An HSBC customer whose money went missing after he tried to transfer it overseas has got his cash back.

Cleon Scotland, a former St George’s Cup Match and Bermuda cricketer, saw red after HSBC Bermuda “lost” $4,175 of his money and told him it would take six to eight weeks to find out where it had gone.

His story appeared in The Royal Gazette on March 22 and five days later the money was returned to his Bermuda bank account.

Mr Scotland said: “Subsequent to The Royal Gazette article, I was called by a Bermuda representative the following day, who promised to follow up with my case.

“Over the weekend, I continued to send what were becoming daily e-mails and tweets to the customer care centre.

“On March 26, I received another call telling me that no further progress had been made but that a call would be made either way the following day.

“I had had enough so decided to copy in Mark Watkinson, the chief executive officer of HSBC, with my e-mail trail highlighting my daily complaints dating back nearly two weeks.

“Although he never replied, the next day my full sum, including foreign currency tax and $15 bank commission, had been restored to my Bermuda account.

“In the end, the transfer never went through, but I was just happy to have my money returned after three weeks instead of the six to eight weeks that I was bracing for.”

Mr Scotland, who now lives in South London, made an online transfer on March 5 to move the money from his HSBC Bermuda account to an account with HSBC in Britain.

The transfer was accepted and a confirmation notice appeared on the screen, but the money never appeared in his British account.

He complained and was at first told he would have to pay a $50 fee to start an investigation, although the charge was later waived.

A customer service representative in Toronto told him that the investigation would take between six to eight weeks.

Mr Scotland said the “incompetence” of HSBC was “mind-blowing”.

But he added: “All that matters is that six to eight weeks suddenly became 22 days.”

An HSBC spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette she could not comment on the case because of customer confidentiality.