Consumer complaint received 2016-05-19
Product: Money transfers — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction issues — 
Company: MONEYGRAM PAYMENT SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE INC (TX)

I live in XXXX, Texas. Some unfortunate circumstances yielded itself to where I had to financially assist a relative in XXXX, Texas. On XXXX XXXX, 2016, I went to my financial institution, withdrew {$2500.00} cash. I attempted to deposit the money into the recipient 's bank account, but that financial institution was not able to facilitate that transfer/transaction. I then decided to transfer the monies via MoneyGram, so took my money to a nearby Walmart XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX. XXXX, ( XXXX # XXXX ) because they are agents for Money Gram. I went to the customer service desk, filled out the necessary paperwork to send my relative the money. This process did n't take long at all, maybe about XXXX minutes. She informed me that because the amount that I was sending, instead of the normal fee of {$11.00} to transfer the money, I would have to pay the fee of {$50.00}. I gave her the {$50.00} to send, then after I filled out the paperwork, the Walmart Customer Service Agent entered in the information and produced a receipt for me to keep for my records. She then informed me that it should take no more than 1/2 hour for the funds to be available for the recipient. One hour later, my relative ( the recipient ) called me and told me that she was informed from the Money Gram Agent at their Walmart in XXXX, Texas, that the sender ( I ) am to call Money Gram for verification purposes and to clear the transmittal of funds to the intended recipient. I immediately called the number given ( XXXX ) and after going through several prompts to reach a MoneyGram CSR, it was extremely difficult understanding the rep because of the language/accent barrier. He told me that he could not assist but needed to transfer me to the right department where they would be able to assist. They transferred me and I waited ... and waited ... and waited ... after 35 minutes, I had to hang up and felt that my call was going nowhere. I then called Walmart and asked if there was another number that I could call to release the funds to the recipient. They told us no, and that the previously mentioned number was the only number they had. I called that same number again, and again they insisted that they could not assist and that they would have to transfer me. I again waited ; In the meantime, I had someone else call to see if she could get through. She asked for Management and he said that he could n't assist and it was the same story of " Having to transfer ''. That night we got nowhere. As you can probably imagine, we ALL were frustrated. Both I ( sender ) and my relative ( recipient ). By this time, I was on hold on this particular call for XXXX minutes. I had my friend stay on her lie on hold, and she stayed on hold for XXXX minutes. Trying to get these funds released and calling every number imaginable to rectify the situation took up a major portion of my Saturday evening. I wanted to just get my money back and try another vehicle of transfer, but I could not even get my money back! I called Money Gram Headquarters and all that they said that they could do was log my complaint and forward to the proper department and I should hear back from someone in 6 days. The money that I attempted to send to my relative was needed ASAP, but because they could n't receive it, this debacle caused more of an inconvenience, and even MORE of a financial burden to both parties, and as of today, XXXX/XXXX/2016, MoneyGram STILL has not and wo n't release my money! 
I ask that you please advise and assist me in rectifying this situation.