Serenity Stone Monuments and Memorials

In addressing the issue of the complaint, I would like to point out a few factsWhen Mr.*** *** stopped into our place of business the "first time", he stated that he needed a monument for a giftAfter showing Mr*** some small monuments that we sold, he expressed his concerns as
to the priceAfter establishing what he could afford, I told him that I can work with outside vendors on these smaller monuments and I might be able to work within his budgetHe told me he had to check with other family members, as it was a gift for his wife's grandmother and he would stop back inThe following week he stopped back in and asked if I found him a monument in his price range, to which I answered, yesHe then told me that this was a time sensitive matter as the family was going to visit her grave site soon, which was located out of townI then asked him if he knew what he wanted the monument to read, he said he had no idea of dates and would send his wife back inHe stated that this gift was something he wanted to surprise her with and insisted on paying for it nowAs I told Mr***, I would need to ship this item quickly to meet his time restrictions, and that this would be a SPECIAL ORDER, due to its unusual sizeAfter Mr*** had picked out the size and shape of the monument inquestion, he paid, and I immediately placed the order in hopes of meeting his time constraintsThe following day, in the late afternoon, Mr*** came into the showroom and told me that he was very sorry but the family was very upset with his purchase, without their inputHe then asked me if he could have a refund! I told him all monuments become the property of the purchaser after the sale, which is stated at the bottom of the contract because of obvious reasonsMonument companies are not allowed to charge sales tax in NY State, and the fact that monuments are specifically cut to size and engraved to order,naturally there can be no refunds on something that cannot be restockedI also explained to him that because I ordered the monument from an out of state vendor and put a rush on it, the monument shipped first thing that morning! The vendor's policy, like our own, and everyone else in the monument industry, is no returnsHeadstones are all made to order! I felt bad for Mr*** and told him I would see what I could do for himHe said he would call me later in the evening but he never didAfter negotiating with the vendor, and being excited that I could negotiate some kind of a return, I called him to share the news that the vendor decided to make an exception this one time and would do a return freight of $35.00.Obviously neither one of us could refund the total shipping & freight cost of $70, that had already been paidSo, feeling excited to share this news I called Mr*** myself! He,to my surprise, asked me if he could get the $loss applied to a bigger monument? I explained to him that the $dollars was lost on shipping and no one profited from itHethen said, let me think about what I want to do and I will let you knowSo, after a couple of hours and no phone call, I called Mr*** back and told him I really needed to know what he wanted me to do? I told him I had already told the vendor that we were canceling the order and we were working on the return freightMr*** then told me he was sending out several emails and texts and waiting for the family to decideAgain, I was confused as he had already made it clear that they didn't want one! He apologized for all the confusion and told me he would let me know "tomorrow"He stated that he might still want the monument for a pet he had lost and this way he wouldn't lose any moneyHe noted he was very upset with some of his family members as to their reaction about themonument.The following afternoon Mr*** came in to tell me that they decided not to get her a monument and that he understood the situation on the shippingI gladly refunded Mr.*** his payment minus the shippingThere was no profit made by either party and Mr.*** was fully aware of all the details on NO refundsI still for the sake of reputation,refunded Mr***Monuments are never refundable as they are special order and cut and carved to specsI however, against our own policy, refunded Mr***.So, there is no refund to give as it was already givenI do not know of any business that refunds shipping costHe could take that up with the shipping companyHis assertion that a hour return policy should be in effect is something he assumed himself? Mr*** doesn't set our policies! We strive to satisfy all our customers and I certainly went above and beyond during this entire transactionJust to note! Mr*** offered me $to cancel the order knowing fully well of the contract and details, there ofI refused the$25.00! He apologized several times for all the confusion and blamed his familyI was happy to make it work out for him in the way of a full refund less shipping! I'm sad that he decided to take this routeI worked hard to please him and lost several hours of my time trying to accommodate himI explained to him that our goal is as much missional, with the loss of our own son, as it is businessOur hopes are to donate a monument a year to someone who can't afford oneIn my attempts to help Mr***, I was making zero profit on the transactionI apologize with much regret that we could not meet his needs or expectationsWe are glad, however, that we could give him a full refund.Sincerely,Richard