Headstone company delaying and refusing to complete mom's headstone due to special font, and says there is nothing they can do. What to do?

I am with Tynagh here. We are in a Pandemic. My parents have a plaque. Moms name and date of birth were already on it. Her year of birth was all that was needed. I thought it would be automatic that the year of her death would be put on. I found it wasn't. I had to inform the original place that did the plaque. They didn't have the size available so I had to wait. There was no agreement that the cost was included in the original contract so I paid 186.00 for a 1 x 3 in plaque to be screwed on to the original one. They no longer put month and year of birth and death, just the year because of identity fraud.

Just came through something similar. I'm in downstate NY and it took nearly a year from order date to installation. Here's something I learned. The engraving is not done freehand but a special stencil is used for this purpose. One of the largest companies making the stencils (I want to say 3M) retooled their facilities to produce PPE for the COVID outbreak, hence backlog in stencils and work completed. It's entirely possible that they cannot get the stencil mfgr to cut a stencil with the special typeface/font. Also, since the stonecutting is done outdoors, they can't use the instruments in the rain/bad weather. Not to mention, there seems to be a shortage of stonecutters out there. Believe me, redroseman, I've spent HOURS on the phone with the monument people and more hours researching. It may be that you'll either have to wait for engraving to get back to "normal", find another source for the engraving (if you can find one), or select another font that may possibly be compatible, but not exactly the same as the one used. In all, this totally sucks. You can consult an attorney, but I'm not sure it will help a lot.

You would save money overall to have an entirely new headstone done your way (for both parents), and you could use a different company.

Being upset and angry about a headstone will make grieving your loss harder and more painful.

Sorry for your loss.

There are a couple of things going on here.

When did you first request mom's information be added? Was this request in writing?

What was their written response? Are you getting the sense that they are simply making excuses and have no intention of doing the work? Have you paid the extra money or just agreed to it?

I can only imagine that because of COVID deaths, COVID-related restrictions on work being done in cemeteries and the general labor shortage, they might indeed need to wait until the Spring to get this done.

The real question is, do you trust them to get the work done down the road, or does it seem like they are about to fold?

I would call the director of the cemetery and see what s/he advises.

I wouldn't. It's up to you to do what you believe you must.

Well rain and snow are realities that could affect the work being done. If there’s a refusal for non weather related issues, I’d find another company to complete the work. Likely hiring a lawyer would be far more costly