Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Western Union Over Alleged Unfair and Deceptive Holding Of Senders’ Unclaimed Money
A class action lawsuit was filed against Western Union in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (Denver) (Case No. 10-00765-JLK) alleging that Western Union holds onto and makes use of unclaimed money from money transfers that go unredeemed by the intended recipients without notifying customers until abandoned-property laws require it to do so (which in some cases may not be until many, many years later), according to a class action news report.
The Western Union unclaimed money class action complaint reportedly seeks damages for violations of various state consumer laws, conversion and unjust enrichment and declaratory relief barring Western Union from holding unredeemed money for longer than 60 days.
For more information on the Western Union unclaimed money class action lawsuit, read the Western Union unclaimed money class action complaint.
If You Have Thoughts On TheWestern Union Unclaimed Money Class Action Lawsuit, Share Your Class Action Comments Below.
A Western Union rep told me that unclaimed transactions are removed from agents’ systems after 30 days and Western Union waits another year before notifying sender that the money was never picked up.
The comment came up in a conversation regarding $700 being held by Western Union while Western Union’s automated system told my wife no money was available for pickup.
Sometime during the last 3 weeks of October, 2009, the phone number on my Gold Card account was changed by someone other than myself. My wife enters my phone number to ascertain if money is available for pickup. Only a person with access to a Western Union terminal was capable of making the change.
my name is valisa gardner and in the years 1990 to about 2004, my fiance’ would send me money at least 2 time a week from the united kingdom, via western union. so my question is how do i get in this class action law suite because i always felt like they were cheating me out of my money, i just couldn’t prove it cell # 864-529-8145
I was told by western union rep if you received a letter of some sort from western union regarding the lawsuit in the mail then you are going to get some money from the lawsuit
In 2000, I was living in Milwaukee,WI. I. Attempted to pay my final student loan bill via western union quick pay. The money, 700.00 dollars was not received by receiver. I was charged that plus sending fee I didn’t ever find out were my money went
Go for it.
How about another class action suit against Western Union to regain funds that were disbursed to others than the intended recpient.
Failing to accept implied responsibility to properly identify receiver.
This might help stamp out internet fraud.
today they just held my money i was recieveing from my husbands family to help us fix our car to get to an appointment that was very important . they did not want to give me any information about why all they told me is irt was sent back to the sender but when she called them they didn’t have her money they told her . theuy are ripping people off that is not right my husbands family helps us with money to fix our car or buy things we need for our home if we don’t have enough . i don’t like them and how they work and i am very upset about this
I WORK IN TUSCALOSA AL I NEVER GOT ANY MORE MONEY IS THERE MONEY STILL ABABILABLE
my husband sent money to his mom for 3 yrs and wanted to know were we can check to see if he is receiving money back… and also I heard other peolpe already got their money back but he move of address what can we do???
Please help me . Is there a class action lawsuit somewhere in New York , where I can join? I am having problems with them refunding my money for a money order that I purchased in December 24, 2010.
Money was sent to me in Cyprus ($2,400) I was told by Western Union it was paid out??? I have never been to Cyprus and can prove it. I request that this money be returned to the senders Zoe Marmarou & Dr. Richard McDermott. I can supply all details.
Hey I am having the same problem now where I sent money to my friend. I sent her money in Cyprus, she says she has never received it. Please help me, What did you do?
Western Union routinely does not provide refunds for lost or stolen money orders, even in cases where customers provided a receipt and a $15 fee. In my case, they promised to send a photocopy of the money order, that was cashed three days after it was stolen off the counter; however they were lying and did not send it. This is a corrupt system through which Western Union profits from the stolen money order; they earn money when the customer has to write a second money order to replace the stolen one, and they earn a $15 fee, and they protect the criminal by not sending a photocopy of the cashed money order which would have identified the person responsible. It seems like if they refused to send this photocopy, the person who stole the money order must have been one of their employees? That would make sense, because there would be no other reason why they would be so eager to protect a criminal from prosecution. This could just be a random case, or perhaps they’re always doing it? Do they have a system whereby corrupt employees distract customers while they’re making photocopies or are at an atm machine? OK, I don’t know who took the money order, whether it was one of the other customers waiting in line or the cashier. In either case, Western Union seems to be guilty of complicity in the protection of crooks who should have been identified and prosecuted, or at least reported to police.
