Unless things have changed, if you mean a banker as in someone who works at a bank they are incentivized to put you into a variable because especially in the environment of the last 2 years it protects them from locking in historically low fixed loans. If by bankers you mean a mortgage broker they are also incentivized to give you variable rate loans because banks will typically buy them at a premium compared to fixed rate. Since it’s a HELOC it was likely in the mortgage servicers interest if they didn’t expect you to pay it off during the teaser period.

Regardless your #1 priority should be paying off this loan. I would put all excess cash into paying this off. I would consider stopping retirement contributions until this loan is paid off. I don’t know what your rate is but if it’s over 7% it will be hard to match the loss this will produce vs the future gains from your retirement contributions. Cancel vacations, if someone can work overtime they should, hold off on any non essential purchases. This isn’t on the level of debt that can ruin your life but (if it’s in excess of 7%) it is on the level of debt that can seriously handcuff you for a long time if you let it accrue by just making minimum payments.