Questions of Cash: I transferred £450 to family overseas. But Western Union wouldn't pass on the cash
When our reader's daughter-in-law went to the Western Union agency, the money was not made available. Weeks later, the cash still hasn't been given to her
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Your support makes all the difference.Q. My son phoned me from the Philippines in early November to ask to borrow £450 to pay tuition fees for his stepson. It was a rush job; if he didn't pay the fees the next day, his stepson could be thrown off his course. I sent the money by Western Union to my daughter-in-law, rather than using a bank transfer. I went on the Western Union website, which promised to have the money available in minutes. But when my daughter-in-law went to the Western Union agency, the money was not made available. Weeks later, the cash still hasn't been given to her.
At one point, it was hinted that she might have the same name as someone involved in terrorism or organised crime, but eventually the firm said that she was not a villain and she could have the money if she turned up with ID at a branch. She did and she couldn't obtain the cash.
After a couple of weeks, I sent my son the money by bank transfer and asked Western Union for a refund, plus whatever compensation it thought appropriate. It didn't answer that request – it just sent a standard letter. The latest from my son is that the Western Union branch in Manila doesn't even recognise the reference number I was given. The transaction has just disappeared, along with my £450. RP, by email
A. We would like to explain what happened to your funds and why the transfer has been delayed. However, several weeks after we raised the matter, and after we nagged, Western Union has simply told us that the money has now been refunded to you.
"The Western Union budgie has coughed, and I have £449.90 – why minus 10p I don't know – in my sticky hand," you tell us.
Caught between HMRC and an employer
Q. Four months ago, I made an income tax refund request to HM Revenue and Customs for 2014-15, when I earned less than £10,000 in the tax year. I enclosed all my P60 forms and expected to receive a cheque the following month. Instead, I received a letter from HMRC apologising for the delay and saying it was waiting for information from one of my employers, Knowsley Council. I was told that if HMRC was unable to deal with this within a month, it would contact me again to explain why. But I did not receive a letter, so I phoned and was told that HMRC needed further income details from Knowsley. When I phoned the council, I was told it had tried to investigate the problem but had drawn a blank. I am now desperate for this money and have exceeded my overdraft limit with my bank. PB, Liverpool
A. When we contacted the council, its spokeswoman said: "We have provided the necessary letter to HMRC, which I think has resolved the issue."
But when we then contacted HMRC, we were told this was not sufficient.
However, your refund has now been processed. An HMRC spokeswoman explained: "The refund was done manually as the employer had still not sent through [the reader's] missing income details electronically."
Energy supplier has taken too much money
Q. You have recently published complaints from readers about Extra Energy (Questions of Cash 28 November 2015, 5 December 2015, 9 January 2016 and 16 January 2016). The company has built up an unnecessarily high account balance from me by collecting too much.
Looking at my recent bills, my usage of gas seems to be going down, yet the direct debit has been going up.
I am now intending to close down my direct debit early to try to recover some of my money. MC, by email
A. Extra Energy accepts that your direct debit has been too high and has agreed to reduce it, but denies that it is at fault.
Ben Jones, its managing director of operations, said: "It is crucial that customers submit their meter readings in order [for Extra Energy] to consistently bill them correctly... Sometimes customers use less energy than the estimated annual consumption figure provided, and this is what happened with [the reader's] account. As soon as we were made aware this was the case, we amended his direct debit payments accordingly. [The reader] has now also renewed his account with Extra Energy for another year."
The company told you the overcharge was the result of errors in figures given to it by its gas supplier.
Chased for a mobile bill I HAd already paid
Q. Vodafone has been sending me texts saying that I have not paid my phone bill, even though I have received three separate emails from the firm confirming that my direct debit has been reinstated and payment received. The original problem was caused by a system change at Vodafone in October, which froze out my longstanding direct debit. LP, by email
A. A spokeswoman for Vodafone said: "There was an error on [the reader's] account that affected the status of his direct debit. Unfortunately, our advisers didn't pick up on this and tried to help by re-applying the direct debit. We've put this right now.
"We have put two months' worth of credit on the account, which will give plenty of time for his bank to accept the new direct debit mandate."
You are concerned that these problems could affect your credit statusm but Vodafone tells us that there is no adverse entry on your credit file.
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