Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/05/26) */
[redacted] met with our funeral director, [redacted] on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. During that visit, the funeral director obtained all of the information we would need to file for the death certificate as well as the obituary. During that visit,...
Mrs. [redacted] 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 Tribune. It was agreed at that time we would be emailing Mrs. [redacted] an obituary for her to proof read. No date for obituary placement was expressed at that time.
Thursday, April 28, 2016, [redacted] our secretary, received a phone call from Mrs. [redacted] 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 [redacted] immediately emailed the obituary proof to her at 10:12 a.m. and Mrs. [redacted] approved the obituary by 10:23 a.m. In Mrs. [redacted]'s approval email, she asked the obituary be printed in The Times and The Market without a specified printing date. Due to her urgency, it was assumed she wanted it to be printed in the following day's edition (Friday). We sent the obituaries to 3 newspapers (The Post for quoting purposes only upon her verbal request with [redacted]). The newspaper quotes were received for cost to print in the following day's editions. [redacted] called Mrs. [redacted] twice Thursday afternoon and left two voice messages to let her know the costs and to advise her of the deadline approaching. [redacted] stated her concern in a message that without Mrs. [redacted]'s return call to approve cost they would miss Friday's printing. Mrs. [redacted] did not call back on Thursday, April 28, 2016.
Friday morning, April 29, 2016, Mrs. [redacted] 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 phone. Once again, it was assumed it was the following day's printing (Saturday) that was desired as a print date was not specified. With her payment, we immediately contacted NWI Times for Saturday printing.
Sunday, 5:46 a.m., May 1, 2016, Mrs. [redacted] 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. [redacted] returned her call and Mrs. [redacted] stated she didn't see the obituary in the Sunday paper and was very upset. Mrs. [redacted] wanted it to be ran again, at our expense, in a highly viewed newspaper. She was upset that it ran on Saturday and no one had responded via email about her services for her husband. We explained to her that we were submitting for the next printing day because she had not specified a date and was expressing urgency. [redacted] 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 well. Mrs. [redacted] 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. [redacted] explained the owner of the company would need to authorize additional charges and we would get back to her.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016, [redacted], one of the owners called Mrs. [redacted] back and spoke to her. It was decided we would print a service notice at our cost due to her being upset. It was placed then in the NWI Times Wednesday paper for a cost of [redacted] at our expense. Wednesday is a very highly read subscription per the NWI Times representative. We thought this had resolved the issue as Mrs. [redacted] had requested. If the obituary would have been placed in the Sunday edition as Mrs. [redacted] stated she wanted, then the NWI Times quote would have been higher. NWI Times has a higher rate for Sunday papers. She was quoted for a Saturday print of [redacted] which she paid for over the phone via credit card. The funeral home does not add additional fees to obituaries.
In addition to her complaints, Mrs. [redacted] was charged according to the current price list for cremation services effective June 2015. Sometimes people will phone in and ask for pricing and are given a general phone quote. Once families come into the office, a more personalized quote is given based on their personal needs and choices. We have no record of Mrs. [redacted] being offered a quote lower than what she was charged. During arrangements, Mrs. [redacted] never mentioned price differences.
Mrs. [redacted] called in sometime after she had made her arrangements and asked about the cost of purchasing memorial service cards. Per our price list, we have an Administrative Fee of [redacted] for any outside printing needs plus the cost of the cards which is [redacted] per 25 cards.
Regarding the consumers desired resolution:
We believe a specific date was never clarified for printing of the original obituary. We believe the additional printing of the Service Notice, Wed., May 4, 2016 at our expense satisfied her request for a resubmission.
Mrs. [redacted] was only charged for items and services she chose. Mrs. [redacted] 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 [redacted] on April 29th concerning the obit and the day I wanted it in the paper. I specifically told her 3 times that I wanted it in Sunday's, May 1st paper. You, yourself in your statement said "you assumed" that I wanted it in the next days paper. There was nothing to assume when I stated to you the specific day I wanted the obit in, on Sunday. After 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 day. I called and found out that was untrue. I called The Times at 3:00 and they stated their cut off time was 3:15, I had spoken to Midwest at 2:30 therefore it was not past the cut off time. My whole point here is that I was not given the proper respect at a time of grieving the loss of my husband. I 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 company. I 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 outsourced. I don't understand how the price can be higher due to the fact that all your memory cards are outsourced. I believe you were trying to find a way to make more money from me at a vulnerable time. I was put in a situation where I didn't have much of a choice. I 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) */
[redacted] met with our funeral director, [redacted] on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. During that visit, the funeral director obtained all of the information we would need to file for the death certificate as well as the obituary. During that visit,...
