7 questions to ask before purchasing a monument
from a funeral home.
(you DEFINITELY need to ask the first one!)
Many funeral homes now offer headstones in addition to their traditional services. While that can be a benefit, there are 7 questions you need to ask prior to making that purchase:
• “How much money have you added to the price?”
The primary reason a funeral home offers monuments to you is to make money. The majority of funeral homes will add 30% to the retailers price for this service. That 30% fee translates to over $750 on your average $2,500 monument. The funeral home will want you to make that purchase on the spot but it’s best to shop around before making that decision. If after shopping around you discover that the funeral home offers the best service with the best product for the best price, you can always go back.
• “How long will it take?”
If the company the funeral home uses to sell monuments isn’t local your wait time for your monument may be extensive. Some companies will only deliver once or twice a year to remote areas. Find out the expected delivery date and have that recorded. This may not be an issue but it’s best to know prior to making the purchase.
• “Who will do the final inscription on my monument?”
The monument company that the funeral home uses will be very happy to have the monument sale but may not be interested in the death date inscription. Why? There is no money in it. An inscription usually costs about $200 – $250 so if the monument company is coming from out of state that cost won’t hardly cover their operating costs. Ask the funeral home who will be completing the final death date and what the cost is expected to be. If the company who sold it won’t complete it or is going to charge you $500 to do so, you may want to consider finding another company.
• “Do I have to make the purchase today?”
Bott Monument recommends a family wait 1 year to make the monument purchase but, as we mentioned in question #1, the funeral home will want you to make the decision the day you make funeral arrangements. We have discovered that families that wait 1 year make far better purchases. You will have passed through every holiday, birthday and special event associated with the deceased loved one and are therefore less likely to make a hasty, emotional purchase. Your monument purchase should be a final gift that aides in the healing process, not a box you check off your funeral home ‘to-do’ list.
• “What kind of guarantee does you offer on the monument?”
You really should know that answer before you make a purchase that’s intended to last for centuries. If there is a concern with the monument and the monument company doesn’t guarantee it, will the funeral home step in and take care of it for you? If the lettering fades, will they come back and fix it or are you out of luck? It’s best to seek out a company with a 100% lifetime guarantee or you may find yourself stuck with a monument you don’t like.
•“Do I want anything unique or just cookie-cutter?”
Every funeral home will try to sell you a monument from a brochure or a book. You will be shown pages of clipart designs on standard-shaped monuments with about 3 font choices. If you want to celebrate someones life with a unique monument, the funeral home will most likely not be your choice. This is why we recommend you wait to make your purchase because you may not really know this answer for some time. It’s always best to wait if you’re unsure!
• “What’s included in the price?”
The most common method of pricing monuments the funeral home will use is the a-la-carte method. You’ll be asked to count how many letters are in your last name, how many letters are in the deceased name, how big you want the design to be (if it’s over a certain square inch, you pay more), how many letters do you want on the back, etc. This method is used so that the initial price seems reasonable and you just ‘go with it’. By the time you’re done however, your cost has skyrocketed as all the things you’ve asked for add up. Look for a company with just one price and everything included; you’ll end up saving money and eliminate a lot of unnecessary counting.
