Spirit, sorry for your horrid experience and I know its not want you want to hear but I have to say Huguenot's comments and observations seem relevant. There is no excuse for his rude behaviour but he was probably totally pissed off with HSBC having just one Teller ( I closed my a/c with Midland/HSBC after 35 years recently), "perceived" you using the top as a desk and may have, understandable (wrongly) thought you were texting, as well!.... As for the Staff they cannot say this to you but they well have thought the same so adopted a "Neutral" stance, particularly as most people do NOT want "to get involved"... In my local HSBC they bricked up one of the 3 positions for a Teller to use and sent the queues out into the street with all its implications for security. You also got wet in the winter as an added bonus and then their representative came on TV and said that they "never" have queues! So, two sides to this, I feel but I hope you feel better in days to come and put this behind you. Make a complaint but its 100/1 that you will receive satisfaction from this mob...