A California woman says she felt she was overbilled more than a thousand dollars for the casket she bought online while planning her mother’s funeral.
Donnette Waters' mother died in December. She says the feeling is still as raw as if her mother died yesterday.
"She was hardworking, generous, went to church every Sunday," Waters said.
NBC Los Angeles reported she purchased a casket online from casketsite.com, which advertises "free next day nationwide delivery available" on it's website.
You can probably guess where this one's going: a bill for $1,300 for delivery.
"It was absolutely shocking," Waters said. "I thought it was a mistake."
Waters says the company's owner, Todd Bacinich, insisted she'd authorized extra charges for delivery, air tray, second delivery personnel, packaging, removal of packaging, casket key and tax and processing.
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But Waters says they told her by phone delivery was free and the document she signed had no clear indication of additional shipping charges.
"I don't want this to happen to anybody else," Waters said. "It shouldn't be going on, it's not right."
Consumer attorney Stu Talley says Waters may have a case, just like some of the other customers who've complained about similar tactics online.
"Charging somebody a shipping charge without disclosing that, I think would fall within that category of something that's false and misleading," Talley said.
Because Waters paid with a debit card, she has no recourse but to sue - and warn others not to buy from any site without checking reviews first.
"This company is really out there to take advantage of people," she said.
Waters disputed the charge on her debit card but her bank denied it.
Let that be a reminder to us all that you should always use a credit card when you shop online because by law they must refund you if you can establish charges were unauthorized. That's not the case if you use a debit card.
