He said the staff member did not deal with him appropriately and asked him to repeat his full legal name. He also said the bank wrongly attributed to him disparaging messages about the bank on Facebook shortly after the phone call.

Our investigation

We reviewed the information about the bank’s decision to close Eddie’s accounts, including the recording of the phone call Eddie made. We found the bank officer acted appropriately during the call and in response to his request to dispute a transaction. We also found the bank acted fairly and reasonably when it closed his accounts in direct response to his aggressive behaviour during the phone call. The information on file showed it made the decision after the bank officer escalated her concerns about Eddie's behaviour to senior staff and that it was a security adviser at the bank, who had had no interactions with Eddie, who made the decision to close his accounts. We noted that the bank did initially attribute the Facebook messages to Eddie, but unlinked the messages when Eddie denied being the author.

Outcome

We could not uphold Eddie's complaint.