I had to get an employment eligibility verification document notarized. I've done it before, and it's always a pain in the ass. So before I set off on my adventure today, I called both Bank of America and Chase, where I have accounts.
This is the conversation had with both places, more or less.
Me: Hi! Is your notary in today?
Phone Person (PP): Certainly!
Me: I need an I-9 form verified. Can they do that?
PP: Let me check! [elevator music] Yup!
Me: Awesome, I'll be in this afternoon.
So I felt pretty confident that one of the two could help me out.
I went to Bank of America first, where I found out that - nope. Can't do it. We went back and forth for a while over what the form actually said, and what the letter from my employer said, and the earlier phone call, but the notary refused to help.
Chase was the same, except with the added fun of the following conversation.
Me: But I called and asked specifically if you could do an I-9. The person on the phone checked.
Notary Public (NP): There's no way they did that. We didn't get any calls from people about this.
Me: No, I really did. I talked to *Totally Uncommon Name.*
NP: You must have called a different branch with someone else called a different place where there's a *Totally Uncommon Name.*
Oh no, she did not just accuse me of lying. I had the number in my phone and proved it by calling them right there! Then I left, not bothering to get corporate contact info, because I already have the number from past bad interactions.
I did manage to get my form notarized, though. There was another, local bank across the street. I went over, explained the situation, and offered to open an account then and there if they'd notarize my form. The manager said I didn't need to do that - he'd be happy to notarize it (no fee) even though I wasn't a customer. Ten minutes later, the form was notarized, the manager made me several copies and he gave me a free envelope. My partner and I have an appointment to open our account there tomorrow.