I have a prepaid western union master card
on 2012 Feb 08, After clicking the submit button for a $242 online order, I got an error from the card processor stating that the name used in the order was not the same as the name on the card.
Naturally I did not think that the money was deducted from my card, since I was told a wrong name was used. So I made the purchase over again and after clicking submit, I got another error stating the “duplicate orders not allowed” ?!
So I checked my card balance, and was stunned to see that the $242.66 was deducted from my card in a “PENDING TRANSACTION”.
When this happens, Western Unions Bank will hold the money for 10 Business days until the transaction expires because the merchant does not claim the money,… THEN IT IS GIVEN BACK TO THE CARD OWNER AFTER A POSSIBLE 13 DAYS HAS PASSED!
It is illegal for western union or credit card/prepaid card bank to accept/transfer funds from a purchase that was made using a wrong name. SO WHY WAS MY MONEY TOUCHED?
WHY IS MY MONEY WITHHELD FROM ME FOR 10 DAYS WHEN IT ONLY TOOK A SECOND TO TAKE IT FROM ME?!
When you call western union, they will tell you “the only way to get your money sooner (within 5 hours of the bank getting the fax) is to have the merchant send a fax to 605 988-3346 with the following,…
-companies letterhead
-card#
-amount
-authorization code
-date of authorization
-merchant ID
-an explanation that the amount will not be claimed by the merchant in the future.
It just so happens that western unions bank does not have any employees to process faxes from Friday to Monday morning.
I had the merchant send the fax at 9am on Friday, but WU claimed they did not get the fax all weekend long.
HERE IS WHAT WESTERN UNION DID ILLEGALLY AND UNETHICALLY, IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE MORE OF OUR MONEY, THEIRS, EVEN IF ITS ONLY FOR 10 DAYS…….
-allowed a purchase using wrong cardholder name to deduct funds from the card.
-withholds the funds for 10 days from card owner.
-deals with a bank that does not have a 24 hour fax department.
-purposely sets everything up so that more then half of the people with this same issue must wait the whole weekend, sometimes plus a holiday, before someone will even read the fax.
If Western Union is able to hold my money for 10 days, then we know they are holding thousands of other peoples money for 10 days at any given moment. This means that Western Union and its bank has millions of held or unclaimed money that they can use to invest with, make interest, and siphon some thousands for themselves.
A Proper card company would not take any action until a charge with wrong information was attempted three times, then they freeze the account. YOU DON’T TAKE THE MONEY, AND KEEP IT FROM THE PERSON IT BELONGS TO FOR 10+ DAYS!!!
