September 7
My daughter passed away on January 28. She was 30 years old and left behind 2 small children ages 7 & 11. We still don't know the nature of her death, even after an autopsy. But a real blessing and comfort to us was that she was an organ donor and had been since the age of 15. My story begins like this. After my daughter was buried, we purchased a grave marker from the funeral home who saw to our every need at this very difficult time. The marker was paid for and ordered, and we were pleased and eager to get it placed on her grave as soon as possible.
However to our horror, we got caught up in a situation that according to the funeral home, is a constant battle of nick picking. It was explained to me by the funeral home that "Heritage" and the owner "Mr. Terry Lanford of Woodruff, S.C. Also sell grave markers, however the funeral home sells them much cheaper and the same quality, and excellent warranty.
When my daughter's marker came in, I was called by the director of "Heritage" and told that my marker could not be put down, beacuse it was too small. It did not meet their specifications. It was off a whole 2 inches! I asked the lady if this was a joke and she said no, of course not. I begged her to let the marker be put down, assuring her that no one would notice a marker being 2" inches off, but she said she could not allow it to placed down because it was against their rules. Then she offered to sell me another marker from them. I told her "NO"! Her marker was several thousand dollars more than what I had already paid.
I called the funeral home and advised them of the situation, and they said things like this happen all the time with these people. Of course the funeral was being blamed for the mistake of ordering the marker too small. So the funeral home offered to go to the cemetary where my daughter was buried and take measurements of recently placed markers that the "Heritage" had put down and guess what? There were several markers that were smaller and larger, and even the same dimensions as ours. This simply amazed me and made me wonder where was the compassion for the person grieving for their loved one?
The funeral home re-ordered our marker and we are still waiting and holding our breath for it to be up to "Heritage and "Mr. Tony Lanford's expectations and dimensions. But who knows!
I still can't understand the logic in this. Really why did they find it necessary to measure a marker and deny it"s placement due to a whole 2" shortage.
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