Forest Lawn Memory Gardens — Local services in Savannah

Part two of two (continuation of my wife's review)

Two more phone calls came from Katrina before the actual funeral - high pressure sales pitches to buy a marker for my dad's grave. She made it sound like it HAD to be done right that minute - "the temporary marker the funeral home leaves will only be left for 30 days because it tears our lawn mowers up and if it's unmarked you will never be able to find the official grave again." She was supposed to email proofs so we could see what our choices were but didn't until I called her the following day to remind her. Her email came with only ONE choice that she'd took it upon herself to design without any input from my mother, my sister, me or anyone else who is actually related to my dad and with no indication of the cost - just instructions that it would be a $400 deposit and financed for 12 months. I asked for a total amount so that we could compare with other vendors as by this point the funeral director had advised me that there were other choices that would be more economical and easier to work with. Katrina responded with a list of reasons why we couldn't do that - only they know the acceptable specifications like thickness, dimensions, materials.... So I'm being pressured to spend $6,000 on a marker that didn't represent my dad at all within 24 hours of his funeral and told that I don't have any other options?!?!

The day of the funeral, the funeral director called to ask if the service could be moved to a shaded area (mausoleum) because the heat index was 110 and my 80 and 90 year old grandparents did not need to be in the direct sun for the length of a funeral. Katrina refused and would not make any other accommodations. Our funeral director was livid and changed everything at the last minute to conduct the service at the funeral home despite COVID-19 restrictions.

We designed and purchased a marker through another vendor the following day at half the cost of the one Katrina decided we had to have. A week later Katrina called my mother to schedule an appointment for her to come in and pay for the marker, when my mother told her it was already taken care of, she became irate and told us we had to have permission to do that and there were fees associated with bringing in another marker (which we already took care of with the company making my dad's marker) and totally upset my mom AGAIN.

If I could rate this place zero stars, or even a negative number of stars, I sure as heck would. They have made an already horrible ordeal exponentially worse. Katrina works on commission and boy can you tell THAT is true. Turning a family's grief and sorrow in to a money making opportunity and refusing to do anything to aid in their comfort or convenience is despicable. I would not recommend this cemetery to anyone and dread the day I have to deal with them again for my mother's final arrangements. Beginning and ending every conversation or correspondence with "I'm so sorry for your loss," is NOT the only responsibility of a cemetery manager. Some basic respect and attention to their basic job requirements would go a long way in making this a better experience for people...

Part one of two.

Losing a parent is difficult and trying to care for a surviving parent as they mourn the loss of their spouse is even more so. As my dad's health declined, I began preparing myself for what I expected to be a nightmare of planning and executing his final wishes. To my (pleasant) surprise, everyone was super helpful and respected our decisions above and beyond anything I could have imagined UNTIL we got to the cemetery part of the arrangements.

My grandparents purchased cemetery plots for our family in 1957 and several members of my dad's family are already there - so it's not like we had a choice in working with them. The funeral director called and made the initial arrangements according to what we'd requested. It's July in Savannah, Georgia so the heat is crazy and with COVID-19 restrictions, we asked for as early in the day as possible. We requested 10 AM but Katrina (cemetery manager) said nothing was available before 11:30 AM so we agreed to that and finalized everything with the funeral home. Two hours after we'd left to take care of other errands, Katrina called to say she'd "found paperwork that came in over the weekend that she hadn't been aware of" and as a result we couldn't have my dad's funeral until 1 PM. So, a second round of phone calls to every member of our family, changes to the obituary, etc. was necessary. It was just RIDICULOUS.

Then Katrina called again to discuss the vault. When I indicated the most economical choice for the vault, she responded "You really just want lined concrete???" As though I'd suggested burying my dad in a pothole on Abercorn Street. I was mortified and completely insulted. Above and beyond everything else my dad was the most economical man you'll ever meet and we knew he did NOT want us to spend tons of money to bury him. And even if that was not the case, how dare anyone belittle or question a family's decisions based on price - how would a daughter who couldn't afford anything more feel if she had to deal with that nonsense? It's the most uncaring and callous treatment I've ever received, especially at a time in my life when I was emotionally fragile and had more than...

Despite having a death certificate, Forest Lawn carved the date of death wrong on our grandmother's gravestone in 2022. When we went to have it corrected, they billed us an additional $985 to have it fixed. The date on the 2nd gravestone was STILL incorrect, which they fraudulently claimed we authorized/signed off on. Forest Lawn then proceeded to commit forgery and faked my mother in law's signature on the 2nd set of paperwork after we demanded proof that we signed off on the wrong date a 2nd time. After paying these criminals out $985 full via a payment plan, they overbilled us by $73. We have been calling them for over 2 months to have this overpayment reimbursed and as of 5/27/25, we still have not been paid back. The saddest part is, the date on our 104 year old grandmother's gravestone is still wrong! It has been nearly 3 years of dealing with this. At this point, I feel like the only way we will be able to put this nightmare to rest is by taking legal action. We just want the gravestone accurate. My mother in law doesn't want to sue you, but I will. Do yourselves a favor and call her back. Reimburse her the $73 overpayment (even though we should be reimbursed the full $985 because this is Forest Lawn's error to begin with) and fix the date on the gravestone. I am tired of...