This is a letter I wrote to both a lawyer and the ACLU. The lawyer and I have been going around and around trying to set up a meeting, but we both get caught up in our individual schedules. The ACLU wrote me back and said they would not be able to support my case. They did not explain why, but I thought this was surely something the ACLU could help me with, but I was denied. I came to this board looking for some more advice from professionals and possibly someone who might have gone through a similar experience with a cemetery. Any information or advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time out to read our story.
My son was born 15 weeks prematurely on January 4 ,2005 and died 2 days later on January 6, 2005. He was buried in Forest Oaks cemetery in Oak Hill, TX (Austin) on January 8, 2005. One week after his burial my husband got a phone call from a Cook-Walden employee trying to sell us a grave marker through the company of Dignity. We told them then that we were not ready to make a decision on his headstone and that we wanted to shop around at local dealers to see if we could get a better price and the exact stone that we wanted as their selection was extremely limited. They continued to call us about every other week, they even questioned where we were looking for stones. We then told them that we did not intend to buy from them and that we found stones at 1/3 of the price they quoted us.
We finally made a decision on a stone that Dietz Memorial would make custom for us that included his footprints laser etched in the stone, his name, his birth and death dates, and a special saying. This stone would be pure black granite and lie flat with a removeable vase to store flowers. We went to Dietz Memorial do the last minute changes so we could get the stone into production and the employees of Dietz called Cook-Walden to clear everything with them. This is when they told us that there is a restriction that we could only have bronze over granite. They never told us of any restriction, and the only restriction stated in all of the paperwork we have from them states that upright stones were not allowed.
I will add now that when my family was at Cook-Walden to take care of paperwork and pick out a casket the day before burial when they told us about the stones they offered and their wonderful bronze care package, which would include refinishing in 50 years and would have cost us $1000. Well the man at Dietz who was working with us who knew nothing about Cook-Walden's restrictions previous to his phone call to clear the stone, told us that granite would last up to 500 years with minimal maintenance and that bronze involved more care and not to mention the bronze over granite is more expensive.
We then started questioning Cook-Walden about their new bronze over granite policy. What benefit would this policy make for both the consumer and business? I talked to a lady from Cook-Walden's main office and her answers came to me as almost a slap in the face. She told me that they would lose money because their tractors run over the grave markers and break them and they are liable for replacing. She then went on to say that the bronze protects the stones from cracking and chipping. I asked, "How often does that happen?" She said, "Oh, all the time!" I then said, "Even with the bronze over granite?", she said "All the time!" If it still happens, then there is obviously no protection of the granite by the bronze. Besides, if tractors break the stones, why don't they take up some kind of preventative care routines. The consumer should not be the target in this case for their stone replacement money. Her reason for their stones being triple the price of independent dealers is because of this stone liability. She said "We have to make our money somehow."
Why does limiting my choices and my right of free speech have to be slaughtered by these people's restrictions and money making traps? There is a better way to for them to be a profitable business. I do not want to see these people price gouging and attacking the bereaved. Please help me with this fight for my civil right to choose the stone I want on my son's grave. I want to preserve the right of the bereaved to choose their loved one's memorials without being restricted to certain materials.
After writing this letter I realized that they also broke several federal laws pertaining to showing us price lists of all services and products they provided before ever speaking to us about them. This is also something I would like to pursue them for.
My son was born 15 weeks prematurely on January 4 ,2005 and died 2 days later on January 6, 2005. He was buried in Forest Oaks cemetery in Oak Hill, TX (Austin) on January 8, 2005. One week after his burial my husband got a phone call from a Cook-Walden employee trying to sell us a grave marker through the company of Dignity. We told them then that we were not ready to make a decision on his headstone and that we wanted to shop around at local dealers to see if we could get a better price and the exact stone that we wanted as their selection was extremely limited. They continued to call us about every other week, they even questioned where we were looking for stones. We then told them that we did not intend to buy from them and that we found stones at 1/3 of the price they quoted us.
We finally made a decision on a stone that Dietz Memorial would make custom for us that included his footprints laser etched in the stone, his name, his birth and death dates, and a special saying. This stone would be pure black granite and lie flat with a removeable vase to store flowers. We went to Dietz Memorial do the last minute changes so we could get the stone into production and the employees of Dietz called Cook-Walden to clear everything with them. This is when they told us that there is a restriction that we could only have bronze over granite. They never told us of any restriction, and the only restriction stated in all of the paperwork we have from them states that upright stones were not allowed.
I will add now that when my family was at Cook-Walden to take care of paperwork and pick out a casket the day before burial when they told us about the stones they offered and their wonderful bronze care package, which would include refinishing in 50 years and would have cost us $1000. Well the man at Dietz who was working with us who knew nothing about Cook-Walden's restrictions previous to his phone call to clear the stone, told us that granite would last up to 500 years with minimal maintenance and that bronze involved more care and not to mention the bronze over granite is more expensive.
We then started questioning Cook-Walden about their new bronze over granite policy. What benefit would this policy make for both the consumer and business? I talked to a lady from Cook-Walden's main office and her answers came to me as almost a slap in the face. She told me that they would lose money because their tractors run over the grave markers and break them and they are liable for replacing. She then went on to say that the bronze protects the stones from cracking and chipping. I asked, "How often does that happen?" She said, "Oh, all the time!" I then said, "Even with the bronze over granite?", she said "All the time!" If it still happens, then there is obviously no protection of the granite by the bronze. Besides, if tractors break the stones, why don't they take up some kind of preventative care routines. The consumer should not be the target in this case for their stone replacement money. Her reason for their stones being triple the price of independent dealers is because of this stone liability. She said "We have to make our money somehow."
Why does limiting my choices and my right of free speech have to be slaughtered by these people's restrictions and money making traps? There is a better way to for them to be a profitable business. I do not want to see these people price gouging and attacking the bereaved. Please help me with this fight for my civil right to choose the stone I want on my son's grave. I want to preserve the right of the bereaved to choose their loved one's memorials without being restricted to certain materials.
After writing this letter I realized that they also broke several federal laws pertaining to showing us price lists of all services and products they provided before ever speaking to us about them. This is also something I would like to pursue them for.
