Business ProfileforBeatties Ford Memorial Gardens

Hello. This is a complaint filed against Beatties Ford Memorial Gardens. My mother passed away in 2018 and she was buried at this cemetery. With that being said we didnt get to order her a head stone due to money issues. So in 2023 I finally got money. The paperwork was sent over and I signed the paperwork without looking over it, my fault. On her birthday of 2023 we went to the cemetery to release balloons. But this year was supposed to be special because she finally had a marker. We gets to the cemetery and look at the marker and the month of her birthday was wrong. We waited all this time and its messed up. So when I get back home I look at the paperwork. And sure enough it had June on it instead of July. Which I signed. So I called the cemetery to get a price on how much to fix it. The lady that handles the markers gave me a price and we hung up. So November 2023 I get an email saying you have to pay 419 for the correction on the marker. If its not paid by a week or so of me receiving the email they would remove the marker and we would be refunded our money and there would subtract the 400 plus dollars. I called the cemetery and talked to the same lady and we get into a shouting match. Shes telling me yes you did say remove the marker, and Im saying no I did not say anything about her marker being removed. And she says well what do you want us to do with it. I said put it back because it was never authorized. She says well we cant do that! And ending this heated debate with, Ok ********************* have a great day. About a few hours later I get an email about the conversation. Mind you this is only the second email that Ive received about my mothers marker. Nobody emailed me when they removed it or when it was replaced. This is devastating to my family and they just act like they did nothing wrong!! Im mad, and frustrated with these people. No concern for the deceased or the family!! They are the worse, and I stated that to her before she hung up on me.

On 1/9/23, I had a marker phone appointment with *********************************** to help her design a marker for Ms. **********************************I mailed the contracts to ********************** on January 10, 2023, and they were signed and returned to me on February 13, 2023. The markers ESD was **** 7, 2023. As per our company marker policy, we contacted the customer and left a voice mail that the marker had been delivered to our office and we stated when it would be taken to the cemetery to begin the assembly/installation process. Per company policy, we contacted the customer on **** 17, 2023, to inform her that the marker was installed onto the grave. ********************** called to inform me that the month of birth was incorrect on the marker. It should have been July but erroneously was designed as ****. Per our company marker policy, if there is a questionable error no matter who is at fault it is customary for us to refer to the signed contracts. Once I pulled the marker contracts, I called the customer back to let her know that she was absolutely correct, an internal error had occurred. The contract read **** rather than July. I also informed the customer that per the terms of her marker contract both verbally during our marker phone appointment, as well as in writing; she would be responsible for the cost of the correction. BFMG marker contract policy for errors is as follows: if the manufacturer receives the information correctly and designs it incorrectly, the manufacturer is responsible for the cost of the correction. If the customer gives BFMG the wrong information and the marker is designed, the customer is responsible for the cost of the correction. If the customer gives BFMG the correct information and the marker gets designed without the customers signature, BFMG is responsible for the cost of the correction. But, if the customer gives the correct information, BFMG designs it with an error, the customer approves the marker to be correct with their signature, the customer is responsible for the cost of the correction. The reason we mail the contracts to the customer after the phone appointment is for the customer to review for accuracy, sign and return the contracts to our office. We no longer see customers in the office so, the signature confirms that the customer had a chance to review for accuracy and had no corrections to be made. ********************** confirms in her BBB review that she did not review the contract before signing. By signing, she approved that the information on the marker was accurate.When I was on the phone with **********************, she asked me how would the error be corrected? Once again, I emphasized that it would be at her cost. I informed her that we would have to remove the marker from the grave, ship it back to the manufacturer in ************ for them to access what it would cost them to make the correction. I informed her that I had no idea what the charge would be but, there would be a manufacturers charge that she would be responsible for. I informed her that the marker had to be shipped back to the manufacturer because there was no other way, they could give me the cost of the correction without the marker being in their possession. This is their standard memorial marker correction policy.********************** responded okay to that information. Had she said no, do not remove the marker, I dont want it corrected, Ill get back to you or anything else, we would not have removed the marker from the grave space.The process for removing a marker is time-consuming for our cemetery staff. It begins with the customer being informed and telling us they want us to proceed with getting the cost from the manufacturer. (reminder: there is no other way for the manufacturer to give us the cost unless the marker is shipped back to ************). From there, the cemetery staff is contacted and asked to please unassemble the marker from the granite foundation and remove from the grave, box the marker up and then bring it into the office. Once I receive it, I take a picture of the error on the marker and email it to the manufacturer for them to get a heads up as to why we are returning the marker. I request and then wait for the manufacturer to send me a ***** return shipment label. I send the manufacturers original acknowledgment with the order # and other pertinent information along with the manufacturers return shipment paperwork which identifies the actual error and whos error it was. All of this is boxed up, the shipping label applied and then a call made to ***** to schedule a pickup. On July 24, 2023, the marker was picked up by ***** and shipped back to ************. The shipping process takes approximately ***** days for me to be notified by email as to the cost of the correction. As is customary with company policy, once I received the cost from the manufacturer, I called ********************** on 8/21/23 and spoke with her informing her that the manufacturers charge would be $418.28. Again, I spoke with her directly to let her know about the charge. I did not leave a voice mail message or, a message with anyone. ********************** and I spoke directly and when I told her what the charge would be she stated that she shouldnt be responsible for the charge since it was my error. At no time did she question why the marker had been removed and shipped back to the manufacturer. She never said she didnt give me her approval to remove the marker and ship it back. She never asked any questions, only stating and being clearly annoyed that the charge shouldnt be her responsibility. She also said, it took her as long as it did to even pay for the marker and, she did not have the additional $400.I told her I understood however, that was the update and, we would wait to hear back from her. I emailed the manufacturer, as is customary to place this correction on hold until I spoke again with the customer and, received the payment from her. At that time, I was informed by the manufacturer that the marker had not only be corrected but already shipped back to our office. There was nothing I could do at this point but allow the marker to be delivered to our office. When I received the original email from the manufacturer with the cost of the correction, I was not told by them that it had been corrected and shipped out.I called and left a voice mail for ********************** once the marker was delivered informing her that the marker had been corrected and we would re-install once we received the $418.28 correction payment. I never heard back from her.On October 5, 2023, I mailed a letter to ********************** with the same information. I also stated in the letter that if she didnt have the entire payment, she could make payments on the charge and once it was paid in full, we would re-install. I never heard back from her. On 11/10/23 with the marker still in our office, I emailed ********************** reminding her that I mailed her a letter on October 5, 2023, and was following up on it. I never heard back from her. I mailed another letter to her on November 10, 2023, stating the same. On November 18, 2023, I received my first response from ********************** since August where she was highly agitated because she stated for the first time that she didnt approve the marker to be corrected. She then called me very aggressive and confrontational yelling and telling me that the error was my fault, she shouldnt be responsible and that she didnt give me the approval to remove the marker.Any attempts I made to speak were ineffective. ********************** spoke over me and wouldnt listen to me. I did tell her to have a nice day when it was clear that she would not let me speak. After 10 minutes rather than arguing or continuing the one-sided conversation, as is customary with company policy when speaking with an irate customer, I told her to have a nice day and then said good-bye. On November 20, 2023, I emailed ********************** to say what she wouldnt allow me to say during the phone conversation and included an invoice with the amount due. I immediately received an emailed response from her stating the same information, that she had no idea the marker was going to be removed and that she was very unhappy with our business practice.I emailed my response which was thank you for your response, **********************. That was the last time I spoke or corresponded with **********************. I had been keeping *****************************, the President * *** of BFMG updated with the markers status. Once I had gotten the email from **********************, I spoke with my supervisor again. It was decided per our discussion that we would re-install the marker onto the grave because the manufacturer did not give me a chance to place the order on hold thereby, did not give the customer a chance to decide how to proceed, before they corrected and shipped it back. In good faith, we re-installed the marker the same day and waited for ********************** to make her payment. She never did.I have not attempted to contact ********************** since and had not received any further communication from her until January 18, ****, when we received the information on the BBB review.It is unfortunate that in ************************ review of BFMG to the BBB, she did not inform you that the marker had been re-installed and she has never paid for the correction. BFMG had no choice but to pay our manufacturer the customers correction fee of $418.28 plus shipping/handling.At this point, ********************** has a corrected marker at no cost to her and she has still found a reason to complain. BFMG has kept ********************** updated from the beginning of the marker order process until its re-installation thereby, always giving her the ability to ask questions or share concerns. Our communication and status updates have been consistent and clear with her as they are with all customers. Thank you for allowing me the ability to give you my side of the events. If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me at ************ Monday-Friday 9am-3pm.Sincerely,****************************** Director of Operations

BFMG's Director of Operations has responded to ************************** review.