Western Union Question

I've seen warnings about sending money via Western Union all over the place, including WesternUnion.com...but is there any reason why I shouldn't ACCEPT a payment that way?

None that I know of. They will give you the payment in cash right there on the spot.

Oh yeah, I dont know if it is still this way, but when you send money they charge you a fee. You can make it so that the fee comes out of the money sent.

For example, lets say you are sending $1000 and the fee to do so is $50. Well you can pay a total of $1050 to cover the fee or you can have the fee come out of the $1000. That latter way the person receiving the $1000 would only get $950.

I have sent western union to kids and although they do charge I can't think of a reason not to go that route if the other person is willing to take it out of their portion.

You can get it in a few hours and if I remember correctly it is in the form of cash. Just make sure you have the sender send it to the exact WU that you want to pick it up at.

Originally Posted by shrap

Oh yeah, I dont know if it is still this way, but when you send money they charge you a fee. You can make it so that the fee comes out of the money sent.

For example, lets say you are sending $1000 and the fee to do so is $50. Well you can pay a total of $1050 to cover the fee or you can have the fee come out of the $1000. That latter way the person receiving the $1000 would only get $950.

I don't believe it works that way anymore. Last time I used it to send money, you put it how much you want to send and then they tack on the service fee. My feeling is as long as the customer is ok with paying the service fee, then why not? You go to the pick location and give them the reference # and they give you cash. I like it!

Originally Posted by jglass38

I don't believe it works that way anymore. Last time I used it to send money, you put it how much you want to send and then they tack on the service fee. My feeling is as long as the customer is ok with paying the service fee, then why not? You go to the pick location and give them the reference # and they give you cash. I like it!

It has been around 13 years since I have used it. But I use to use it frequently. Back when I was working the crab boats in Alaska, when I was not up in Alaska working I was traveling all over the place for months at a time. So instead of carrying large chunks of cash I always had my mom Western Union me my money when I needed it. Back then they didnt have the nice debit cards with the MC/Visa logos on them so it was really the most convenient way to get access to my cash.

Originally Posted by shrap

It has been around 13 years since I have used it. But I use to use it frequently. Back when I was working the crab boats in Alaska, when I was not up in Alaska working I was traveling all over the place for months at a time. So instead of carrying large chunks of cash I always had my mom Western Union me my money when I needed it. Back then they didnt have the nice debit cards with the MC/Visa logos on them so it was really the most convenient way to get access to my cash.

I love Deadliest Catch! I had to use it a bunch of times when living in Florida. I have to say it is definitely not the cost effective way of doing things but it was the only way to get someone money in a hurry! Now you can have a Paypal account with a Visa card and someone can send you money and you have it instantly. Gotta love technology!