Complaint Review: Batesville Casket Company - Batesville Indiana

I am a current emplyee of Batesville Casket Co. I am a welder for said co. There is an extensive inspection and testing process to insure the air tight seal of our caskets rarely one can make i through undetected with a small leak, u can however contact the company and they should replace it ,i know that once it too late ,..its too late but Casket Co. prides itself in providing the absolute top quality to their customers i know this because i am there 8hours a day 5 days a week and the quality control is unrivaled by and other company ive been involved with....

Being a funeral professional, I can attest that Batesville produces the finest casket available on the market. I have used a monoseal casket on every one of my own family members. The gasketed caskets do what they say they do, they "impede" the entrance of outside elements. I personally never tout the warranty's to families I served unless they specifically asked. During my years of funeral service, I have supervised dozens of disinterments. Whenever it was a Batesville casket they honored the warranty whether the casket gasket failed or not. I have never seen one fail. The reasons for failure are vast as well. When one does fail, it usually is not the fault of the manufacturer. All it takes is a scratch in the finish (paint) to expose the bare metal, which will rust if there is no cathodic protection. This happens quite often at cemeteries, or while transporting the casket through the narrow doorways of many churches As others have stated, one can not blame the casket company for natural decomposition. There are just too many other factors involved. This is why the FTC has gotten involved and developed the Funeral Rule, which every funeral director must abide by. And how come Batesville has taken all of the heat? Practically every casket company produces a "sealer" casket. Shouldn't all of them be sued then? If Batesville's are the only caskets that are resulting in anerobic bacteria making "the remains a smelly, foul, disgusting stew" (your quote, not mine) then I guess their claims of what the gasketed caskets do, which is remian airtight, are true. This would mean that all the other casket companies claims of their gasketed caskets are false. Maybe the wrong company is being sued. Unfortunately, there are no practical, affordable means of preserving the remaind indefinately. If your loved ones casket did leak, I imagine it was replaced at no cost to you by Batesville.

What, your loved one decomposed? Happens to the best of us. You wanted a sealed casket, you got one. Anerobic bacteria had an enhanced environment in which to do their job. Metal caskets rust out if exposed to moisture. Wooden caskets? Organic material, same as their contents, and wood gets soggy if it's wet. Is that Batesville's fault? No. Is it yours for choosing the sealed casket? No again. Is it the fault of the embalmer? No, embalming is meant to delay the start of serious decomposition in order to make a the remains presentable for viewing, not to stop it altogether. Guarantees are for the survivors. The provider who arranged the funeral for my grandfather assured my grandmother and my uncle that the vault they were required to purchase had a 20 year guarantee against leaks. My uncle asked if they planned to dig it up to check. That's probably an old joke for providers, but it makes sense in a sick fashion. Most of the time these highly touted guarantees go underground and thus become moot. I'm so sorry you discovered this about your loved one, but it's not so much a rip-off as an unfortunate development which was only notice because of the placement in an above ground crypt.

In Batesville's Defense, I am a funeral director and have been to many different casket companies in many different states, I have seen first hand the time and care that goes into the manufacturing of a casket,every once in a while some products may be defective but ask yourself question, "WHAT COMPANY DOESNT?" One of the things that batesville prides itself on is the fact that they are the number one chosen casket for funeral service professionals, even funeral directors who do not sell batesville caskets to the familes they serve! In fact i have also been witness to several disinturments, some of those were batesville and some were not, those that were held up much better than those that were not. And with much respect to anyone who honestly thinks a casket is what preserves their loved one is sadly mistaken! there are very many factors that contribute to the NATURAL PROCESS of decomposition. I do ask that consumers not hold one of americas largest casket manufactures for one mans complaint, if you ask many in my profession they are and always be the best!

It is in a mausolium and it was/is leaking.

It is in a mausolium and it was/is leaking.

It is in a mausolium and it was/is leaking.

It is in a mausolium and it was/is leaking.

When my grandmother passed last year,I was told that to completely protect her remains with any casket was to have her buried in the casket then have the casket put in a vault. I know some states actually require them by law, including mine. If you had a written guarentee about this casket and it did not meet those conditions,I would be upset though. How did you find out the casket was defective though, after the burial? Just wondering, April