Western Union ripoff

I was behind on my mortgage and asked my sister to lend me a mortgage payment until the end of the month. We decided to try Western Union online to deposit money directly into my checking account.

The WU site said that this would take three days. So I set up an online payment from my bank account to the mortgage company for the fourth day. The money was withdrawn from my sisters account the day she set it up with WU but by the fourth day it never showed up in my bank and my online payment went out, bounced and came back resulting in a 39$ overdraft fee.

My sister called WU and they said that my bank was holding the deposit. I went down to my bank and they said they have no record of any attempt at a deposit from WU.

I insisted that my sister get hold of someone at WU who will take ownership of this problem. Finally she got someone to admit that the deposit batch failed on the WU side and it never went through.

Now I am in default with my mortgage company and the money that my sister was to send me to help out is held up in red tape at WU. I have no idea what to promise my mortgage company. I am screwed and I have been reading that many people have had the same issues with this company.

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I attempted to send via WU's online service, using my VISA card. At the end of the form-filling process I received on-screen directions to call customer service, 'additional information was required for confirmation of identity.' Long story short, they refused to complete the transaction (and wouldn't explain why...I can tell you all of my 'identity' details are in order, so I couldn't begin to guess). Funds were, nevertheless, deducted from my account. I called Western Union, they were of no help; said they had faxed notice to return funds to my bank, that funds were 'not with WU, but were being held by my bank.' This is irrelevant and is an answer that should not be accepted by any WU customer. Fact is, WU submitted the charge to the bank *before* the transaction was complete and without the service being rendered. Bad process, equally bad customer service. I certainly should not have to bear the burden of absent funds for a service that wasn't rendered and neither should any customer. Profoundly frustrating. Think twice before sending funds via WU's online service. A quick review of customer service reviews/ratings reveals that my experience with Western Union online services is not unique.