In a previous post, I recounted my experiences trying to send money via Western Union. But, I decided to give Western Union another try and I’m happy to say the experience was much more successful than any of my previous attempts. (i.e. it actually worked!)

I entered the details of my transfer into the Western Union website and received a similar “please call to complete this transaction”. “Oh no, not again,” thought I. But, I called and the person was much more helpful and informative. Basically, he said that Western Union and the credit card companies want positive confirmation that the sender is knowingly sending money to someone in China. He specifically asked if I knew the recipient, to which I responded this was the company’s designated wire transfer recipient and that I had dealt with the company before so I knew they were legit. We talked about this policy and it became clear that it covers monies being sent to some countries “like this one”. I couldn’t get him to give examples of other countries on the list, but I can imagine who is on it.

The money was available to the recipient before the end of the phone call and it was apparently picked up without any hassles by the recipient. So, I’ve revised my opinion of Western Union and would actually consider using them over a bank wire transfer because they’re cheaper, faster, and all the fees are paid upfront. (The reason I went back to them was because although I paid $30 for the wire transfer to my bank an additional $45 evaporated in-transit by intermediary banks that the money flowed through. Talk about “hands in your pockets,” eh?)