On October 13th I wanted to send money in the amount of $1120 to New York so they could deposit this amount into my Chase account. Reason that I wanted to do this is that they do not have Chase in the area I live. Since it takes too long for a check to clear, and needed to take care of bills I decided to use the services of Western Union.
I went to the California Check Cashing #918 on 820 Sunrise Ave in Roseville CA 95661. I choose this location because I already sent money from this location. When I arrived there was only 1 customer before me and left the premises when done. The representative asked me if I wanted to send the money order national' or international'. I used the Western Union form with the green banner saying sent', since this was the form being used for sending money national.
I filled out the information needed on the form, and handed this form to the representative with my passport and the money I wanted to send.
The representative checked the information and registered the information in the computer. She asked me if I wanted to use money in minutes' or next day' service. Since it was Columbus Day, a national holiday in the US, I choose for next day' service.
The representative finished registering the information in the computer, printed out what looked to me like a check (color was light green), gave me back a copy of the form I filled out and the customer receipt. The customer receipt contained a MTCN number, which is needed for the receiver to pick up the money and then deposit into my Chase account.
I gave the MTCN number on the 13th of October late at night to the receiver. The receiver (my mother-in-law) wanted to pick up the money on the 14th of October. Since she resided at her sons in Fishkill she tried to go to a Western Union there. The Western Union in Fishkill wanted to write her a check which she declined.
By the time she got back to New York the Western Union she went to then was already closed. On October 15th she went back to the Western Union to collect the money. When she gave the MTCN number, the representative told her that there were no funds available for the MTCN number she provided.
My girlfriend called me to verify the number again, and again the representative told my mother in law that the funds were not available anymore and that it was picked up already.
My girlfriend called Western Union explaining the situation. Since she was not the sender the information given to her was limited and Western Union asked for me to contact Western Union. My girlfriend did get the chance to verify information.
The Western Union told her that the last name was correct but not the first name. And that the city was changed. She was also told that I initiated an investigation on the 14th of October. Western Union advised to please let the sender (me, Priscilla Roodbol) go back to the location where the money was sent from.
With this information I went back to California Check Cashing #918 on 820 Sunrise Ave in Roseville CA 95661. I told them the situation, and I was told that they did send the money and showed me a print out telling the name of the receiver and the MTCN number. It did not say that the money was going to New York. I asked for all the print outs they have to show me that the money was sent to New York. Which California Check Cashing #918 could/did not provide.
The representative called the Western Union and was then told the money was picked up in Chili. They told California Check Cashing #918 that I had called Western Union on October 14th to change the information of the receiver over the phone. I told them again that I did not contact Western Union to change any information. Nor did I initiate an investigation since I did not know about the problem until the receiver wanted to pick up the money on October 15th.
I told the representative at California Check Cashing #918 how a money order that was going to New York filled out on a form for national money orders, all of a sudden could be picked up international. I was told to contact Western Union on 1-800-257-4900. The operator number the representative talked to was 26. Operator #26 generated a paid in error report' and urgency on this matter.
I left the California Check Cashing #918, and informed my girlfriend about the situation. She told me to go back and ask again for all the paperwork or copies of them to proof that the money was sent to New York. Since it was simply absurd what was happening.
I went back to California Check Cashing #918 about 1 hour later, demanding to provide me with everything they have that could show me the money was sent to New York. I also demanded my money back. The representative referred me to her supervisor/manager Sharina. The supervisor called again with Western Union and talked to operator #415 Sherisa.
The supervisor explained everything again to Western Union and was told that I changed the receiver information over the phone. The supervisor asked how it could be at all possible to do that since it's not their policy to make changes over the phone. If a customer would like to make changes she or he had to come in again with the old papers and ID to make those changes.
At that point Western Union told the supervisor that they checked the phone number and the name which matched with what Western Union had on file and therefore changed the receiver information. Again, I told the supervisor that there was no phone call made by myself since I was not at home when the call was made.
The supervisor urged Western Union to put extra effort and again urgency on the matter and it was confirmed to the supervisor again that they put in a paid in error report'. This time I had to call 1-800-634-1311 to ask about the status of the matter.
I went home and logged in to the web page of the phone provider and printed out all the data concerning received and placed calls from Monday October 13th Wednesday October 15th. No calls were being made to Western Union from the phone number provided on the form I filled out, and no calls were made to any other location who has Western Union service.
I called the 1-800-634-1311 number from Western Union and talked to operator #239 Auccarra. Since Western Union has call centers all over the US she could not connect me with the operator the supervisor talked to of California Check Cashing #918.By giving her the MTCN number she pulled up the file where all information provided by me, my girlfriend, and the employee of California Check Cashing #918 as well as the supervisor/manager of California Check Cashing #918.
After a short summary from my side about the situation I told her that I wanted to add the fact that no phone call was being made to change any information and that I had proof of this. I offered to fax the information if necessary. The operator asked me to verify the information one more time, which I did, at that moment she told me that somehow the information was changed again and asked me if she could put me on hold because she wanted to talk to her supervisor.
I waited on hold and do not know what the operator talked about with her supervisor. When the operator returned, she told me that again she put extra urgency on this matter and that the process would take about 20 (business) days. The operator did not mean that it would take 20 (business) days, most of the time the customer would be contacted about the matter between 3-5 (business) days.
On October 20th I received a letter from Western Union telling me that they did everything right and paid out to the right person. (This is not true!) In the letter it stated who they paid out too and as far as Western Union is concerned that's the information I provided. If I still wanted to dispute this I could file at the arbitration forum In other words Western Union does not want to admit THEY made a mistake and not ME. And I do have all the proof to show that I did not make any mistakes.
On Friday 10/24 I called the FBI in Sacramento. Since my money was picked up in another country it is not a local case but a federal case. The FBI officer in charge registered all the information, but told me that since I was not a resident of Sacramento I had to go to New York (where I am from) to file a report! On top of that, the amount was too small to get anyone even remotely interested to get after it so I was informed to not keep my hopes up.
Does anyone out there have similar experiences with this? For anyone, I cannot emphasize this enough. Please be aware when sending money through services like these! Better yet. DO NOT DO THIS AT ALL!
Peanut
Roseville, California
U.S.A.
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