Consumer complaint received 2015-04-09
Product: Money transfers — International money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE (NJ)

I transferred money on XXXX/XXXX/15 by Western Union 's " Money in Minutes '' method, which was not made available to the receiver for almost XXXX weeks. I only got a message from Western Union XXXX WU XXXX today XXXX XXXX/XXXX/15 XXXX that the funds are ready for pickup after several complaints to them ( but it is too late as the matter has been overtaken by events ). 
I have been using WU for over 15 years and have a Gold card ( # XXXX ). I sent {$300.00} on XXXX/XXXX/15 to a high school friend XXXX XXXX, XXXX for an urgent medical matter ; the transfer was done via telephone with my debit card, which I have used many times in the past. I provided my information, set up a test question and my information was verified. At the end of the call, I was given the Money Control Transfer Number ( MTCN ) XXXX and informed that the funds were immediately available for pick up. 
Surprisingly, my friend contacted me on XXXX/XXXX/15, informing me that he was not given the funds at a participating WU bank at the pick up location. I spent about XXXX minutes on the phone on XXXX/XXXX/15 trying to understand why the service I paid for was not rendered and got no sensible answers or any resolution. I spoke with a few reps at WU including, XXXX ( rep id XXXX ), XXXX ( a supervisor ) and XXXX ( in the XXXX Support department ), but my efforts proved futile and circular. 
Amidst the rudeness, impatience and XXXX customer service, what I could decipher from the incoherent explanations from the WU staff was that for some reason further verification was needed and that my phone number was inconsistent/incorrect/unverifiable. This is troubling on many levels : XXXX, verification was already done on XXXX/XXXX/15 when I was provided the MTCN ; XXXX, if it was n't, why was it not done and why wait 5 days until I call to report non performance on their part before they bring that up ; XXXX, I provided my phone number on XXXX/XXXX/15 and they already have it on their system as it is my main number and what I used to make the call on the said date ; XXXX, WU has already debited my account and are in possession of the funds, while refusing to honor the agreement by remitting it to the receiver ; lastly, there was no urgency exhibited by WU 's staff to right a wrong/error as chronicled here. As I was on the phone to WU, the line was " conveniently '' cutoff a XXXX of times and I was passed from XXXX rep to another until I was jaded and moved on to do other important things like my job. 
Even after I reported this matter to WU 's corporate office on XXXX/XXXX/15, there still was no urgency to perform the service that I paid for and for which they were already delinquent. I had to gather another {$300.00} to send through a different money transmitter, while WU dilly-dallied. In the mean time because WU held on to my money illicitly, I incurred bank charges for bounced checks and the supposed receiver incurred late fees ( and immense troubles ) on his end because he was unable to pay the medical bills in a timely manner due to WU 's non performance. At the time of writing, WU is still to return my money ; they claim that they delayed my transaction for compliance reasons. If this is not an egregious breach of trust and contract, I do n't know what is. 
The purpose of sending the funds via WU has been defeated and instead they have given me more pain than gain in the transaction. Please assist in helping me obtain some accountability.