Neptune Society, Marco Markin CEO Pre-Planned Cremation Contract Scam. Creative contracts that mislead the consumer. You are left stranded at the most upsetting and vulnerable time of your life! Home Offices Burbank, California Used Pompano Beach, Florida Location California

Yes, The Nationwide company is called Trident in California, but Service Corp also bought two Calif Neptune Societies: of Northern Calif and of Los Angles.

Other Neptune Societies in CA are independent, and would not share the infamous history of Service Corp in the funeral industry, for better or for worse.

First I am 63 years young and have been a successful entrepreneur and a not so successful entrepreneur in my life. The times I have been unsuccessful I fully attribute to my conscience because I did not believe in the product/service I represented. Now in (never gonna' retire) semi-retirement I am enjoying life representing a very reputable company that does exactly what they say (and print in the presentation material and contractual documents signed by the new member/s). I have been a representative for a little over 1 year and I don't really need the money especially since the commissions are minimal. I searched several outside sales positions in the Middle Tn/North Ala area and found that 90% require straight out lying to people. That practice will get you fired at Neptune. I love this company and having come from a background in healthcare where people are numbers and funeral directors "lay in wait" (to quote a member I signed who was retired after 30 years in the funeral industry "Get em' when they're cryin'") I greatly enjoy through "Preneeds" putting a wall between the loved ones left behind, and the "At needs" funeral home seeking as much monetary gain as possible.

Remember, No matter what you buy usually it is a human being trying to sell it to you. There are crooks in this world; Neptune will not tolerate them but your best defense, no matter what the product/service is, READ THE CONTRACT!

Go online and look at the ratio of ripoff reports of companies in all types of business then come back and read the ratio of pros to cons with Neptune. The above complaint in California happened because the representative allegedly said that a memorial service was included. Nowhere in any of Neptune's printed does it say "memorial service included".

Joe Horn, Nashville, Tn

When my unclue signed up for Neptune society, he asked me to attend the meeting. He passed approximately 7 months later. I get so upset when I see these one-sided complaints about companies. Neptune society did everything they promised which was to take my uncle into their care, cremate him, file all the paperwork, and return the cremains to us. Everything was very easy and it took a HUGE burned off my Aunt and the rest of the family. It was MADE VERY CLEAR to us that a memorial service was not included. This is a direct cremation company and not a funeral home. Once you have your loved ones ashes, you can have your own memorial service or lunch or church service - whatever you'd like. But don't go out there blasting a company for information that you misheard or only heard what you wanted to hear. This is a great company and I highly recommend their services. 

My first impression when I read this retraction was that it had been drafted by a lawyer. For one thing, the language does not match that of the original report. Given everything else I've read here, I have to wonder if the retraction was provided to Mrs. Pearson-Weingarten by "someone" as a condition for not suing her.

I live in Georgia, my family lived in Florida.   

The Neptune Society, Pompano Beach, Florida- has handled my maternal Grandmother, my Father in 2011, and now my Mother, who has just passed August 18, 2013. Dad and Mom had all their affairs in place over 40 years ago through Neptune Society.

There were no hidden fees, and everything including paperwork were explained over the phone before being sent in a timely manner for my final review and signature.

I am now looking into the peace of mind of having my own affairs handled by the Neptune Society so that my daughter will not have to shoulder the burden of expenses.   

Your kind and joyful memories have been tainted by the treatment you received.     

wish you had received the compasionate and patient customer service that I had.           

I just wanted to say two things to Neptune Society regarding their rebuttal to this person's carefully described situation:

1) I used your service when my father died, and having done so I can back up the original poster's description of their experience as fact (mine was very similar, down to the price tag)

2) Having your "corporate counsel" write a threatening, but ultimately meaningless, rebuttal to someone's heartfelt warning to other potential victims leaves you looking not only incompetent, but heartless and generally evil

Shame on you for every aspect of your misleading, predatory corporate ethos.

I am an employee for this company. When I first heard of their services and looked into it, I was really amazed at what the company offers to its clients. The economy is so hard on us all, our parents and grandparents want to make sure their wishes are taken care of and it is not a burden to the family. The price is amazing; we are a DIRECT CREMATION SERVICE. We do offer a transportation package, this is especially good for people who have children all over the country or happen to vacation alot; and honestly do any of us know when we are going to pass? No.. so this helps everyone.. We do not offer any Chapel facilities at all, this is transportation, cremation, and disposition of your cremains. If your family wants a visitation or memorialization that is seperate and would be an expense to the family. Some people do not want any visitation or memorial in their honor, so this is exactly what they are looking for..

Again I am sorry that someone misrepresented this to your mom and dad, but after we sit with your family we give them a copy of everything that is included. Also some children may want to be with their parents during this decision, BUT... remember it is their wishes, not what you want for them. So just listen and ask questions, but the reason our clients pre-plan is to not have the arguments with their family, we want your family to stay friends after you have passed and so many times all of us have gone to a funeral, etc, and have seen how families aren't speaking because everyone disagrees..

The complaints are about Neptune Society of California.  This is not the Nation wide company called the Neptune Society. They are two different companies.  One is Good and gives good service and the one in California is a different company.  The California company is the one the complaint's are about.  The Nationwide company is called Trident in California.  The nationwide company has it's head quarters in Plantation Florida and has nothing to do with the California company.  The nationwide company  has provided good service to me and several people I know.

On October 10, 2008, I posted an anonymous blog entry to this site.  At the time I posted the anonymous blog posting, I was upset and made accusations that I now know to be untrue and defamatory.  I now realize that I am responsible for exacerbating this situation by my decision to originally post the entry anonymously to conceal my true identity.

In my posting I erroneously provided information and/or posted a heading that wrongfully implies that Marco Markin was the current CEO of the Neptune Society and that they were running a contract scam to mislead customers.   THOSE COMMENTS AND IMPLICATIONS ARE INCORRECT AND DEFAMATORY.  

Unfortunately, despite the falsity of these comments, Ripoff Reports has a policy against the removal of any posting, even at my request.  As such I would like to issue an expressed RETRACTION and FORMAL APOLOGY for any harm or consequence this may have caused for Mr. Markin or any of his personal and/or business contacts. 

The fact is, I have no personal animosity toward Mr. Markin or his Counsel.  I now know that Mr. Markin stepped down as the company CEO three (3) years prior to my father ever entering into a contract with the Neptune Society. 

I now know the CEO at the time my father contracted with Neptune Society was Jerry Norman (who is the current CEO of Smart Cremation.)  

I realize that the Funeral Industry is a highly regulated industry and all pre-need contract service forms require approval by State Regulators.  As such, I was out of line to imply that Neptune Society was running a contract scam to mislead customers.   

While I was upset on how my mothers case was handled by the local office, I personally was never in contractual privity with the Neptune Society, thus they did not have my contact information which would have enabled them to respond to my concerns in a more timely manner. 

I would note that when notified of my familys complaints, the Neptune Society Corporate Office did respond to my Fathers concerns, by reimbursing some of his expenses.  Neptune Society Corporate further apologized for the misunderstandings and customer service issues with the personnel in the field office.   

I trust this retraction and clarification resolves any misunderstandings created by my posting.

Respectfully,

Gabrielle S. Maxner, Bessemer, AL

One year ago I was contacted by someone associated with Marco Markin, and the Neptune Society regarding this blog post. I explained at that time that my intention in writing the post was simply to relay the experience that we had with this company. I explained to that person that the story that I had written was, in fact, true, and that I had not named any persons in that post. Now, on the two year anniversary of my mothers death, I am apparently being sought out once again regarding this post.  Because of this recent contact, and the additional posts to this blog, I have been alerted to the last post made by Mr. Zavadil.

After further investigation regarding the caption at the top of the post:

The caption at the top of the post was apparently pieced together with information that I entered and believed to be true while filling out a form which would allow me to post the blog. I did not write the headline as part of my blog, and never expected Mr. Markins name to appear as part of the blog. I certainly have no malice towards Mr. Markin, and regret that he was mentioned in the blog. Before posting this blog, I searched on-line for an executive of the Neptune Society because I wanted to send a personal message to be sure that an executive knew the circumstances surrounding our experience; here is the message that I sent to an e-mail address that I found for Mr. Markin at that time:    

Dear Mr. Markin:

Is it possible that your Pompano, Florida office is poorly managed? This thought did enter my mind during our horrible ordeal this past week. If after reading my story, (which has been forwarded to numerous news agencies), you agree, perhaps steps can be taken to correct the problem.

I am not in the cremation business, however, I am a professional, and could not help but recognize the many ways our situation could have been better handled.

After you read my Mother's story, perhaps you could ask yourself these questions:

How many remains did the Pompano office pick up on Sunday, October 5th?

How difficult would it have been to have a list for the secretary of those families on Monday morning so that when the calls started coming in to verify the where-abouts of loved ones, she could have been reassuring?

How many of your customers purchased services over the last two years in the Pompano, Florida area were told that they would have a Memorial Chapel available to them?

Would it not be a moral obligation on Neptune Society's part to notify those customers of a fundamental change in the service provided when, and if a Chapel were no longer available?

Would it be possible for a Neptune Society employee to be more helpful with names and or places that would be able to provide a Chapel in the immediate area....a simple courtesy? I will attach my Mother's story in a separate e-mail.

My motive in sending the e-mail was to alert the company that their offices in Fort Lauderdale might need some direction in how they handle clients. My assumption was that an executive of the company would be concerned by what we had experienced, and hopefully make sure that it did not happen to anyone else.  As Mr. Zavadil points out, Mr. Markin was no longer the CEO of the Neptune Society at the time of my post, but it was in fact, Jerry Norman. I must say, that during my search, Mr. Normans name never appeared to me. If it had, I would have sent my personal note to Mr. Norman. Mr. Markin was the CEO of Neptune Society at one time, and in my search, that is the information that I found. My intention was never to attach any persons to my post. I actually believed, after seeing the post later, that the caption above my story was added by someone from the site. The way that information is pieced together in the caption is unfortunate, and the words are placed in an order that was not chosen by me.

Regarding the word Scam:

An inappropriate word used in a time of distress. I would also like to clarify that I did not use the word scam in the same sentence with Mr. Markins name at the time I filled out the blog forms. This blog was written five days after my mothers death, and just days after my exhausting horrible experience with the Fort Lauderdale branch of this company. A more appropriate description of the contract, and promises made by the sales person that sold this policy to my parents would probably be misleading. It is possible that my parents misunderstood, however, I dont think so given the fact that the Neptune Society saw fit to send my father a check to reimburse him for some of the additional costs he incurred in finding a chapel for my mothers memorial service at the last minute.

All this said, I am saddened that the Neptune Society feels it is necessary to pursue me and my family once again regarding this experience; one we so much want to leave behind us. I have never posted anything more regarding this experience since that day two years ago until today, and only today because I have once again been thrust into the situation. Mr. Zavadil, I am not difficult to find, I would suggest that you speak to whomever it was that called me at my place of work last year; Im sure its in a file somewhere in someones office. My father has been through more than he can bear with this situation, as we all have, and I would appreciate your not contacting him; please leave him in peace.

THE ABOVE BLOG REPORT #380094 IS INACCURATE, UNTRUE, FALSE AND DEFAMATORY. A FEDERAL DEFAMATION SUIT HAS BEEN FILED.

To Whom it May Concern: Please be advised that a 10 page , multi-count, (Cyber Libel) Defamation and Commercial Disparagement Lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, FT. LAUDERDALE DIVISION; CASE NUMBER 0:10-cv-62001-WPD styled: Marco Markin and Neptune Society, Inc. vs. Jane Doe.

   A copy of the pleadings can be obtained by making a request to the Court Clerk, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, 299 East Broward Blvd., Room 108, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301, (954) 769-5400.

In this lawsuit, the Plaintiffs are seeking (among other things) significant compensatory and punitive damages for Defamation / Defamation Per Se and Commercial Disparagement arising out of false and malicious postings that have appeared on the Ripoffreports.com website.

All Readers should be aware and take notice that THE RIGHT TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS IS NOT ABSOLUTE. THE FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT PROTECT DEFAMATORY SPEECH. We are in the process of identifying the person or persons who have made these Defamatory and false postings. In particular we will be serving a subpoena on Ripoffreports.com seeking certain documents, electronically stored information, and associated metadata.

The CEO at the time the Contract was entered into was NOT as represented in the Defamatory Posting, but was in fact, JERRY NORMAN who is currently the CEO of SMART CREMATION.

The Pre-Need Funeral Industry is a highly regulated and policed industry with copious State Laws and/or Administrative Rules and Regulations. Contrary to the false and defamatory statements in the Blog the preneed funeral service contracts used were not part of a scam or misleading. In fact, the State of Florida requires pre-approval by the State Regulatory Authorities of Preneed contracts and had in fact the contracts at issue had been pre-approved by the Regulatory Authorities for use in the State of Florida.

It is our intent to file a discovery Subpoena Duces Tecum with Ripoff Reports.Com to obtain information seeking to identify the poster of this false and defamatory blog posting. We are required to advise you that if you are a party in interest and have any objections to this case or our efforts to subpoena this information, objections must be served on Counsel for the Plaintiff at 1250 S. Pine Island Rd., Suite 500, Plantation, FL 33324 and filed with the Court by 4:30 p.m. EST, November 18, 2010. If objections are filed, and a demand is made, a hearing will be set. If no timely objections are made by that time, any errors and objections will be waived.

To those persons or companies who have made these False and Defamatory postings, I strongly encourage you to cease and desist your activities at once. Please also be advised that the Plaintiffs intend to pursue the individual(s) and or any individual or company that as aided in the making of these false and defamatory postings to the fullest extent of the law.

IF YOU WISH TO DISCUSS A MUTUALLY AGREEABLE RETRACTION AND SETTLEMENT OF THIS MATTER, SO AS TO AVOID PROTRACTED AND COSTLY LITIGATION AND LIABILITY, I STRONGLY INVITE AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO PROMPTLY CONTACT ME FORTHWITH SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS THE AMICABLE RESOLUTION OF THIS MATTER.

Thank you for your attention.

Dan Zavadil, Esq. In House Counsel to Neptune Society, Inc. 1250 S. Pine Island Rd., Suite 500 Plantation, FL 33324 Daniel.Zavadil@neptunesociety.com (954) 556-9451 Ph# (954) 828-9901 Fax#

My experience is similar to Elizabeth's story.

My husband and I purchased the pre-need package plan when we discovered he had Stage IV Lung Cancer. Unfortunately, he passed away within two months of his diagnosis. The transport service took his body away and I thought everything would be taken care of asap. Instead, it took Neptune 4 days to call me just to confirm the package that my husband bought. I received a statement 3 days later (a week after my husband passed) stating that the cremation would not proceed unless the full balance was paid (we had opted for the instalment payment). Why didn't she say this over the phone? This could have been handled over the phone without the additional delay. I call the following Monday and get transferred from office to office before I get the right person.  I was then told I should receive the remains the following week (2nd week). The week goes by and no phone call. I call the following Monday and I am told that the Doctor made a mistake with the licence number on the death certificate. So now I am told I would receive the remains by the end of the week (3rd week). The 3rd week goes by and no remains and no phone call. I call again Monday and now I am told now I have to drive about 45 minutes to their facility to collect the ashes myself or pay an additional $80/- for the urn to be sent back to me. I call the sales person, she says this is not right. She tries to deal with it internally but calls back and says they can send it by postal mail. By now, I have set the date for the scattering of the ashes and memorial ( about a month after my husband's death) and don't trust that they will reach me in time, considering the past history. The sales person then offers to personally collect and deliver it to me 4 weekends after Neptune took possession of the body. All throughout this, the attitude of every single person I speak to at Neptune, except for the sales person is cold, uncaring and even rude. I advise everyone considering purchasing anything from Neptune Society to research and look for a local funeral home that will handle cremations. It will probably cost 3 times less than what Neptune charges. Just make sure to ask what is included or not in the package. No one who has just lost a loved one needs to go through the additional hassle of tracking down their loved one's body, chasing Neptune Society, arguing about what  was purchased or not and least of all the cold and heartless attitude.

In 2002, my mother-in-law and her sister (both lived with us) contracted with the Neptune Society (located in Palm Harbor, FL) to transport their deceased bodies, cremate them, and return the ashes to us.

My mother-in-law died on 1/16/04 and her sister died on 5/28/04. In each case, after 1 phone call to the number we were told to call at the time of their death, the Neptune Society did exactly as their contracts said they would do. They also advised us that we could pay a news service to publish our composed obituaries or they would, for no charge, publish a death notice in our local newspaper.

Based upon our experiences, I am glad that my wife and I also contracted with Neptune Society to handle our cremation. The salesperson made no promises of a "Chapel" and we requested none. The sales person made it clear that we should make all other arrangements for services if we so desired and, that if we so wished, the Neptune Society would "spread our ashes on the Sea" at no charge to us.

I also went to the site "Examiner.com" and read the report titled "Neptune Society To Face Charges" . In the report, a Commission of the Colorado State Government was considering charges that the Neptune Society in Colorado was trying to create a scam whereby they would not have to place 75% of their contracted accounts in "Trust" and could, instead, keep and use 100% of the accounts (I think they said 100%) money.

That indicates to me the normal "hype" that the Media puts on blah stories just to get readers interest. I am sorry that "Elizabeth" had all of the unfortunate circumstances in the case of her mother's death, and I think much of that was due to an insincere salesman who was ready to do anything to sell a contract so that they could make a living.

If it sounds too good to be true.... it may not be totally the same as it sounds. Check with Ripoff Report, local Better Business Agencies, or other sources before you believe everything you hear.