Western Union a PITA?

[Jester7677]

I tried paying online. Due to previous experience, I had the bank on the phone to authorize the transaction. It got rejected by WU.

Is the only option to go to a location to process the transaction? That's a bummer if it is. Is this what folks do?

 

[rb0087]

I've only paid via WU once, and hopefully that's the only time that I'll have to do that. It was a major PITA. I went through everything online, registered, set up account, etc., tried to pay, it said that the payment was successful, I sent the dealer the transaction information, and then later got an email from WU telling me that my transaction was declined for some unspecified reason. So I had to go to a WU branch inside a grocery store and pay via cash.

So in short, the answer to your question is an emphatic yes, it is a PITA.

 

[Jester7677]

Ech. PM me if you are comfortable with the TDs you deal with and how you pay. WU has quickly become a turn off...

Could I live with going to a WU location, sure, and I could live watching live TV, but I certainly try to avoid it.

 

[Rush2112]

Sometimes WU is easy and sometimes it is a real pain in the ass. I prefer paying at store than online. I tried to pay for one watch several times before I had to get the TD to give me a different name to send the money to.

 

[pobjednik]

Don't understand why is it so hard to go to the store and pay? Do you guys ordering everything over internet , food and stuff?

 

[Jester7677]

Ha, knew this was coming. Like I said, I 'could' watch live TV but I really try never to do so anymore having a DVR.

Its not hard, but it will take me an hour compared to the 5 min online it could be. I work from home, wife does the shopping and if I can, yes, I buy most things online.

I'll see what the TD says and if need be, I'll get it done. Just curious why it was such a PITA and rb0087 literally experienced what I did. Add to that, my credit card company refused the first attempted payment to WU. I called them and created the transaction but they shared that it was a cash advance with ridiculous daily interest. So I switched to debit card and that was refused as well, this time by WU.

I understand why, just curious.

 

[rj999]

I tried WU, but they restricted the amount of my transaction, and when I eventually sent the credit card transaction from their site, my CC company rang on the basis this was probably a fraudulent transaction!. Plus the WU charges were quite high.

It was cheaper and more efficient for me to do a direct SWIFT bank transfer to the TD. The bank did ring me to check but the full amount went through without a problem and I've just approved the QC pics.

I think in the UK Western Union physical branches are only in some rather dubious areas.

 

[bobster_rulez]

Had same problems with WU they suck, can't pay online had the cc company on the line still wouldn't approve, cc company said was sorry, WU sucks, went to store to pay. Did you see the costs, sick, it's what they do to you at the drive through!!!!!

 

[Luthier]

Is the only option to go to a location to process the transaction? That's a bummer if it is. Is this what folks do?

Yes, and Yes.
Online is for lazy asses, and it doesn't work. Walk in and send money in 2 minutes.

 

[rj999]

Yes, and Yes.
Online is for lazy asses, and it doesn't work. Walk in and send money in 2 minutes.

Walk? In Hollywood?!:thud:

 

[Luthier]

Even in Hollywood WU offices are on almost every corner. And yes, we walk sometimes... from the car to the office door.

 

[torobravo]

Walk? In Hollywood?!:thud:

You have WU offices everywhere worldwide, not sure in England but in Spain they have WU even at the post office.

 

[Luthier]

Tons of WU offices everywhere in UK.

 

[rb0087]

For those who don't mind making a special trip in person, that's fine. But in my opinion it isn't being lazy if you favor a transaction method that accomplishes the same result with significantly less effort... that's just being rational.

I see where people are coming from who just pay in person to start with and don't understand the gripe with that, but it starts to be a real PITA when you try to pay online first. WU gives you every indication that you can send money online, when in reality, it never seems to work. So imagine this: you go through paying online first thing in the morning, no big deal, send the payment info to the dealer, and think you're done with it. Then WU reneges on that after they sent you the confirmation and your bank approved. You get in the car after work, swing by an ATM to get cash, go to the grocery store, carefully fill out a form by hand, wait in line, hand the form to the guy who proceeds to type in what you just wrote at about a quarter of the speed that you could have typed it, then they print things out, you sign things, etc., the fees end up being higher than listed online, so you don't have enough cash and have to pay with debit and incur the fee anyway, all after a long day at work when you thought that you had taken care of this hours ago. Plus, you go through paying with the same damn card that you tried to pay with 10 hours ago. Then you send a clarification email to the dealer saying to ignore the previous info and take this new info, etc. How is that not a pain in the ass?

Sure, if the biggest hassle you have all day is inconvenient payment logistics, that's not a bad day, but when you buy 95% of non-food items online, and are used to paying for things securely and cheaply with the click of a button, having to jump through all those hoops gets to be very irritating. If only people wouldn't be dumbasses with paypal and you could use that everywhere...

 

[trailboss99]

Damn people are getting lazy.
Once upon a time not all that long ago nothing was paid online.
If you really do buy 95% of non food items online I pity your local stores and you probably need to get out more anyway. Try a walk to the local store, won't kill you but the exercise just may save your life.

 

[airtime]

If it's a PITA then why not use other payment options? Several of the Trusted Dealers accept CC payments. Can't get much more convenient than that.

If your complaint is really more that PayPal isn't accepted then there are plenty threads explaining why.

Personally, I have no problems using WU. It's easy and doesn't take much effort. :woot:

 

[Jester7677]

I'll be going in person from now on. PayPal is ideal but I totally understand the issue there and it seems it's the same issue for WU online. I did not know that, but hey, now I' do!

I don't trust the security of these sites to use my personal CC with them. If I had to, I'd use a prepaid CC, but WU in person is probably easier. I get a lot of exercise, so that's no selling point...

Thanks!

 

[tr573]

Weird. I had issues when trying to do a bank transfer to WU, but paying with my debit card always works and is instantaneous.

 

[Doright]

For me WU is great, as I have one within walking distance of my home and there's an ATM next door to it. Marv, my go-to TD, gives a 10% discount for WU payment. The only drawback is having to use multiple ATM cards if the order is over 300.00.

 

[prb]

Who accepts CC? Maybe I havent looked hard enough but I've never been able to convince a TD to take CC...