Heritage Bank of Commerce review: Teller interaction with check bearer

I walked into the local branch in Sunnyvale, California with a check from a client with the expectation of negotiating the check and receiving the cash represented by the cash-bearing instrument.
This was a critical moment for me because I was out of gasoline, cash, and my personal account was overdrawn due to a bad-check writer who wrote checks to me from a closed account - so I couldn't use my own account to cash the good check written by my client.
I had lost my state-issued ID card somehow and was awaiting a new one, but had previously taken photos of it to upload for some service that required it.
In this day and age, there are services that quickly verify the information represented in an ID, even from a photo of it.
Cashing the check I had been issued should not be a problem for a bank of Heritage's stature.
A simple call to the payor to verify my person and the validity of the check - particularly if the payee has a telephonic conversation with the payor in the presence of several tellers - should be validation enough. The bank really doesn't care who the payee is, as long as the payor is the issuer of the check and expresses approval for funds to be drawn from his account. There is absolutely no risk to the bank.

I am a handyman whose activities have been greatly affected by COVID-19 fears. I typically work with an honor system and sliding-scale compensation, which means that I'm not profitable - my interest is in providing needful service the best I can. It means I am surviving in the most expensive place to live in the United States and most of the world.
I am all about community, which is why I am so put off by Heritage policy and their mindless stonewalling employees, who seemingly have no concept of community.

The treatment I received was "I'm sorry, " and "I don't know what you want me to do, " and "Get the cash from the payor, " and "bank policy, " and "I could lose my job, " which is all just crap. The truth is that bank tellers often treat non-account holders like second-class citizens, and this was no different. The three women tellers present were all involved in the conversation. I was the only customer in the office from the time I entered until the time I left. There had been no escalation of the matter to a superior in the name of human interest, common consideration nor customer service. They rather chose to have a long drawn-out denial instead of being solutions-oriented problem solvers. The check was only $155.

I sent my client, the payor, a text letting them know my situation, which had become dire due to my lack of funds and petrol. Payor told me to have the bank call him, which one teller did, begrudgingly. She verified his identity with his secret password, and then proceeded to tell him that she needed the physical ID card per bank policy.
Can you imagine my disappointment? They could easily have verified my identity and had every confidence in the validity of the check after having the conversation with the payor, and cashed my check with full confidence. They could also have called a superior for approval instead of looking at me with a blank face and repeating, "I don't know what you want me to do."

It's very easy to obtain fake ID's these days. Would you be able to know if an ID is fake? Even from a photo? Of course, you would.

Sure, the bank cannot fault you for following policy, or wouldn't they? because there is always some acceptable work-around. The way I see it is that it is unethical and even immoral to deny one of their rightful property when you do have ability to do your due diligence successfully via means at your disposal, however irregular or opposed to primary policy. There is always a secondary policy and I am truly offended for being denied in such a time of need.

It's not feasible for one to have a bank account at every bank, is it? Anyway, I much rather prefer credit unions.

A man working at Wells Fargo mortgage, I believe, saved the day by giving me $8 for gasoline - as he overheard conversation. I held back the tears drawn by his compassion. With that money I was able to afford enough gasoline to get to my client, just so that I could inconvenience him further by cashing his own check that he issued to me.

The inconvenience was the insistence of the bank personnel, who were senseless. Their attitudes and behavior are worthy of ridicule in light of their reluctance to exercise their abilities. I feel like they are unhappy, man-haters who seem to look for opportunities to cause problems for men. I hope it's not true, but that's what it feels like.
If I were in their position I would have most certainly done my due diligence to facilitate completion of ID verification and the good, fair, right, and correct negotiation of the cash-bearing instrument, even if it meant calling superiors - whether for help or notice, whatever.
*In cases of utter denial, such a matter should be escalated voluntarily.