Consumer complaint received 2017-03-28
Product: Money transfers — International money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE (FL)

I did a wire transfer Money-In-Minutes to XXXX. I requested to speak with the Manager at the Western Union location to ensure there would n't be any problems. I got the Assistant Manager who processed the transaction herself. She assured me as did the WU Rep on the phone that the Receiver only needed valid identification to pick-up the funds. I was told the funds would be ready for pick-up within 20 minutes. Upon arriving at the WU location the Receiver was told the funds were not available, she would have to come back later. She return only to be told again " later '', then she was told she would have to return the following day because WU was out of money ( how is that even possible ). Already a breach of contract, we paid for money-in-minutes, assured the funds would be available within 20 minutes. Customer Service said the funds were pick-up/paid out, which was not true. The Receiver was at the location, they were refusing to give her the money. Then I was told the funds were available for pick-up, but they were still refusing to give her the money with no explanation. Told the Receiver she would have to travel to the XXXX to get the money, then she needed a three different letters, then cedula for sender, tax returns, XXXX, XXXX, Driver 's License, Paystubs, Letter from Employer on Company letter or they would not release the funds. All of this information they wanted to be sent to a XXXX ( open, unsecured computers, available to everyone ). WU refused to accept the documents at their locations, said it must be sent to this XXXX at the e-mail address they provided. Took 4 days for them to release the funds. The story changed with each Rep, including, releasing only $ XXXX or the {$10000.00} then $ XXXX then $ XXXX, etc. I filed the case with the Courts which left me even more uneasy and concern. It 's clear WU will not be held accountable and could n't care less about Consumers for making sure these incidents do n't continue to happen or the fact that they out Consumers at risk, does not provide the Service for which they paid, that fact that each representative has a totally different story despite saying they were following regulations which they can not provide or disclosure prior to putting consumers in this situation. I would encourage everyone to still go to court, that way it will be on record and hopefully they will someday decide to provide training, be transparent with their consumers, do n't only take people 's money but actually provide the service they 're paid for. WU is a clear example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. We 've had to take 4 days off work to run around and be on the phone with Western Union only to be " We ca n't help you '', meaning Consumers are on your own. They already have your money at this point, so they could n't care less about what you 're going through or the fact that the funds were to be pick-up within 20 minutes not 4 days and then say " you do n't know who you 're up against, we 're a giant '' as " no one reads the fine prints '', well Western Union, after 166 years you know consumers do n't read the fine print then why put it in fine print. It shows you 're intentionally misleading the public and deceiving consumers. You are a giant, you should know better and be held accountable for your actions. Instead of bullying, railroading, abusing and taking advantage of consumers, you would use this to improve your service, provide training, rectify situations like this so it does n't continue to happen. WU uses semantics like we have Western Union , Inc., Western Union Inc., Western Union, LLC and Western Union, LLC. Then there 's Western Union but it should be Western Union Financial Services, the letter head they 're declaring this on shows Western Union NOT Western Union Financial Services , Inc. Who is there to protect Consumers from these practices? Who will hold them accountable?