ComplaintsforBailey Monument & Vault Co.

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a headstone and copping for my parents and was initially told that it will be delivered to their graves in November. That never happened. I tried to contact customer service in November and was told that I don't need to call her she'll call me. That promise never happened, I was then told it will happen in December. No one would call me. I asked Chase for the name of the owner, that person never returned my call. Finally someone called and said mid February. I personally think their lying and I'm preparing to seek counsel.

  Business response

  02/08/2023

  I understand that we have done a poor job of communicating with Ms. ****** and there is no excuse for that however I will endeavor to explain.  Ms. ******'s salesperson left the company some months ago and that was certainly a break in the continuity but no one is lying to her.  We have received the stone and have manufactured the monument and base (see attached) however, we don't have the stone for the coping.  I cannot fabricate stone I do not have.  As soon as the stone is delivered from the quarry, we will fabricate and deliver everything at one time to the cemetery.  I wish I could tell you when that would be but these factors are out of our control and it is an ever shifting timetable.

  One of the hardest things I have to do every day is to reach out to grieving families and let them know there are continued delays on getting their loved one’s monument to the cemetery.  In the past year, there has been a consolidation of stone suppliers that one day will prove beneficial, but today, it adds to the delay.  From stone, labor and trucking shortages to delays in maintenance parts and even manufacturing supplies, they all add to the turmoil and delay.
  In an effort to explain what is going on, I will quote a great article published in *** ** **** *****.
  
  The pandemic-fueled upheaval in the global supply chain is roiling the nation’s monument industry at a time when demand for memorials is skyrocketing. Crucial materials, including granite, saws and rubber stencils, are in short supply. Workers can be tough to find and truck drivers even harder.
  “We’re just as much as possible trying to be upfront with the families we serve,” said *******, owner of Columbus, Ohio-based ******* Monuments, which was founded by his great-grandfather. “This could be six to nine months. To be completely honest, it could take longer. These are things that are out of our control.”
  Many monuments sold in the US are crafted from granite produced in China, India and elsewhere overseas, while a lot of stone-working equipment comes from Europe. Shipping delays and the surging cost of shipping containers have left wholesalers and retailers waiting months for orders, even as their products sit offshore until docks open up at US ports.
  Meanwhile, domestic granite quarries and monument manufacturers haven’t been able to keep up with the exploding demand.
  Adding to the industry’s headaches: 3M, a major manufacturer of the rubber stencils needed for sandblasting letters on monuments, stopped production last year. Severely constrained raw material availability and exponentially increasing costs were among the factors in the decision, the company said in a statement to CNN.
  In addition to Covid-19, which has killed more than 900,000 Americans, more and more baby boomers are ordering their cemetery monuments in advance.
  “We’ve become inundated with all these orders from retailers we may never even have heard of,” said Chris Kubas, executive vice president of the ******** ******* Association in Georgia, which produces about two-thirds of all the monuments made in the US. “We were stuck. We couldn’t expand our infrastructure to accommodate the uptick in orders.”
   A lot of equipment, including saws and polishers, are on back order. It’s been difficult to find workers in rural ****** county, which has about 20,000 residents – even though starting hourly wages have jumped to $15, up from $10, Kubas said. Skilled workers can expect to make more than $40 an hour, up from the high $20s. (A typical quarry staff has gone from 21 men and 3 cranes operating, to 7 men and one crane.  Obviously this impacts the output)
  (After this article was written, a group of investors bought 7 of the 12 quarries in ******on and 3 of the major manufacturers.  They significantly raised the price of monuments and consolidated who they sell to.  Fortunately, ****** Monument has been chosen as one of those distributors but there is still a lag in production.)
  The industry is also hurting for truck drivers to deliver the products. Manufacturers may at times have multiple fully loaded flatbeds sitting in their lots, he said.
  Some companies in the 85-member association have stopped taking orders from new customers because they want to make sure they can fulfill the ones from existing clients.
  “It’s a perfect storm, and we just didn’t have enough time to react,” Kubas said. “Now we’re just behind the eight ball, and I have no idea when we’ll get out from behind it. We’re doing the best we can to accommodate all our customers.”
  Months of delays
  Monument makers were expecting a surge in orders years ago as baby boomers aged. But since life expectancy has increased, the uptick didn’t materialize until the pandemic struck, which has prompted more senior citizens to want to address their affairs, industry experts said.
  Orders at ******* & ******** ******* ******** ** ****** ******* – another main source for granite in the US – are up 55% so far this year, compared with the same period in 2021, said **** ********, the company’s president, whose family has been in the industry for four generations. He expects business to be brisk for another decade.
  ******** is pouring millions of dollars into his manufacturing operations, buying new sandblasting equipment, a hydraulic stone splitter and various saws, for instance. He’s also hired about a dozen new workers over the past year, bringing the total to more than 60, and he plans to add more.
  “Everybody is trying to increase their capacity quickly,” said ********, who plans to ramp up production as spring approaches. “It does take time, but it’s happening.”
  Though some families who lost loved ones didn’t realize that supply chain disruptions are also affecting the monument industry, they are dealing with the delays.
  “At the beginning, it was a lot tougher,” said *******, who is president of the ******** ******** of North America, an industry group. “At this point in time, more people understand the general state of the world. No one is happy about it. Neither are we.”

