Memorial stone rip off

letsbehonest

I have just recieved the bill from the Co-operative funeralcare for removing my fathers headstone in order to have my late mums details added (14 words) the cost £535.56) £59 Of that goes to Lewisham council for their permission to do so, what a right rip off.

dmg24

Why is it a rip off?

Melissa_x

Tell me about it, we just had a death in the family and are going to have to do the same. Make money out of the dead why don't they. As far as I was concerned, you bought that plot of land when you buried your father, so why ask their permission? Ridiculous.

dinglebert

I would imagine the charge was for them to check that what was going back in the ground was in keeping with the rules of the cemetary. Agreed seems a high charge however.

costapkt

dmg24 wrote: »

Why is it a rip off?

If you are 'A deliciously dedicated double diehard moneysaving devotee '
You should realise why it is a Rip Off.

voiceofreason

costapkt wrote: »

If you are 'A deliciously dedicated double diehard moneysaving devotee '
You should realise why it is a Rip Off.

Well I'm not.

Fancy explaining it to me?

dumb_blonde

this has just happened to my parents regarding my grandma. For the stonemason to remove the stone,add to it,and then replace,£5oo. I didnt realise some of the cost went to the council,I thought it was for transporting the stone and adding words and cleaning it.Either way i agree its a rip off.Ive now realised that not only do i not have enough money to live on,I cant afford to die either:)

dmg24

costapkt wrote: »

If you are 'A deliciously dedicated double diehard moneysaving devotee '
You should realise why it is a Rip Off.

As a long term member, I am well aware of how often the phrase rip off is used either unsuitably, or with nothing to back up the statement. In this case it is quite possible that both apply!

kazo

Cost about the same to add my mum's details to my dad's headstone recently - they do it on site though and it includes cleaning and regilding the lettering.

Ivory_Tinkler

Same thing happened to us. We ended up paying to have the stone taken away, engraved and brought back with an extra piece attached (for health and safety reasons just in case it fell over on a windy day) - the bill was £525 plus an extra £300 to dig a hole in the grave already paid for previously in order to inter ashes. The council had to dig the hole which was about a foot square as this apparently, is the rule, so yes, I agree, rip off. You end up going along with it all because you are trying to be respectful of the dead person and because you are usually grieving and don't have the energy to argue.

Maldives_lover

I agree that the stone masons fees are high, when we buried my dad in 1988 we paid £2.65 per letter...... and he died in September:rolleyes:. The Council charges are not actually that expensive considering the paperwork etc that has to be done and more importantly they do have to check the headstones have been reinstated correctly, headstones have been known to topple over and injure people and some of the injuries can be quite significant particularly where children or the elderly are involved.