Consumer complaint received 2022-06-18
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: WESTERN UNION COMPANY, THE (SC)

Filing complaint, false advertisement by Western Union I am a regular Western Union customer, routinely sending money from my XXXX XXXX  account to my family in XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). 

On XX/XX/2022 I initiated a transfer of US {$300.00} which incurred a fee of US {$1.00}. The XXXX is XXXX XXXX XXXX. This was a for a transfer funded by direct withdrawal from my XXXX XXXX XXXX  account for payment of XXXX Colombian pesos to the XXXX XXXX  account of my step-daughter. 

Upon beginning the transaction, the Western Union web page prominently states the transfer time is 0-4 days with a footnote on the bank-to-bank link that reads : " 1 Money transfers are available in minutes when sending money to XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX available will be displayed on receipt for international transfers over $ XXXX.Service and funds may be delayed or unavailable depending on certain factors including the Service selected, the selection of delayed delivery options, special terms applicable to each Service, amount sent, destination country, currency availability, regulatory issues, consumer protection issues, identification requirements, delivery restrictions, agent location hours, and differences in time zones ( collectively, " Restrictions '' ). Additional restrictions may apply ; see our terms and conditions for details. '' Only upon completing the transaction the receipt states the transfer time is 10 days, for payment to her account on XX/XX/2022. 

This is simply false advertising of the Western Union service, promising 0-4 days with a footnote that even states transfers to XXXX accounts are available " in minutes ''. 

In reality this is essentially a bait and switch. Same day service is still available but the consumer must then pay a higher fee of US {$4.00} and the recipient receives a lower payout of XXXX Colombian pesos ( 93.8 % of the available payout promised for bank-to-bank transfers. 


I request to submit a formal complaint. I request that the CFPB 's office engage Western Union to ensure that any review holds or other foreseeable delays are prominently presented to the consumer before completing transactions with Western Union. 

I request that consumers who are thus induced to pay the higher fee and accept lower payouts to complete a transaction be made whole. Western Union is profiting significantly by such inducements. 

I attempted, unsuccessfully, to resolve this matter directly with Western Union by chatting with their representative. He stated the delay was due to the transaction being " under review by our team ''. Whether a transaction would be placed under review could have been revealed prior to finalizing the transaction but it was not. 


Plainly, Western Union was able within a fraction of a second to determine that the advertised 0-4 days transfer time would not be realized. There is no reason they could not have informed me of this prior to finalizing the transfer. 

The only options I have at this point are to change the delivery method which incurs a higher fee and comes with a lower payout OR to cancel the transfer in which case my bank may maintain a hold on funds for several days. This is abusive on the part of Western Union. Please take enforcement action.