Oct 18, 2018 2 min read

The Washington County district attorney’s office approved two private criminal complaints against a North Franklin Township monument company, alleging deceptive business practices.

The charges were filed Wednesday against Moreland Burial Vault Co., 485 Park Ave., at the office of District Judge Ethan Ward.

Darlene Galloway of Claysville and Karen S. Clark of Donegal Township filed the complaints against the company after they allegedly paid for markers at West Alexander Cemetery in Donegal.

Galloway, in court documents filed at Ward’s office, indicated she paid $185 to the company May 31, 2017, to have her parents’ tombstone cleaned and her mother’s date of death added to the marker. Galloway said she was told the work would be done in the second week of December, but it has not been done.

Galloway claims she has made several calls to the company. She said she was later told by a company representative the work would be completed in June, but again it was not.

Galloway filed a complaint against the company with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB reportedly told her the company failed to respond to the complaint. Moreland is not accredited by the BBB, which has given it an F rating, according to the company’s profile on the BBB website. There have been several complaints filed against the monument company, the bureau indicated.

Clark said in court documents that in February 2015, she paid $781 for a gravestone for her mother and another $172 for a foundation. She said she has been trying without success since January to get the marker placed. She said the foundation had been installed at the cemetery.

A message left Wednesday afternoon on an answering machine at the company’s office, seeking comment on the charges, was not immediately returned.

The charges were sent by summons Wednesday from Ward’s office. Preliminary hearings on the charges are scheduled for Nov. 19.