Consumer complaint received 2024-03-22
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: TransferWise Ltd (NV)

My paycheck of {$2100.00} was supposed to be deposited into my Wise checking account on Friday XX/XX/XXXX. When I checked my account via the Wise app on the evening of Monday XX/XX/XXXX, it said that the transaction had been cancelled. 
I spoke with Wise customer support for the first time via telephone on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX, and the agent told me that the transaction was cancelled because the sender ( my employer ) did not provide the necessary information to complete the transfer. She assured me that an email had been sent to the sender ( my employer ) requesting said information, and because they did not respond within XXXX hours, the payment was cancelled. I then contacted the XXXX department at my company, who told me that they never received an email and asked what email address the outreach from Wise was sent to. 

Thus, I contacted Wise customer support via telephone again on Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX to communicate that my employer never received an email and ask what email address it was sent to. This time, I spoke with a different agent who told me that the information I previously received from Wise during the last call was incorrect -- nothing was sent to my employer and it was not a lack of information on the sender ( employer ) end that caused the issue. Instead, he said it was a technical issue on Wise 's end that caused the problem, and nothing else needed to be done by myself or my employer. He provided an estimated timeline of XXXX business days for when I would receive my paycheck deposit. 

On Thursday XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Wise XXXX that contradicted what the second Wise agent had told me on the phone. Here is what the email said : " Thank you for reaching out. I understand you have been experiencing issues with providing the requested information to receive a payment. In order for our team to investigate the documents provided, could you set up or fund a transfer? Once this has been set up, you should be able to provide the requested documents. Once we verify you, you should be able to receive incoming payments. '' ( Note : I have had a Wise checking account for several years -- since 2020, I believe -- and I have had paychecks deposited into my account without issue for over a year now. ) I replied in the same email thread expressing my concern that I am continually being told conflicting information by different Wise Support agents. I asked why an investigation is being done, why I was not notified of said investigation or of my paycheck deposit being cancelled, and what documents they are referring to. 
None of my questions were answered. Instead, the response form Wise simply repeated much of the exact same script used in the previous email they sent and again insisted that I set up or fund a transfer before I can verify my account. I, for the second time, expressed my concern at the lack of transparency and the avoidance of answering my questions. Here is the response from Wise this morning, Friday XX/XX/XXXX : " As far as I can see, we needed information from you but a technical issue prevented you from receiving our email about the request. I can not confirm what information was needed as I have mentioned, there was a technical issue. However, to get to the bottom of this -- we kindly ask that you set up or fund another transfer so the flow can be triggered again. This flow should reveal what was initially requested from you. '' I then contacted Wise customer support via phone instead, hoping that would provide clarity. I spoke to a different agent this time, who at first told me that the payment was cancelled was due to information not being provided, but also said that despite the payment being cancelled, the money has not been refunded to the sender ( my employer ) because they did not provide the necessary details for a refund to be issued. He advised that I contact my XXXX department and have them send the proper information to Wise. This immediately sounded not only incorrect but suspicious to me -- I asked why a cancelled payment was not automatically returned to the sender, and if the money is not in my account or returned to my employer, where is the money? I was put on hold while the agent investigated further. When he came back, the story completely changed and he now said that it was a technical issue on Wise 's end that caused the payment cancellation in the first place, not a lack of information, so there is no need to contact my employer. I expressed serious concern about the ongoing inconsistencies in the explanation I'm being provided. I again asked for more information on what the technical issue was, where the money is currently, and when I will receive my paycheck. The Wise agent was not able to answer any of those questions. He could only say that their team is going to investigate, and I will receive notice via email when the payment has been completed. I asked several times to speak to a superior, and I was told there are none on duty. I asked for a phone number to speak to the technical team, since the customer support team apparently does not have any information on technical issues, and I was told there is none available. 

Today being Friday XX/XX/XXXX, my paycheck is now a week late. Despite XXXX phone calls and multiple emails back and forth with the Wise XXXX team, I have received no real answer as to why my paycheck deposit payment was cancelled, what is being done/needs to be done to fix it, or a timeline for when I will receive it. The constantly changing story on their end, the lack of responses to my questions, and the insistency that I make a transfer to solve the problem, all seem very suspicious, unprofessional, and untrustworthy of a banking institution. 
Due to the lack of transparency, I am now quite concerned that my paycheck of {$2100.00} has somehow disappeared at the hands of Wise and I will not receive it.