ComplaintsforBryan-Braker Funeral Home & Fairmont Memorial Park

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  October 26 2023 ********* informed me that she had the ********************** pay her directly and that there would be a check at the front desk in the *** of $1,643.86 at the time of the message I had more questions so I went down to speak to her but she was not available. I didn't get a response from her so I called back 2 days later she was busy they would leave a message. She calls the next day I said where are my mom's death certificates and did her ashes make it to Michigan she said certificates take up to 6 weeks sometimes and she would let me know when I could pick her up. ********** herself she said she will be in Michigan following her arrival back at Bryan Braker Funeral Home wich was more than 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I go in there to pick up my death certificates and notice errors. I told ********* when filing death certificates and brought mom's diploma with me she filed it as 12ND She knew my mom graduated. Red flag #3 the $151.43 down payment that was paid why did that have to get paid if 3rd party was excluded. Red flag #4 Michigan as of yesterday did not know where mom was. ***** after I go into Bryan Braker comes out to let me know that my mom was going in the morning mail today she took full responsibility and would get to the bottom of it for me. Alot of unnecessary stress and things being or not being delt with in a professional way is not ok. It seems to me that maybe they need to hire more staff to be there for their offered 24hr convenience Basic Funeral Services Fee. I am not ok with them taking $3,343. Out of $5,000 I don't believe they earned that $1,570.00 and I would like it returned.

  

  Business response

  11/28/2023

  We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused during the arrangement and rendering of services for the family. It is our goal to support and alleviate any additional stress for the family during this difficult time.
  Thankfully, we document all interactions with the families enabling us to respond to this concern in an efficient and timely manner. Please see all attachments for reference.
  First, to address the customers concern regarding the third-party funding: We use a 3rd party funding company to alleviate our families of the stress and hassle of filing the insurance claim. Insurances claims can take up to six months when filed by the families. All services are required to be paid in full prior to the services taking place; using a 3rd party funding company eliminates the family having to pay out of pocket while they wait for the claim to process. The third-party funding company release funds within three days allowing the families to schedule and move forward with their services without a monetary strain of paying out of pocket. A 4% fee of the claim is charged which covers the service of these funds being released in a timely manner. If there are any excess funds received from ******************* from the claim, those funds are issued to the beneficiary of the policy via a check from Bryan-Braker Funeral Home.
  October, 20, the daughter requested we use the third party funding. The daughter enlisted an uncle to pay the 4% funding fee on October 20.The entire benefit of $5000 was requested from the 3rd party funding company. At the time the assignment was submitted, the total services contracted were $3787.19. The insurance assignment was submitted October 23.
  On October 24, the daughter stated she may want to move her loved one to another funeral home that provides cremation at a lower cost.Bryan-Braker gave her a referral to another local funeral home. Ultimately, the daughter chose to stay with Bryan-Braker and remove the following item from her invoice to lower the cost: fingerprints, flag and eagle keepsake, ******* Butterfly lamp keepsake; and reduce the number of death certificates from 4 to 7. The adjustments were made resulting in the total amount due being $3343.06. Once the adjustments were made, the daughter requested we contact the third-party funding company to see what is taking so long to process the claim that was submitted the day before, and to have the changes on the invoice reflect the amount that is sent to the funeral home. The director contacted the third-party funding company and received this response via email:
  Since we funded you on this claim Monday we cannot ask for a return and issue out the correct amount. In this situation the firm normally gives the family the extra we funded. Thank you!
  The death benefit of $5000 was received on October 24 from the third -party funding company. The daughter was issued a refund check of $1656.94 on October 26 for the excess funds received.
  Second, to address the concern of our directors lack of availability and timeliness of the death certificates: The nature of this business requires directors to be out of the office or away from their desk during business hours. Any calls from the family were either followed up with an email or a phone call in a timely manner. We have documentation showing our director was in touch with the family on the following dates:
  October 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 30
  November 6, 8, 13, 14, 17 (please see attached).
  The correspondence on these days includes, but is not limited to the following:
  The loved one passed on Monday, October 15, 2023. The daughter was called on Tuesday, October 16. The authorized parties were the daughter and son. All known vital statistics were collected over the phone. The daughter did not know the correct spelling of the parents name, social security number and name and address of the final disposition. She was also going to bring the Advanced Directive. An appointment was scheduled for Wednesday, October 18. The daughter called and rescheduled the appointment for Friday, October 20.
  The correct documentation assigning all rights to the daughter was unable to be produced. The family decided to have the son sign the **** Rights to the daughter. Over a half an hour, the funeral arranger successfully assisted the son over the phone with e-signing the **** rights on October 20.
  The above stated financial arrangements took place between October 20 and October 30.
  The completed vital statistics for the death certificate was submitted to November 6. A message for the daughter was left on November 8 that the death certificates were at our office and ready to be picked up. The daughter came in on November 13 to pick up the certified death certificates. The daughter informed Bryan-Braker Funeral Home of an error on the death certificate.Bryan-Braker explained the amendment process and asked the daughter if she would like to request an amendment at that time. The daughter declined an amendment at that time. She was assured she can call us at any time if she changed her mind about the amendment.
  The daughter also had concerns regarding her loved ones cremated remains being shipped to Michigan. At the forementioned time of her inquiry regarding her loved ones cremated remains, the cremated remains were scheduled to be sent out the next morning. Bryan-Braker (*****) let the daughter know they would be shipped the next morning, and she would be provided with a tracking number as soon as the cremated remains were in the care of USPS.The daughter was sent the tracking number via email on November 14.
  On November 17, Bryan-Braker received confirmation from the cemetery in Michigan that they have received the cremated remains. The cemetery also informed Bryan-Braker there was a balance due for the burial on their side from the family. This balance was not mentioned in the previous conversations Bryan-Braker had with the cemetery. The cemetery was directed to the daughter for clarification and payment if necessary.
  Bryan-Braker Funeral Home has been serving families in our community for over 75 years, our goal is to ensure every family feels supported and taken care of during this time. We will work on increasing communication with our families. We have started the process to amend the death certificate and ordered four amended copies at no charge to the family. We hope this helps bring resolution to the family, and we apologize again for any inconvenience we may have caused.
  

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