WESTERN UNION IS CORRUPT
WESTERN UNION STEALS MONEY
WESTERN UNION PREPAID CARD IS BAD
WESTERN UNION IS EVIL
hi guys i purchased a money order on my may 22 got in my car went to the mailing office to send out a letter came to find out that the money order that i bought was stolen from my car i rushed in and called western union to make stop payment on the money order the western union guy kept on telling me lies and lies that i he cant stop the payment till i send out the bottom receipt of my money order so i did what he told me to do i sent it by priority mail and paid 1o dollars besides the money order was 350 dollars it was my rent money waited the scond day to call and still the same story the western union guy said the sdame exact thing i kept on telling him the sooner he stop the payment the less chances someone gonna find my money order and cash it he will not listen till today they rceived my request and the money order still not cashed yet i called back again to make a stop payment before its too late the guy lied to me again by tellin me its first come first serve and he bullshit me by giving me a claim number that i can process my request faster its all bullshitt talk i had to take off 2 days from my job just to deal with their crapps and on top of that i lost my 350 plus the prority mail money plus the 15 dollars i strongly beleive that if the guy made a stop payment shortly wen i called him after my money order was stolen he couldve save it from cashing in i want to join u guys for the lawsuit against western union plz contact me on my cell 407 -334 -9692 for all the details needed to join the class action lawsuit and thx
Hi,
We’re a small convenience store operator in England, UK. In November 2010, 7 transactions totalling £10K were transacted at our terminal (according to Western Union). The “terminals” are quite primitive without the password protocols you would expect in modern financial services, it is purely a webpage. These transactions didn’t happen at our terminal and we called the police who said it was unlikely that a member of staff was involved. Western Union also told the police that their own systems highlighted that the monies were fraudulent transfers and didn’t pay out on some of the transfers. They (Western Union) now hold this money and refuse to return it to us, citing it as “against their policy” very convenient. I am now taking them to court over it. Is anyone aware of any similar incidents and if there are any class action suits against them so that I can put my case forward as well. Thanks
Hi,
We are currently conducting an investigation on a similar matter. We would appreciate to hear back from you regarding your experience with Western Union.
Please email us at: bcsgroup1@shaw.ca
Regards,
IT;S HAPPEN TO ME WHEN MY SON FRIST WENT TO THE FEDERAL PRISON HE WAS HELD IN A STATE JAIL AND WENT HE LEFT GOING IN FEDERAL IT TOOK ABOUT THRITY DAYS
TO GET MY MONEY BACK
I made a money transfer over the phone. After doing the whole transaction the lady at the Western Union said there would be an extra $25.00 for doing the transaction over the phone. I then said, “Oh no, I can’t afford all that on top of the $40. I was already sending. She then says, Well you can always do the transaction in person there’s no extra charge.” I then decided to do it in person. She said, the transaction has been cancelled. I did the transaction in person. But, Western Union took $40.00 twice the first $40. was never cancelled, still took the second $40. plus the $25.00 for wanting to send money over the phone. I couldn’t do anything about it.
Hello,
On 02-12-2013 I sent $2,400 to my cousin in Nigeria and when he got there the following day to collect the money at Western Union office inside First Bank of Nigeria, he was told the money had been collected. They bank agent that attended to him confirmed to my cousin that the money was collected at 8:55am whereas banks in Nigeria do not open until 9am; that the money was collected outside Nigeria.
The same day I contacted Western Union and they promised to do an investigation regarding this. After about 30 days of constant calls to western union, they finally said that my money was actually collected by my cousin in Nigeria. I have been asking them to send me the id that was presented to them at the time of the withdrawal but the refused and claim it is a confidential information and it’s only court that they can release it to. I even went ahead and sent them the copy of my cousin’s id to for comparison. Western Union is a terrible company that prey on law abiding citizens of this great nation and they should be dealt with.
I will be taking them to small claim court but i will like like to know if class action lawsuit can be established against this company.
Letter regarding Western Union:
April 24, 2013
So damned lucky!
On Feb. 16th I got an email from a friend who said he and his wife had been mugged in London, England. He said their money, ID’s, and everything had been stolen.
Could I send some money right away via ____________ so they could pay their hotel bill, get air tickets home, etc.
This is a friend I have known since grade school. OF COURSE I MUST HELP! The clerk at the store asked if I knew this person. (Red flag #1). My wife had questions about it when I got home – – enough to get me to hesitate. (red flag #2.)
What saved my bacon was my NOT sending the code to the thieves so they could collect the money. Thus the money rested with the money order company.
Thus started a nine- week process. It included at least eight talks with their company reps. In God-knows-where. They did not understand my problem. They were either intentionally told to not understand or really did not understand.
During this process, I enlisted help from the local Channel 12 for Action. They have a group of people to assist on these kinds of issues. When I told a lady who is a volunteer for them, she groaned when I mentioned the company’s name. But she agreed to help.
