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ComplaintsforMonuments by Design
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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
07/17/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
On 5/10/22 I issued a check to Designs in the amount of $200 for the engraving of my late husband's date of death onto a previously purchased gravestone. I have contacted them NUMEROUS times about getting it engraved, only to have to leave messages for a return call. For the most part I received return calls with empty promises. I was offered a refund or I could wait. Being a local business I chose to wait. But after 15 months of no action on 6/6/23 I found another company to engrave the stone. I called Designs and told them to cancel my order and refund my money. Since 6/6/23 there have again been multiple calls to them, asking where the refund is, with empty promises. it is a shame what these owners are doing to this company. Our community it small and word of mouth is going to spread fast to avoid them at all costs.Business response
07/22/2023
As the owner, I take full responsibility for the lack of clear communication with *********************** and I am deeply regretful that she did not receive satisfactory service from our company. Upon full review of this incident and our records, I can verify that it is correct that she ordered a final date completion on May 10, 2022. It is also true that she requested a refund in June of 2023. That refund was processed by our accounting department and was issued in full on July 13, 2023.
While I do not wish to offer any excuses for the poor communication, I can offer a full explanation for the delay in the services being rendered: We have long utilized two professional engravers to complete our onsite engraving as it is a very specialized and unforgiving task with zero room for error. As they say, once it is in stone, it is in stone. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2022 one of our engravers was injured and unable to return to the trade. This left us with a very long back log of uncompleted final date completion orders dating from late 2021 through the spring of 2022. This in turn pushed our lead time up to a year, and in some cases in excess of a year for our remaining engraver. While our lead time is now improving, it is still a ways from our 3-4 month targeted time frame of completion.
I realize that this does nothing to alleviate any frustration on behalf of the ********* family and I am deeply sorry that this was not fully explained to them prior to placing the initial order or along the way. Moving forward, our staff will take clear and concise steps to ensure time-frames for onsite engraving orders are clearly communicated prior to our company accepting the order for engraving. While this will not aid in speeding up the process, it will at least offer the customer the option of making a well informed decision as whether to not to utilize our onsite engraving services prior to paying for them.
Respectfully,
*************************;
Monuments By DesignCustomer response
08/01/2023
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.
Sincerely,
*********************************
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BBB Rating & Accreditation
This business is not BBB Accredited
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Customer Complaints Summary
1 total complaints in the last 3 years.
1 complaints closed in the last 12 months.