LOS ANGELES – Multiple people are speaking out saying a Canoga Park business, Rainbow to Heaven, is nothing but a scam.
What they're saying:
Edwin Barillas' cat died in December. He and his sister paid $550 for her to be cremated and have her ashes made into a necklace. Now three months later, none of that has happened.
“My worst fear is that this place is being extremely dishonest and that my pet, along with others' pets, may be somewhere they shouldn't be, maybe just in some trash or in a ditch or something like that,” Barillas told FOX 11.
“They kept blaming it on the necklace. They were saying that because I decided to add the necklace at the last minute, that's why they didn't have his ashes.”
He is one of nearly half a dozen people who told FOX 11 similar stories.
They say that their money is taken, and they can never reach someone at the company to talk to. Several people have waited months, some never even receiving their ashes or other remembrance items.
“I don't know where she's at, I don't know if I'll ever get her back and if I do, who is to say those are my dogs' real ashes,” pet owner Christina said.
Her pet chihuahua, Olive, died suddenly in December. After her passing, Christina reached out to Rainbow from Heaven for their services… she used them seven years ago when her dog Emily died.
She said she liked the compassion they showed by delivering Emily's ashes in a remembrance box. But almost three months after Olive's passing, she says the company has delivered nothing but heartache.
“They would come up with different excuses every single week. The first week was that they were short-staffed. The second week was that the office was being remodeled. Third week was that my dog's paw print clay model still needed to dry,” she explained.
Dig deeper:
On its website, Rainbow to Heaven advertises as a dignified pet cremation, but people say that is far from the truth.
FOX 11's Laura Diaz reached out to the company, calling four different numbers. Two of them were no longer working. One went straight to a recording, and the fourth call someone did pickup and said a guest relations person would get back to her the next day.
One of the locations in Canoga Park appears to be empty and available to rent.
The Better Business Bureau gave them an F rating on their website.
The other side:
Rainbow to Heaven has not yet issued a statement to FOX 11.
