Reminds me of when I wanted to close my Bank of America account: I didn't know that you needed to make an appointment for that. But indeed, it's my money, I had all the ID-verification paperwork needed, and I was stubborn enough to agree to wait for a clerk to become available.

For what it's worth, you may wish to consider a credit union, as it's less likely that a credit union would also own a brokerage.