Western Union

I had a terrible experience with Western Union, and honestly, I wouldn’t use them again. I was travelling in Nigeria and couldn’t withdraw enough cash from ATMs. My bank suggested Western Union as an alternative which turned out to be a big mistake. I transferred £120 from my own account, and the next day my bank told me the amount was too high… Read more

and advised me to cancel the transfer. That’s when everything went downhill. The transaction was blocked, the money was stuck, and although my bank account had already been debited, the funds never arrived at the destination. I contacted Western Union online straight away, thinking it would be a simple fix. Instead, it turned into months of chasing. Their customer service kept telling me they were “looking into it” or that the refund was “on the way,” but nothing ever happened. I had to regularly email and call again and again because every time I followed up, it felt like I was starting from scratch. I’m convinced the staff are told by WU HQ to drag it out in the hope most people will give up andf they pocket the funds. For principle, I continued to pursue it. It took from November to April to get my own £120 back - money that should never have gone missing in the first place. Between the blocked transaction, the lack of clear communication, and the extremely long resolution time, this was one of the most stressful financial experiences I’ve had while travelling. If you’re relying on Western Union in an emergency, be prepared for delays and a lot of frustration. If possible – avoid using them at all costs.

After sending funds to the same person for many years and me already being verified with WU I received emails advising that to verify my profile I needed to send my photo id via a link in the email. Red flag. The wording and grammar in the email was not good & looked unprofessional, another red flag. Next day contacted WU to establish if emails… Read more

were legit & if so the reason for such a request. Guy I spoke to said he needed to access my profile & could he ring me in 5 or 10 mins. I said no problem. Never recived the call but shortly afterwards got two more emails advising that to protect me & my money (ridiculous) I could no longer use their services so I am effectively banned from WU. Absolute disgrace.

Unable to add any account details on the app or website. Contact customer service bot and follow instructions and still unable to at a recipient. Gave up in the end and went elsewhere for the money transfer

My debit card was kept by ATM in Marbella. I had no cash for the rest of my holiday. I found a Western union office and was anle to get Euros using my contactless Google Wallet. Phew!

Money transferred within minutes – I was a bit skeptical of these money transfer services initially after going through the reviews for a few of the popular ones. However as I had to send money one way or other, I deciced to go with Western Union. I wasnt sending a large amount of money (just AUD150) and could not believe my eyes seeing the money has been transferred to my SL… Read more

account minutes after I completed the transaction on my end. (FYI: I used payID to pay western union so I didnt have to expose my BSB/ACC or Debit card details, they just provided an email payID and it was hassle free)

Very competitive rate and faster process – I compared Instarem, Remitly, XE and Wise with Western Union and surprisingly the rate for sending money from AUD to INR was best in WU. The fee to send the money was only 0.99 cents and also the whole process was very fast. It roughly took 20 minutes for money to reach to my Indian bank account. Overall very happy with the process.

BEWARE! If I could give zero stars I would worst possible experience with Western Union. They take your money and loose it with no accountability no resolution just excuses. Most of the customer representatives cannot speak english. Very poor customer service. My money is now lost never to be seen. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

My experience with Western Union has been absolutely unacceptable. Their service has become unreliable, inconsistent, and incredibly frustrating. I followed the exact same process I’ve used many times before, yet my transfer was suddenly cancelled without any real explanation. The app told me the money would be available in two hours, but instead… Read more

they cancelled it with no warning and no clear reason.

Their customer service is even worse. I was passed from one agent to another, given vague and useless answers, and told to “wait for a specialist.” After waiting, I was told to call back again, proving they have no coordination, no accountability, and no respect for their customers’ time. It feels like nobody there actually knows what they’re doing.

Western Union’s system is unreliable, their communication is terrible, and their support team provides no real help. This entire experience has caused unnecessary stress, delays, and inconvenience. I expected a professional service, but instead I got confusion, incompetence, and zero responsibility. Western Union needs to seriously improve or stop pretending they can provide a dependable money transfer service.

