In September 2022, he learned about these problems and complained to the bank. It offered to write off the credit card debt, but Demitri rejected the offer, saying he had been left with a red mark on his credit report. More than a year later, the matter still remained unresolved, and Demitri complained to us, saying the long delay had caused him considerable stress and worry.

Our investigation

We found serious shortcomings in the bank's handling of the complaint. It misplaced Demitri’s email responding to its settlement offer for more than 14 months. Furthermore, his complaint was passed between different teams at the bank. Each team reiterated the bank's original settlement offer, without acknowledging that Demitri had rejected the offer and without responding to his concerns about his compromised credit rating. Months passed between each of the bank’s emails, and the result was that a relatively minor complaint caused a disproportionate amount of stress for Demitri. The bank offered to write off Demitri's credit card balance of $370 and his loan of $4,000. The bank also informed Demitri it had never put his outstanding credit card balance on his credit report.

Outcome

Demitri accepted the bank's offer.