Mrs. [redacted] 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 Tribune. It was agreed at that time we would be emailing Mrs. [redacted] an obituary for her to proof read. No date for obituary placement was expressed at that time.
Thursday, April 28, 2016, [redacted] our secretary, received a phone call from Mrs. [redacted] 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 [redacted] immediately emailed the obituary proof to her at 10:12 a.m. and Mrs. [redacted] approved the obituary by 10:23 a.m. In Mrs. [redacted]'s approval email, she asked the obituary be printed in The Times and The Market without a specified printing date. Due to her urgency, it was assumed she wanted it to be printed in the following day's edition (Friday). We sent the obituaries to 3 newspapers (The Post for quoting purposes only upon her verbal request with [redacted]). The newspaper quotes were received for cost to print in the following day's editions. [redacted] called Mrs. [redacted] twice Thursday afternoon and left two voice messages to let her know the costs and to advise her of the deadline approaching. [redacted] stated her concern in a message that without Mrs. [redacted]'s return call to approve cost they would miss Friday's printing. Mrs. [redacted] did not call back on Thursday, April 28, 2016.
Friday morning, April 29, 2016, Mrs. [redacted] 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 phone. Once again, it was assumed it was the following day's printing (Saturday) that was desired as a print date was not specified. With her payment, we immediately contacted NWI Times for Saturday printing.
Sunday, 5:46 a.m., May 1, 2016, Mrs. [redacted] 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. [redacted] returned her call and Mrs. [redacted] stated she didn't see the obituary in the Sunday paper and was very upset. Mrs. [redacted] wanted it to be ran again, at our expense, in a highly viewed newspaper. She was upset that it ran on Saturday and no one had responded via email about her services for her husband. We explained to her that we were submitting for the next printing day because she had not specified a date and was expressing urgency. [redacted] 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 well. Mrs. [redacted] 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. [redacted] explained the owner of the company would need to authorize additional charges and we would get back to her.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016, [redacted], one of the owners called Mrs. [redacted] back and spoke to her. It was decided we would print a service notice at our cost due to her being upset. It was placed then in the NWI Times Wednesday paper for a cost of [redacted] at our expense. Wednesday is a very highly read subscription per the NWI Times representative. We thought this had resolved the issue as Mrs. [redacted] had requested. If the obituary would have been placed in the Sunday edition as Mrs. [redacted] stated she wanted, then the NWI Times quote would have been higher. NWI Times has a higher rate for Sunday papers. She was quoted for a Saturday print of [redacted] which she paid for over the phone via credit card. The funeral home does not add additional fees to obituaries.
In addition to her complaints, Mrs. [redacted] was charged according to the current price list for cremation services effective June 2015. Sometimes people will phone in and ask for pricing and are given a general phone quote. Once families come into the office, a more personalized quote is given based on their personal needs and choices. We have no record of Mrs. [redacted] being offered a quote lower than what she was charged. During arrangements, Mrs. [redacted] never mentioned price differences.
Mrs. [redacted] called in sometime after she had made her arrangements and asked about the cost of purchasing memorial service cards. Per our price list, we have an Administrative Fee of [redacted] for any outside printing needs plus the cost of the cards which is [redacted] per 25 cards.
Regarding the consumers desired resolution:
We believe a specific date was never clarified for printing of the original obituary. We believe the additional printing of the Service Notice, Wed., May 4, 2016 at our expense satisfied her request for a resubmission.
Mrs. [redacted] was only charged for items and services she chose. Mrs. [redacted] 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 [redacted] on April 29th concerning the obit and the day I wanted it in the paper. I specifically told her 3 times that I wanted it in Sunday's, May 1st paper. You, yourself in your statement said "you assumed" that I wanted it in the next days paper. There was nothing to assume when I stated to you the specific day I wanted the obit in, on Sunday. After 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 day. I called and found out that was untrue. I called The Times at 3:00 and they stated their cut off time was 3:15, I had spoken to Midwest at 2:30 therefore it was not past the cut off time. My whole point here is that I was not given the proper respect at a time of grieving the loss of my husband. I 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 company. I 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 outsourced. I don't understand how the price can be higher due to the fact that all your memory cards are outsourced. I believe you were trying to find a way to make more money from me at a vulnerable time. I was put in a situation where I didn't have much of a choice. I 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.