Very Angry - a venting thread

Some weeks ago I sent some money home through Western Union, which we do here in Luxembourg at the Post Office. The guy did the transfer, I paid, got my receipt and went home.

My sister-in-law called me when she got the money saying that actually she had received twice the quantity of the money! I got a phone call from the guy at the post office saying that he had hit the button twice and sent twice the amount of money I had paid.

I was honest with him, said that I was aware of it, that my family was in the other end and that they had kept the money in the bank, untouched and that they would try to send it back. My sister in law has since gone three times to the Banco do Brasil (the Bank of Brasil, which deals with Western Union transfers there) and everytime she goes, she spends hours there and the system is always down. She has to go to the other side of the island to do that, and my niece Gabriela is only 3, she has two other kids and works with my brother, it's not easy for her. Not to mention I have already spent almost 50 dollars in phone calls...

Then this guy calls me today and says that if I don't pay him back, they are going to contact the police!!!! Can you imagine that? I told him, how about, mister, if I had just paid a hotel room, or a debt I had, and the person just took the money and kept it? What do I have to do with this in this story? It's between you and them! I didn't even know you had sent the money twice!!

I'm so angry! I have spent money to try to help him, but now I'm seriously thinking of talking to his superior. I am not going to ask my sister-in-law to go to the bank anymore! I told him we are honest people, that the first thing she did was to call me and tell me there was too much money, and then I told him it was my family, that I could have lied, but now that he's talking about police, I'll surely call the police myself! I have been enough bothered with this!

This guy had never given me a phone number or his name, I couldn't even contact him, he wanted ME to go to the post office and keep him posted about it all!! He has my phone number, but he wants me to solve everything. Very funny!

He will have to call the bank in Brazil, find a way to take the money from my account there and transfer it here without having to make anyone else go to the bank. That's it!

Isn't that just so unfair? :mad:

That's ridiculous Maria! Definitely talk to his supervisor and anyone else you can at Western Union. It was his mistake and now he's trying to get someone else to pay for it so he doesn't have to. He should definitely be reprimanded, not just for messing up the transfer, but for the way he's treating their customers. Neither you nor your family should have to go through all this.

I hope this works out for you in the end. :(

The guy obviously didn't believe that your sister had any intention of sending it back. It was really unfair of him to treat you the way he did. You have to realize, though, that there are many people who are dishonest and who take advantage of situations like that......he just assumed that you are like the others.

You should see the weird looks I get and the comments I receive when I return to stores to let them know that I was undercharged for something. The cashiers usually tell me that it's rare to see someone honest about being undercharged, but that overcharges are brought to their attention all the time. I just believe that what goes 'round, comes 'round, plus we all end up paying higher prices eventually when others steal from stores, companies, etc.

I'd report the guy, too. I'd also tell him how his accusations made you and your sister feel. He needs to know how his jumping to conclusions and his insults affect customers.

Thanks, Pink, I hadn't even talked to anyone about that, because I didn't think this was going to go so far!

He said to me that they decided to call the police because they couldn't find the money in Brazil (of course, my sister in law got the money and put it in the bank! She didn't understand why she got so much money, but she assumed I had sent more) and concluded that my family had taken it and spent it!! Taken as in stolen! :mad:

I think the best lesson I could give him is really to talk to his superior and make him understand that I have no responsibility in this and that all I did was to try to solve HIS problem.

I'm still stuck with that thing, how about if I had sent this money to some hotel owner in the US, how could I be forced to pay AGAIN for something that was not my fault?

Mel, I always return the money, too. I didn't once because I hadn't seen I had been charged less on my credit card, and my friend was laughing because I wanted to go back one month later; it was a little supermarket they have for the European Community employees -exclusively - and everything there is cheaper because those employees don't pay any taxes. I was there with my friend whose husband is an employee and bought a wallet.

I'm very honest and so is my family, and not only that, I spent money to try to help this guy, now I want the money from my phone calls back when he gets the money from Brazil.

He's probably at risk of losing his job already for having an imbalance in his accounts that he has managed, but I'd certainly call his supervisor to discuss the situation as soon as possible. He's probably desperate to get the situation corrected so he doesn't lose his job, but threatening to call the police is outrageous for a mistake HE made. :mad:

Hang in there, Maria.

Katrina, that's exactly why I never went to the post office to talk to his superior, spent money trying to help him and even made my sister-in-law go to the bank three times... I imagined that he would lose his job, although that's not really possible, because these are government owned companies and their jobs is for life, unless he really kills some customer.

You know, it's the threat to call the police that made me angry. Being accused of stealing is too much!

But I still feel sorry for him and will give him the possibility to solve all this. What I'm not going to do is to wait until one week has passed and then get an invitation from the police to go explain myself! Tomorrow I'm there at the post office to know what he has done.

I realize I have been trusting that he would solve everything when in fact he's telling his superiors that my family has kept the money!

Originally posted by Maria
My sister in law has since gone three times to the Banco do Brasil (the Bank of Brasil, which deals with Western Union transfers there) and everytime she goes, she spends hours there and the system is always down.

Spend hours and the system is always down???
NO WAY! Those things don't ever happen here in Brazil, Maria...

Oopps, I just woke up, I was still dreaming when I wrote that, sorry.

That's a real uncomfortable situation, my bro used to work at Caixa Econômica Federal, they'll always make things more complicated than they should be.
If I can help in any way just let me know.

I just sent a fax this morning to the supervisor of Western Union in Luxembourg explaining all the situation, and he called me back right after....

Guess what?

The guy who did the mistake and who called me saying he was going to call the police, never told the supervisor about this case. He didn't know about me! He said he was going to take care of this case and contact me back on Monday. He also told me that that guy is just a substitute, not a fix employee... which may explain why he didn't tell his boss about this, but it doesn't justify his insulting conclusions that we stole the money nor his threats to call the police!

Thank you all for listening, and you were right, always talk to the supervisor!

Since I'm a manager myself, I knew this would get you some action. I'm glad it is working out in your favor. :)

Thanks, Katrina. I feel relieved! I'll see what they tell me on Monday.

And be sure to let us know!

Maria,

Obviously he was just trying to cover his own butt. He was hoping he would threaten you, you would be scared, the money would get back right away, and he could fix everything without anyone ever knowing he made a mistake. Too bad it backfired on him..... ;) I would imagine that sending double the amount of money is a pretty big mistake in that business, especially if you don't catch that mistake immediately.

Anyhow..good for you for standing up for yourself. Let us know what happens...

Banks are always a pain in the ***. :eek:
;)

Qui, it's not even the bank, it's the Post Office employee... as this is done by the Post Office in Luxembourg.

But I agree about the pain. ;) Monday I'll let you all know.

It is almost 2 mondays and we still dont know

And we probably won't know for a while. I think Maria's a little preoccupied. ;)

sounds crazy

Guess what, after I faxed my story with my complaint to that guy's superior, and that the manager called me to say he would take care of the problem, I never heard from them again...

Isn't that incredible?

The right thing for them to do would be eat the mistake. Let's hope they were smart enough to do that.