My experience with Western Union was very bad and frustrating. I transferred money to another country and the app showed no issues at all. Everything was approved. However, when the receiver went to collect the money, the agent refused it and said the passport was not acceptable. I contacted Western Union customer service and they confirmed that… Read more

the passport was acceptable, but said the agent simply decided not to accept it and suggested finding another agent. This clearly shows a lack of control over their agents.

Because of this, the transfer failed, and when I requested a refund, they said it would take 5–7 business days, meaning they held my money for nearly 10 days. For a financial institution, this is unacceptable.

Overall, this was a very poor experience, and I do not recommend using Western Union.

Absolutely bad terrible customer service and they offer the worst rates !! And their policies are terrible and ridiculous !! Since I switched to wise !! I have better rates and ease of dealing !! Never ever I will deal with western union again and especially when they asked me for extremely difficult documentations even though my account was verified and I have been their client for over 20 years !!

hopeless service. I'm writing this review to hope that someone at Western Union reads it and tries to improve the situation. I am unable to send money from my Australian bank account to my Indian bank account. The live chat support asked me to use a credit card or go to the agent and pay in cash The phone support tells me the same. Tried talking… Read more

to Magaer, phone went blank during the conversation. Tried to call agin, and I can't get back to the manager. There is no email receipt of the cases raised! There is no option to send complaints in writing.

Makes me think, is this a genuine service or a dodgy service?

Regards Parag

If I could give it zero i would, cut me of from transferring during my holiday, no phone calls no nothing. Told me I was being investigated for my money transfers. Never sent any money greater than $200 Australian dollars. Only ever sent to one account my girlfriend in Thailand. And did this so I didnt get massive transfer fees from ATMs wich I… Read more

told these clowns. Still not told why I was being investigated. Wanted personal information regarding my work and relation while still not giving me any information on why I was being investigated. Absolutely pathetic in the end they kicked me out of Western Union no reasons why no nothing, no correspondence on why I was be investigated nothing. Worst platform ever dont even bother, use Wise instead way better platform.

We sent $10,000 system accept the money at the shop then later on western union send us a text message to get refund because the receiver can’t receive that amount they said it was big!!! We went back to the store where we sent money from and they keep saying That there no enough money for refund available, after 7 days of waiting they said I… Read more

received the money I keep asking them (customer service person) when, where and they was no clear answer after 2-3hours on the phone, customer service said that there is an error in their system and I have to wait for 48hours to hear from western union and I am still waiting with no hope. Anyone with more information to where I can report them please let me know that will be very much appreciated. I will never never use western union to send money again in my life.

Absolutely atrocious experience working with this company through a multiple conversations. We were looking for the best way to get cash to Turkey and instead of flying with cash decided to wire it through Western Union. It was confirmed that cash is available for us at the particular city. Once my wife came there, it turned out the Euro are not… Read more

available in cash in their city locations. I called Australian Western Union, but they refused to help me - saying I have to deal directly with their branches in Turkey and branches in Turkey said they don't have cash for us... In the end we have to find another form of urgent payment and lost a lot of money. I complained officially and raised an inquiry with Western Union, they investigated and confirmed it was their mistake, but offered no apology or compensation for our financial loss. Also need to mention that they constantly lost phone call connection while I was on the phone with them - their IP system drops after 20 minutes automatically and they never call back, so I had to go through the same process at least 3 times when reconnected. Avoid using them at all costs.

Same cr#p as usual, they denied a transaction and no one have freaking idea what went wrong. and refund won't be back in 5-7 business days. Now I don't have that much money, so I can try sending via other means. What a rubbish system! On top of that, the reps have ZERO authority. DO not try, you may end up losing money. However, they have increased their processing fee.....

Attempted to use Western union to send just over $1500 to a different Country. First transfer sent was canceled by western union, but money was withdrawn from our account with a promise of a refund after my call, tried again, transfer was again eventually cancelled by western union but more money withdrawn. After hours on the phone, and close to… Read more

3 weeks in, we still don't have our money...

