Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/05/26) */
*** *** met with our funeral director, *** on Tuesday, April 26, During that visit, the funeral director obtained all of the information we would need to file for the death certificate as well as the obituaryDuring that visit,
Mrs*** had expressed she would like an obituary to be placed in The Market (a free publication in Starke county), NWI Times, and a quote from The Post TribuneIt was agreed at that time we would be emailing Mrs*** an obituary for her to proof readNo date for obituary placement was expressed at that time
Thursday, April 28, 2016, *** our secretary, received a phone call from Mrs*** asking to have the obituary proof emailed to her because she had not received it and was very upset she hadn't received the email *** immediately emailed the obituary proof to her at 10:a.mand Mrs*** approved the obituary by 10:a.mIn Mrs***'s approval email, she asked the obituary be printed in The Times and The Market without a specified printing dateDue to her urgency, it was assumed she wanted it to be printed in the following day's edition (Friday)We sent the obituaries to newspapers (The Post for quoting purposes only upon her verbal request with ***)The newspaper quotes were received for cost to print in the following day's editions*** called Mrs*** twice Thursday afternoon and left two voice messages to let her know the costs and to advise her of the deadline approaching*** stated her concern in a message that without Mrs***'s return call to approve cost they would miss Friday's printingMrs*** did not call back on Thursday, April 28,
Friday morning, April 29, 2016, Mrs*** called back and stated she did not want to place the obituary in The Post Tribune but was ok with the charges for the NWI Times quote and paid us for it via credit card over the phoneOnce again, it was assumed it was the following day's printing (Saturday) that was desired as a print date was not specifiedWith her payment, we immediately contacted NWI Times for Saturday printing
Sunday, 5:a.m., May 1, 2016, Mrs*** called and left a message with the answering service that she was upset the obituary was not put in the paper the way she wanted it*** returned her call and Mrs*** stated she didn't see the obituary in the Sunday paper and was very upsetMrs*** wanted it to be ran again, at our expense, in a highly viewed newspaperShe was upset that it ran on Saturday and no one had responded via email about her services for her husbandWe explained to her that we were submitting for the next printing day because she had not specified a date and was expressing urgency*** also explained to her the obituary was on our website, on the legacy.com website, and would be printed in The Market on Wednesday as wellMrs*** stated she still wanted it to run again at our expense and wanted us to call the NWI Times and ask them what days they considered to be their most read issues*** explained the owner of the company would need to authorize additional charges and we would get back to her
Tuesday, May 3, 2016, ***, one of the owners called Mrs*** back and spoke to herIt was decided we would print a service notice at our cost due to her being upsetIt was placed then in the NWI Times Wednesday paper for a cost of *** at our expenseWednesday is a very highly read subscription per the NWI Times representativeWe thought this had resolved the issue as Mrs*** had requestedIf the obituary would have been placed in the Sunday edition as Mrs*** stated she wanted, then the NWI Times quote would have been higherNWI Times has a higher rate for Sunday papersShe was quoted for a Saturday print of *** which she paid for over the phone via credit cardThe funeral home does not add additional fees to obituaries
In addition to her complaints, Mrs*** was charged according to the current price list for cremation services effective June Sometimes people will phone in and ask for pricing and are given a general phone quoteOnce families come into the office, a more personalized quote is given based on their personal needs and choicesWe have no record of Mrs*** being offered a quote lower than what she was chargedDuring arrangements, Mrs*** never mentioned price differences
Mrs*** called in sometime after she had made her arrangements and asked about the cost of purchasing memorial service cardsPer our price list, we have an Administrative Fee of *** for any outside printing needs plus the cost of the cards which is *** per cards
Regarding the consumers desired resolution:
We believe a specific date was never clarified for printing of the original obituaryWe believe the additional printing of the Service Notice, Wed., May 4, at our expense satisfied her request for a resubmission
Mrs*** was only charged for items and services she choseMrs*** was given a price list at the time of arrangements and received a copy of the written itemized contract for her records
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/05/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I had spoken to *** on April 29th concerning the obit and the day I wanted it in the paperI specifically told her times that I wanted it in Sunday's, May 1st paperYou, yourself in your statement said "you assumed" that I wanted it in the next days paperThere was nothing to assume when I stated to you the specific day I wanted the obit in, on SundayAfter this issue, I was deceived again by being told you were unable to put the obit in the next days paper, May 4th due to it being past The Times cut off for the dayI called and found out that was untrueI called The Times at 3:and they stated their cut off time was 3:15, I had spoken to Midwest at 2:therefore it was not past the cut off timeMy whole point here is that I was not given the proper respect at a time of grieving the loss of my husbandI spoke to the owner regarding this matter and she stated the reason there were several issues was because "they were busy that week"I find that to be extremely disrespectful to my deceased husband and his loved ones
As for the memory cards, you are a crematory not a printing companyI was told by you that the cost of memory cards would be higher if I didn't have a service at your funeral home because they would be outsourcedI don't understand how the price can be higher due to the fact that all your memory cards are outsourcedI believe you were trying to find a way to make more money from me at a vulnerable timeI was put in a situation where I didn't have much of a choiceI was deceived on several occasions throughout the paperwork process but what was I to do when you already had possession of my husband's corpse?
