Commonwealth Bank blunder: Victoria couple lose $90,000 before bank sends link to suicide hotline

A young couple whose $90,000 was lost through their bank says they haven’t gotten a dime back and have only been given a link to a suicide hotline.

Ellie Houston, 21, and her partner, 23, received a link to Beyond Blue via email from the Commonwealth Bank after their deposit went up in smoke more than two months ago.

The couple transferred $90,000 from his account to a Bank of Melbourne account on June 30.

The couple had saved a substantial sum of money for a country estate in Yarrawonga, a town near the New South Wales-Victoria border.

“Our money went back into our CBA account because both of our names have not yet been approved on the Bank of Melbourne account,” Ms Houston told 3AW radio on Monday.

On July 4, the couple tried again to transfer the $90,000 to the Bank of Melbourne account, but the money ended up back in their account a few days later.

Because they were on vacation in Bali at the time, the couple were unable to send the money overseas and had to pay a $2,500 late settlement fee.

“We came home from Bali on the 20th (July) and went straight to the Commonwealth to settle that land and wire the money to the Bank of Melbourne,” she said.

“No money in our account.” 75c. And they can’t tell us where it went, nothing.’

Ms Houston said the $90,000 was in the CBA account when she was in Bali, but when it came time to wire it to the Bank of Melbourne on her return, it was gone.

She and her partner took a day off to sit in a bank teller’s office in hopes of finding the bail.

“We were obviously desperate because we had lost so much money,” she said.

“They asked us if we would ransom because we were so upset.” “It took a whole day, then it took them five weeks to get an answer.”

The couple eventually received a “three point” statement from the complaints team, saying their records did not match the couple’s.

Ms. Houston says she has receipts and screenshots from the two transfers of the $90,000.

She claims the bank sent a link to Beyond Blue, a suicide prevention hotline, after describing the damage the lack of money was doing to her and her partner.

“They said, ‘We’re really sorry, we’re still investigating. Here are some links if you need help,” she recalls.

Ellie Houston, 21, claims the Commonwealth Bank sent a link to Beyond Blue, a suicide prevention hotline, after describing the damage the lack of money was doing to her and her partner

The couple posted $90,000 bail on a country estate in Yarrawonga, Victoria

The couple had to increase the amount of an existing loan to keep the land.

“My partner and I have been together since we were 15. We’ve been saving for this land for so long and our goal has always been to pay it off before we build a house on it so we can then travel,” she said.

“It feels like everything has been taken away from us.”

A spokeswoman for Commonwealth Bank told Daily Mail Australia that the bank needed written consent from the account holder (including complaint details and signatures) in order to investigate the matter and share relevant findings.

“Other than that, we are unable to share any details on this matter,” the spokeswoman said.