VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach woman waiting for an unemployment update received nine letters from the Virginia Employment Commission in her mailbox. The letters were sent to her home but addressed to three different people.
"How many other people are going through this?" Laurel Lackey asked. "I'm wondering who has my information now."
Lackey picked up the letters on Friday. Now, she says she can't reach a VEC employee on the often-busy VEC phone lines to get the mailing error fixed. She said she's called every day.
“You can’t get through, it's prompt, prompt and the nothing," Lackey said. “You need to be able to call somebody and say hey I’ve got three other people’s mail, they might need it, where is mine.”
The mail includes monetary determination letters, telling applicants they’re eligible for benefits.
Lackey herself is waiting on a new PIN code after misplacing hers. She's waited about three weeks for a replacement code. Now, she’s wondering if someone else might have her letter.
Last month, she was fired from her data entry job after nearly 40 years at the same company.
“They told me because of COVID-19 related losses, that money wasn’t coming in like it should’ve been," Lackey said
Ironically, she said this mail mix-up seems like a data-entry error.
“Maybe I should go, see if I could get a job," Lackey said while laughing.
A VEC spokesperson did not answer questions about this mailing error but said the commission will review the situation.
Lackey said the security concerns and potential benefit delays are upsetting.
“This is totally unacceptable, what’s going on, I would’ve gotten in trouble for this," she said.