More than a dozen customers of Wichman Monuments in Chattanooga are wondering what's happening after they've been unable to contact the longtime business for the past several weeks.
The customers have filed complaints with the BBB of Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia expressing concerns about their orders with the Brainerd Road company, said Jim Winsett, who heads the BBB here.
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"I'm unclear what's going on," he said, adding that BBB has put an alert on the company suggesting to consumers that there's an issue.
In February, BBB began to receive complaints about the 72-year-old company that makes grave markers and monuments. At this time, BBB does not advise consumers to conduct business with Wichman.
On Monday and last Friday, no one was answering the phone or the door at the business, which has a number of examples of its work outside of its 5225 Brainerd Road building.
Jerry Rich of Stevenson, Ala., said he hasn't been able to contact Wichman for about a month.
Last September, he paid $4,300 up front for a monument for his wife of 50 years who died in 2017, talking with Wichman principal Trent Wichman.
"I'd bought three from him previously and there were no problems," Rich said.
He called Wichman Monuments after Thanksgiving and Rich was promised he'd have the monument before Christmas. That didn't happen, Rich said.
In early January, he called and a receptionist said Wichman had stepped out and would call him back. Wichman never called and now no one is answering the phone, Rich said.
"I'm disappointed," he said. "Death is hard enough."
On Monday, a woman who wouldn't give her name said she stopped by the business to see if it was open because she wanted to buy a marker, as she had in the past. She said she had been by the business a few times over the last three weeks but didn't find anyone there.
Winsett said some people who have filed complaints had paid in full for their orders while others have partially paid. He urged buyers to never pay more than a third when ordering a product.
The BBB has emailed Wichman Monuments but heard no response, he said. Typically in such cases, the BBB will follow up with a certified letter, Winsett said.
Winsett said there's no notice from the business on the door or the front of building telling people why it's not open.
"It's one of those unusual circumstances," he said.
On its website, Wichman calls itself a fourth generation business, saying its staff of craftsmen have more than 100 years of combined experience.
According to the Hamilton County Assessor of Property, Trent Wichman owns the Brainerd Road site which is valued at $273,900.
News archives said the business was started by Fred Wichman Sr. and, in 1983, had grown into the largest monument company in the state and among the top 20 or 30 nationwide.
In 1979, a memorial of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prepared by Wichman Monuments, was dedicated in Selma, Ala., the starting point of a historic march to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.