Bank officers should be more wary

I WAS at the premier section of a leading bank recently. What I observed disturbed me. There was a father and son accompanied by a maid sitting at the lounge. A lady customer service officer was attending to them.
The son, assisted by the bank's customer officer and maid, were trying their level best to persuade the old man to sign a document.
To my mind, the bank officer's action was morally wrong. She was seen abetting the son in terms of persuading or even "forcing" his father to sign the document. The father (later I found out that he is 84 years old and is suffering from some sort of dementia and unable to speak) could hardly hold the pen steadily; he was not sure what to do with the pen.
I felt very concerned for the old man. To me, he appeared mentally incapacitated to understand what was going on. After one or two unsuccessful attempts, the bank officer should have taken the cue to abort the transaction right away on the grounds that the old man most probably did not have the ability to comprehend the significance of the document that he was signing. She could have politely insisted on a doctor's letter regarding the old man's mental capacity. Or at least consult her superior.
Instead she seemed bent on concluding the transaction and using diplomatic language.
I later had a word with the manager of the bank and she agreed with my assessment.
Two lessons can be drawn from this episode. My advice to those who have elderly parents is that they should not procrastinate nor wait until their parents are mentally incapable.
As for bank officers, their standard operating procedures in such circumstances should be to seek further advice from their superior and not be too enthusiastic to please every customer if circumstances do not warrant so.
Pola Singh
Kuala Lumpur