D*****, almost 89 years old, was in need of having a document notarized for an Apostle Certificate…read moreto be completed. This is a document that is needed by attorneys in another country and the court system there so as to expedite the matter due to D*****'s advanced age.
An Apostille is a legalization of a document for international use. For some reason, every staff member I interacted with at this bank seemed to be clueless as to how to properly complete a Notary for an Apostille certification.
September 17th, I brought D***** to the bank to get a document notarized. D***** is medically certified as disabled. It is a challenge for her to walk and keep her balance. Coming to the bank is very difficult for her. Ms. Angela Bentley, called us over to her desk. I explained our needs to her and she gave me the standard stamp. Having needed an Apostille certificate before some time ago, I thought there was more that needed to be done but Ms. Bentley assured me that was all she could do and it was fine. I must say that she was positively unfriendly. I felt like we were encroaching on her time.
September 26th, I was able to use a day off from work to travel 14 miles to the Secretary of State building in downtown Chicago. At 9:30 A.M. this trip takes over an hour. I paid $20 for parking and walked to my destination. Upon producing my document to get certified, I was told that it was not notarized correctly. The person there showed me an example of the proper stamp the Notary should have for this process. She also gave me an instruction sheet for the Notary on how to properly Notarize the document.
That same morning I drove back to the bank in Skokie and this time I spoke with Ms. Mi K. Balderas. It turns out she is the Vice President of this branch. I explained the situation to her and told her that the Notary had been done incorrectly and I had told Ms. Bentley this was the case but she was dismissive of that. Ms. Balderas became quite condescending and began talking down to me about how it was done properly and the document should have already had the stamp printed on it from the attorney. The instructions from the IL Secretary of State clearly stated the Notary should stamp it but could also hand write the necessary stamp in question as well. She merely glanced at the paper and simply told me I needed to get the stamp elsewhere and bring it in with the stamp. I left and went to my own Chase Bank right down the street. The Notary there knew exactly what I needed. He produced the proper stamp for me and stamped the document, but of course he could not Notarize it because D***** was not present with me.
Now that I had the document properly stamped, it needed to be filled out and Notarized again so I returned to Northshore Community Bank and Trust for the third time. There I again met with Ms. Balderas and told her that I now had the proper stamp on the document and could Ms. Bentley redo the notarization. She then notified me that Ms. Bentley was on vacation. She could notarize it for me but I would again have to bring 88 year old D***** back to the bank. So I managed to completely waste a day off from my job.
October 1st I brought D***** back to the bank with the document, which now had the proper empty stamp from a different Notary, to get it notarized again. This was my fourth trip. Ms. Balderas was once again the person I dealt with. Ms. Balderas spent some time asking for D*****'s identification, examining it very carefully, and checking her computer for something at a very slow, methodical pace. She finally produced her Notary stamp and notarized the document for D***** and filled out the information on the stamp that she didn't seem to be aware existed before meeting me.
October 5th, I used another day off from work, another 14 miles traveled, another hour spent in traffic, another $20 for parking. Upon producing my document to get certified, I was told that it was AGAIN not notarized correctly. Ms. Balderas had put her own name on the line where she should have written D*****'s full name. Can you possibly imagine how I felt at that moment? How can so many people at this bank be that incompetent with such a simple task? I decided it was in my best interest not to return to the bank that day.
October 8th I brought disabled 88 year old D***** back to the bank for the THIRD TIME, my fifth visit, to get this notary completed properly. We finally sat with Ms. Hooda. I explained to her, step by step, what to do and what not to do. She notarized it properly and we left.
This should have been a simple task. After five trips to the bank, over three hours in traffic traveling to downtown Chicago and back twice, and $40 in parking fees, this task has still not been fully resolved. I can only lay blame on the people I dealt with at Northshore Community Bank and Trust, Ms. Bentley and especially Ms. Balderas. The immense inconvenience and waste of time and money that we endured is inexcusable.