Financial institutions are supposed to protect your assets, not put them at risk.

However, most people who’ve ever worked with a bank know this is often not the case.

One man desperately sought the bank’s help after his savings account vanished, but the only thing the tellers had in surplus was petty excuses.

Read on to find out how he fought their dismissive attitude with the power of malicious compliance!

We switched banks after they lost my dad’s savings and tried to bill us for their mistake

Years ago, we had moved from one state to the next.

But soon financial disaster struck.

About a month ago, some lady had managed to find an old checkbook or something of my dad’s and managed to clear out his entire savings.

It wasn’t long before he caught on to the issue.

My dad tried to buy groceries and thought his card was broken.

He went to order a new one and was shocked when he found out that all of his money was gone.

He tried to clear it up with the bank.

Looking back, he realizes the bank could have done a much better job in identifying the fraud.

He said to me later that there should have been noticeable red flags when the bank was going through that check.

We were out of state.

The check that the lady cashed was pretty old (about 5–6 years old), and my dad recently had a divorce about 3 years ago and had to make a new account.

They even missed the most basic of safety checks.

They require signature checks, and I’m not sure how they managed to pass that.

It should have been suspicious at the start since it was cashing out the entire savings.

He received a shallow apology, but it became clear that’s all the bank was willing to offer.

The bank apologized and said that the banker handling the situation would be disciplined.

The police would be called (she was found and arrested later), and that his money would be returned in 2–3 days or today.

And a $40 transfer fee was required.

I’m not sure how the entire conversation exactly went, but here is the breakdown:

Dad = Dad
BL = Bank Lady

The dad inquires about the fee, and the teller goes through her usual script.

Dad: Why a transfer fee?

BL: That’s for our policy, sir.

Dad: I’m not paying for something you guys messed up on. I literally have no money, let alone cash.

BL: I’m sorry if we aren’t up to your expectations at this time.

He tries to elevate the issue without much success.

Dad: Can you please talk to management and see if you can get it in by tomorrow?

BL: Hang on.

My dad was put on hold for 30 minutes until he was put on the phone with a manager who wasn’t much help.

Dad (trying to still be nice at this point): Can you at least put in the money tomorrow?

Manager: I mean, I can try, but that would still be $40.

The dad stands his ground.

Dad: No.

Manager: Then you have to wait for 4 days.

Dad: I’m not paying for some idiot’s mistake.

Manager: If you don’t like our service, then you’re welcome to go somewhere else.

That’s when he decided to do just that.

Cue Malicious Compliance.

My dad hung up and called me over to help him drive to another bank. He didn’t tell me what he was doing.

After he made an account, when his funds were back, he transferred the money to his new account.

This bank didn’t deserve his money or his trust!

What did Reddit have to say?

Some bigger banks have a reputation that precedes them.

Sometimes you just have to beat the bank at their own game.

It seems like folks in the UK get much better representation for matters like these.

Sometimes you just have to refuse to take no for an answer.

The bank expected him to pay for their mistake, but he wasn’t buying it.

Instead, he decided to invest in a banking partner who actually knew what they were doing.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.