Finally I went back to my management training and wrote the President of the company. His staff had said any letter to him would just be sent to another department. I went ahead and wrote him any way. The letter went out April 16th. It must have reached him, because I got a telephone call from a person who actually gave me her name and telephone number.
She said they were FED EXING me a check for the amount.
Today, I actually received the check! Victory.
I am certainly going to thank Channel 12.
What I have learned in the meantime.
(1) This company is not regulated by any department of the U. S. Government, as are banks.
(2) The internet is full of complaints about this company.
(3) A class action suit was started in 2010 about just the kind of behavior I have been subjected to.
The moral – Don’t ever send money to a hard luck story without checking it out somehow-call the person directly, use a third party, etc. Never, never send money to a supposed victim without checking it out thoroughly.
I sent money out to needy individuals beginning in 2009. After awhile I realized it was a scam…..it was also in the news, etc. I received something from attorneys notifying me that there is a Class Action Lawsuit against Western Union and that I have claims that were never picked up. I am now locating all of my WU receipts for reimbursement.
I’m stunned that WU never notified me that my funds were never picked up so that I could get that money back. I recently tried calling them and they gave me the runaround. I have tried tracking them but it says that have no record of my MTCN. hello? Hello?
What to do now? I guess I need to write some letters if the store where I completed the transaction/s does not help me.
In 2005 I had sent some money to a friend who was travelling in Russia. She never picked up the money. I wasn’t notified about it until 2012 and they sent me about 1/3 of the amount that was originally sent…not the full amount. They never gave me a really good reason as to why I didn’t receive the full amount. Great customer service!
I did send some money to a friend in Uganda through western Union in 2008, but the friend did not receive the money. Western Union never notified me that the money was not received. Not too long ago I received a letter stating that a case has been opened against western union for holding money that was not claimed. Given that my friend did not receive the money, and I believe Western Union kept that money and used it since that time until now, how do I get my money back with interest for all these years? Who do I turn to for more information on the case?
In 2005 I did a western union transfer for 300 to my sick grandmother and in 2012 they just sent it back wow who does that I had to resend cash thanks western unoin
In Dec. of 2012 I was out of my home state and needed some cash transfered and sence I had used Western unionfor several yrs to transfer funds with no problems I asked my son to use WU to send funds to me. He was told I could pick it up anytime up to a yr. However when I went claim the funds I was told there were no money for pick-up. When my son followed up he was told there was a class action against WU and I would receive a form to claim my funds when it was settled. It was to be settled in june and I have heard nothing from western union.. NOTHING! And the phone No. we were given for info is not accepting calls. I was left out of state, with no money and in a very difficult situation due to Western Unions actions. I will never trust them again even if I do get my money back. And would not recamend them to anybody!
I RECEIVED A LETTER IN THE MAIL ABOUT THE LAWSUIT. I WANTED TO ADD MY NAME TO THE CLASS ACTION SUIT BUT I AM AFRAID I AM TOO LATE. I DIDN’T RECEIVE THE NOTIFICATION UNTIL JULY 5, 2013. IS IT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP AS A CLAIMANT?
Good Morning to Whom It May Concern, I was taken for granted of a scram artists, that lower me to send them $900.00 dollars. that needed back. I have received a letter in the mail about three weeks ago and I sent it back. What will be the out come of this refund to me
Mrs. Deborah J Lloyd
7002 East Forest Rd
Landover MD. 20785
240 582 6600 Home
240 350 8642 Cell
Please updated me on this matter
I paid a bill by western union 376.00 which was never collected I received a letter from western union five years later informing me that the money was never collected and to fill out a form that they sent to me along with a copy of my drivers license and the funds would be be sent to me well I did this and its been two years and nothing
I was sent a lawsuit paper against them but havent heard anything els on it. I need to know what i need to do to receive the money owed to me?
