St. Augustine Amphitheatre Concertgoers: Beware Ripoff $3-5/Transaction Fee to Use St. Johns County Government/Monopoly ATM

St. Johns County is under investigation by FDIC for consumer protection law and antitrust law violations, possible price-gouging and Americans with Disabilities Act violations.  The subject: two two broken-down plastic ATMs at the St. Augustine Amphitheater, which cost consumers a minimum of $3/transaction to use, an unusually high ATM fee that has already brought the County thousands of dollars in revenue.

The ATMs -- two portable broken-down, antique, plastic, portable, free-standing machines -- have small hard-to-read screens bathed in a sun's southern exposure by daylight -- the ATM screens are difficult to read, lacking sufficient ADA accessibility for our sight- and hearing-impaired Amphitheater guests.

The County's St. Augustine Amphitheater's expensive $3/transaction machines have a monopoly -- by posted Amphitheater rule, ticket holders cannot leave and return to the concert.  The $3/transaction fee is price-gouging of a captive audience.  It is unconscionable, and a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing that is implied in law in any contract.  Is s this any way for St. Johns County government to treat our St.Augustine visitors during the 500th anniversary of Spanish Florida this year?  Or the 450th anniversary of the City of St. Augustine in 2015?  or the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in 2014?

How little self-respect do these County officials have that they would lower our City's reputation just to gouge every ATM customer that ever visits our Amphitheater and Farmer's Market? How greedy.

The SJC-approved fees are $3/transaction, plus the additional $2 your own bank probably charges -- that's $5 to get $100 from your account, which would be free of charge at your own bank.

I asked COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR MICHAEL WANCHICK for the records back on March 12th -- he passed it off to his staff without even a courteous acknowledgement, with his staff sending only an airy form letter.  Update: as of 11:30 PM on March 15th: all they've provided is a printout showing SJC's income from the ATM fee scheme.

What does SJC have to hide about the 2007 RFP and sequelae?

Still no purchasing records yet from SJC oligarchs on their monopolistic, price-gouging ADA-violating ATM machines.  It's almost Midnight.  St. Augustine Amphitheater patrons beware!  Matchbox 20, Bob Dylan,
Billy Idol, Alan Jackson, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, Imagine Dragons, Eddie Palmieri, OAR, Hall & Oates, Gamble Rogers Folk Festival,Ted Nugent, Styx, Smashing Pumpkins, Third Day, REO Speedwagon, Juan Siddi Flamenco Theater, Yo Gabba Gaba Live, et al.: you might wish to question these satraps about picking the pockets of your fans, your crew and maybe even yourselves!


Update:  Bank Atlantic's ATM machines list Sky Processing and MetaBank for contact information -- it's right on the front of the ATMs.
Neither Sky Processing nor MetaBank are shown  by the website of the Florida Secretary of State as ever being authorized to do business in the State of Florida. Sky Processing is based on Chicago.  Iowa -based MetaBank has  been involved in past deceptive trade practices, as found by a cease and desist 0rder issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision (since subsumed by the Comptroller of the Currency).
When I called Sky Processing this afternoon and asked about the $3/transaction fee, a New York based technician answered my question, "Why  not?"  Sounds like Cowboy Ethics to me.  What narcissism.

It is long past time for the apparently illegal ATMs owned by companies apparently not authorized to do business in the State of Florida get busted/investigated -- anyone who ever used these ATMs deserves a full refund of the confiscatory and possibly illegal fees. Since neither Sky Processing nor MetaBank is authorized to do business in the State of Florida, the ATM contracts with St. Johns County may be void ab initio as against public policy under F.S. 607.1501 and the Restatement of Contracts, 2d (Section 178, Contract Violation of Public Policy). What do you reckon?
Here are the offending ATMs, brought to you by St. Johns County Administrator since 2007:

UPDATE (March 18, 2013): 
Q: What's worse than a no-bid contract?
A:  No contract at all.  
Those cheesy tatterdemalion portable $3/transaction ATM machines at our St. Augustine Amphiteater (run by our County government) were NEVER the subject of ANY contract, it turns out.  While there was a Request for Proposals, it was rescinded by Amphitheater staff, as recorded in handwritten notes by the County Purchasing Department.  
FDIC and the County Attorney's office are investigating these high-priced non-ADA compliant machines, from which our County has made thousands of dollars without ever having any signed contract in place. .