Was given new MTCN # to pick up my own cash and waste 2 hrs of my time only to drive to 4 locations who either didn't have the $3100 or said thier machines where broken. This company is holding our cash and this is completely un acceptable. Thier resolutions team just skirts around the questions and keep saying funds are on thier way. Now finally making my recent call and again trying to find our cash they said we would need to wait another 7 days for the cash to arrive back into our account. I had heard this promise twice regarding these transactions and no cash is ever refuned by western union. This once popular company is going down hill. Just give me back my money so im not wasting my time on this any further.

Never pay from your account and better with credit card because they'll just keep it, cant believe this company is still allowed to operate.

We had also received a promotion to send money through western union claiming zero fees for the first transaction but still got charged with a higherrate than originally shown.

This service is a complete joke, go somewhere else, tons of great companies who dont live off your intrest..

I had a minor issue, Spoke with WU over the phone, the Philippino girl drove me crazy, I asked to speak to her supervisor, D Asistio came on the line and spent over 45 minutes. Bad experience…these guys force customers away. BTW, their English is very poor…

I have been a loyal client using Western Union for over 10 years now, almost every day to send money back home to family and friends for various reasons. Today I received a request from a friend in hospital who's undergoing a medical emergency and has to have his foot amputated. All they needed was like $50 for an ambulance to rush him from one… Read more

hospital to a major hospital where the amputation is to be done. I jumped onto Western Union to send the money only to find my account blocked. I called and was asked to fill in this long questionnaire with requirements to attach hospital documents or other documents to prove why I was sending the money. I was flabbergasted and just gave up. I called and was taken around in circles. It was like I was begging to do business with Western Union. Obviously I could not wait and sent the money through WISE, which reached my recipient instantly and he's now in a hospital bed awaiting the procedure. Needless to say I will not be recommending Western Union to anyone looking for a reliable serious way to send money as you just never know what they would ambush you with and stop you. I am very disappointed.

WU is great when things work as normal. However, as something goes wrong and you need greater visibility or need some help, that when you find out how poor their no-help desk is. I am a regular member with WU. Had some issues with an overseas funds transfer. My bank confirmed that the funds were released for transfer. WU said it did not receive… Read more

the funds. Dragged me on for 50 hours telling me that it should be resolved in 2 days. Every time I called the no-help desk, they were virtually telling me what I could already see on my account page - which was a whole load of nothing. They don't have an escalation process to a higher manager that could seriously help investigate and resolve issue. The seem to be too reliant on AI responses. Their team members have also been programmed with AI responses. Useless in time of need. First, they told me they could not see the funds in the account. Then they suggested to cancel the transaction. I asked how can you guarantee that the funds will be returned if I cancelled the transfer, given the fact that you are saying that you have not received the funds. So far, I am not sure if I am going to see the funds again or not. Pretty sinking feeling. Meanwhile the poor recipient is still waiting, hoping for a good Christmas....

I wish I could give zero stars. My grandfather hospitalised and my mother needed money for hospital bills. I made transfer through WU and my mothers bank account got freeze by WU local partners. My mother can’t use her own bank account. Her account got frozen with her own money she can’t access. UNBELIEVABLE!! She had to borrow a loan from her friend to pay hospital bills to avoid any penalty. Its been 2 months and no action has been taken.

Funds went missing from my account. Customer support were totally unhelpful. Escalated issue and still no help. They simply refused to acknowledge the missing funds and took no action. Lodged a dispute with them via my bank (the bank from where the missing funds were debited). This was upheld and my funds were eventually repaid by Western… Read more

Union.

As a result of this experience I personally cannot trust this company with my money.

Also worth nothing that there are way better ways to send money across currencies (eg Wise) that are significantly better value.

I’d urge anyone considering using Western Union to look elsewhere. Existing account holders would be well advised to delete their profiles, which can be done using the in-app chat functionality,