Consumer complaint received 2020-06-12
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Money order
Issue: Unexpected or other fees — 
Company: MONEYGRAM PAYMENT SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE INC (OR)

Following is a copy of an email I received and the response I sent to MoneyGram about an issue I have with their business practices : XX/XX/XXXX We will need further information to proceed with your request. Please reply to this email or log on to www.moneygram.com/replacement access Check Your Replacement Status and attach a copy of the money order purchaser stub/receipt or a copy of the original money order. 


*If we do not receive the requested information within 30 days we will consider this case closed. 


Sincerely, Consumer Research Here is MY RESPONSE and explanation of complaint : I am prepared to file a complaint against MoneyGram with the Consumer Protection Agency, the XXXX XXXX XXXX, the Oregon Attorney General 's Office, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and any other organization that investigates consumer complaints. This company 's business practices are unacceptable and must surely be considered predatory and fraudulent on some level. 

I purchased a {$100.00} MoneyGram money order from Walmart in XXXX, Oregon, on XX/XX/XXXX. I didn't use it for the intended purpose, and subsequently deposited it at my financial institution on XX/XX/XXXX. MoneyGram put a stop payment order on it as stale-dated and returned it to my credit union stamped with a notice that it was now valid for only {$61.00}. It says " PAYMENT STOPPED-STALE ITEM Service Charge Contract on Back Resubmit for Only {$61.00}. '' I attempted to cash it for the {$61.00} value at my credit union, and fortunately they called MoneyGram for me to attempt to identify if it would be considered valid. Although it was not clear from the several conversations back and forth with MoneyGram representatives just how to handle the returned money order, ultimately I was given the understanding that the only option was for me to request a replacement money order at the online website, which is exactly what I have now done, to the tune of an additional {$18.00} fee for a 'replacement ' money order. I was charged a {$10.00} Returned Check fee by my credit union. Taking into consideration the {$3.00} per month 'Service Charge ' retroactive to the original purchase date equating to {$39.00}, the {$18.00} 'replacement fee, ' the {$10.00} returned check fee, this fiasco has so far cost me {$67.00}, and a whole lot of frustration. Now clearly, this may not seem like a huge amount of money, but the fact is that I gave my cash to your financial institution, and you have unfairly kept a greater portion of it for no valid return whatsoever. 

If I don't receive at the very least the measly {$43.00} balance of this originally purchased {$100.00} money order in short order, I intend to file a complaint against this company with every institution and organization I can locate that has oversight of any business or institution that offers financial services in the United States. This ripoff that your company is perpetrating on its customers can not possibly be a legal and accepted practice in the industry. 

Every single article I've been able to research regarding money orders explicitly states that they do not expire. However, you have, in essence, found a way to acquire the balance of a legitimately purchased money order and not return the balance of it to the customer, even though there is no further monetary cost to you after the initial purchase and issuance until it is cashed. You have simply found an underhanded and sleazy method to keep your customers ' money in a trumped up manner masquerading as 'service fees. ' A quick XXXX search turns up a multitude of consumer complaints about this company 's consumer practices. What a ripoff - this needs to stop. 

I will be sending a printed copy of this email to the company headquarters at : MoneyGram International MoneyGram XXXX XXXX of the President XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Floor XXXX TX XXXX Attn : XXXX XXXX I have sent that letter to XXXX XXXX and following up with a copy and complaint to you.