My sister passed away suddenly and unexpectedly when someone ran a red light. Her passing away was not something I even considered could happen but it did and I needed to find a cemetery and purchase a plot right away. Her death happened a while back but I still think about my experience coming to this place (probably thinking about it right now because her birthday is in a couple of days) and how bad it was and I think it's time I voiced my experience.
I called and scheduled a time to talk to someone and went down there. The older man I dealt with was first and foremost like a used car salesman, but worse. It really felt like it was all about making the hard sale (which was unnecessary because we needed the plot ASAP). He kind of ran through a sales pitch and then said for us to follow him so that we could view the plots that were available.
We got into a golf cart and he started to drive and then it just got weird. He didn't stop the golf cart when we went on the cemetery viewing at any time or at any particular plot, he just drove the cart at a fairly rapid pace. He would slow the cart down - just a little bit - every so often..... point to an area.... and shout out different dollar amounts. I was a little in shock about this. It didn't seem very professional. It felt chaotic and rushed. I was in a hurry to find a plot but not like this.
What I found most offensive was that he was driving us over the the cemetery gravestone markers and plots of the people buried here, while he was pointing and shouting out dollar amounts. I felt angry and upset for the people that buried their loved ones here, as we drove over their loved ones gravestones. It felt disrespectful driving over the gravestone markers and plots to me. (we didn't have to drive over the gravestones, the cemetery has a paved pathway that we should have been driving on - I think it was just faster for the salesman that was driving). I also don't really understand why the cemetery charges so much more if you choose to purchase a plot near a tree! It felt crazy and like I was in some sort of really bad alternate universe.
Then it was back to the office where he tried to up-sell us the different burial options and get us to sign the contract. Having choices and options is one thing, being up-sold by someone you don't feel has your best interests at heart -(when you are trying to deal with the death of a loved one) - is pretty sad. By this time I was pretty much numb.
Now, I recognize that this is a business transaction and I didn't want or need this guy to hand hold or kid glove me -but seriously- a little common sense and tact goes a long way. I got out of there as fast as I could and found another cemetery that I felt more comfortable with.