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I had the sad occasion last week to visit
with a bereaved mother and daughter who had just lost their husband
and father. That was sad enough. But the reason why they wanted to
visit with me is what made their loss all the more difficult to bear.
They had just realized that they had been conned by a fly-by-night
casket salesman.
It was four years earlier, in 2002, when
a sales representative for Celestial Burial Case called upon the
elderly couple in their Comanche County home. He was trying to sell
them on the idea of saving their family money by purchasing their
funeral caskets in advance. And, he assured them, they were saving
anywhere from 50-70% on the cost of a quality casket. Upon being
advised of a death, the company would immediately ship the casket to
wherever directed.
The widow described the man as
professional in appearance and manners, and that he had an impressive
presentation folder, complete with color photos of various types of
caskets available. Convinced that it was a prudent and thoughtful
thing to do for their family, the couple made their selections, paid
$500 down and agreed to a monthly bank draft for the balance.
When the husband passed away recently,
the wife and daughter began trying to contact the casket company to
make arrangements for delivery. All they ever got was an answering
machine with multiple selections to be made, including one for an
immediate reply. Despite dozens of attempts, they never got a return
call.
Soon they began researching the Celestial
Burial Case company on the Internet and what they found was not
reassuring. One report from Pennsylvania told how the state's Attorney
General was suing the company and its president and CEO, Joseph
Stabile, seeking an injunction barring the company from advertising or
accepting any other funds from state residents. The Pennsylvania AG
noted that the company had ripped off customers in nine other states
as well.
That was just one of many web sites
referring to the Greensburg, Pennsylvania company, and most were not
favorable references. It had now become apparent to the wife and
daughter, even as they were dealing with grief over the loss of their
loved one, that they had been scammed.
Their next planned stop was to be at the
bank where they would look to see how much money had been withdrawn by
Celestial Burial Case. Hopefully, all they lost was what they had
agreed to, which was over $5,200.
To make matters even worse, the 50-70%
promised savings was also bogus. Nowlin Funeral Home in DeLeon, which
advertises its casket prices on the Internet, provided a casket of
comparable quality for approximately $1,900, more than 25% below the
cost of the bogus bargain caskets.
The widow, who asked that her name not be
used in this story, stated, "It's a terrible thing to go through
during a time of emotional distress."
Local funeral director, Donnie Nowlin,
agrees and stated, "Please be wary of anyone coming to your door
selling pre-need funeral arrangements or caskets. Be sure and call on
the company before purchasing these types of items, because there are
a lot of scam artists out there."
Nowlin listed the Texas Funeral Service
Commission and the Texas Funeral Directors Association, both based in
Austin, as good places to check. Looking the company up on the
Internet and checking with the Better Business Bureau are other good
sources of information.
Hopefully, there are not others in the
area who were taken in by the same company, and hopefully anyone else
approached by a similar type "business" will exercise due caution
before reaching for the signature pen. |
