Are ALL companies requesting western union payments scammers? I live in Texas and last night I worked from midnight untill 3:30am going over the details of an order with a chinese company called the dongguan hongda rubber factory. their alibaba url is http://dghongda.en.alibaba.com/aboutus.html .
I liked everything about the process. The guy who helped me with my order seemed very intent on making sure he had my order set exactly how i wanted it.
1. His english was broken but very good compared to what i've seen.
2. The business is listed here as a gold member and a trustpass member.
3. His prices were ok but from what I hear that's not a bad thing.
4. He sent me pictures of the factory and products.
5. I even called and spoke with him (using the number posted on his site) and he seemed to be legit.
6. Although he requested 30% down via T/T to start the order, he agreed to send the first 30% once the entire order was complete and then upon reciept, I would send the remaining 70% and he would do the same.
Once we agreed on price though, there were a few things that from what I read, should raise a few flags. They are as follows:
1. He suggested I pay via western union. He said I could pay through a bank transfer but that it would take at least 5 days to transfer.
2. He sent me both his western union payment info and his bank payment info and the name on both of them was Lyin Xu. His name on his alibaba page and in our conversations was Jimmy. I understand sometimes that a chinese person will adopt a easily pronounced name to make communication more efficient but is this something that i should be concerned about?
3. He refused to send references citing privacy for his customers.
If any of you more experienced traders could provide some insight, I would appreciate it.
GoombaJon is right that WU is no faster than a Bank T.T moreover a bank transfer is safer & is legal, I've myself come to a situation where many people would say they will send payment via WU, so I enquired about its procedure, they told me its not for business or official use, it is mainly used by people who wish to send money to their relatives.
I must tell you payments from such recourses are not safe & may impose taxable liability.
Let me xplain to you something:
The WU says that payment recieved through it is only for the concerned relatives, means its a gift which a person recieves for no consideration or work done.
But when you are sending some goods & recieveing maoney through WU, the money will be treated as a gift, at that time your consideration of sending the goods will not be taken in account & thus will be treated as black money - seriously you are getting US$ 1000.00 (an example) for the goods you will send but in WU the goods you will send will not be accounted but your **** will be added by that amount.
Obviously what will you show to the authorities.
If anyone think I'm wrong in the above statement(s) please do e-mail me
Naman Jandial
I 'm agree with Naman Jandial,it is not an usual payment practice via WESTERN UNION PAYMENTS, have more risk involved.
Hi,
having just read the statements about western union i am more unsure about making payments this way.
At the minute i have set up a deal with a company from china to pay this way !! unfortunatly a lot of what i read was similar to what ive been told.
This supplier is also a gold supplier on alibaba.com.Company name is Fuzhou Xc A&S,co Ltd.. (www.exporter-china.net)
Its a chance to take with only the hopeful trust of a stranger to rely on,that is not enough to go on in my eyes,without the reassurance of proof that they will send goods after payment.
They supply nike trainers,tn's shox etc..
If anyone can let me know if they have dealt with this company,and were happy i would be very grateful for the help or anyone that knows a good trustworthy supplier of these trainers???
Thanx
crazysite
I am a chinese, I guess I could say something on the issue.
1. He suggested I pay via western union. He said I could pay through a bank transfer but that it would take at least 5 days to transfer. }
What he said is right. Bank does take 15 days to receive the money, and WU seems a lot quickly. Actually many manufacturers like me over here only know western union regarding international money transfering. So sometimes I just can't understand why you always regard it as scammer once we ask for sending small money from WU. I am not talking about hundreds dollers, but just for samples fee or shipping postage. But anyway, if there is a big sum of money, you 'd better not do it.
2. He sent me both his western union payment info and his bank payment info and the name on both of them was Lyin Xu. His name on his alibaba page and in our conversations was Jimmy. I understand sometimes that a chinese person will adopt a easily pronounced name to make communication more efficient but is this something that i should be concerned about?
That's quite normal. The english name of a chinese person doesn't mean anything and he can change it anytime. But do remember his surname and first name , that's important and can't be modified easier. For example, I am Lee. I made this name by myself,however tomorrow I can be Tom or Steven or something else. that's nothing important. but my chinese name lihongron is the one on the ID card. I got to only use it whenever I deal with formal activities.
3. He refused to send references citing privacy for hiscustomers.
That's hard to tell. Normally he is not surpposed to do that way. But Maybe his former custerms reqested him to keep it secret. Then he should let you know the reason why he refused, did he do have any customers? Ask him.
Good luck to your business!
Lee
you are wrong, wire transfer is much more faster than west union and we can get payment by wire transfer from usa within same day the clients in us sent the money.
Bottomline to all this is DON'T DO IT!!! You most likely will LOSE in the end. I know this is painting with a broad brush, but most SCAMMERS love Western Union and Wire Transfers. Most people can't afford a big financial hit, so why chance it, unless you have cash you are willing to part with, I think your best bet is to pass on this one.
hi
i make urgent same day transfers from the uk to hong often you only have to tick the urgent box on the transfer forms and do it in the morning
1. Agents of Western Union in China require you to provide your Chinese Pinyin in accordance with your ID card, or they refuse to release money. Hereby Pinyin is your pronunciation of Chinese name. If you provide English name Jim, David or the like to your money sender, you are sure to be refused when you come to collect the money. You must clearly declare your surname and last name because order of Chinese names are opposite comparing to English names.
2. Some buyers themselves suggest to pay sample charges by WU. I wonder whether it is cheaper to send this way than T/T. Sometimes it is easier for suppliers to get small amount of money by WU because some suppliers do export through other export brokers and they are not entitled to receive foreign payment directly according to Chinese practice. But no buyers send payment for normal orders to us in this way. They send it either by T/T or L/C.
3. T/T from US or Switzerland to China should be very very fast, say 2 days or so in my experience. T/T from other countries might take longer because they might not be going to China directly. And tt is always a good idea to suggest suppliers to open an acount with Bank of China which receives money more directly. Some other Chinese banks likely receive foreign money through other contracted American banks which cost more charges and quite longer time.
Hope it helps.
Kite