Mary Hanson's daughter, Britney, is buried at Ocean View. (CBC) A Saint John cemetery has come under fire from people whose loved ones are buried there.

They complain that Ocean View Memorial Gardens carries out inadequate maintenance, damages markers with equipment and throws out fresh flowers brought by visitors.

The manager of the cemetery in east Saint John says he and his staff are only following regulations and that they respond to any complaints.

But interviews with people who have dealt with the city's only for-profit cemetery reveal deep frustrations.

Mary Hanson, who lost her 13-year-old daughter, Britney, to cystic fibrosis two years ago, buried her at the cemetery on Latimore Lake Road. It's a short walk from Hanson's home to the cemetery, where she places flowers on her daughter's grave almost every week.

Last October, Hanson said, she left a large flower arrangement and a balloon to mark the first anniversary of Britney's death. A few hours later, the flowers were gone, apparently because they didn't comply with cemetery rules.

When the flowers were retrieved, they were broken and mixed with garbage, Hanson said.

Tony Buckley, who identified himself as the cemetery manager though he's listed as president in the corporate affairs registry, said large flower arrangements aren't allowed at Ocean View and all flowers are supposed to be placed in a non-fragile vase.

Sunken grave markers at Ocean View Memorial Gardens in Saint John, N.B. (CBC)But Buckley disputed Hanson's account of what happened to her flower arrangement.

"Our employees would not be putting it in the garbage that same day," he said. "They would hold onto it — unless if the flowers looked like they were dead. Then, of course, they might dispose of it."

Buckley said customers are given a copy of the regulations booklet and people who have complaints can fill out customer request forms.

Cemetery rules specify that fresh-cut flowers are allowed between May 1 and Nov. 1 as long as they are not excessive or unsightly. The rest of the year, only winter wreathes are allowed.

More concerns

Hanson said she's also had general maintenance issues with the cemetery and encountered delays in the ordering of the marker for Britney's grave.

"I didn't want this to end this way," she said. "When I buried her, I just wanted it to be nice and done. I didn't want to have to deal with this."

Hanson, who is still paying for her daughter's funeral, is not alone in her complaints. A Facebook site called OceanView Memorial Should Be Ashamed has 185 members.

Deborah Kneeland started the group after she went looking for the flowers she'd left on a friend's grave and discovered them in a dump on the property.

"I was very upset because I actually found my flowers there, fresh flowers, and I found a bunch of other flowers, wreaths … I was totally amazed," she said.

Deborah Kneeland was so upset with the cemetery that she started a Facebook group about it. (CBC)The Department of the Environment got involved and the site has since been cleaned up, but Kneeland said other problems persist, including damaged markers the cemetery refuses to fix.

"It's heartbreaking to hear that people in their time of need are being treated the way they are," she said.

One woman, Debbie Sherrard, said she was so unhappy she had her father's ashes removed.

Shawn Cawley said cemetery staff called him at the funeral home, demanding he pay upfront or his girlfriend's body wouldn't be buried the next day. Most Saint John-area cemeteries send people a bill about a week after the burial and usually give them about 30 days to pay.

"I don't believe this should ever have happened," Cawley said.

Buckley says the cemetery has always billed upfront since it opened in 1956 and that he isn't familiar with families being contacted at the funeral home and asked to pay.

Cawley also alleges that cemetery staff damaged his girlfriend's flat, bronze marker with their equipment. Cawley says he bought the marker from Ocean View, so, according to the cemetery's own rules, it's supposed to be "unconditionally guaranteed" to be "repaired or replaced at no cost to the family."

Cawley says the marker is gouged.

"They said, 'We're not sure what happened'," said Cawley. "I'm sorry, but nobody else has the right be out there with a lawnmower cutting the grass. They're refusing to even accept responsibility for it."

Buckley maintains that the guarantee is always honoured.