Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/17/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 5/10/22 I issued a check to Designs in the amount of $200 for the engraving of my late husband's date of death onto a previously purchased gravestone. I have contacted them NUMEROUS times about getting it engraved, only to have to leave messages for a return call. For the most part I received return calls with empty promises. I was offered a refund or I could wait. Being a local business I chose to wait. But after 15 months of no action on 6/6/23 I found another company to engrave the stone. I called Designs and told them to cancel my order and refund my money. Since 6/6/23 there have again been multiple calls to them, asking where the refund is, with empty promises. it is a shame what these owners are doing to this company. Our community it small and word of mouth is going to spread fast to avoid them at all costs.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/22/2023

  As the owner, I take full responsibility for the lack of clear communication with *********************** and I am deeply regretful that she did not receive satisfactory service from our company. Upon full review of this incident and our records, I can verify that it is correct that she ordered a final date completion on May 10, 2022. It is also true that she requested a refund in June of 2023. That refund was processed by our accounting department and was issued in full on July 13, 2023. 
  
  While I do not wish to offer any excuses for the poor communication, I can offer a full explanation for the delay in the services being rendered: We have long utilized two professional engravers to complete our onsite engraving as it is a very specialized and unforgiving task with zero room for error. As they say, once it is in stone, it is in stone. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2022 one of our engravers was injured and unable to return to the trade. This left us with a very long back log of uncompleted final date completion orders dating from late  2021 through the spring of 2022. This in turn pushed our lead time up to a year, and in some cases in excess of a year for our remaining engraver. While our lead time is now improving, it is still a ways from our 3-4 month targeted time frame of completion. 
  
  I realize that this does nothing to alleviate any frustration on behalf of the ********* family and I am deeply sorry that this was not fully explained to them prior to placing the initial order or along the way. Moving forward, our staff will take clear and concise steps to ensure time-frames for onsite engraving orders are clearly communicated prior to our company accepting the order for engraving. While this will not aid in speeding up the process, it will at least offer the customer the option of making a well informed decision as whether to not to utilize our onsite engraving services prior to paying for them.    
  
  Respectfully,
  *************************;
  Monuments By Design

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/01/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************