Consumer complaint received 2025-01-04 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Money was not available when promised — 
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I'll try to be brief but not leave out what I think are important details... 
XXXX XXXX, XXXX, at XXXX, I sent a Zelle payment to myself, to an account where I have previously sent and received zelle payments. Both accounts are registered with banks, the sending bank being XXXX and the receiver was XXXX. All payments have always been within minutes. 

The Zelle receipt showed the transaction as successful, however soon after I received an email from XXXX stating, " Just confirming your payment to XXXX /// We'll take the money from your account today, and we'll email you if we have any trouble processing your payment. 
If your contact is already registered for Zelle, they'll get the money you sent within XXXX business days. '' This was strange as it has always been within minutes in the past, every time. I checked and they payment hadn't actually been sent yet. However, I was told that it was, but I canceled it. I never received a notification from XXXX to accept a Zelle. 

I gave the transaction until midnight to complete, it didn't, and I ultimately cancelled the transaction. I checked my bank ; the money was not back in the account following the cancelled Zelle. 

I then received an email from XXXX stating, " Just confirming that you stopped the payment to XXXX We're returning the money to you. You should see the money in your account ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Investor Checking, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) within the next two or three business days. '' I assumed it would be returned immediately, and was confused, so I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, during the daytime. Their reasoning was something relating to the Zelle and XXXX, and Zelle would need to complete the transaction, and when asked, " when will it be deposited to my account '' - I was told " Thursday, due to the holiday ''. 

Fair enough. On Thursday XXXX XXXX, XXXX, it still was not deposited. XXXX XXXX, I called XXXX again and was told that it " would be returned on Friday, due to the holiday ''. I reminded the Rep. that Thursday was indeed day XXXX of their XXXX business day policy. The Rep told me, " The transaction date was the XXXX, so Friday is actually the XXXX day. '' I asked the Rep. what happened to XXXX XXXX, the date my Zelle payment shows it was initiated, and was told that the " XXXX didn't count as a day ''. 

Today, the XXXX XXXX, I expected the money to be in my account. But guess what? It wasn't. I waited all day and at XXXX I decided to call XXXX XXXX. Today I was told that, " the payment is scheduled to be deposited Monday, due to the holiday ''. At this point I feel like I'm in an insane asylum. 

I expressed that no matter how you slice it, no matter how sly someone gets with the calendar, that today is in fact, the XXXX day at the the very LEAST of their 2-3 business day policy. I was told that there was nothing that they could do, it's on XXXX to release the funds to my account, and it's scheduled for Monday XXXX XXXX. 

I asked for Zelle 's number so I could speak to someone about this, I called, and later found out I was given the generic number that has nothing to do with Zelle linked to banks. The Zelle XXXX told me I need to contact my bank. 

I decided to contact XXXX through their chat support on their website. This XXXX chat rep ultimately gave me more information than anyone else. The important parts of the chat are below. 

" " XXXX " XXXX XXXX  Got it, thanks *****, so I see the {$450.00} transfer on XX/XX/XXXX, I see it was stopped, the credit was supposed to be done today XX/XX/XXXX but on our end it failed for some reason. I do see it reinitiated and scheduled to be credited back to the account on XX/XX/XXXX. '' XXXX XXXX XXXX  why can't it be reinitiated for today? that doesn't make sense XXXX " Again I apologize here, it was originally scheduled for today, but the system shows it failed. Its rescheduled to be credited back to the account Monday XXXX '' XXXX XXXX XXXX  but banking hours are still active? Why not put it in my account now? 
XXXX XXXX XXXX  Thank you for holding ****. I heard back from our Bank team. In reviewing the original credit that was scheduled for today. They were unable to see why it failed and did not got through. They explained it may have been a server issue between the sender and receiver. However since the credit was reinitiated again its scheduled to be credited back to the account on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. Again we apologize that the transfer was not credited today. Since the transfer as been initiated we can not expedited the funds to come in early and must let the zelle system run its course as the transfer is already in process. 

They should have the power to push my refund through today considering it was still banking hours. Not to mention, XXXX 's banking is XXXX and I assume Zelle is as well since they process payments on weekends, afterhours and any time in between. 

Admitting to me that I was supposed to get a refund today, however, their system must of had an error processing my payment - then not processing the payment after I questioned them about the refund, telling me there is nothing that can be done, and they re-initiated the refund to process 3 days later than when I was supposed to receive it, is just bonkers. 

I am pretty sure this breaks their own terms and conditions and may be stepping on banking violations.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation