We heard rumors Monday that Batesville was informing employees that it was shutting down it’s burial vault operations. At 6:45pm we received an official statement from Batesville that confirmed they were shutting down burial vault operations effective immediately.
They used yesterday to inform employees, sales people and current vault customers. Tuesday morning they will be holding an in house meeting to answer employee questions.
In a side note, all burial vault information has been removed from Batesville’s website: http://www.batesville.com/what-we-do/vaults
Official Statement from Batesville:
March 18, 2013 – Batesville confirmed today that the company is suspending its burial vault operations. Batesville’s innovative Endura® burial vault was introduced in early 2011, and was complemented by the Engevity® burial vault and a grave liner in 2012. Batesville marketed its products to licensed funeral homes in limited regions of the US and Canada under a self-service model and as a full service offering in a few test regions.
“Over the past 2 years, Endura and Engevity have proven to be an asset to many funeral homes who appreciated the quality and durability of the unique material, the family-friendly features and overall value of this innovative product,” said Jason Burlage, Batesville vice president.
Burlage explains that this was a difficult business decision based on an extensive analysis of the market demand for these products in relation to other areas of the company’s portfolio.
“Batesville is committed to making the right investments that will directly benefit our customers, the families they serve and that will move our industry forward,” said Burlage. “Innovation is, and will remain a key driver in the development of product and service offerings, but we must also ensure that we are allocating our resources where they can deliver the most impact.”
The company has implemented a transition plan to ensure that all burial vault customers are notified of the change and have the information and support they need in the coming weeks and months. Customers who have questions should contact their local Batesville representative.
Well, after all those units surfacing out of the burial ground, what should you expect?
This “surfacing” issue has previously been discussed ad nauseum. The truth is that vaults can “surface” for many reasons, and not all of those can be attributed to the vault itself. The best commentary on these units is fom those with personal experience, not those who may simply be regurgitating information obtained second hand. In my personal experience, these units provided a substantial improvement in design and substance over the other poly units available. At the conclusion of graveside services using other poly outer burial containers, I have yet to see a family impressed by a unit that closes with “cable ties” In fact, I am quite relieved when I can turn any questions about the poly unit over to the cemetery staff that sold it. Competition in any market is one of the best motivators for improvement and value and the removal of this product from the market will not help in improving the design and value of the other units still around.
Burial vaults are a ridicules scam!