Amscot $12.00 fee with another money order will take care of stolen money order Orlando Florida

     On 11.30/2013 I got a "free" Amscott money order for partial rent payment on a property, the previos week I got one for 99 cents for another vendor (Western Union).

     Both were filled out and dropped in a drop box to our landlord and upon a call about a week later i was informed they did not get my rent payment and informed be that the drop box was broken into. I quickly went to Amsot and the local Western Union dealer near me to obtain the paperwork to recover funds.

     Amscot informed me that the money order was indeed cashed under a differnt name that I filled out and signed and told me to pay a $12.00 fee and fill out a form to recover the loss and I should be handled in 4-6 weeks.

Western Union had a similar process.

About 10 days later I recieved two letters, one from Amscot and one from Western Union.

Amscot:

Dear Money Order Customer:

Enclosed is a copy of the money order you reuqested traced by Amscot Money Order Company.

PLEASE NOTE: You will not be receiving a refund; the item has been cashed and has already cleared our bank.

Thank You!

     Upon calling the Tampa offices of Amscot and asking what the heck is going on they say all money order providers are not the same and this is how they do business, they can however send me a "affidavit of forgery or alteration" fill it out and upon investigation (takes 6-9 months) I MAY be able to recover funds from "Amscot's Bank" which is BANCFIRST and they are responsible for it, not Amscot in any way, yet it asks to mail it back to Tampa. 6-9 months seems excessive, and a lot more laike a tactic to make you forget about or give up on recovering the funds.

Western Union: Really nothing at all except a check for the orginal amount of the money order.

    I also learned the hard way that Amscot's money orders are FREE for one resaon: once they issue the money order they wash thier hands of the trasaction, and if you pay $12.00 to recover payment they will mail you the information they told you at the local store. FREE is NOT FREE, in my case it now has cost me $283.33.

If I would give any advice about any financial service I would know now to say STAY AWAY FROM AMSCOT.