Post Office pitfalls continue on Hilton Head Island. ‘I’m tired of being stolen from’
Worries of missing and stolen mail from the U.S. Postal Service in Hilton Head have reached into the new year, but officials remain silent on the cause and potential solutions.
“Never in my life have I seen such horrific and irresponsible service from a Post Office,” said Windmill Harbor resident Lisa Fields, who says Hilton Head’s mail service has misplaced $150 in gift cards on top of a score of checks and packages. “I’m tired of being stolen from.”
Emails obtained last summer from an administrator at the Office of Inspector General confirmed a female employee at the island’s north-end Post Office had been allegedly nabbing gift cards and discarding stolen checks from residents’ mail. She was reportedly “removed” from the location to minimize losses, although the USPS has not officially verified the events or released the name of the employee.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette received over two dozen reports of missing mail dating back to June 2022, totaling $2,315 in value. New stories suggest the issue hasn’t been resolved.
When mail does get delivered, Fields said, it often goes to the wrong people — certain good Samaritans “from all around the island” have brought her some pieces of misplaced mail.
The problem extends beyond the missing items, Fields emphasized. She’s been charged late fees for mailed payments that never arrive, and has repeatedly re-delivered packages that were mistakenly left on her doorstep. “It’s constant stress. Constant,” she said.
Fields’ experience is corroborated by a number of users on the neighborhood social media site NextDoor, where initial rumors of mail theft began to swirl last summer. Most complaints cite missing contents from packages that had obviously been opened or tampered with.
Representatives from the Office of Inspector General in Columbia have maintained throughout that the Postal Service “does not confirm or refute” information on ongoing theft investigations, but residents can report missing mail by filing an online complaint at https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline.
$50 fine for UPS worker charged with stealing packages
It’s been a tough year for mail in and around Beaufort County. Just before the holidays, residents and business owners in Ridgeland complained of massively delayed deliveries, which the Postal Service attributed to a staffing shortage.
The reported problems are not contained to federal postal service — they are also extending to the private United Parcel Service (UPS). In October 2023, Sun City resident Marcus Stineman was arrested for reportedly tampering with and stealing from packages while on the job at a UPS processing facility on Hilton Head. In a disposition on Thursday, Stineman was fined $50 after entering a plea of nolo contendere — meaning he didn’t contest the charges but refused to admit guilt.
Mailing funds through a money order or check is preferable, according to the USPS, although those mailing cash can insure it up to $50,000.
This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 12:22 PM.
