subject: Cemetery Theft: The Hidden Side of Funeral Planning [print this page] Why would a cemetery steal from it's customers?
I guess there could be various reasons but one to certainly consider is the profit motive and the incentives used to achieve profit. The reason companies purchase cemeteries is to make money after all. If the owner is not going to be buried there and actually lives in another state then besides money what does the owner have invested?
We can't know the motives of the cemetery owner/s so a potential customer in the funeral planning stages (or even current family members of customers) will have to look for tell-tale signs of an unprofessional cemetery that has the singular vision of profit.
A new owner may throw out incentives for their Superintendent to cut costs and if the Super lacks a moral compass/virtue or the supervision of someone who has these things then really...Sky's the limit.
If things as shocking as the Burr Oaks Cemetery Scandal can take place in broad daylight over many years then really...Things can happen on a smaller scale that may tip an alert funeral planning person as to the presence of an unprofessional cemetery that is on scandalous trajectory.
Grave Vase
I have noticed this recently...Going by new burials that have a flush mount vase with a new outer ring yet the vase itself is used. What's going on here?
What's going on in this phenomena is that we are seeing the cracks of an unprofessional cemetery. Let me explain...
The unprofessional workers who mow are upping the vase strikes that are taking place. These are the vases that are in the up position for holding water and flowers. They are going to the new vase stock and removing the vase from a new assembly to replace the vase they hit (instead of grabbing a used vase).
At some point the unprofessional superintendent will let the new vase stock ordering lapse thereby running out of new vase assemblies for the current customers. At this point (while waiting for the new vase order to come in) some unprofessional will come up with the idea of placing a used vase inside a new outer ring to give the customers a vase at burial time and so externalize their self made problem. They may even justify it by saying they will go back when the new vases come in...Problem is, they won't. And they know that the grieving families of the customer will be none the wiser.
You can keep an eye on this by going to your local cemetery and finding fresh burials (more than average flower arrangements, freshly cut sod, temporary marker etc.) to see how their flush mount vase assembly looks...Does the inner and outer ring both look new?
If they don't match then you might just have an unprofessional cemetery on your hands and newsworthy scandal may not be that far away...
Cemetery Theft: The Hidden Side of Funeral Planning
