The Western Union Boomerang

A certain well known MSC recently pulled this one on me. As planned, I go in, send some money to Mexico, go back in later on and get the money back. Easy right? Well, when I went to get the money back, I was given a partial refund. When I told the MSC, they said they would get me the money back. So I'm thinking ok, come next paycycle, they'll have it in with my usual pay. Not!! I receive email from scheduler and he says, that they've worked it out with WU and that I would have to go back in to get the funds that they did not originally refund. A total of 3 trips for what I think was a $12 shop. Proceed with caution on these.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Warning: This User Has Been Banned or Is No Longer Active

I'm pretty sure I know the MSC to which you refer. I did one of these shops and was a little apprehensive about it but not only did the shop pay $25 but I was given a full refund on the spot. I guess I got lucky as I've heard it is not always like this.....

I've heard more negatives than positives about these shops. I personally have steered clear.

Any shop that require a return visit x minutes later is a hassle, especially ones that require cash only transactions. Gonna have to be bonused or I won't touch these again. But in my case for them to ask me to chase down the rest of my money by returning to the store left me with my mouth open. Not very Intelli-gent, on their part to treat a shopper with a 3 figure shop history like this.

I've done several of these and they can be a bit of an adventure.... The entire purpose is that Western Union is trying hard to improve its refund procedures and making sure that individual locations know and understand how to run the refund. In other words, Western Union is trying to fix a known issue. The instructions have always stated that WU would refund the money directly if the location were not able to do it, but my understanding has never been that I would need to return to the location.

I tend to do these as little fillers on longer routes.... This news gives me pause. (i.e Driving 75 miles each way to get my $20 back seems ridiculous.)

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

I wasn't given a refund at all. The scheduler stopped taking my calls and wouldn't return my emails. When I chalked it up to a loss 3 months later, I was refunded by the MSC.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

On one of these shops the place kept the $5 fee. I got an email about a month later from the MSC that I could go get the $5 refunded at any Western Union, I just have not done it yet. I did a couple of these shops and would only do them again if they are bonused and I am in the area anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2018 08:24PM by mtsakach.

HUGE 10 Foot Pole Shop! Never!

I'm just entering my third month waiting for the $5 fee to be returned. The decision to keep my $5 was made by WU staff not the store who earnestly tried to reason with them. WU staff told them that my reason for canceling was insufficient to entitle me to a full return.

I think I have found the trick though. In the WU send (yellow&black) app, the refund policy is printed in full. When I get push back about the refund, I pull a blank form from the rack and ask them to show me in the policy that says I have to have a particular reason for me to cancel, or that they are entitled to keep the fee. One place though made me call WU direct. I had to explain that I initiated the cancellation within 20 minutes, not my fault the store made me call them and then had to wait on hold, etc.

I've done many of these. Except for once, I got all full refunds, but only from the store or by WU giving me a new receive code. I am disappointed that the MSC company is not honoring it's written promise about the timeline for receiving these refunds. It's a shabby way to behave when the shoppers are dinged left and right for any mis-step. I rate them a 0 because I had to email them...LOL

It's annoying that a shop would take you any additional time, especially for the measly fee paid.

If you have trouble getting the store to refund your money, take your refund code to one of the hundreds of MoneyTree stores that use WU. You will get a no-hassle refund with a smile, a thank you, and an invitation to return.

I did one of these shops, and I was not refunded my money at Western Union. WU was unable to find my transaction when I tried to find it online. I emailed the scheduler several times, to no avail. I never got my money back.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2018 02:25PM by kklingam.

@kklingam wrote:

I did one of these shops, and I was not refunded my money at Western Union. WU was unable to find my transaction when I tried to find it online. I emailed the scheduler several times, to no avail. I never got my money back.

That is horrible!

The MSC paid me the $5 along with the January payment.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

The Western Union Boomerang

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine