Best Funeral Services Inc.

background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial;">RE: ID# [redacted]
In response to Ms. [redacted]’s complaint against Best Funeral Services in December 2013:
On December 2, 2013 Best Funeral Services met with [redacted] and her sister Hope Wright to assist with the final arrangements for their mother [redacted]. During the arrangements, the family was given the option for Best Funeral Services to order death certificates on their behalf from Maricopa County Vital Statistics.  Best Funeral Services followed through with ordering the death certificates once Dr. [redacted], MD of [redacted] Hospice recorded the cause of death and certified (signed) the death certificate.
On December 19, 2013 Best Funeral Services received the death certificates and called Ms. [redacted] and notified her we would be mailing them out to her.
Ms. [redacted] requested that Best Funeral Services mail the cremated remains to her address out of state.  Ms. [redacted] received the cremated remains without incident.  After Ms. [redacted] received the cremated remains along with the Maricopa County issued transit permit, she notified Best Funeral Services that she was reviewing the Transit Permit and stated that the cause of death was incorrect and wondered if it really was her mother who she had.  Best Funeral Services assured Ms. [redacted] that she did have her mother, Mrs. [redacted].  Ms. [redacted] was instructed by Best Funeral Services to contact her late mother’s physician to inquire about the cause of death.  Ms. [redacted] then contacted Best Funeral Services again after having trouble reaching the physician.  As a courtesy, Best Funeral Services contacted Dr. [redacted] of [redacted] Hospice to help connect Ms. [redacted] with the physician.   
Best Funeral Services contacted Doctor [redacted], who then asked Best Funeral Services to contact [redacted] Hospice on his behalf to locate the patient’s file.  Best Funeral Services spoke to [redacted] of [redacted] Hospice expressing the physician's request.  Best Funeral Services expressed to [redacted] of [redacted] Hospice that Ms. [redacted] is requesting that Doctor [redacted] amend the death certificate.  [redacted] Hospice stated that they would contact Ms. [redacted] to settle the matter between the physician and Ms. [redacted].  Best Funeral Services then communicated to Ms. [redacted] that [redacted] Hospice would contact her directly and settle the matter between the patient’s family and Ms. [redacted].
The Arizona State Board of Funeral Director and Embalmers is the regulatory agency for all funeral homes in Arizona.  The week of January 6th, 2014, I received a call from Gary [redacted] of the Arizona State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers at the request of Ms. [redacted].  I explained the entire situation to Mr. [redacted] and Mr. [redacted] stated that Dr. [redacted] had agreed to change the cause of death on the death certificate according to Ms. [redacted]’s wishes.  Mr. [redacted] of the State Board then ruled that since an incorrect cause of death was entered by Dr. [redacted], Best Funeral Services was not responsible for replacement of the death certificates.  Replacement is responsibility is from Dr. [redacted] and [redacted] Hospice.
Best Funeral Services takes great care to guarantee 100% accuracy in all matters, including cremated remains custody and death certificate accuracy.  Best Funeral Services takes allegations of incorrect cremated remains seriously.  Mr. [redacted] of the Arizona State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers confirmed that the cause of death and the identity of the cremated remains were absolutely unrelated.
Best Funeral Services, goes to great lengths so that we Guarantee 100% accuracy that families are receiving their loved one’s cremated remains. Best Funeral Services owns and operates a crematory located on-site with the funeral home.  Best Funeral Services has several licensed crematory operators on staff that oversee rigid cremation procedures set in place by the State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.  Furthermore, Best Funeral Services transports decedents directly to our funeral homes to ensure immediate custody.  Best Funeral Services offers all families the choice to identify their loved one at the time of the arrangements as well at the time of cremation.
In conclusion, we hope that Ms. [redacted] can obtain replacement death certificates as a professional courtesy of [redacted] Hospice and/or Dr. [redacted].
Best Funeral Services

In pursuit of further clarification, Best Funeral Services would like to offer this response for complaint ID [redacted]:
1. It seems from the client's follow up details, that the client acknowledges  that the error in the original death certificates was the responsibility of the physician, Dr. [redacted] and/or [redacted] Hospice.  A funeral home's responsibility when dealing with filing a death certificate is within collecting and submitting accurate vital statistics. The cause of death is the responsibility of the physician.  The client's complaint is related to an incorrect cause of death entered by the doctor.  Best Funeral Services has a signed document declaring all vital statistics were entered correctly.
2. Best Funeral Services does not earn any revenue from ordering death certificates on behalf of a client. Rather, death certificates are considered "cash advance" charges.  Cash advance charges are charges that a funeral home collects on behalf of another party, in this case the Arizona Department of Health Services.  There is a distinct section on the client's contract showing the "cash advance" section.  To help clarify the "cash advance" section, there is a note at the top of the section specifically stating, "we do not charge for obtaining cash advance items".  This statement is a requirement of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the consumer protection agency for American Consumers.  In essence, Best Funeral Services was not paid for death certificates, rather Best Funeral Services simply transferred money from the client to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
3.  On the 2nd page of the client's contract, there is a clear statement.  "Certified copies of DEATH CERTIFICATES are processed from Maricopa County Bureau of Vital Statistics or Arizona State Office of Vital Records and can take up to THIRTY DAYS to be received at the funeral home.  The additional18 days that the client experienced was a direct result of the incorrect cause of death entered by the physician and had nothing to do with Best Funeral Services.
4.  Best Funeral Services understands the financial challenges that certain families experience when a death occurs.  We do everything in our power to expedite closure for the families we have served since 1987.  We hope that the client can recover her out of pocket expenses from the estate.
Best Regards,
Best Funeral Services, Inc.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Best Funeral Services is correct that the hospice where my mother passed away has agreed to help me obtain a corrected death certificate.  Indeed, I finally received the appropriate death certificate relating to my mother on January 17, 2008, 48 days after her death.  When my sister and I met with Best Funeral Services on December 2, 2013, they told us that we could expect to receive my mother's death certificate within 10 to 15 days.  As the successor trustee to my mother's estate, this delay has caused me significant financial hardship as I have been forced to pay nearly $5,000 out of my own pocket because I have not been able to access her accounts without a death certificate.  And, for reasons which should be obvious, despite Best Funeral Services advice to the contrary, I have been unwilling to use a defective document for legal purposes.The problem remains that we paid Best Funeral Services $300 for 15 death certificates that are unusable.  Best Funeral Services has consistently taken the position that they are not responsible for issuing a refund.  Instead, they want us to pursue our refund request with Dr. [redacted] and/or [redacted] Hospice. Dr. [redacted] has refused to return my calls.  And [redacted] Hospice has only agreed to reimburse me for the corrected death certificates we requested.  I believe that Best Funeral Services should refund us the $300 we paid for a defective product. As an analogy, if a person purchased a piece of electronics equipment at, say, [redacted], and the equipment was defective, [redacted] would likely issue a refund.  [redacted], unlike Best Funeral Services, would probably not insist that they are not responsible for a refund merely because they did not manufacture the equipment.  Similarly, if a person purchased a loaf of name-brand bread at a grocery store only to discover upon getting home that the loaf was moldy, again, the grocery store would not likely refuse to issue a refund simply because the bread was baked off site.The bottom line here is that we paid Best Funeral Services (not Dr. [redacted] and not [redacted] Hospice) for a defective product.  Their intransigence on this issue has made a difficult time already all that much more difficult.  Instead of properly grieving our mother, we have spent the last six weeks asking questions and ultimately fighting a battle that never need have been fought.  

Regards,