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Because of the large sum involved, Fischer asked the telephone agent to email the terms and conditions of drafts. She said she was told that couldn’t be done. When she told the agent she was recording the conversation as a means of keeping things straight (and for better clarity), she said she was told that was a big no-no and the conversation ended.

She was then bumped to “Level 3” and told to await a package in the mail.

Fischer, meanwhile, found two CBC stories in which TD customers found themselves in the same predicament, like the southern Ontario family that sent an $846,000 bank draft via UPS in 2017, only to have the courier lose it.

In that case, 10 months went by without a resolution. Finally, the sender was able to sign an indemnity agreement with a two-year expiry and the funds were released.

Fischer would be willing to sign a similar deal and this is exactly where the issue is headed.

On the same day Postmedia contacted the bank, Fischer received an after-hours call from TD saying they were willing to negotiate terms to deal with the lost draft.

They sent us a prepared response. “A bank draft is the equivalent of cash and it cannot be cancelled by a bank after it has been issued,” concluding: “We continue to work with our customer to help them resolve their situation, including discussing the details around our offer to issue them a new draft.”

Pleased as she is with the sudden offer, Fischer believes the bank needs to be better at explaining the “general risks” with bank drafts and the individual peril a customer is exposed to.

This is exactly the kind of complaint the Consumer Agency says banks need to handle better.

“Escalation procedures put the onus on consumers to navigate a complex system that is slow and cumbersome, resulting in a significant proportion of these consumers becoming dissatisfied and abandoning their complaint,” it reported this past week.

Not Lisa Fischer. “If it’s fraudulently cashed, I am now out $165,000, only me (not the estate).”

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn