‘He was bamboozled,’ woman claims after uncle’s body goes unburied for weeks
A Middle Tennessee woman says her uncle died more than six weeks ago, but his body is still sitting at a funeral home waiting to be cremated.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Mike Hayes was supposed to be buried next to his wife at Cumberland Furnace Cemetery. But, more than six weeks after his death, his remains aren’t there.
Hayes purchased a pre-need cremation plan from Neptune Society in Brentwood before he passed away. His intention was to make the process of burial easier on his family. However, his niece Ashley Hayes says it’s only made things worse.
“My grandmother gifted the plots to my uncle and his wife. To be here with his wife is what he wanted. It breaks my heart to not see anything here,” Ashley said. “We haven’t been able to have a funeral or visitation. I do feel like he was bamboozled.”
She says she used the word bamboozled because, before Mike’s death, he purchased a cremation plan for $2,562.68. Part of that amount included $1,342.68 for a retail merchandise — a memento chest. The average cost for a direct cremation in the United States is as low as $1,000, according to Forbes.
“His health was in pretty bad shape when someone came knocking selling this cremation package?” asked WSMV 4 News Anchor Amanda Hara.
“I think he had just found out he had cancer,” Ashley said.
Neptune Society, a company that court documents say just settled a class action lawsuit in Florida and California for alleged bait-and-switch sales practices, sold Hayes the cremation package. At the time, Ashley says her uncle was on a fixed income, couldn’t hear well, and had cancer, heart disease and diabetes. She says she believes the company took advantage of a sick person in a vulnerable position.
“He was not clearly given all the directions. He was just pointed to where to sign,” Ashley said. “Somebody being hearing impaired and just found out he has a terminal illness on top of heart disease diabetes, the cards were against him.”
Even though Hayes was fighting a deadly disease, he agreed to pay $35 a month for almost six years. He paid enough to cover the $1342.68 memento chest plus another $614 for the cremation. However, he didn’t live long enough to pay off the remaining $500 or so.
Ashley wants the money back that he did pay, so she can afford the cremation at a funeral home of her choice. In emails between Neptune Society and Ashley, an employee said it would send back $614, but more than six weeks later, that money still hadn’t arrived.
WSMV4 stopped by Neptune Society in Brentwood on May 9.
“I have a couple questions for you about a story we’re working on. Ashley Hayes...says she’s been waiting on a refund for six weeks and that she hasn’t been able to bury her uncle,” Hara said to a worker inside Neptune Society. The woman said she was not able to comment. When asked if she was aware of the situation, she said she’d refer our questions to the manager. The manager never returned our call.
WSMV 4 called back on Monday, May 13 and left another message for the manager. A spokesperson for SCI, the company that owns Neptune Society, emailed a statement on the afternoon of May 14.
“The check has been mailed to the family to in turn be paid to the provider. In the interest of good customer service, we are looking at a refund above and beyond what the family is entitled to under state law. It is our goal to provide exceptional care to the families we serve and we will communicate with the family directly. We are deeply sorry for their loss.”
Ashley says a check in the amount of $631.45 finally arrived in the mail on the evening of May 14. When WSMV 4 asked Neptune Society why it took so long and how much more of a refund Ashley might get, a spokesperson did not have a direct answer.
Ashley says the whole process has made it difficult to find closure.
“What I loved most about him was his ability to laugh at just about everything,” Ashley said. When Hara asked, “Do you think he’d be laughing about this?” Ashley said, “No, not at all. He would be furious.”
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance oversees the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, which licenses and regulates funeral directors, embalmers and funeral establishments. It reports four complaints filed against Neptune Society Brentwood since 2014. One of those complaints resulted in disciplinary action. The company paid a $250 civil penalty for failing to deposit funds with the trustee in a timely manner.
Complaints can be filed with TDCI here.
The Tennessee Attorney’s General Office says it is not investigating any complaints against the company.
The Better Business Bureau shows 22 complaints against Neptune Society Brentwood in the last year. Companies that respond to and settle complaints are given a higher rating.
The BBB gives Neptune Society Brentwood an A+ rating.
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