Wichman Monuments pledges to settle disputes
Wichman Monuments plans to try to resolve disputes with customers who say the company took their money without filling their orders.
The Better Business Bureau in Chattanooga has received 66 complaints from people who say they paid Wichman for monuments they have yet to receive.
One Alabama man, who paid $4,300 up front last September for a monument for his wife of 50 years who died in 2017, said Friday he’s “highly interested” in a refund.
“I’d like to see it resolved,” said Jerry Rich of Stevenson, Ala.
An attorney for the business, which shut down earlier this month, said another company will obtain most of the assets of Chattanooga-based Wichman and has agreed to accept assignment of each of the incomplete customer contracts.
A&R Holdings LLC will contact area monument manufacturers to discuss arrangements for the completion of as many customer orders as possible and plans to refund contract prices to those customers whose orders cannot be completed, said attorney Terrance Jones of the Presley Law Firm.
“As I’ve heard from Wichman Monument customers over the past two weeks, I’ve heard and understand that the primary complaint is uncertainty,” Jones said in a statement. “They just don’t know what is going to happen next regarding the burial markers for their loved ones.”
He said Wichman President Trent Wichman hopes that A&R Holdings will provide more stability about those orders and some comfort to the customers.
Jones said the owners of A&R Holdings LLC have asked to remain anonymous at this time and will have Presley Law Firm continue to work to resolve the customer accounts. The new business was granted its business license Monday as a limited liability company and Buddy Presley is listed as the registered agent, according to filings with the Tennessee Secretary of State.
A&R Holdings hopes to complete the resolution of all customer accounts within six months, he said.
Jim Winsett, who heads the BBB of Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia, said he’d like to think that there will be a resolution to the complaints that have been forwarded on to the attorney for Wichman.
He said the execution by A&R Holdings to resolve the issues with the Wichman customers is what’s important.
But Winsett questioned the motivation of A&R Holdings, noting it’s not a charitable organization.
“What are they trying to do?” he asked. “Is their intent to give back to their community?”
In February, the BBB began to receive the complaints about Wichman Monuments, a 72-year-old Chattanooga grave marker business in Brainerd. The business had suddenly closed and left scores of customers without their orders.
The Chattanooga Police Department later said it had opened a fraud investigation after a pair of complaints.
Earlier this month, the company announced the business had shut down permanently.
The 8,369-square-foot building that housed Wichman Monuments at 5225 Brainerd Road was built in 1947 and is owned by Trent Wichman, according to the Hamilton County Assessor’s Office.