Denied Dollars At Western Union

[WordsandMusic]

Hi folks, Just had a problem with sending my Brother-in-Law a $100.00. I wanted to surprise him by doing a good deed for him and his little family. So I sent $100.00 W.Union. When he went to pick up the $100.00, the teller told him she could not give him the money in American dollars as I had sent. So she gave him Peso's instead. When I checked what she gave him it was 43+ but the exchange rate should have been 44+. Has anyone run into this before. Do they run out of or not have American dollars at some locations, I don't know.   

[scott h]

W&M, if the Western Union does not have actual dollars on hand they don't give dollars to customers.

 

Frankly that is how they make their money on remittances. Western Union is (in my experience) .5 to 1 peso lower than the rate offered by money changers on the street. But better than banks. 

Edited July 15, 2015 by scott h

[Jollygoodfellow]

Moved to an appropriate forum, not everything goes into the chatterbox  :thumbsup:

[Dave Hounddriver]

I have tried to pick up moneygrams in US $ and not every receiver location has US$.  By asking questions I learned that some locations are designated to keep US$ available and even at those places I had to sometimes request the US$ and wait for a day to have them shipped in.  But I also learned there are a lot of competing businesses where you can get the money in real dollars.  One need only keep walking and keep asking.

 

Why was this a big deal?  For US$1000 I would get about 43,000 pesos if paid in pesos or 44,500 if I insisted on US cash and went to Lee Plaza to exchange it.  Thats a fair size sum for a poor man like me.

[chris49]

I have tried to pick up moneygrams in US $ and not every receiver location has US$.  By asking questions I learned that some locations are designated to keep US$ available and even at those places I had to sometimes request the US$ and wait for a day to have them shipped in.  But I also learned there are a lot of competing businesses where you can get the money in real dollars.  One need only keep walking and keep asking.

 

Why was this a big deal?  For US$1000 I would get about 43,000 pesos if paid in pesos or 44,500 if I insisted on US cash and went to Lee Plaza to exchange it.  Thats a fair size sum for a poor man like me.

 

Correct. The bigger branches of W. Union in the cities will have a sign "US Dollar Payout", I'm pretty certain they would not run out as they have a safe or they could source from a bank. W. Union really has a monopoly there so they quote as mentioned at least one peso below the Forex rate. However, most poor people would have to pay bus/jeepney fares to get to the city, so they have not much choice. Local W. Union outlets don't hold dollars or if they do, they still don't payout same.

[earthdome]

W&M, if the Western Union does not have actual dollars on hand they don't give dollars to customers.

 

Frankly that is how they make their money on remittances. Western Union is (in my experience) .5 to 1 peso lower than the rate offered by money changers on the street. But better than banks. 

 

In my experience doing a FX at a bank comes very close, within a few centavo's of a money changer. The expensive part is if you do an international wire transfer.

[Gratefuled]

I do not understand why you sent USDs to the PI. Maybe I'm missing something. You cannot spend USDs here. You need to change them to Pesos. Then, they require the USDs to be in near perfect condition or the exchange rate decreases.

When I go back to the states, I always go to my bank BPI here and ask for the amount of USDs I think I will need for my trip. I can always get more when I arrive.

When I send money from US to my BPI bank, I send USDs and they convert them to Pesos automatically for a small fee.

[Dave Hounddriver]

In my experience doing a FX at a bank comes very close, within a few centavo's of a money changer

 

I do not understand why you sent USDs to the PI. Maybe I'm missing something. You cannot spend USDs here. You need to change them to Pesos. Then, they require the USDs to be in near perfect condition or the exchange rate decreases.

 

It is interesting how everyone in this country seems to have a different experience here.  I do not understand how you two fellows can consider 1,500 pesos per thousand dollars to be a few centavos.  My post below was from my actual experiences on 2 separate occasions in May and June of this year.  I understand it may not be worth walking across the street if you are just picking up $100 but for any real money ..  ..  well its up to you.

 

 For US$1000 I would get about 43,000 pesos if paid in pesos or 44,500 if I insisted on US cash and went to Lee Plaza to exchange it.  Thats a fair size sum for a poor man like me.

[scott h]

I do not understand why you sent USDs to the PI

 

What he is talking about Grate is that if you are in the states and want to send someone in the PI $100. You hand over the cash in Detroit, they wire it to Manila as Dollars. The recipient goes to the WU outlet and they (normally) automatically give the recipient $100 in Pesos.

 

The OP was wondering why the person he was sending money to did not get a $100 bill.

[Gratefuled]

 

I do not understand why you sent USDs to the PI

 

What he is talking about Grate is that if you are in the states and want to send someone in the PI $100. You hand over the cash in Detroit, they wire it to Manila as Dollars. The recipient goes to the WU outlet and they (normally) automatically give the recipient $100 in Pesos.

 

The OP was wondering why the person he was sending money to did not get a $100 bill.

 

Now, that makes sense but to send USDs and expect USDs to be dispensed in the PI does not make sense. Yes, that is how it is done. The way you said.