Did he deserve to feel humiliated? Was he singled out for unfair attention? Or was he simply being mischievous and provocative?

'No, I wasn't,” says Simon Fenlon. He just doesn't like being told what he can and can't wear. Or what he can and can't do. By a bank, by anyone.

'The teller decided to have a little power buzz and I decided I would too.” Either way there was a very public scene at the ANZ bank in Te Puke when Simon stood his ground. And so did the bank.

'If the ANZ had a problem with the way I was dressed then they should have taken me aside, into an office for a chat, rather than standing me up in front of the whole bank,” says a miffed Simon, who is a businessman and muso of Maketu.

Nothing personal according to the ANZ. It's about the security of the bank and the safety of everyone involved, customers and staff. More from the ANZ later but first the stand-off in Jellico Street.

It was late last year when Simon entered the ANZ Te Puke. It was the season of goodwill. But there was none of it. Not in Simon's queue.

'I have a black leather cap, a cheesecutter, which I wear everywhere. Except to bed,” says the colourful apron manufacturer. 'I also play drums in two or three bands. I wear it for gigs. It's part of who I am.”

But the ANZ Te Puke, or any ANZ for that matter, doesn't recognise Simon's attachment to the cheesecutter. The hat doesn't comply with policy.

'I've been wearing the cap into the bank for about two years without incident. This time I went in and the teller decided to have a crack at me.”

There was a standoff. And this is how things developed, or disintegrated, according to Simon.

Teller: 'Please take your hat off”.

Simon: 'No”.

Teller: 'I am asking you to take your hat off”.

Simon: 'And I am telling you I won't”.

Simon says he felt this woman was having ‘a crack' at him. 'I decided to dig my toes in. I am not going to bloody do it.”

Teller: 'Why won't you take it off?”

Simon: 'Religious reasons”.

Teller: 'I still want you to remove it”.

Simon: 'And I said I am not going to”.

Simon says he doesn't want to make a big issue of it. 'I just want to show support for Anthony J. Delancaster-Swinback-Slack.” Anthony J. is the 90-year-old, who in a nationally publicised incident was refused service at the ANZ in Matamata because he was wearing a rather debonair checked cheesecutter.

A safety and security risk it seems. Not Anthony but his hat.

Meanwhile back in Te Puke the verbal sparring and intransigence continued at the ANZ until Simon pointed out there was another man wearing a hat in the bank just a deposit or withdrawal away in another queue. 'My teller called out to have the man remove his hat which he did.”

Enter the bank manager for another round of requests and refusals.

Manager: 'Now will you take you hat off please?”

Simon: 'No”.

'She said: ‘How do we know you aren't here to rob us?'” says Simon. 'I had to tell her that I had a fist full of cash and cheques. And I was there to give it to them. To deposit it.”

Eventually the ANZ served Simon and he left, with the black leather in situ but with unfinished business.

'I later rang the bank and laid a complaint about the way I was treated. I have a mortgage with them, I run my business through them. I don't expect to be treated like that in a bank and I don't expect to be made a fool of in front of a whole lot of people.”

A week later Simon and the black cap popped by ANZ in Opotiki. A bank officer told him he wasn't supposed to wear a hat in the bank. 'I explained I wear it for religious reasons. But I said I was happy to tip it back if need be.” The officer accepted that compromise. Transaction transacted. End of matter.

Later again, and apparently the ANZ area manager called Simon to apologise. He explained the bank would be using Simon's experience for training purposes. 'I would like to think that would be to demonstrate how not to treat customers,” says Simon.

As for his claim to religious tolerance, that's where the mischievousness creeps in.

'I went to renew my driver licence and they wouldn't let me wear the black cap unless I had health or religious reasons. I explained I belonged to the Order of the Flat Caps.” They laughed. But they also bought it because his new licence bears the image of a goateed 56-year-old Simon William Fenlon sporting a trademark black leather cheesecutter.

That's Simon, with no criminal convictions and especially none for bank robbery.

'I told the bank the Government thought it was okay for me to wear my cap on my driver licence because I belonged to the Order of Flat Caps. I showed them my licence. It still didn't work.”

The order is a nonsense. But the ANZ didn't buy it because of policy.

The ANZ asks all customers to remove sunglasses and hats. It says it's a proven way to deter robberies and fraud. Even if the bank knows a customer, they're asked to co-operate in fairness to other customers.

The ANZ told The Weekend Sun it understands the policy can be an inconvenience and appreciates the assistance of clients. And if a customer demands an explanation they're told it's a security measure to ensure safety of both staff and customers.

While it may appear overly cautious, the bank believes it's a small thing in the interests of safety and security.

Simon is still an ANZ customer but he and his black cheesecutter circumvent policy by dealing with a fast-deposit banking machine.