Western Union account online to send my wife some money in XXXX. Since this was the XXXX time I sent her money I used to " Resend '' option which had which had the stored information for my wife. I received an email confirming my transaction and I noticed at that time that instead of sending my money to XXXX as I had done the XXXX previous months, Western Union sent it to the USA. I called them immediately and made them aware of the mistake. They apologized, gave me a XXXX % discount for transfer fees on my next transaction and I was told the transaction was cancelled and that within 7-10 business days the money would be back in my account and that I would receive an email shortly confirming the cancelled transaction. When I did n't receive a " Confirmation email '' of the " transaction cancellation '', I called Western Union again. This was XXXX XXXX. Once again, I was told the transaction was cancelled and that an email was sent to me. They told me they would resend it when I told them I had not received it as of yet. I never received the email. In between this time, I called my bank on XXXX XXXX and explained the situation. At that time, Western Union had not taken any money out of my account, and my bank, given the situation, removed the hold and put the money back into my account. On XXXX XXXX, even though I was told my transaction was cancelled, Western Union removed the money from my account. I called them immediately when I received the notification ( XXXX XXXX ). Once again, I was told my transaction was cancelled, and the reason my money was removed was because of a difficulty Western Union was having with a 3rd party vendor. This time I asked to speak to a supervisor. She told me my transaction was cancelled and that they were working on my situation. My call was then cut off, I called back and spoke to another supervisor and this one set up a 3-way conversation with my bank explaining to them the money was taken out in error and that it should be replaced. Unfortunately, this was a Saturday and an " after hours '' person took the call. After speaking with the WU Supervisor, she told me she would submit the information to the bank and that I should follow-up on Monday, XXXX XXXX. When I called the bank, I was told Western Union had to put the money back into my account. I called Western Union again, this is now XXXX XXXX and spoke with another supervisor. She explained the same thing about my account being cancelled, and that she was expediting my complaint and I was to give her 48 hours to work on it. I asked what country ... .XXXX ... .and I asked for her name and contact number. I was to dial the same XXXX number and ask for XXXX at # XXXX. I called to speak with her again today, and they have my phone number in their system and when I 'm asked if I want to speak about the transaction on XXXX XXXX, and I answer yes and ask for customer service, I get another recorded message and they hang up on me. I used my business phone and got through to an automated message that told me the money was " Not available for pickup '' for my transaction. I called back again and asked to speak with " XXXX '' the supervisor I spoke with on the XXXX. This is now XXXX XXXX. Of course, they could not connect me with her, so I spoke with another supervisor who told me he would follow up on my transaction. His name was XXXX # XXXX. Bottom line, they do n't know when my transaction will be processed and my money returned to my account. This seemed to me to be a simple error that could easily be corrected, yet this is what I 'm having to deal.with. I also filed a complaint with the XXXX on XXXX XXXX and they have not responded to that complaint. I 'm being given the " run-around '' and I 'm tired of it. I do n't believe they have any intention of giving me my money back.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation