Thanks for the vote of confidence without even PMing me for the details.

Yes people were fired last time. The entire branch staff was let go. Before I even notified all of you last time about their willingness to help I went directly to the branch manager and asked her to contact the home office before I put it on the blog. The next day she gave me the go ahead and I notified all of you. It wasnt until the deal was over and all the employees let go did the ex branch manager tell me she never did consult with the home office. She decided unilaterally to just process the apps like she did the year before without incident.

Now armed with the facts, yes I went to the new branch manager again this year and had the same open conversation I had with the last one. This year she did check with the home office and the decision made by the Hilton Heac Branch was only to take apps in person. Their choice and their wishes were expressed in the original post of this thread. And it is your choice to contact your local branch or to process your applications online from many states without incident.

As far as apologizing, it was the ex branch manager that made the unilateral decision to act on her own. And we did help support the employees that were let go. Some readers made cash contributions and Katy and I helped support the most disheartening case of a single mom that was let go with cash for many months after the incident until she got back on her feet and working for another bank on the island.