Western Union takes actIon against erring paying agent in Mambulao

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

THE Western Union has taken action against one of its paying agents in Mambulao for errors that resulted in the wrong payment of remittance proceeds to a customer last December 2011.

The remittance company also said (as of this writing) it has already arranged for the reimbursement of an amount wrongly deducted from the remittance received by Ms Evangeline B Demasayao, a resident of Mambulao.

Roy Fernandez, director for operations of Western Union in East and South Asia, said that the move they have taken against Susan Galleta, owner/operator of LSG-LSP-SGV pawnshops will “ensure they meet the service obligations and standards of all our service users”.

The pawnshops are Western Union’s paying agents in Mambulao.

However, Fernandez has declined to say what specific action his company has taken against Galleta’s pawnshops.

Fernandez told MWBuzz in an email: Our investigation concluded that the operator of the paying agent made an error during the transaction process, as a result of which Demasayao was paid out less than she was expecting (paid out peso 20,294 instead of peso 21,186.37).

In a brief message to Demasayao, Fernandez said: “We regret this error and our paying agent (Galleta) wishes to rectify this matter immediately.

 “Western Union takes every consumer complaint seriously and would like to thank you for bringing critical issues to our attention so that we continue to better our services,” Fernandez told MWBuzz.

Demasayao was supposed to receive P21,186.37, an amount converted from 500 Australian dollars, but was instead paid out P20,294 only by LSP.

There was no valid explanation for the deduction of P892.37 from the remittance sent from Canada on December 24, 2011, which Demasayao claimed for payment on Christmas Day over the counter of LSP Pawnshop.

All fees related to remittances sent to beneficiaries are usually taken care of by the money sender. 

All the receiving party has to do is present a valid identification card and the money transfer claim number (MTCN) corresponding to the remittance.