NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Chase Bank announced on Twitter that it plans to close several 24/7 ATM vestibules after regular operating hours due to a rise in crime and vagrancy in New York City.
“Our apologies. We decided to close several ATM vestibules at 5 PM or 6 PM, aligning the hours of service to that of the normal branch hours, due to rising crime and vagrancy that occurred in these previously 24/7 vestibules,” the Chase support team responded to an annoyed customer on Twitter.
The company’s decision may have been prompted by a recent attack that occurred at an ATM location in Midtown, Manhattan.
Police said a man was followed into the ATM vestibule by a stranger carrying a hot cup of coffee. The stranger then tossed the coffee into the customer’s face, leaving the man’s face burned.
Another man walked in behind him carrying a hot cup of coffee. Police say the stranger tossed the hot coffee onto the 42-year-old bank customer’s face, leaving his face burned.
NYPD Crime Stoppers tweeted an image of the suspect, asking the public for help in identifying him. The suspect did run away from the victim without taking anything from him.
Chase told NewsNation in a statement that it may temporarily close ATMs overnight for the safety of its customers and employees.
The bank said it can’t confirm how many of their ATMs will be affected because the situation is fluid and has changed constantly but a lot of Chase customers aren’t happy about the changes.
“If ATMs aren’t available when the bank is closed, what’s the point??” an irate customer said in a tweet.
“Are you going to refund the ATM fees to customers when we get ripped off to use a bodega ATM to pay for our late-night slice of pizza because you can’t provide a basic service to account holders? I didn’t think so,” another customer tweeted.
The company’s customer support service acknowledged the clients’ frustration on social media, reiterating its decision was not made to inconvenience its customers but rather to keep them safe.
NewsNation affiliate PIX11 contributed to this report.