In late summer to early fall of 2021 I placed an order for a headstone with Sprung Monuments for my father who dies of covid in 2020.
Shortly after I gave my deposit, I heard absolutely nothing from them for weeks.
When I got my first draft of the stone, there were edits needed, as would be expected. The first mock up came 10/27/21. I asked for changes but the next mock up didn't come until 11/22/21. I called Phyllis as soon as I got the 11/22/21 draft about my revisions. I then called in December, January, February, March. I did not get the next draft until 4/6/22!!! And it was nearly identical to the 11/22 draft, not adding/editing pretty much anything I requested. May, June, July...Still no edited proof. From November 2021 to July 2022, I was calling weekly or monthly. Sometimes I'd get voicemail and leave a message and never hear back. Sometimes I'd get Phyllis and she'd tell me she'd look into it and never call me back. We get to August and I start to realize I may not even have a headstone for my father's second passing anniversary.
I call Phyllis and at this point I am pained. She gets me a proof all of a sudden that I am finally happy enough with. I sign it. She says okay they are going to print and deliver it soon and tells me I need to pay the balance. I tell her I will before delivery. September comes and goes and still nothing. I call her again and she says it's being delivered and installed any day now and pushes again for payment, this time very harshly. I tell her I will pay when I know it's being delivered. October rolls around and still nothing. I call Phyllis and told her how badly I feel and that it is now over a year since my deposit was placed she says "oh the stone's not there yet? Let me call and see what's going on." She calls me back pretty quickly this time and tells me my stone hasn't come in yet..What?!?!? The stone that I paid extra for because you said it was the only stone we can get laser printed the way we want. She says to me that it's a special order stone. Yeah, no sh**, you sold me on it and still told me back then it would be twelve weeks max. So now you're telling me it's taking over a year just to get?!?! I break down while on the phone with her. I tell her how awful this is, for me, for my father. I cry to her about how this could possibly be and why am I being lied to week after week and month after month for over a year. She finally hears my pain (or so I thought) and says "let me call the owner and see what we can do." She calls me back again pretty quickly and says "okay, they'll deliver and install the stone November 6th." November 6th was three weeks away at this point. Great, I just want my father's headstone. Pleas just install my father's headstone and allow us to memorialize him.
At this point I hand dealing with Phyllis over to my husband. I feel so beaten by this person and this company and I feel I have been too nice seeing as how things were so slow and dismissive towards me until I broke down and then suddenly everything was possible in not time at all. She says we need to sign a proof w en though I already did. So she sends the new proof through my husband and we notice something is wrong. We ask for a revision. One week later no revision. My husband called every day for a week and she said "don't worry, it will still be installed and delivered November 6th no matter this delay." She also starts really pushing for final payment at this point as if to say to my husband that they will not continue until they get it. He very smartly said, "if I pay you, how do I know you'll deliver." To that Phyllis said good point and they agreed that on delivery day, she would call him and get the payment that morning. Nearly two weeks later we finally get the final proof. We sign it and she again promises delivery on November 6th which is now just over a week away.
Two days ago, on November 1st 2022, Phyllis calls my husband to tell him they are only starting to work on the stone on November 6th and that it won't be there until December 6th. My husband had to come home to give me the news in person because he knew how much it would hurt. The fact of the matter is that this company took over $3,000 months over a year ago and promised me goods in twelve weeks, at most, at which time I'd pay the balance. Over a year later they keep pushing for money and I have no idea for what. They haven't even gotten the stone nor started the work. Or did they get the stone and give it to someone else. Or do they want my money to keep floating their business while they leave me completely unattended to? Maybe they used my deposit and don't have the money to get the stone? Since my father was buried, others have been buried around him that died after him. Some already sit with a headstone. We have asked to speak with Phyllis's manager but they have not obliged. read more