Family devastated after gravestone spelling errors
Posted by AK Lander | On December 10, 2014 15:43
The gravestone featured simple spelling mistakes, such as the word ‘brother’ being spelt as ‘brohter’.
A family from Gorton, Manchester have been left upset and distraught after a new memorial gravestone for a family member was delivered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
The gravestone was purchased to help commemorate the life of Stephen Hemlin, a loving man who died from lung cancer in 2005. Following his death, his sister Carol Walker, 51, worked hard alongside Stephen’s two teenage daughters to save up the £890 required to cover the cost of the foundations and the high-quality headstone.
In an incident that would have caused unnecessary grief for the already upset relatives, the gravestone featured simple spelling mistakes, such as the word ‘brother’ being spelt as ‘brohter’ and a grammatical error in the line: ‘to dearly loved’. As if this wasn’t enough, the wrong typeface and spacing was also used.
Stone left in a shoddy condition
After Carol complained about the shoddy headstone, she was promised a brand new stone without any mistakes. Despite the promise, they received the same stone but with the spelling mistakes chipped out, resulting in a series of marks in the area. To rectify the grammatical error, the stonemason also amended the quote ‘too dearly loved to be forgotten’ without informing the family first.
Speaking in an interview, Mrs Walker said the ordeal of the headstone has left the family devastated. She added that the company had no empathy or sympathy for the situation and those affected, and that it looks as though the mistakes had been painted out rather than the new stone they were originally promised.
After receiving a full refund for both the headstone and work, Mrs Walker decided to take her money elsewhere and called upon the services of another company. Read the full story here.
With the death of a loved one understandably one of the most upsetting experiences for anyone to go through, stories such as this are sure to make it even more important to find out how to spot the signs of a reputable memorial maker before entrusting them with such an important job.
Image Credit: Melinda Fawver (Shutterstock.com)