Would you pay by western union?

[jjrich1]

I am getting a wordpress theme designed and I wanted to pay by paypal (as that is normally quite safe) but the designer is requesting to be paid by western union.

Has any one had an experience with them? I have never trusted them in the past.

[n7 Studios]

Western Union = scam.

[jjrich1]

The guy has shown me a fininshed template of my site and is requesting I pay via western... something about hard to withdrawn payment in his country..

[n7 Studios]

Western Union - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you want to see your money disappear and get nothing in return, go ahead and ignore my advice.

[Scott Ames]

hummmm... I don't like it. I would insist on an escrow service if he/she insists on Western Union.

[ASUService]

I've done it once and it worked out fine but I was a nervous the whole time.

[jjrich1]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I found it weird that he was so set on westion union. There is no way I am going to use western union so I will suggest escrow service.

[ppcpimp]

never - you have no protection with Western Union.

[A. Green]

Just in case you haven't found a good alternative yet, you might suggest something like moneybookers.com or alertpay.com. They accept sellers from most countries, including many that can't use PayPal, but offer some buyer protection.

If this seller is serious about doing business online, they should have something like that set up anyway. I can't see too many people being willing to Western Union funds to someone they don't know well.

[Caragui]

Western Union is a legitimate company and sending money through them is done by millions everyday. BUT, the reason for sending the money should be sound. By this I mean the sender and receiver should know each other well.

You're sending money as payment, if you don't get the service you'll have no recourse to get your money back.

I do services (graphic and website design) and always ask for payment by paypal. But there are instances that the client cannot use it (there could many reasons) so I give them the option to send the payment by WU.

Bottom line is trust, if you trust the other person go ahead and use WU. If not, better look for another alternative.

I'm not really sure but, correct me anyone if I'm wrong, but it seems that even if you use Paypal if the payment is/was for services it's not covered by their buyer protection.

[jjrich1]

I am not too sure. But you would think the paypal protection would cover such transactions.

I can understand that in certain countries it is very difficult to use paypal.

But I am still waiting for a reply to my email about using another payment service.

Thanks...

[Caragui]

By the way, haven't tried this but maybe worth looking into.

When sending money by WU you can specify a test question that the receiver needs to answer correctly before he can get the money. Here's what I'm thinking;

1. Send the money by WU and specify a test question that should be answered before release of the money.
2. Give the transaction number to the seller so he could check locally if the money was indeed sent. But not the test question answer.
3. Arrange with the seller for him to send the goods and when you receive it then you'll give him the answer for him to claim the money.

Sort of like an escrow with WU as the 3rd party.

Like I said, haven't tried this but it's worth looking into with some modifications as you see fit.

[nicholasb]

it's a bad idea, I wouldn't recommended it

it comes down to this if he is selling his services online to people online he needs some type of inline payment processor.

[jjrich1]

Good idea.

But I am gonna stick with trying to change the payment service. To be on the safe side.

[gerardS]

In many countries around the world Western Union is the ONLY way to be sure to get the money.
It doesn´t have very hight cost, and you can cash in a very wide choice of locations, banks, post offices, supermarkets, shops, etc..
For anyone who does not have a bank account there is no other way.
Some companies still send checks by normal mail to their affiliates in third world countries, can you beleive that?
And what to say about the indecent fees, banks are asking for transfers.
And by the way, you get the money cash, no questions asked, no IRS involved.
It´s a pitty they don´t have affiliates, I would promote them very srongly, lol.

gerardS

[Kim Standerline]

Using Western union is the same as any other payment method and you should use your due diligence before you hand over money by any type of payment processor.

I've used Western Union to send £1000's to my programmer who lives in India and I've never had a problem whatsoevver.

Like I said, do your due diligence

Kim

Originally Posted by Caragui

Western Union is a legitimate company and sending money through them is done by millions everyday. BUT, the reason for sending the money should be sound. By this I mean the sender and receiver should know each other well.

You're sending money as payment, if you don't get the service you'll have no recourse to get your money back.

I do services (graphic and website design) and always ask for payment by paypal. But there are instances that the client cannot use it (there could many reasons) so I give them the option to send the payment by WU.

Bottom line is trust, if you trust the other person go ahead and use WU. If not, better look for another alternative.

I'm not really sure but, correct me anyone if I'm wrong, but it seems that even if you use Paypal if the payment is/was for services it's not covered by their buyer protection.

With all due respect, this is utter rubbish. Western Union is a legitimate company, which has unfortunately been used illegally at times. (Just as paypal etc has been)

Originally Posted by n7 Studios

Western Union = scam.