Coronavirus, Banking and Discrimination - An Open Letter to Center State Bank

DEAR CENTER STATE BANK, 

I've been a customer at the SW 34th St   branch in Gainesville, FL, in all its many iterations, for more than 6 years. I basically use it for my SS checks and to pay my immediate bills. I have very little need to enter the branch near me. Once a month, I come in to get a roll of quarters and some dollar bills for the bus, since I don't drive.

I am now going to close my account due to the rudeness and discrimination I faced at your bank today. I received a paper check from my credit card company, and wanted to cash it instead of depositing it. I also wanted to get my monthly roll of quarters and dollar bills. I asked if I could come inside for that simple two minute transaction, because I don't feel safe walking up through the drive-thru, especially getting large amounts of cash. Dominick (sp?) was very nice over the phone, and said there should be no problem, but his manager wouldn't allow it. He offered to go outside and make sure no one ran over me at the drive-thru, but that doesn't solve the problem of an elderly woman alone on foot getting so much money out in the open, then having to walk several blocks home with it, plus it would endanger him if someone came tearing into the drive-thru.

To add insult to injury, I tried to get into my account and was locked out. This is I believe the second time I've been locked out of my account for no good reason and had to call customer service to get it unlocked. If someone is trying to get into my account and causing you to lock it, you need to let me know so I can change my username or password.

After I complained to customer service about the way I was treated at the branch, evidently someone called them, because the manager called me and said they would make an exception for me to come in with the check, but this will be the LAST time I come into your bank, because she quizzed me about where I had been in the past two weeks, as if I was some homeless vagrant who was just TRYING to go in and infect them. No other essential business asks me that before I cross their threshhold.

Let me also point out that there is no federal or local guideline that says you cannot let customers in with masks and social distancing. Every other essential business does.

I'm willing to bet you that if I was one of your wealthy customers or was coming in for a home loan or to open a well-funded money market account, you would not discriminate like this. What if I was a disabled person on a mobility scooter, would you still demand I use the drive-thru? I doubt it. What about your customers who use bicycles as their main means of transportation? There are many of them here in this college town. Will they have to endanger their lives by going through the drive-thru as well?

I suggest you open up the lane closest to the building for walk-up, bicycle and disabled customers only. It's too late for me. You should have thought of this before you decided to do drive-in only. I'll be walking across the street to the credit union from now on.

I'm sending a copy of this to my state and federal representatives. I know nothing will come of it because you are a bank, and Republicans love their banks, but I'm also going to post this as an open letter on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit and see what happens there. I may even send it to a few media outlets. Let's see what public shaming does to your business, because shaming me sure wasn't pleasant.