Xoom @ Colonia Experience - No Usds!

[wongjoh]

Just wanted to post my recent Xoom experience in case it helps others in this forum.

Xoom ran a promotion where they were not charging commission fees (coupon: XOOMNEWYEAR) , so I decided to give them a try on a trip to Colonia. In summary, I would not do it again due to the uncertainty of obtaining USDs, as it seems hit and miss.

Details:
- I did 2 transfers (one for $3K and another for $1.5K) to myself for pickup in Uruguay
- Process wise, it was rather annoying: Xoom verifies your phone number listed in your profile and, since I had a Skype number, they had to run all sorts of additional verifications on me. For the 1st transfer, I had to answer identifying questions (like the ones they ask you when doing a credit check -- which addresses you've lived on, which counties, which mortgages, which loans, which people you know). For the 2nd transfer, they had to repeat the whole process, but this time they asked me to send scan of 2 IDs and recent bank statement (from the bank I am using to send the $$). Both processings took longer than I'd expect due to the manual verification handling, with the 2nd transfer taking 2-3 days (I'd have expected to be even faster, since I was already a "known entity")
- Anyhow, once XOOM *confirmed* that the funds were available to pick up. I thought I was set for my trip to Colonia -- took the Colonia express on a Friday and headed to one of their locations, a RapiPagos on Flores 350 (not too far from the port). RapiPagos is where XOOM directs you to get your $$ in Uruguay
- To my chagrin, at first, they did not know what XOOM was. After some fiddling, it turns out that, on their end, it is done through something called "Giros MORE".
- However, they told me they only had enough cash for the 1st transfer and told me to come in the afternoon for the 2nd. I asked what time, and they said 2-3pm. No problem. I signed for the 3K USDs and then headed to do some other business
- I came back later, and the lady that received me, expressed surprise: "Did you call ahead of time to make sure we had that money?" (oh my my, for $1.5K!!). I said I was there earlier and that they asked me to come back in the afternoon. Asking around, she acknowledged it, and after checking with her manager, told me that they did not have any more USDs for the day -- 4pm on a Friday (they close at 7pm). They could pay in me in ARS (yeah, right)
- I headed to the other location near the port, the Omnibus Terminal location. Did the same thing (explain what XOOM is, telling them about Giros More, etc.) and they finally also say that they do not have USDs. I said forget it and called XOOM to cancel this 2nd transaction.

At least, XOOM had not yet taken $ from my account, so there was nothing to refund which made it acceptable for me to try Xoom in the future at another location. But it seems that for Uruguay and in the current economic conditions, I will not do XOOM again.

Anyhow, hope this helps!

 

[Davidglen77]

First I'd like to say sorry to hear you had all of those issues with XOOM. Running out of U$D is something that does happen in foreign countries and given the inefficient operations of most financial entities in this region, as frustrating as it may be, I am not all that surprised. What I don't understand is why people get all bent out of shape regarding security measures. I spent many years working in a large bank and people used to get angry and sometimes next to violent when asked for identification, verificiation of personal information, multiple signatures, etc. This HAS to be done for YOUR protection. I remember a few times people came into our bank regarding fraudulent transactions on their accounts, of course we got blamed for not protecting the integrity of their accounts. This was in the days before on-line banking, where the only way to get into someone's account was by having their ATM pin number or forging their signature. Now things are much more open to risk and I am glad that banks are on top of it more than ever.

 

[khairyexpat]

Friend of mine used his debit card and it worked just fine to get 900 $US cash advance from the ATM.
But when tried his CC after that, the ATM declined him.

TD Visa in Toronto told him: TD Visa guarantees purchase with CC in any foreign country.
But TD Visa does NOT guarante cash advance at foreign ATM's. Foreign ATM networks, may or may not up to standards.

Does this sound right?
Does the fact that he already got 900 $US on the debit card, have any thing to do with the the problem of the CC?

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Friend of mine used his debit card and it worked just fine to get 900 $US cash advance from the ATM.
But when tried his CC after that, the ATM declined him.

TD Visa in Toronto told him: TD Visa guarantees purchase with CC in any foreign country.
But TD Visa does NOT guarante cash advance at foreign ATM's. Foreign ATM networks, may or may not up to standards.

Does this sound right?
Does the fact that he already got 900 $US, have any thing to do with it?

There may be a daily limit. I've used my ATM card in Colonia and Montevideo without difficulty, but not withdrawing large US dollar amounts on any given day.