   

• Initial Complaint

  05/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My brother died December 7, 2021. We paid a substantial amount of money for his grave, gravel, cement and coping to be repaired. This included a headstone to be erected also. We understand that it would be 3-9 months before headstone. The gravesite is very upsetting and in disarray. They have promised to correct but nothing has been done. ***** would not let me speak to the owner because she is in charge. All we want is for them to do their job which we had to pay for in advance. This is not justifiable. We would to file a formal complaint.

  Business response

  05/17/2022

  ***** ***** ********* ******************************* ***** ******* *** *** **** ***** ** *** **** ******************* *** ***** ********* ******************************* ******** **** ******* ** ****** ******** ***

   

  I received this complaint from your office via email and would like to respond.

   

  *** **** ******* is not now nor has ever been a customer of Bailey Monument Co. and therefore has no contract with us.  One member of her family does have a contract and that is who we have been working with.  There is no issue between BMC and the customer **** **** ******, in fact, they told us not to worry about that side of the family.

   

  Nevertheless, as I understand it, *** ******* has 3 issues:

  1.  the existing coping was disturbed and is not in line as it was after BMC installed it

  2.  the new grave is not covered in concrete as it was after BMC installed it

  3.  the new monument work ordered by *** **** ***** **** *** *******) is not yet installed.

   

  1.  After BMC installed the initial monument work, the site was left in perfect condition.  It was only after the Cemetery crew, employed by the City of Fitzgerald, went into the grave plot, dug the grave that the area was possibly disturbed, not Bailey Monument.  I have spoken with the City and they will correct the work.  

   

  2.  In the family plot area, the floor was sealed in concrete to inhibit growth of vegetation.  When the City opened the grave, they did not reseal/cover the grave area with new concrete in anticipation of future monument work being installed.  The monument work ordered will not completely cover the grave space so BMC will seal the area with concrete and rake back the existing granite chips.  It was our intention to do this once the stone ordered by *** ***** was received from overseas but we will expedite this part of the work.  We have never explained this to *** *******, only to our customer.

   

  3.  The monument work ordered by *** ***** is being quarried overseas.  *** ***** is aware of this and is patiently waiting for the container to arrive.  Once it arrives, BMC will complete the manufacturing and install the stone.  With the labor issues overseas and the global supply chain issues, it is difficult for us to predict this timeline.  We have never explained this to *** *******, only to our customer.

   

  *** ******* called our office and was very aggressive to our employees.  *** ******* is not the customer and we do not typically give out contractual information to non-customers.  Though I was not made aware that *** ******* called until after the fact, I did reach out to *** ***** and her representative and they are kept abreast of our plans and timing.

   

  I would appreciate it if you don't publicly post this information on your site.  It is not *** *******'s business (or anyone else's) to know nor is it in the public interest.  I am aware that *** ******* will get a copy of this email and that should suffice.  *** ******* did not contract this work, *** ******* is not in the communication loop (if the family wants her to know something, she should ask them) and BMC has no responsibility to *** *******, only to our customer, *** **** ******

   

  ***** *********

  President

  Customer response

  05/17/2022

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 

  Regards,

  **** *******

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