Valhalla Memorials

The only thing worse than losing a loved one is having to deal with Valhalla Memorials. For the sake of this review, I won’t mention the people I dealt with by their actual names instead I will call them P1, P2 & P3.
My father passed away in early October 2021. A few weeks after, I started searching for a company to create his headstone. It needed to be completed by the anniversary of his passing one year later so that an unveiling ceremony could be performed. When I first went into Valhalla Memorials, I told P1 exactly what was needed and showed him pictures of similar graves next to his. I had been told by other dealers that the black granite we needed was hard to get and would take a long time to obtain from India. P1 assured me they had a warehouse full of that type of stone. I also told him that the work had to be completed by my father’s death anniversary. That information was included on the original receipt. The order included the headstone in black granite and a concrete planting bed border which goes around the grave.
The next step was for them to produce a blueprint drawing of the stone to be approved before the actual cutting would be done. This happened in a reasonable amount of time for the first draft but unfortunately, they made a typo and the drawing had to be done a second time. I brought the incorrect drawing back and P1 submitted the correction. This caused a short delay, no need to worry at this point.
After waiting for months, I would call every few weeks and P1 would tell me each time it will be done on Friday or early next week. After multiple calls without any resolution, I went down to see them. This time P1 was not there. P2 whom I had not dealt with before said that P1 wouldn’t be working there too much longer and hinted they had problems with him. He assured me he would now be taking care of this. Months and months go by without any updates. Occasionally I would stop by in person to get a status report and P2 always told me they were working on it or it would be finished soon.
Come August or so, 10 months after the order, P2 tells me the stone is done and I can come down to look at it. Once I approve it, the installation will be scheduled. I go look at the stone, it is fine. I ask about the concrete planting bed border that goes along with it. After shuffling through the papers, he realizes the concrete planting bed border was never ordered and it was never included in the cost. The blame was put on P1 who was supposed to order the bed and update the bill when I placed the order.
P2 now calls P3 who comes into the office. P3 is the owner’s son. He looks things over again too and also blames P1 who should have taken care of this at the beginning. P3 doesn’t know how much extra this will cost but says he will find out and get back to me. I remind him of the date I need things completed. I receive a call a few days later. P3 tell me the extra cost ($2500) and it will take 3 to 4 weeks.
Four weeks go by and I have heard nothing. It’s now the end of November. My father’s death anniversary has passed. At this point, I have lost all faith in their ability to complete the project. I go down to their office to talk to them, they are very apologetic but have no answers.
At this point I tell them I do not trust them, and I have no faith in their ability to complete this. I tell them you missed the death anniversary of my father which you knew was important. Whenever you are ready, do the installation, send me photos of the grave, and I will come down and pay you the balance. Their policy is to have payment in full before they complete the installation. I ask why that is? Is it you don’t trust me to pay the balance? I trusted you to get this done on time, but you didn’t. You didn’t even try to expedite this when you knew there was a deadline and you messed up the order.
Finally, 14 months after I placed the order, they installed the headstone and planting border. I was forced to pay them in full before they did the installation. I was tired of dealing with them and needed closure for myself and my family.
At one point before the headstone was done, I asked how long it takes to actually engrave the stone. The answer was 2 ½ to 3 hours. Then why does it take over a year for you to do it? “We are too busy”.
A company that does this work should be competent enough to get it done in a timely matter without adding extra stress to you. You are the one with the loss and part of their job is to take care of you too. Valhalla Memorials does neither. The only thing they are good for is causing you anxiety. They don’t ensure the order is correct at the beginning, they don’t expedite when a problem arises and they don’t trust you even though they have not earned your trust.
I am sorry for your loss. Please spare yourselves more tears and agony. Don’t use Valhalla Memorials. There are lots of other good dealers out there.

The blame should go to the cemeteryThey are the ones that build the foundationsWe had the memorial finished on time [redacted] came and inspected the memorial prior to us taking it to the cemeteryHe even remarked how nice it came outWe made a special trip to the cemetery a week before the unveiling dateUpon arrival at cemetery they informed us the foundation had not yet been completed due to the ground conditions from the winter, which is understandable and acceptableThey would not let us install or temporarily install the memorial for [redacted] so the family could have their unveilingIn complaint he states that he was out at the cemetery on April **He made no attempt to contact us so we could've made another trip to install the memorialDuring one of our conversations he told us he had contacted the cemetery in February of his intended unveiling dateObviously they did not consider thisWe received the cemetery foundation completion notice on Friday, May [redacted] and on Monday, May [redacted] we mad a second trip to the cemetery and installed the memorialIt is a mile round trip to the cemetery and we did not even charge for the second trip

The blame should go to the cemeteryThey are the ones that build the foundationsWe had the memorial finished on time*** *** came and inspected the memorial prior to us taking it to the cemeteryHe even remarked how nice it came outWe made a special trip to the cemetery a week before the
unveiling dateUpon arrival at cemetery they informed us the foundation had not yet been completed due to the ground conditions from the winter, which is understandable and acceptableThey would not let us install or temporarily install the memorial for *** *** so the family could have their unveilingIn complaint he states that he was out at the cemetery on April **He made no attempt to contact us so we could've made another trip to install the memorialDuring one of our conversations he told us he had contacted the cemetery in February of his intended unveiling dateObviously they did not consider thisWe received the cemetery foundation completion notice on Friday, May *** and on Monday, May *** we mad a second trip to the cemetery and installed the memorialIt is a mile round trip to the cemetery and we did not even charge for the second trip

The blame should go to the cemetery. They are the ones that build the foundations. We had the memorial finished on time. [redacted] came and inspected the memorial prior to us taking it to the cemetery. He even remarked how nice it came out. We made a special trip to the cemetery a week before the...

unveiling date. Upon arrival at cemetery they informed us the foundation had not yet been completed due to the ground conditions from the winter, which is understandable and acceptable. They would not let us install or temporarily install the memorial for [redacted] so the family could have their unveiling. In complaint he states that he was out at the cemetery on April **. He made no attempt to contact us so we could've made another trip to install the memorial. During one of our conversations he told us he had contacted the cemetery in February of his intended unveiling date. Obviously they did not consider this. We received the cemetery foundation completion notice on Friday, May [redacted] and on Monday, May [redacted] we mad a second trip to the cemetery and installed the memorial. It is a 130 mile round trip to the cemetery and we did not even charge for the second trip.