Have You Had Good, Bad or Normal Uneventful Experiences With Funeral Homes for Your Loved Ones?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
I've only had an active part in funeral arrangements for two close loved ones, both were cremations, so it was simple and no complaints about the services provided. Other relative's funeral where I was not involved, appeared to go seamlessly, never heard of any problems or troubles.

Have your experiences with funeral homes been good or bad, any unusual experiences either way? We both plan on simple cremations and no formal funerals, but I plan to use a reputable funeral home if my husband passes before me, worth the extra cost for peace of mind, even though it's a simple service.
 

My experiences have been positive.

The only issues I encountered were all brought up and duly noted before the need for an actual funeral. We had some requests not to use certain funeral homes or certain clergy but other than that everything was fine. IMO a reputable funeral director is worth the money they charge to handle all of the small details and arrangements.

I prepaid my direct cremation with a funeral director that our family has used over the years and I'm confident that once he or his staff are notified of my death they will do everything without the need for any input from well meaning friends or relatives. The cost for them to collect my remains, transport them to the crematorium, order death certificates, post a notice of my death, coordinate the opening of my grave, collect my cremains, transport them to the cemetery for burial and add the final date to my stone are all included in a fee of $1,695.00. The prepaid funds are held in trust in an individual interest bearing bank account that is supervised by the state, if the funeral home goes out of business the state will assign the account to another licensed funeral home in the area and they will perform the duties at the original price. In my area I could have contracted for the same basic services for approx. $1,000.00 but I gladly paid the additional amount to be sure that I was dealing with a reputable family business instead of a national chain.
 
There's a huge cemetery up the street from me. Both my parents + my wife are buried there.

I used to "visit" with them quite often, but not much anymore. Things kinda wear off after time.

I have no guilt and I'm sure they'd understand.

All 3 funerals were handled very professionally by the employees, but it sure cost a lot! The plot, casket, cement liners, hearse, flowers,
music and on and on.

The rest of us still living have opted for cremation. Mine's already prepaid, but NOT @ THAT cemetery.
 

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The cremation company I used for my husband was excellent in price, service and follow-up. The owner arranged everything for me. There were no hard sells (he showed me his available selection of urns and didn't try to talk me into anything). He offered to make the arrangements to have the ashes put a veterans' cemetery if I wanted (I didn't). He called up a few weeks later to see if there was anything else I needed.

I have recommended him to others.
 
I worked as a licensed Embalmer/Funeral Director for three separate Funeral Homes during a eight year period, with over 800 funerals to my credit. I was a employee non owner. I would like to think that I was able to make the grieving process easier for the families that I served and that they were left with positive memories.
 
I handled the cremation of a dear friend of mine 2 years ago. We had already paid for everything. One thing I would say is to order a lot more death certificates than what you think you will need as I am still getting requests for them. They are cheaper if you order when you set up the burial or cremation to start with. He had forgotten he had set up some small policies for great grandchildren when he was younger. Both of them have contacted me as they want to cash them in for college. The birth certificates were $4.00 each and if you have to get them through the State later they are around $40-50 dollars each. I ordered 15 and have 3 left. I will keep 2 of them for myself and if anyone else needs one they can order from the State as far as I am concerned. He was a lovely, generous man and I still miss him everyday.
 
I handled a few funerals for family and a friend and I was happy with the service and compassion of the people who run the funeral homes. I feel sorry for people who choose cheaper services and actually feel guilt when the provider is less than reputable
 
My family chose this one funeral home for the funeral of 3 of my family members. We all agreed they didn't do a good job on the make up/embalming part. In fact, they did horrible jobs. I hope they don't use that fh for me.
 
I've handled two close family cremations, arraigned for the memorial services, and the cremation burials at the cemetery. All went well, and I met some very nice/wonderful people in the process.
 

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