Way to Russia Talk Lounge

phaedrus7 · Just Starting Joined: 02 Nov 2008 Posts: 1

I hope that someone can help me with the above question.

I sent money to a relative in Sochi, Russia through Western Union last week. When she went to the bank, she was told that she could not pick up the cash. No reason was given. Unfortunately, in Sochi there are no Western Union offices as separate entities, only banks that have Western Union offices within them.

Has anyone else had this problem with cash pickups recently? I sent her some money last month and there was no problem. I send her US dollars and she is paid in Russian rubles.

I suspect that the town banks in Russia are hording money or have no money to give because of the financial meltdown.

I contacted Western Union and they have no answers for me.

Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance,
phaedrus

Ender

I wonder why do you use WU? Use ordinary bank transfer. The fees are lower and it usually takes about three days.

You can try MoneyGram also. I used it some time ago. Sometimes there were problems with transfers but bank clerks were able to resolve them in matters of minutes. A call to central office in Moscow was usual practice in these cases.

P.S. And of course it is better to use Sberbank. To be fair it is the best bank in the Russia. Others - simply parasites on customers money.

Paul Holmes · Lounge Wizard Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1011

Scammers favorite place is Western Union.
It does not sound correct though. Something suspicious here.
If you know the lady(and met her), then set up something with Ikobo.

Everything Ender says is correct.