Western Union money transfers to India, made by people in Australia, are likely to be delayed due to the fact that the company is investigating fraudulent transfers made to India.
Such digital money transfers are supposed to be available within the hour, judging by the television advertisements that the company runs.
But the real-life experience is somewhat different as I discovered recently when I sent what can only be described as a small sum of money to someone in the Indian city of Bangalore.
The money was sent from a post office in a suburb of Melbourne on 19 October.
{loadposition sam08}The same evening Bangalore time (5-1/2 hours behind Melbourne), the intended recipient went to the nearest Western Union agent in Bangalore to collect the equivalent in Indian currency, but was told that there was a "technical problem" and that the sender (in this case, me) should go back to the outlet from where the money was sent and obtain a fresh money transfer control number or MTCN.
The intended recipient has to provide this number and an acceptable form of ID in order to collect what is remitted.
At the moment, that slogan does not ring true.
I went back to the post office on the morning of 20 October but the man who runs it refused to take any responsibility and asked me to call Western Union.
When I did so, it took 18 minutes for someone to come on the line. The person who spoke to me asked for my name and the MTCN of the transfer. After verifying my identity, he said that every transfer was subject to review and that he would pass me on to the person who was involved in the review.
What followed was curious, to say the least. Someone came on the line - after a further seven minutes - and, after verifying my particulars again, said that transfers to India were being investigated for fraud. When I asked whether I was suspected of fraud, this person ducked the question.
I was then asked a series of what can only be described as inane questions (my equally inane responses are in brackets):
When had I last seen physically seen the person to whom the money had been sent? (In August 2015).
How do I keep in touch with this person? (By phone).
What would this person use the money for? (To buy meat, onions, and maybe potatoes).
Would I need to send money to this person in the future? (I am not a prophet so I cannot predict the future).
After about 30 minutes, I was told that the transfer had now gone through and could be collected – as it was that evening, more than 36 hours after being sent.
Western Union's media representative for the Asia Pacific region, Ingrid Sahu, is based in Dubai. I emailed the following questions to her:
Do you only subject Indians to this kind of ordeal? Is there no fraud in other countries like the US, the UK and Australia?
Why do you not advertise the fact that you will often delay transfers to ask the senders inane questions?
How exactly do you investigate fraud by asking such questions? Do you expect people to incriminate themselves by giving stupid answers?
I received an email from her on 21 October, apologising for what had happened and an assurance that someone from Australia would call me. The questions were left unanswered.
When that call came through, the person who called did not answer my questions but again started apologising. I was told that since Western Union is an American company, any responses to the media would have to be vetted by lawyers.
The same evening I received an email from Georgina Umaña Monge, an executive resolutions specialist from Western Union, based in Englewood, Colorado.
It was filled with platitudes: "We apologise for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you.
"We want to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. For Western Union, customer experience is very important. We constantly review incidents like yours and follow up accordingly to ensure that the proper procedures are being followed, making the process of sending and receiving funds seamless.
"We are currently investigating your concerns, and will be communicating our findings and resolution to you upon the completion of our examination of your complaint."
"In the meantime, if you have any additional questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me."
When Western Union sends its official response, replete with legal touches, it will be added to this article.