Secretary of State Hibbit Hosemann issued the following statement.
Ripley Funeral Services, LLC, has entered into a Consent Order with the Regulation and Enforcement Division of the Secretary of State’s Office, after this entity made repeated casket substitutions in violation of the Mississippi Pre-Need Cemetery and Funeral Registration Act.
Ripley Funeral Services, LLC, is a preneed funeral establishment licensed with the Secretary of State’s Office to service and sell preneed funeral and cemetery goods and services to the public. The entity made the following unlawful casket substitutions:
· The substitution of an inferior casket at the time of death is a violation of state law, and this violation occurred nine (9) times (November 2016 – April 2018) when the entity substituted a lower quality metal casket for decedents who purchased a higher quality metal casket.
· The substitution of plastic burial containers for concrete burial containers at the time of death is a violation of state law and this violation occurred eight (8) times (August 2017 – October 2018).
· The substitution of a casket of a different color at the time of death from that of the consumer’s specific choice of color is a violation of state law and this violation occurred twenty (20) times (January 2016 – June 2018).
“In administering preneed funeral and cemetery laws, our Office ensures that consumers receive the full value of their purchases and protects those who cannot protect themselves,” stated Secretary Hosemann.
The Secretary of State’s Office conducted an examination of Ripley Funeral Services, LLC, which began in September 2018 and concluded in July 2019. To resolve the violations of state law, Ripley Funeral Services entered into a Consent Order. As part of the Consent Order, Ripley Funeral Services paid a $10,000.00 administrative fine and is required to immediately cease and desist with the substitution of funeral and cemetery goods and services that are inferior in quality or different in kind from the goods and services purchased by consumers on a preneed basis.
The Secretary of State’s Office has the power to administer and provide for the Mississippi Pre-Need Cemetery and Funeral Registration Act, Mississippi Code Annotated Sections 75-63-51 to 75-63-75. For more information, please contact the Regulation and Enforcement Division at (601) 359-9055 or visit www.sos.ms.gov.
20 comments:
Come on down to Ripley Funeral Home where the dignity and serenity will amaze you!
Their conduct is dead wrong. They stiffed a lot of people out of money.
My uncle passed away in 1976. His wife, my Aunt, went ahead and pre-paid for her funeral at the time of his. She wound up living to be 99 and passed away in 2009, some 33 years after pre-paying for her vault, casket and services. Who would have thought that the casket that she chose in 1976 was now a discontinued model?! Her brother wound up paying an extra $25 for the "next best thing". At the graveside service I noticed that the vault they had in the ground must have been made of cast iron. It was very ornate and rapping it with my knuckle it rang like a bell. I don't imagine that was inexpensive. After the grave side service everybody went there own way---before the grave was "closed". That left me with an uncomfortable feeling. Hopefully the funeral home invested her money in 1976 and made a boat load to cover the expense. Otherwise, I shudder to think what might have happened. Since that time, I've lost both parents, a sister and my Uncle that paid the $25 "upgrade" fee for his sister. In each and every funeral, I've made it a point to stick around for the closing of the grave to make sure it is done properly. At my Dad's funeral, after the closing, I gathered the crew and explained to them that my Dad was a Bridge Engineer, he made it a point to always visit his ongoing bridge projects and meet with the men that were building his bridge and shake their hands. I told the crew that I appreciated their work and shook each one of their hands, as Dad would have wanted it that way.
I hope this isn't a dumb question. How do you go about investigating those things? If the funeral home was dirty you would think they would be smart enough to cover their tracks. Whose going to dig up someone to check? It must be a paper trail where they get caught and are just not thinking someone would follow up.
I don't see mention of specific funeral homes. Ripley indicates north Mississippi, which is a wrong assumption. If they are working the Jackson market, then name the damned funeral homes.
And, as to the post at 1:27...what is the point you're trying to make. Rapping your knuckle on the vault is meaningless. So is your point about bridge inspection and speaking to the backhoe crew.
A $25 upgrade? Bull Shit....
The legal document actually lists the address of the funeral home, it's in Ripley.
May your ashes wind up in a Natty Light can left in the back corner of an abandoned rental storage unit, ass wipe.
A 10k fine for scamming the bereaved and the dead is ridiculously low! And what did the people that were screwed over get? It's Ripley Funeral Services, and you can find them in the Sec. Of State's website.
3:40 the casket suppliers keep records. Seems like the funeral home has a choice to act alone and hope no one checks suppliers records or to try to find a supplier who will be their partner in crime. I would not be surprised if the suppliers are also middle men and so someone up the food chain from them has records. Or, if the supplies actually build caskets and vaults they have to purch materials and those people have records. If you add a partner you would have to give them some of the profits, maybe 1/2, plus you add the risk of them being caught and dragging you into it. If your partner was your casket supplier why would he only do this with you? Maybe he's doing it with 20 funeral homes and you don't even know it. If one of them gets sloppy you get caught that way.
Please don’t bury me down in the cold cold ground
I’d rather have ‘em cut me up and pass me all around
-John Prine
Why is it that a business can cheat you out of thousands of dollars and they get a slap on the wrist. Cheat a business out of a couple thousand dollars and you are a felon. Double standard justice system.
Taking advantage of suffering folks during the worst moments of their lives is REALLY Skuzzy. Those laws were put in place to keep crap like this from happening. Hope they burn them as badly as possible for this.
I've prepaid for the LifeGem service. My cremated remains will be made into artificial gemstones which I have commissioned to be embedded in a dagger and ring set with Lovecraftian incantations.
Moral of story is buy a bag or pine box...preneed.
7:01- That wasn't very nice! But, I agree, it was quite nutty of you to mention walking around and thanking the backhoe crew. That's got nothing to do with the story about a scam.
You sound rather fixated either on yourself or your imagination or your belief that others care what you think after a funeral. It's bizarre that you would 'gather the crew around' to explain that your dad was a bridge engineer. They had a job to do and didn't give a rat's ass about your little speech.
This is bizarre: " I've made it a point to stick around for the closing of the grave to make sure it is done properly. At my Dad's funeral, after the closing, I gathered the crew and explained to them that my Dad was a Bridge Engineer, he made it a point to always visit his ongoing bridge projects and meet with the men that were building his bridge and shake their hands."
@1:27 pm I say good for you. The funeral industry does a valuable service. Sure it's expensive, sure it's possible to be taken advantage of. Being there to see all is done well and acknowledging the humanity of the grave-diggers is testament to your father's training you properly.
God bless you and may his soul rest in peace.
To all the scoffers: would you care to be the person that scooped little junior's brains back into his head, crafted him a grease paint forehead, wiped his bottom and dressed him so his mama and daddy could have a glimpse of him before they closed the top? Money well-earned.
Why give the guy a hard time about his experience with funerals? Each of us will have such given that we are mortals... So listen and learn. One can buy preneed legal service to handle the funeral homes breech of contract actions should they contain the language.
People, people, people. Save yourself and your family a boatload of money and opt for cremation.
Remember that little ditty from Junior high?
You better not laugh when the hearse goes by
For you might be the next to die,
They wrap you up in a big white sheet...
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out,
The worms play peanuckle 'round your snout.
There ain't no line about assembling the closure-crew to explain the life of the deceased.
But the guy who does that obviously views himself as 'above' the peons on the closing-crew. Would he have assembled all the men and women wearing suits that work for the funeral home and ask them to listen to a speech? Nope. They're not subservient to him. And they'd tell him to shut up while handing him a pamphlet regarding his own 'pre-need arrangement'.
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