Oklahoma Custom Memorials fulfills promise to woman & fully refunds her headstone deposit
An Oklahoma widow is now at peace after a monument company in Del City refunded her $1,500 deposit she paid for her husband’s headstone. She says it wouldn’t have been possible without News 4’s In Your Corner team stepping in to help.
DEL CITY, Okla. (KFOR) - An Oklahoma widow is now at peace after a monument company in Del City refunded her $1,500 deposit she paid for her husband’s headstone. She says it wouldn’t have been possible without News 4’s In Your Corner team stepping in to help.
Donna Murray says the company in question, Oklahoma Custom Memorials in Del City cut off communication with her after she ordered a headstone for her husband Mark. His plot has been sitting with nothing ever since. It wasn’t until News 4 stepped in that she got results.
“A great big thank you and my prayers are answered and I wish I could hug each and every one of you,” said Donna Murray, called News 5’s In Your Corner team for help and got results.
A $1,500 check was cleared in Donna Murray's account on Friday after Oklahoma Custom Memorials in Del City agreed to refund her husband's headstone order.
“It surprised me that I was able to get that check that day and they asked me if I wanted to wait on the headstone or if I wanted the check. And I said I'd much rather have the check,” said Murray.
Murray placed an order with Oklahoma Custom Memorials in April of 2023. It was about 11 months into Murray's contract that promised her a headstone between 14 and 18 months. But after months of trying to reach the owner and rumors of the business shutting down, Murray turned to News 4 for answers.
“All I wanted to do was call the lady to just get a heads up on what was going on. And she never would answer my calls or any of my text or emails or anything. So, it just kind of concerned me,” said Murray.
Although it took months for Murray to get a hold of the business, News 4 got ahold of the owner's son the same day we reached out. He told us he apologizes for the lack of communication and agreed to give Murray a full refund, and just a couple of hours later, he fulfilled his promise and wrote her a check for $1,500.
On Friday, the owner’s son of Oklahoma Custom Memorials told KFOR, " It's kind of got the point where it's just a tough job... Unfortunately, it's just a tough one for us, especially losing my dad to cancer in a really tragic way. And we just kind of moved on from it. So, I do apologize for the lack of response, but there has been no breach of contract. We're not trying to pull a fast one on anyone. We've been doing this for 20 years.”
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Murray says before she got these results, she had to dip into her savings to purchase a headstone from a different monument maker company. She's told it will be ready in four months.
“Now I can use that money for the balance on my other headstone that I have ordered for him,” said Murray.
Oklahoma Custom Memorial's also confirmed they’ve shut down the business, however they are fulfilling all remaining orders and will not be taking on any new business.