Were They Really Banking On People Being That Stupid?

I’m closing the bank one night with a coworker. The lobby and drive-up are closed, and the doors are locked. A car pulls into the parking lot and parks. Someone in normal clothes gets out, knocks on the door, stands there for a minute, and then walks away. The car doesn’t move. For safety reasons, we are not allowed to leave if there’s an unknown car on the lot, so we sit in the lobby and wait.

After ten minutes…

Coworker: “Think I should call [City] Police?”

Me: “Yeah, I think it’s time.”

Due to our location, which is pretty sketchy at night, the local police usually have a patrol nearby and will monitor the lot if needed after closing. My coworker calls, and a few minutes later, a squad car pulls up. A cop gets out, speaks to the occupants of the car, and then comes to the door of the bank. He’s shaking his head.

Cop: “Evening, ladies. They say they’re the new cleaning crew, but they don’t have a key, so they need someone to let them in.”

Me: “What?! No.”

Coworker: “The cleaning crew has a key, and they normally show up around 7:30.”

Cop: “That’s what I thought. I’ll make sure they leave and then I’ll watch you go to your cars.”

He did just that. We reported the incident to the branch manager the next day. Later, she got a call from our central facilities manager with a complaint from the cleaning company about being chased off the property by a cop. It turns out that they’d changed cleaning companies, but had not told us. They’d been told that “the branch staff” would simply let them in! The branch manager asked if they really expected two tellers to allow three unknown people into the building after closing and then leave them there alone. The cleaning crew magically had keys the next night!