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This is my daughter, 18 years old, naive in certain ways but a smart girl. She used the Western Union at the customer service desk at the Fort Jackson AAFES to send her cousin $500 overseas in Palistine.
I was standing with her as this was graduation day and we were off later to her new base for AIT.
The AAFES clerk had her fill out a paper form, she showed her ID, and swiped her debit card. She called her cousin from a cellphone saying, 'just sent it"...asked the clerk if there was anything else.... the reply was:
"they need a photo id to pick up the money".....so that info was relayed over the cellphone.
That was it.
A week later after the cousin returned home it was learned Western Union refused to allow the cousin to pick up the money, even with the photo id. In Palistine there are still 'race' problems so an Israeli clerk didn't like the Palistinian customer (happens all the time).
So, the money wasn't picked up.
By now my daughter is in Pensacola FL under intense PT/ and classroom training. When she had her first day off she went to the PX with her receipt and tried to straigten it out. They couldn't help her citing she had to deal w/ Western Union themselves.
Fast forward 6 months later....Western Union won't give a refund. They go back and forth saying they 'mailed' a refund check....but refused to say where they sent it. After dealing w/ a higher up they confessed it was sent to a 'work address' instead of the address on the paper form she filled out at the PX. There is no work address listed on the form except for 3-60 C company. (the px clerk wrote that in as that was my daughter's assigned basic training even though she had already graduated).
They refuse to send a refund to the address listed on the form (the correct address/home of record).
They now say they want a notarized copy of her military id...front and back.
Someone help! My daughter is no longer in Pensacola and is now at her new, extended training base. A notary said they won't notarize a copy of a military id.
What to do? My daughter will only be here for 2 months then she's off to Korea.
Have your daughter go to JAG and let them help her. I'm sure a letter from a military attorney will get the ball rolling. What a shame that Western Union is treating her so crappy! Makes my blood boil
Not sure if it's like this in the Army, but in the Marines every admin officer is also a legal officer and notary. She should be able to go right to her S-1 and get a copy notarized. If her Adj isn't a notary, they definitely have them at base legal.
JAG or Legal might be able to help, as others have said. Also, she could file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. They help mediate issues between the consumer and corporation.
Yes, they can help in private matter, absolutely. I once had an insurance agent forge my name on insurance paperwork (I purchased it over the phone). I had a very bad driving record and had great deal! Turned out they turned in paperwork stating I had not tickets or violations, supposedly signed by me. I paid this great rate for six months, and then it shot up from $100 a month to $600 a month. They were trying to make me pay the difference for the previous 6 months as well, stating that I had been dishonest and that they'd just received my driving record to adjust it.
I went to the agents office, and asked for a copy of my driving record and insurance application. They stupidly handed me both. The driving record had a fax date on it, the day I purchased my insurance (not six months later). And the form had a signature from "me" and the agent, but in exactly the same handwriting.
I took all of this to the base legal office, I gave them a power of attorney, and they started calling the insurance company (Not the third party agent). Eventually the legal office secured a check from them fully refunded every penny I'd ever paid to this company, and a letter of apology.
They won't go to court, but they will help with legal matters, they will write letters and make phone calls.
Just an update....the BBB, her state's Office of the Attorney General, and the state's financial regulation department have been contacted and complaints filed.
So far, Western Union hasn't responded so I guess after 30 days or so they'll send that letter saying they attempted to mediate but WU didn't respond.....she'll have to go to small claims court.
Just can't belive it, still. How can they just think they can keep her money like that?
At the top of this page under city-data.com... the tabs for the thread...it has: Western Union at Fort Jackson, recruit out $500 plus (Marines, training, officer)
How did (Marines,training,officer) get added on?
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