So with the cities in lock down, I have not been able to get aid to different parts of the city .. people are only allowed a few blocks from their homes. This has been challenging for us . People that we help from time to time find themselves with no food , no money and no time on their phones to reach out for help. and we can not get to them if we tried.
I thought that I had a solution with Western Union. We can contact them, and if there is a need, I can transfer a small amount to them to help them out, and they in turn send me a photo that yes they did purchase groceries, or what ever the purpose of the funds were for . This has worked well .. at least up until today .
When I sent the funds for the food drops from or friend Artum, they would not let me send more then $600 in a day. So I contacted the bank last night after midnight when they would not allow me to send more .. I was told that it is a 24 hour period so I would have to wait until noon today to send the balance. Noon today I sent the balance and all was well. and I forwarded the pick up security number . As well he would have to bring in government issued photo ID to receive the funds .
Almost 4 hours later I get a text from Western Union that my account was on hold . They said that because I had sent two payments to the same person my account was frozen until I "Explained myself" I had to tell them who I sent it to? , how long I had known them?, how do I communicate with them?, when was the last time I had physically met with them ? what was their relationship to me ? what was the intended purpose of the money sent? and what is their age? why did I send two separate payments ? . As we continued this interrogation, I found out that they had canceled all un collected transfers I had out there including food money for Kamala, but had failed to notify me of the other transfers they had put on hold . and it was only found when I made them look up all previous transfers .
They told me it was for me that they were doing this and that they want to make sure I know the person... and that possibly someone different would collect the money ... ya right someone who has the secret code, and someone who has the same name on a government issued photo ID.. Having Kamala out in the city to collect money that is suspended is not helping me . In fact the only way a fraudulent transaction could have taken place is if the WU teller was in on it and did not require the ID and the number .. and in that case this is not about protecting me its about protecting themselves from themselves .. and it still does not give any explanation as to why I was not notified that previous transfers where suspended as well .
The solution is that with EVERY transfer that I do from my bank, I must then wait an hour and call Western Union and confirm that they have not blocked the transaction because apparently that is my responsibility not theirs ... Through this , they never once apologized or took any responsibility for the situation . She simply said it was Covid 19's fault. One day this will be over and rather then thinking this was a good practice to continue, I will be left with a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to W.U.
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