Bluffton post office draws fire again for missing mail

A Bluffton development company says more than 30 pieces of mail, including mortgage bills and a $30,000 check, have somehow vanished in the past few months in what appears to be another case of the Bluffton branch of the U.S. Postal Service failing to deliver mail.

Various mortgage bills, cell phone bills, utility bills and other mail sent to Dumler Properties' post office box wasn't delivered in May.

The company didn't know about the problem until late notices started to show up, said Brooke Snow, a partner in the company.

Dumler Properties writes about 1,000 checks a month from 22 bank accounts and wasn't aware that some of the bills hadn't been paid.

Although a few dozen bills out of 1,000 might seem small, paying vendors and mortgages on time is vital for the developer to maintain good credit, Snow said.

"If we can't get our bills, it can jeopardize a lot for us," she said.

Bluffton Postmaster George Finley said he asked Dumler a few months ago for a list of where the missing mail was from, but never got it.

Without the list, Finley says he thought the problems had been cleared up.

Snow said she wasn't interested in the post office having a list of everyone with whom Dumler does business.

Snow said Dumler didn't have problems with mail delivery in June, but a handful of bills seem to be missing in July.

It doesn't make sense that mail would make it through in April and June, but not in May and July, she said. None of the missing mail was returned to the senders.

Finley was equally baffled by the problem.

"I wish I could say what happened," he said. "I just don't know."

This isn't the first time the Bluffton branch has had problems. From December through February, Bluffton Boys & Girls Club missed out on 130 pieces of mail that included $32,000 in donations. That mail was found in a bin at the post office.

Finley said the post office changed its procedures so that wouldn't happen again.

Club director Molly Smith said mail now appears to be getting through. However, Smith isn't satisfied because the post office never apologized or held anyone accountable for the mistake.

Like Dumler, Bluffton Boys & Girls Club relies on its post office box.

"Ninety percent of our mail is money," Smith said.

In 2002, long before Finley became postmaster, pieces of mail -- including some first-class parcels -- were being dumped behind the former post office on Burnt Church Road.