Being mislead by stonemason?

Mee

Hi All,

I would like a view on this matter.
I contacted the stonemasons that crafted a cremation stone for my late father back in 2000s. I asked them for an estimate for retouching a few letters and adding a new inscription for my mother.
The estimate that came back was for redoing all the last inscription  (not asked for) and a new inscription plus an amount owed to the cemetery for adding another inscription.

When I checked with the cemetery what this additional fee was they explained it was the fee charged to stonemasons for working onsite.

This has made me weary of using the same stonemason as I feel mislead. 

Am I over thinking this?

Silvertabby

If you mean re-gilding the original inscription, just touching bits up will look messy.  When I added my sister's details to my parents' headstone, the stonemason strongly recommended that he should give the stone a good clean and re-gild all of the original inscription.  He was right.

Sorry, can't remember if there was a cemetery fee.

Notepad_Phil

Mee said:

Hi All,

I would like a view on this matter.
I contacted the stonemasons that crafted a cremation stone for my late father back in 2000s. I asked them for an estimate for retouching a few letters and adding a new inscription for my mother.
The estimate that came back was for redoing all the last inscription  (not asked for) and a new inscription plus an amount owed to the cemetery for adding another inscription.

When I checked with the cemetery what this additional fee was they explained it was the fee charged to stonemasons for working onsite.

This has made me weary of using the same stonemason as I feel mislead. 

Am I over thinking this?

I think you possibly are over thinking this. Surely the stonemason is going to have to go to the cemetery and do some work (not sure whether they will do the inscription there or possibly take the stone away and then come back and re-lay it), so the cemetery say they have to pay a fee to do so, so unless the fee the stomemason says they have to pay is not consistent with what the cemetery says, then I think it's just how the stonemason has termed the costs and is not them deliberately misleading you.

p.s. I wouldn't be surprised if the fee from the stonemason was slightly higher than the cemetery says to cover any admin charges.

Marcon

Mee said:

Hi All,

I would like a view on this matter.
I contacted the stonemasons that crafted a cremation stone for my late father back in 2000s. I asked them for an estimate for retouching a few letters and adding a new inscription for my mother.
The estimate that came back was for redoing all the last inscription  (not asked for) and a new inscription plus an amount owed to the cemetery for adding another inscription.

When I checked with the cemetery what this additional fee was they explained it was the fee charged to stonemasons for working onsite.

This has made me weary of using the same stonemason as I feel mislead. 

Am I over thinking this?

Why are you feeling the stonemason is misleading you? The cemetery has confirmed there is an additional fee, and that's normal practice.

If you look on the internet for a schedule of cemetery charges for the location in question, it'll be shown on the itemised list of charges. I did a quick google and sure enough, there it was for a couple I looked at - eg Gosport charges £42 for 'each inscription after the first' (fees shown would be higher where the deceased was not a local resident at the time of death):

Mee

Marcon said:

Mee said:

Hi All,

I would like a view on this matter.
I contacted the stonemasons that crafted a cremation stone for my late father back in 2000s. I asked them for an estimate for retouching a few letters and adding a new inscription for my mother.
The estimate that came back was for redoing all the last inscription  (not asked for) and a new inscription plus an amount owed to the cemetery for adding another inscription.

When I checked with the cemetery what this additional fee was they explained it was the fee charged to stonemasons for working onsite.

This has made me weary of using the same stonemason as I feel mislead. 

Am I over thinking this?

Why are you feeling the stonemason is misleading you? The cemetery has confirmed there is an additional fee, and that's normal practice.

If you look on the internet for a schedule of cemetery charges for the location in question, it'll be shown on the itemised list of charges. I did a quick google and sure enough, there it was for a couple I looked at - eg Gosport charges £42 for 'each inscription after the first' (fees shown would be higher where the deceased was not a local resident at the time of death):

I am proficient in searching the web, but in this case the cemetery concerned is managed by a charitable trust and the Council (owns the cemetery) will not comment on their charges. I have obtained a schedule of the Council's fees and checked V.A.T. charges.  The charitable trust has thus far not been forthcoming with a schedule of fees.
The Charitable Trust/Stonemason were quoting  £105 +VAT for an additional inscription after the first.