I needed to send some money back to the Philippines. So I tried Western Union.

First, they charge me $27 to send $110 to Manila. Then, at the end of a tedious form, they tell me that it cannot accept the money transfer till I call their support number and talk to an operator. They give me a 10-digit “control number” without spaces or hyphens. I call the number, enter the number, and wait. After twenty minutes of elevator music from Western Union and much cursing from me, I get a message saying they cannot accept my call, please try again in fifteen minutes. So fifteen minutes later, I try again, and must wait another ten minutes. I surprise myself with my calmness as I tell the operator who answers, “This is not the service I was expecting. I’ve been charged too much to wait too long. Please cancel this transfer, and delete my account.”

Screw Western Union. What other US-Philippines money transfer alternatives are there, while Paypal Philippines has yet to materialize? I’m looking in Xoom’s direction based on Yuga’s experiences.