Business FAIL: Western Union... AGAIN!!

So...

If you missed my post about how Western Union is the poster child for bad business, you might want to read HERE first .. just to bring you up to speed.

Or not ...

The short and curly version is that I tried to wire money online but because my cell phone number isn't technically in my name, they refused to finalize the transfer and cancelled the order. I then had to go to my local super market and do it in person.

That's the gist.. with all the other nonsense in between.

Ok..

So earlier I went online to check my bank statement and I'm not seeing the balance that I should see. I dig a little deeper and guess what? My bank took 105.00 in over draft fees.  WFT?? I seldom.. seldom.. if ever.. over draft. Since online banking started, I check my account at least four times a day .. when you don't have money you kind of get anal about doing that. So I KNEW I didn't over draft ANYTHING and the funny thing was, if you looked at the transaction history, there was NO NEGATIVE BALANCE.

And then it hit my like a ton of bricks.

The whole Western Union Snafu.

If you remember, the original transaction of 438.00 was cancelled. Could it be that Western Union didn't put my money BACK as fast as they took it? Hmmm...

Luckily, my bank ENCOURAGES you to call customer service 24/7 .. I call and talked to the ever personal Jamal. No kiddng.. he was a nice guy. I explain everything to him and even though he's sympathetic to my plight he tells me that TECHNICALLY at the time I used my debit to buy you know.. FOOD.. I didn't have the funds.

I was just about thisclose to unleashing the Italian when he tells me that what I HAVE to do is call Western Union and that they are liable to pay for the overdraft fee since they did not return the money that they took.

Oh.
OH!!!

So I call Western Union and I half expect to hear that Jamal was full of shit and just telling me ANYTHING to get me off the phone. But when I explained the situation to the customer service rep, he switched me to a women whos name I can't pronounce even though she spelled it for me.. and SHE matter of factly told me that yes, they will reimburse the over draft fee.

She took my info and the banks info.. told me that she will forward it to her supervisor for approval and then they will contact the bank to transfer the money.

So we'll see.. just seems TOO easy to me.. even though by doing what they did would open them up to all kinds of lawsuits which would cost them more then 105.00.

I'll keep you posted.

Business FAIL: Western Union

OMG...

FAIL is such an understatement. Really.. there are no words.

If you never had to send money via Western Union and find yourself in the position of having to.. remember this:

DO NOT DO IT ONLINE

Especially if you are using a phone that is not in your name.

Because one their "security" checks is your phone number and if it isn't in YOUR name then guess what? You can't send money.

I know this because I went through this earlier today. I never had to send money WU before and so I did what probably every person with a laptop and internet connection would do.. I went to their website. Filled out their information, including their request for TWO phone numbers, and hit send.

A message popped up with the transaction information and instructions to call their customer service department so that information cold be verified.

Never having to do this before I thought it might be because it was a new account.. or maybe because I was using my debit card? Have no idea.

So I call and get a lovely foreign women named Monica. :: In case you didn't catch on, that was heavily laden with sarcasm :: She asks me questions.. I give her answers .. and then she asks me if my cell phone is in my name.

It is .. but it isn't. It's a long story but it has to do with my once flourishing career and the fact that I had built an awesome reputation with my original name. Like most professional women, keeping that intact once you get married is just a matter of having two names. Or hyphens... but Italian names and Lithuanian names do not make good hyphenated names.

And there in lay the problem because Western Union will NOT... I repeat.. WILL NOT.. transfer money through an online request if YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS NOT IN YOUR NAME.

Let me ask you this.. who's name is your home phone under? On a family cell phone plan? Who's name is THAT under .. ?? Using that as a security is just.. plain.. STUPID.

I'm going to go into more of the story on my personal blog but let's just say that Western Union more then knows my personal opinion on their little rule.

But here's the best part:

If you happen to go into a supermarket that handles WU, you don't have to show ANY FORM OF ID WHAT SO EVER ...

So yea.. for me? Western Union is a HUGE FAIL!