I sent 3 house payment off and when I found out that they never receive the payment I was very unhappy found my paper work and went to westernunion and asked why did they no notify me of this matter that my mortgage said I did not pay and I trusted you would do the right thing with my hard urn money. I trusted that you would do your job and your out for ripping me off. I work from pay check to pay check sometimes not having enough money to buy food and you would do such a mean and cruel thing. Wos
May God have Mercey on those who made a really bad decision. You see I’m a child of God and you just messed up especially when I was doing the right thing paying off some bills.
I am owed money from Western Union, which Bank of America claims was returned to them! I paid tons of money to Bank of America, and they claim that the money was returned to Western Union. I attempted to get my money back and one cashier informed me that Bank of America was refunding the money as another name (Country Wide) for several 0f their other Kroger customers! Can anyone help me??
I transferred $285 yesterday (4/25/ 2014) via Western Union. I attempted countless times to upload the funds onto my Western Union MoneyWise Prepaid Debit Mastercard. The transaction was not allowed. I have called a toll free number nearly one-hundred times. The number is 1-877-256-6918. The representatives ask for the same information over and over again. I am told that my funds can be manually uploaded and put on hold. Every call is eventually dropped. If i want to pick up my funds in person, I am told that I need a pin number. No pin number is provided. The money I sent was to purchase books that I have written and later self-published via Lulu Press. Now, I cannot only not access my funds, I also have no alternative credit card to purchase anything online on top of having my money stolen. It took me a little over five years to write and publish my book: Teaching Abroad: The People’s Republic of China. My funds are being withheld deliberately. This beyond misrepresentation and more so unconscionable. Pure greed and selfishness is the primary reason why I left the United States. This transgression cuts very deep and hurts really-really bad. I hope their very happy.
western union has used deceptive practices to hold on to funds that I sent in May 2008. the funds were never picked up. At the end of March 2014 I was notified by Western Union that they would turn fund over to the state if I do not submit certain information to them within 30 days. It is now almost 45 days since I responded and no information from western union, I was told it took 7-10 days to process. there has to be some consequences for unfairly using other people’s money for profit, when the very people’s money they are using are people who are unemployed, underemployed and desperately in need of the money
Western union withheld $100.00 back in 2009 just recently I get a letter from the state controller tell me that western union had $100.00 of my to get in contact with them by 06/01/2014 . I did that, I was told that they mailed me the check already and I still haven’t received it. I’ve sent emails , wrote letters and even faxed them with no response of any kind from them.What should I do?
Although it was only 50.00 that was unclaimed. Western Union waited nine years since 2005, to inform me that there records indicated that they owed me a 50.00 refund for unclaimed money. After I filled out the required paper work they sent me a check for only 8.00. I feel that this so call law is very unfair and illegal on there behalf. They should not have the right to take someone else money. Money that doesn’t belong to them and to wait nine years to inform u. Seem very criminal on there behalf. I would like to take part in the class action lawsuit against western union for unclaimed money. If qualified.
Although It was only 50.00. Western Union waited nine years, since 2005 to inform me that there records indicated that they owed me a refund of 50.00 for unclaimed money After I filled out the required paper work, they sent me a check for 8.00. I feel that this so call law is very unfair and illegal. How should u they be allow to wait that long to inform someone that they had unclaimed money. How are they permitted to take someone else money that doesn’t belong to them. This action to me seem criminal and ill responsible. I would like to participate in the Western Union unclaimed money lawsuit. “If ‘I qualify. Thanking u in advance for helping me to resolving this matter.
I sent my mortgage payment. They never received it and I was left in the dark as to why? No one contacted me as to why?
Bad enough having been scammed by someone we all trusted! But common, on it’s going on 2 years since they were ordered to pay up….when i call the only answer i get is there waiting on appeals…Anyone know the time frame Western Union has to appeal?
Filed with State of TN unclaimed property and they are asking for a copy of money order which I do not have. I called WU and they said I have to have a copy. I explained I do not have a copy. They said I am sorry we are unable to help you.Not sure how they file unclaimed money order to State of TN with my name only and no other info and then are unable to assist me??