GREENSBORO, N.C. — Christina Price will never forget the day. November 19, 2021 is when her life was altered forever.
“I received a call from his grandfather saying there’d been an accident at home,” Price said.
Her 16-year-old son Jacob was dead.
His grandparents heard a gunshot.
The circumstances around the shooting are unclear.
After getting the call Price raced to the house.
“Honestly I don’t remember what happened after that,” Price said.
The next few days and weeks were a blur for Price. She had just lost her only son and was now having to plan a funeral and a burial.
“It was the hardest thing I ever went through,” Price said.
After the funeral, Price decided she wanted to purchase a nice headstone for her son’s burial plot.
Price picked out the headstone and was told she had a year to pay it off. Once it was paid in full the cemetery would order the headstone.
“I had it paid off in eight months,” Price said.
A few months after she made the final payment, Price called to check on the status of the headstone.
“They tell me it was ordered then (three months later) December comes and now they tell me it had not been ordered,” Price said.
The delay and mix-up were understandably upsetting but Price was assured by the lady she spoke with the headstone would be ordered right away.
“She sent me an email (and she) sent me a voicemail stating it has been ordered,” Price said.
Again, she waited about three to four months before again calling on the status of the headstone.
“She (a different lady) was like hold on, I’ll call you back and then hung up on me,” Price said.
Price was later told by someone else the headstone had still not been ordered. A few days later Price contacted WFMY News 2 for help.
“When I found out they lied to me, I just let you guys handle it, I did not want to speak with them after that,” Price said.
We immediately contacted the corporate office and explained the situation. A representative told us the company would investigate the situation and get back to us.
“The cemetery is there to help families in times of need, (to) make the process easier, for me it was heartache every time,” Price said.
A representative from the corporate office reached out to us a few days later and acknowledged a mistake was made. The company agreed to give Price a full refund and after a few more conversations also sent her a check for $1,000 because of the delays and issues that happened.
“I’m glad I reached out to (WFMY News 2).” Price said.
The cemetery's corporate office sent us a statement that stated: “We are truly sorry that the Price family experienced these interruptions in our service to them. We are making corrections in our processes to prevent this from happening again.”
Earlier this week was the 2-year anniversary of Jacob’s passing. Price has ordered a new headstone from the manufacturer and hopes to have it delivered in the next few months.
“I would like to say thank you, (you) helped me in a time of need,” Price said.
With Thanksgiving just the other day, Price is indeed thankful during this holiday season for getting 16 magical years with a son she will always love.