Consumer complaint received 2021-01-31
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: MONEYGRAM PAYMENT SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE INC (VA)

Summary : Date : XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX CST ; Amount sent from US to XXXX : {$1000.00} USD and service fee {$5.00} ; Status : Has not received ; Receiver bank, XXXX  , XXXX, XXXX : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX has never received the amount of {$1000.00} for the receiver account ; Method of payment : MoneyGram account deposit. 
Details : I used MoneyGram account deposit service ( via MoneyGram.com ) to provide a direct deposit of {$1000.00} USD from the United States to XXXX to my beneficiary on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX CST -- via beneficiarys account and swift code number. As of today ( XXXX XX/XX/XXXX as of writing ), my beneficiary still has not received a direct deposit of {$1000.00} USD. Weeks and months went by my beneficiary still has not received the funds. I called MoneyGram and they open a new case, CRM<redacted>. It took MoneyGram almost 90 days, to respond back on XX/XX/XXXX. MoneyGram stated the agent confirmed the money was paid, and they closed the case. MoneyGram respond was so vague, that they did not provide who, what, when, why, where, and how. My beneficiary was not able trace which bank in her area she should go to in order to claim a loss of {$1000.00} USD associates with the reference no <redacted>. 

I have been providing all the supported documentation ( e.g., beneficiary banking statement, receiver confirmation letter ) to MoneyGram and they acted like nothing ever happened and they could not do anything about it, they suggested my beneficiary should speak to her bank, XXXX, to resolve this issue. My beneficiary went to her bank, XXXX, and they provided a confirmation letter that they did not received a fund through the 8-digit code, <redacted>. XXXX has not yet paid at the counter for the receiving code <redacted> and has not credited the amount of {$1000.00} USD ( XXXX VND ) from XXXX XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX, XXXX to the receiver account number <redacted>. 

I have been spending so many hours to call and email MoneyGram, but they were not able to resolve this matter. MoneyGram claimed that the transaction was previously successfully deposited to the receivers account on the XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and on the XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. But the receiver bank statement does not have a deposit amount of {$1000.00} USD. 

As mentioned above, MoneyGram suggested the receiver should investigate this matter. The receiver and I had already authorized MoneyGram and XXXX to investigate this lost money. I instructed XXXX to find out this lost money ; on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX ( GMT +7 ), XXXX  reached out to MoneyGram to provide the details that Sacombank has not received the fund or paid the amount of {$1000.00} USD to my beneficiary, but MoneyGram refused to speak to XXXX . MoneyGram suggested that sender should investigated this matter. MoneyGram was not being helpful to investigate this matter they kept providing the wrong suggestions/confusions to the senders and receiver bank in order to cover up their fatal flaws. I suggested to do three ways call over the phone, but MoneyGram refused to work with a third party per their policy. I have been trying my best to have both banks working together to resolve this matter. MoneyGram needs to stop pointing fingers and start to get your act together to work with a third party to remediate this situation, my beneficiary and I had already authorized you to conduct a research on this matter. My bank, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, is no longer able to get the lost money back because it has been over 90 days. I am escalating Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and public for help. 

I am asking MoneyGram to refund {$1000.00} USD back to my debit card so I can move on with my life. I will never use MoneyGram account deposit anymore. MoneyGram had cause so much of my downtime, lost of sleep and appetite. MoneyGram needs to relax on their policy and allow up 12 months instead of 90 days rule ( e.g., if the fund is not claimed at a bank transactional office within 90 days then the money may not be recoverable ). MoneyGram took almost 90 days to investigate a case and it took my bank almost four months to investigate a case, therefore you would need to relax on this rule. Please stop banning my MoneyGram online account for no reasons -- I did not do anything wrong.