In downtown Beaufort, local businesses gut it out through widespread internet outage
Despite a widespread internet outage that upended the start of a normal work week, most businesses in downtown Beaufort pushed through the chaos. In the still-bustling business district of Bay Street, employees posted “cash only” signs on front doors, customers juggled coins and dollar bills to make payments — and almost everyone kept their phones close, anxiously awaiting the end of the extended outage.
Unintentional damage to a fiber cable caused the disruption around 11 a.m. Monday for customers of Sparklight, formerly known as Hargray. As of 5 p.m., the issue had not been resolved for the thousands of affected customers.
“Technicians are working diligently to get services restored as quickly and safely as possible,” the internet provider said on Facebook Monday afternoon. As the multi-hour outage pressed on, shop owners on Hilton Head Island said the event “could be crippling” for local businesses.
At Lowcountry Stitch, a custom embroidery shop on Bay Street, owner Amber Godowins said the business was still able to accept credit cards through Clover, its payment processing program. The system will run the transaction once connectivity returns — so if a customer’s payment doesn’t go through, the business takes the loss, she said.
Moreover, Lowcountry Stitch stores its dozens of designs online, Godowins said, so the outage forced the day’s embroideries to a halt.
Across the street, a group of moms scrounged up change to pay for their children’s ice-cold treats at YoYo’s Ice Cream.
“Hope and pray,” one said as she counted up quarters. The three women exchanged dollar bills among themselves to make the full payment, which operator Jessica Eddy recorded in a large three-ring binder.
“We’ve been having to do everything by the book — literally,” Eddy said, pointing to the list of the day’s transactions written in pen inside the binder.
The store had turned away only a few customers due to the system outage, according to Eddy. Luckily, most patrons happened to have at least a few bucks to pay for their frozen treats. The “cash only” sign on the front door helped avoid disappointment at the counter.
Like many other local businesses, the phones were out at The Rustic Pup, a pet supply store on Bay Street. The store’s cell provider is T-Mobile, which also reported widespread outages beginning Monday morning, according to statistics from Downdetector.com.
“I put the sign up on the door, and I remind customers when they come up,” employee Susan McDowell said of the boutique’s temporarily cash-only requirement. “And they’ve been very understanding; they’ve been super nice. It’s just an inconvenience, because I know I don’t carry a lot of cash.”
McDowell added that ATMs in the area were down, meaning that customers without cash would have to visit their local bank to withdraw money if they wanted to shop that afternoon.
“You don’t even realize how much it affects you until you’re in the middle of it,” she said.
Even Starbucks, usually a work-from-home haven on account of its public internet, wasn’t safe from the outage. With no working WiFi, the location on Boundary Street was still full of laptops and remote workers, most relying on their cellphones’ personal hotspots to get the job done.
But the strange shared circumstances created a warm, cooperative atmosphere at the coffee shop: Several customers offered their hotspots to others whose cell service was out. With that help, they submitted school assignments or made quick calls to loved ones, always thanking the good Samaritan for the few minutes of shared reception.
Many customers commiserated about how the extended outage had disrupted their workday or school schedule, laughing over their respective wild goose chases for WiFi. Although they came to the Starbucks searching for internet, they came out with a different kind of connection.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 5:15 PM.
