Western Union
Unauthorized charges

I used Western Union to transfer the amount of @1500 as loan to a friend in a matter of urgency. I filled in her details and the location where the transaction would take place as London UK and paid the necessary fee. The agent advised that, in order for the person to withsraw the amount, she must present a valid form of photo ID, namely passport or driver's licence.

My friend advised me that the money owed to her had now reached her account and would therefore not need a loan and kindly asked me to cancel the transaction and withdraw the amount using my passport.

I managed to do this the following day to hear to my dismay the amount had been withdrawn! I immediately wanted to know who by and where the transaction tok place to be only advised that I should call 0800 7314814 and find out for myself. As soon as I entered the tracking numberm the automated machine responded that the money which had been deposited on february 24th at 14:57 was withdrawn on febryary 24th 2009 at 11:25am!

This can only mean two things:

1. The times do not stack up = Western Union are lying and stole the money.

Or

2. The only way for a past GMT time to reccur in the future is when one travels west, meaning that the money could have been paid out in a location further west than the UK = Western Union is in breech of their contractual obligation to carry out the contract according to the terms specified in the form: pay the amount to the person named on the contract and only them, in the location specified in the contract and after all necessary security checks had been passed.

I further tried to obtain more information about the transaction and, as advised by the Western Union telephone customer service, asked the agents to provide me with a receipt of the final transaction showing the paying-out agent's details and address as well as a scanned image of the ID that was used for the transaction. The agents refused me this service and referred me back to the automated machine operated telephone line, which obviously would not be able to provide me with this information.

Therefore I wish to file a complaint and a claim against the aforementioned company and if a settlemet is not reached take further legal action.

Company: Western Union
Country: USA
Site: westernunion.com

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