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Magister
October 20, 2006 1:30 PM
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Lesson learned. Avoid guys that can't support themselves. He can afford an international trip but can't even feed himself?

Why didn't you just transfer funds to his account instead of using the ghetto Western Union? Assuming he isn't just the lowest of trash, he should at least have a bank account. You should be able to just transfer money from your account to his right?

I thought Western Union was only used to send bond money.

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badcustomer
October 20, 2006 4:01 PM
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There must have been a great deal recently on high horses, since everyone around here seems to have one. Look, sometimes there are circumstances that lead to less than ideal situations. This happens to everyone. I don't know anyone that hasn't at least dealt with some kind of deadbeat ex, shady landlord, or dubious credit card company. These are the pitfalls of the social contract. Some bad people try to game the system and some good people don't have the experience or good sense to avoid being taken advantage of.

I think the writer of the above letter didn't write in to this site to get told what a naive dope she is by the collective consumerist commenting establishment. I'm sure she feels bad enough about this whole thing without being told by complete strangers how messed up her personal life is.

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locomariachi
October 20, 2006 5:31 PM
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Okay while yes, you shouldn't be a too big of a softy, it is commendable to help those you still care about no? As for WU, man those guys do one screw job after another. I have a friend who's venture capitalist business involves wire transfers everynow and then of maybe a few thousand dollars or what not, but the tone they take, and how they treat people who wire money is ridiculous.
You pay the fees for there services and you then the worst part is they still try to screw you about saying \"oh its your bank\" or \"we can't do anything, you're on our list\" (which they actually apparently have lists for people who start sending amounts over $800USD several times) They also say things like \"oh we can't help you and yes even my friend with one visit to a Western Union, they could not verify his addy's even though he had already done a wiretransfer earlier in the day. It's pretty upsetting to say the least. I'm sorry that this happened to you, I feel your pain, stupid WU =\\

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cior
October 20, 2006 7:02 PM
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Being generous with people you care about depends a lot on how much you make it your business to know why they need the money and how they intend to use it. As far as the ex is concerned, I was happy to help. Circumstance was interesting, but really.. that's not the point.

Wire transfers, as we all know, work brilliantly if both parties use the same bank. We don't. This means I have to go in person to my branch, fill out a lot of forms, pay a fee not unsimilar to what Western Union charges and then wait-wait-wait for them to decide to send the transfer. A lot of my bank's timing depends on how early I can make the request, I often miss the 2pm cut-off due to work commitments.

Suffice it to say, I needed to send money fast. That's what Western Union is for, in my mind. They alleged that I'd be able to do this online and that it would be instant. I never expected that a ridiculous amount of verification would be required or that their database would be so woefully retarded.

What I really take offense at is the notion that they put a pre-authorization on my account before they could commit to sending the money. That my bank approved the transaction only serves to piss me off more. Their inability to remove the pre-auth hold and their lack of polite customer service really took the cake.

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vanessaww
October 20, 2006 8:00 PM
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Actually, banks can lift the pre-authorization hold. At least my bank (Amsouth, in the Southern states) can and will. Whenever I check into a hotel, they ask for a card to put down for incidentals - and the hotel will usually pre-auth a 'deposit.' I have learned to call my bank right away to ask them to remove it. They always warn me that the hold is lifted and that money is available to me immediately - but if the hotel charges the card for actual monies, it will go through. I think BoA just didn't want to, which is just further evidence of how much they suck.

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dave the wet sprocket
October 20, 2006 8:51 PM
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alternate moral of the story- women can't handle money either.

the writer didn't say why the guy was broke, just that he was. maybe someone in the family died. maybe his car got stolen. maybe shit happened.

i'm not saying the guy isn't a bum, but the assumption rankles.

i've never used western union just because the process always seemed kinda shady. i don't trust my own bank with my money, i'm not about to trust a third party.

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synergy
October 22, 2006 10:41 PM
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Depending on how much money we're talking about, I'd just go to the post office and buy a money order(s) then mail it overnight with signature confirmation.

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TRip
December 21, 2006 4:51 AM
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My gosh, I know how you feel. I've used to use Western Union and I'm not afraid to say it's the worst business I've ever dealt with. Even Pawn shops don't come close to how low Western Union is.

