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| Western Union..Foul!! |
| Jan. 2nd 2003 Few Weeks ago, we were told that Western Union has denied services to and actually harassed a Muslim customer because his name was Mohamed. The story actually goes beyond that, as it appears that the company investigates any customer with a Muslim name to the extend of asking questions like this: So.. What is your old sick mother going to use this $85 for? We did not believe the story at first, so we contacted the firm and to their defense they replied with an explanation! So without any delays here it is: Date : Thu, 23 Jan 2003 11:23:42 -0600 (Central Standard Time) From : [email protected] To : <[email protected]> Subject : Re: Muslim Customers - 1B654787C873 Hello, Thank you for your email regarding the issue raised by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Western Union has a set of core values, chief among which is treating each person with dignity and respect. We regret that one of our customers felt otherwise. Western Union provides a vital service for millions of people in more than 190 countries and territories around the world -- serving hundreds of languages and even more cultures. Our scope makes it inevitable that we encounter sensitive issues from time-to-time, but we work diligently to balance these sensitive matters with our desire to serve an extremely diverse customer base, while also adhering to the laws and regulations governing our business. As a part of our government compliance program, Western Union is required by law to screen all transactions for names identified on U.S. and international government watch lists. In the U.S., that list is issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury�s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). When our systems identify a transaction that may have been sent by or destined for someone whose name appears on one of the lists, we are required by law to hold the funds until we can confirm that the customer is not the same individual on the government list. This is what occurred with the customer that was referred to in the public statement issued by CAIR. Contrary to that statement, this customer�s name resulted in a first and last name match to the OFAC, or government watch list. We were required by law to block and hold this money transfer until we could obtain additional identification information from the sender to ensure the individual was not the person(s) on the government list. Once we received proof of identity, the funds were released as directed. We recognize the inconvenience that such a process may create for our customers, and we are committed to helping them with their transactions in a timely manner, while also adhering to the government compliance procedures we are required to follow. We have invited the Executive Director of CAIR to open a dialogue in an effort to ensure we adequately address the organization�s concerns. Thank you for taking the time to contact Western Union. We greatly value your input and aim to satisfy all of our customers. Western Union Customer Service There are few wrong, very wrong, issues here, I hope you have the wisdom to spot them. You see, The problem that is actually bothers me the most is the fact that; the Court-Appointed regime in US has given many organizations and companies such as this one a green light to practice their religiously and racially motivated policies, and that stinks. That is all for now. Editor |