Complaints numbering in "the low 30s" have been brought against a Chattanooga grave marker company so far with claims amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, according to the Better Business Bureau in Chattanooga.
Two complaints concerning Wichman Monuments were lodged with the Chattanooga Police Department, which has opened a fraud investigation, a spokesman said Thursday.
"The CPD will present any facts of this case to the district attorney's office once the investigation is complete," said Police Information Officer Rob Simmons.
Jim Winsett, who heads the BBB of Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia, said the complaints to the business group revolve around money given to Wichman Monuments for work that hasn't been done.
"We've seen up to $8,000 [in one case] which was already paid," he said. The least expensive report involved about $500, Winsett said.
Complaints are coming in to the BBB from within a 150-mile radius of Chattanooga, which the company's website says it covers, according to Winsett. He said he has spoken to reporters from Atlanta, Nashville and Knoxville about the company headed by Trent Wichman.
Brenda Fletcher, 66, of Chattanooga said she paid $2,200 late last year to Wichman for three headstones, including one for her late husband. Over a period of months, Wichman Monuments kept telling her the work would be done, but it never was finished, she said.
"He was acting like he was on working on them," she said. Feb. 2 was the last day she talked with the company, Fletcher said. "I want him to deliver the headstones or send a refund back. I want my money back."
She said Wichman "should be held accountable. I thought it was very heartless or cruel."
According to the Hamilton County Trustees Office, Wichman Monuments owes the county $3,074 in real property taxes and $1,685 in personalty taxes for 2017. For 2016, Wichman owes $2,680 in real property taxes, figures show.
The Hamilton County Clerk's Office said the business license for Wichman Monuments expired Jan. 15, though it's still active.
In February, the BBB began to receive complaints about the 72-year-old business located at 5225 Brainerd Road.
Winsett said the case is "very unusual" in terms of a long-time Chattanooga company suddenly having so many complaints against it.
"We're trying to cooperate with other authorities such as the police department," he said. "They're compiling a list and hearing from people we haven't heard from and vice versa."
Efforts to reach Wichman Monuments have proved unfruitful. No one is at the Brainerd Road business, which is dark.
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance said that monument companies such as Wichman are not regulated by the entity.
Kevin Walters, the department's communications director, said that consumers who might be affected by this situation can file a complaint online through its Division of Consumer Affairs at https://www.tn.gov/commerce/consumer/file-a-complaint.html.
In the past, the division had received just two complaints against Wichman Monuments - from 2004 and 2013.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.