All I'm asking for is to be compensated for all of the deceit & heartache that I experienced during an already stressful time
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/05/26) */
*** *** met with our funeral director, *** on Tuesday, April 26, During that visit, the funeral director obtained all of the information we would need to file for the death certificate as well as the obituaryDuring that visit,
Mrs*** had expressed she would like an obituary to be placed in The Market (a free publication in Starke county), NWI Times, and a quote from The Post TribuneIt was agreed at that time we would be emailing Mrs*** an obituary for her to proof readNo date for obituary placement was expressed at that time
Thursday, April 28, 2016, *** our secretary, received a phone call from Mrs*** asking to have the obituary proof emailed to her because she had not received it and was very upset she hadn't received the email *** immediately emailed the obituary proof to her at 10:a.mand Mrs*** approved the obituary by 10:a.mIn Mrs***'s approval email, she asked the obituary be printed in The Times and The Market without a specified printing dateDue to her urgency, it was assumed she wanted it to be printed in the following day's edition (Friday)We sent the obituaries to newspapers (The Post for quoting purposes only upon her verbal request with ***)The newspaper quotes were received for cost to print in the following day's editions*** called Mrs*** twice Thursday afternoon and left two voice messages to let her know the costs and to advise her of the deadline approaching*** stated her concern in a message that without Mrs***'s return call to approve cost they would miss Friday's printingMrs*** did not call back on Thursday, April 28,
Friday morning, April 29, 2016, Mrs*** called back and stated she did not want to place the obituary in The Post Tribune but was ok with the charges for the NWI Times quote and paid us for it via credit card over the phoneOnce again, it was assumed it was the following day's printing (Saturday) that was desired as a print date was not specifiedWith her payment, we immediately contacted NWI Times for Saturday printing
Sunday, 5:a.m., May 1, 2016, Mrs*** called and left a message with the answering service that she was upset the obituary was not put in the paper the way she wanted it*** returned her call and Mrs*** stated she didn't see the obituary in the Sunday paper and was very upsetMrs*** wanted it to be ran again, at our expense, in a highly viewed newspaperShe was upset that it ran on Saturday and no one had responded via email about her services for her husbandWe explained to her that we were submitting for the next printing day because she had not specified a date and was expressing urgency*** also explained to her the obituary was on our website, on the legacy.com website, and would be printed in The Market on Wednesday as wellMrs*** stated she still wanted it to run again at our expense and wanted us to call the NWI Times and ask them what days they considered to be their most read issues*** explained the owner of the company would need to authorize additional charges and we would get back to her
Tuesday, May 3, 2016, ***, one of the owners called Mrs*** back and spoke to herIt was decided we would print a service notice at our cost due to her being upsetIt was placed then in the NWI Times Wednesday paper for a cost of *** at our expenseWednesday is a very highly read subscription per the NWI Times representativeWe thought this had resolved the issue as Mrs*** had requestedIf the obituary would have been placed in the Sunday edition as Mrs*** stated she wanted, then the NWI Times quote would have been higherNWI Times has a higher rate for Sunday papersShe was quoted for a Saturday print of *** which she paid for over the phone via credit cardThe funeral home does not add additional fees to obituaries
In addition to her complaints, Mrs*** was charged according to the current price list for cremation services effective June Sometimes people will phone in and ask for pricing and are given a general phone quoteOnce families come into the office, a more personalized quote is given based on their personal needs and choicesWe have no record of Mrs*** being offered a quote lower than what she was chargedDuring arrangements, Mrs*** never mentioned price differences
Mrs*** called in sometime after she had made her arrangements and asked about the cost of purchasing memorial service cardsPer our price list, we have an Administrative Fee of *** for any outside printing needs plus the cost of the cards which is *** per cards
Regarding the consumers desired resolution:
We believe a specific date was never clarified for printing of the original obituaryWe believe the additional printing of the Service Notice, Wed., May 4, at our expense satisfied her request for a resubmission
Mrs*** was only charged for items and services she choseMrs*** was given a price list at the time of arrangements and received a copy of the written itemized contract for her records
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/05/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I had spoken to *** on April 29th concerning the obit and the day I wanted it in the paperI specifically told her times that I wanted it in Sunday's, May 1st paperYou, yourself in your statement said "you assumed" that I wanted it in the next days paperThere was nothing to assume when I stated to you the specific day I wanted the obit in, on SundayAfter this issue, I was deceived again by being told you were unable to put the obit in the next days paper, May 4th due to it being past The Times cut off for the dayI called and found out that was untrueI called The Times at 3:and they stated their cut off time was 3:15, I had spoken to Midwest at 2:therefore it was not past the cut off timeMy whole point here is that I was not given the proper respect at a time of grieving the loss of my husbandI spoke to the owner regarding this matter and she stated the reason there were several issues was because "they were busy that week"I find that to be extremely disrespectful to my deceased husband and his loved ones
As for the memory cards, you are a crematory not a printing companyI was told by you that the cost of memory cards would be higher if I didn't have a service at your funeral home because they would be outsourcedI don't understand how the price can be higher due to the fact that all your memory cards are outsourcedI believe you were trying to find a way to make more money from me at a vulnerable timeI was put in a situation where I didn't have much of a choiceI was deceived on several occasions throughout the paperwork process but what was I to do when you already had possession of my husband's corpse?
All I'm asking for is to be compensated for all of the deceit & heartache that I experienced during an already stressful time