I recently moved into the East Brunswick area of New Jersey from Alabama. Apparently they don't have my bank here up in New Jersey (Regions), so I looked up local banks online and saw PNC Bank was one of the recommended ones. I wanted an account there, but I wanted to wait a few weeks until I got my check to open an account and deposit simultaneously. Coincidentally enough, I happened to go to PNC Bank with my Jersey friend (since he has an account there). He was going to withdraw money.
As we approached the counter, all of a sudden, the woman behind the counter's enthusiasm faded away (I think her name was Kina, if I remember correctly). My friend greeted her and asked how her day was going, and she only replied with a stale "Hey." Her smile was no longer there. Keep in mind that we don't know this woman, and my friend has never had her withdraw money for him before. Anyway, once Kina withdrew money for him, she counted it up, and my friend said that he thought she miscounted and was a couple of hundred dollars short. She looked bitterly at him and told him that it was the full amount. He asked her to recount it again, and she did, with the full amount there, but once she finished, she stacked the money together, slammed it on the table, and slid the money to him with a little too much thrust, enough so that a few of the hundred dollar bills hit the floor, then she gave somewhat of a brief, fake smile and didn't even apologize.
My friend didn't want to address the situation, so I went back the next day and asked for the manager myself. This tall guy walked in and I told him what happened.in a nutshell, he pretty much said that there was virtually nothing he could do about that situation, since she provided me with full service and did everything I asked. This guy was nice, but it almost felt like it was a pointless conversation I was having with him, since he told me twice that he couldn't do anything. I was upset, but I did not hold any further confrontation with him, and I left the bank.
I don't want to point fingers at anyone, but if you ask my opinion, I think she was just acting this way toward us because we're white. I noticed that the black man in front of us and the two black women that came behind us in line, she greeted happily and openly, but while we were up there, I just didn't feel at home anymore. I changed my mind shortly afterwards to open up an account at my second choice, Bank of America. Now, I don't necessarily trust them more than anything in the world, but there's no way I'm returning to PNC Bank, at least not in this area... And definitely not recommending it to anyone else.
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