I've used them only 4 times in my whole life and hope to never use them again. The list of screw ups one after another just keep adding. For my business, I've wire money to China just to find out that they mispelled the name and it was a costful mistake on their part (Lucky them it I indemn them for liabilities in the back fine print.)

then there is the part where they treat you rudely, on the phone and even at the locations. The one I went in Montreal treated me like I was a criminal. Every Western Union I've been to has a bulletproof glass, hundreds of cameras (figure of speech), a person sitting next to a phone and so on. Even my bank doesn't have any of these. Not even the head branch downtown has a bulletproof window.

They make you feel unwelcome and the people also make you feel unwelcome. Everyone just looks at you like your about to take a gun out and rob them, believe me I also look at it that way. Everytime I hear the door open, I start to shake.

If that wasn't enough, there is the part where the employees have to take your ID's and photocopy them or something, you just cannot see. Even cancelling their prepaid Mastercards is a pain in the arse, they hold me in the store for 20 minutes or more, ask for id to photocopy or something just to tell me I have to call Mastercard to have it cancelled. Really smart.

That why I'd recommend you avoid at all cost western union and it's scumbag equivalent. These people are nothing but crooks and fraudsters. They commit highway robbery and take advantage of others. It cost 3.99% in commission to cash a check, my bank does it for a flat fee or for nothing if it's part of the free transactions I get per month.

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TRip
December 21, 2006 4:54 AM
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My gosh, I know how you feel. I've used to use Western Union and I'm not afraid to say it's the worst business I've ever dealt with. Even Pawn shops don't come close to how low Western Union is.

I've used them only 4 times in my whole life and hope to never use them again. The list of screw ups one after another just keep adding. For my business, I've wire money to China just to find out that they mispelled the name and it was a costful mistake on their part (Lucky them it I indemn them for liabilities in the back fine print.)

then there is the part where they treat you rudely, on the phone and even at the locations. The one I went in Montreal treated me like I was a criminal. Every Western Union I've been to has a bulletproof glass, hundreds of cameras (figure of speech), a person sitting next to a phone and so on. Even my bank doesn't have any of these. Not even the head branch downtown has a bulletproof window.

They make you feel unwelcome and the people also make you feel unwelcome. Everyone just looks at you like your about to take a gun out and rob them, believe me I also look at it that way. Everytime I hear the door open, I start to shake.

If that wasn't enough, there is the part where the employees have to take your ID's and photocopy them or something, you just cannot see. Even cancelling their prepaid Mastercards is a pain in the arse, they hold me in the store for 20 minutes or more, ask for id to photocopy or something just to tell me I have to call Mastercard to have it cancelled. Really smart.

That why I'd recommend you avoid at all cost western union and it's scumbag equivalent. These people are nothing but crooks and fraudsters. They commit highway robbery and take advantage of others. It cost 3.99% in commission to cash a check, my bank does it for a flat fee or for nothing if it's part of the free transactions I get per month. The wiring is at 3-4%, my bank only charges a ridiculous $30 for anything.

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mb14uk
February 29, 2008 9:11 AM
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If Billy the Kid had walked into a Western Union office in Mesilla, New Mexico back in the early days he would have been able to transfer his ill-gotten gains by telegraph in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.


Yesterday I tried to transfer monety to a loved one in Mesilla, New Mexico online from Kent in England. I was told that I had to call up to confirm some details, got through to a call centre in Ireland and was spoken to by a very efficient-sounding German woman called Yvonne, who started treating me as if I were a criminal by aking all kinds of details about my home phone number and how it wasn't coming up in the records she was using (the record of free-for-all privatisation in the UK explains why there is no comprehensive telephone directory there these days). I was put on hold for ten minutes and eventually spoken to by a mild-mannered but somewhat patronising supervisor called Tim. He explained helpfully that I should go through the whole online process again, then call them again when I got to the page asking me to call them (!). He would then be able to confirm my transaction. I did this and was diverted to another number which belonged to a completely different service organisation which dealt with the online side of Western Union's business.


So much for the benefits of globalisation and the free market.


Perhaps I should just put the cash in an envelope and send it by airmail.

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