A Bronx-based funeral home chain accused of preying on customers for years did such shoddy work, it once presented a dead man’s body “sitting inside a plastic bag” for a viewing, the city’s consumer watchdog said.
At least 48 customers have complained about RG Ortiz Funeral Home over the past five years, including one who said their loved one smelled of decomposition and another who said their grandson’s eye “”would not stay shut, constantly opening and moving throughout the viewing,” according to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
RG Ortiz has violated city codes and owes customers an unspecified amount of restitution, the DCWP contended in papers filed against the business with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, or OATH.
The chain is also accused of refusing to tell families where the remains of their loved ones were; improperly handling bodies; misrepresenting or concealing prices and failing to provide paid-for materials and services,