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After a less than good experience with my father-in-law's funeral 02-01-2007, my mother-in-law's funeral provided additional bad experiences through the same funeral service provider.
02-01-2007, the guest book was not provided for the visitation, and a last minute "oh my" obtained a few attendees at the graveside service. The "folders" this is the announcement with your loved ones info was not generated. At the graveside services, a funeral home employee passed out -thank you- cards to the attendees.
This was so embarrassing.
When the announcements were finally received 3 weeks later, the deceased name was misspelled on every 3rd card. (how does this happen) Not realizing this misspelling until later, many family memebers received rememberances with the loved one's name misspelled.
One might think this is enough for one family, but within 10 months we must deal with another funeral and during the holidays on top of that.
After being comfortably reassured that the same mistakes would not happen as did in February we confidently proceeded with the plans...The obituary was printed in the morning addition of the newspaper on the same day of the service. (short notice to the public, not to the newspapaer). The newspaper received the obiyuary info on 12-22-07.
The casket spray chosen was red gladiolas and white mums, we arrived to view PINK CARNATIONS and two pine cones on the day of the service. The casket spray was the most upsetting experience, it was not even a near resemblance of what we paid many hundreds dollars for. All was planned around a holiday oriented spray to comfort us. WE RECEIVED PINK!in December.
Many people called with appologies for not attending the service because of the late newspaper notification.
We sincerely hope that this experiences will assist those planning a funeral. During your time of sorrow, as was ours, you expect a professional establishment to be one of trust.
You should know, based on our experiences, you need a written check list and check it twice. AND WHAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR CHECK LIST? Although you may receive all your choices in writing don't expect it to be right.
Last words, it you cherish your loved-one's last day you may have to do all the work yourself or expect disappointments and down right screw-ups from the funeral home. And their will be a price for their screw-ups.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
The employee of Dignity who posted certainly has the right to disagree with me. However it is not just one location that has experienced problems. SCI has a long history of poor service. it is not isolated. How about SCI's location where 40 to 50 veterans at an embalming centre we placed on top of each other in a garage waiting to be attended to. They were placed on top of each other on the floor with fluids leaking everywhere. That made National news. The upselling and overcharging at many others as well as some with dirty prep rooms. When embalming is not done in house but at a large facility turning out 50-60 per day you can rest assured that there is no time for attention to detail and you end up with horror stories. They up prices as soon as the purchase and once they have a lock on your city they then up the prices again. No competition is their goal. If you still have a choice in your city then take it. SCI and Dignity are sure to cost you more.
Both Dignity and Service Corp should be AVOIDED at all costs. Stay with a locally owned provider and you will receive personal care and service. the 2 big conglomerates have profit as their only goal. Poor service and corners are cut to maximize profit. When you visit a funeral home to make arrangements the first thing you should do is ask to use the washroom. See how clean it is. If they use one ply paper you can rest assured that they cut corners on all other aspects of funeral service as well. If you find one ply then just leave. They try to upsell as the Directors get a small percentage as a bonus. Local family owned will be cheaper with top service and care and two ply to be sure. Just because it has the family name on it does not mean the family is still involved. Ask and find out. Do not be shy as you are paying for this and you are spending a lot of money. Caskets especially have a very high markup of 100 to 400%. Just be careful when you choose.
Dignity and SCI are large companies with only thing in mind and that is profit. There is no care or concern as there is with a locally owned family funeral home. Family funeral homes tend to be owned by people in the community that you probably know. I totally agree with the commenter who stated - stay away from SCI and Dignity. They keep the name of the family funeral home when they purchase it so you do not know it is owned by a large conglomerate. First thing they do when they purchase is raise prices and once they control all the homes in your City or town they bump up the prices again. I know this as we sold to them and now work for them. They do not allow time to spend with families. It is in and out and charge as much as you can.
I am a Dignity Memorial employee (but cemetery and not funeral home). I can ASSURE you that the above negative experience does NOT speak to the quality of care that you will normally receive at one of our locations. It is unfair to say "stay away from Dignity", or "SCI" simply because of one funeral home's unfortunate lack of good service. I do agree that the above complaint is very legitimate, and I'm very sorry for the family that went through this. This was simply wrong! It does not, however, "define" our company and the way that we handle families. Although our locations are under one company "umbrella", each location is run independently by the manager, and therefore there may be a slight difference in how things are handled at a particular location. Specific example: handing out thank you cards at a funeral service is NOTHING that any of the locations in my area have done or would ever think of doing. Someone posting to "stay away" from Dignity may be denying families the opportunity to in fact receive excellent customer service by CARING personnel, and many, many benefits that most funeral homes and cemeteries do not offer (assistance with discounted, easy travel arrangements for family flying in to attend the funeral service, grief management library, 24-hr compassion helpline for those needing someone to talk to, and many other benefits). Please do not let the above comments keep you from trying one of Dignity's locations, because the above is not the norm, at all. When a company has as many locations as SCI, it is easy to point the finger at them and assume "they are all alike", but this is simply untrue. Families have had negative experiences with other providers as well, but those are often not shared because they are not owned by SCI. Thanks for reading!
Stay away from Dignity and Service Corp owned funeral homes. They provide terrible care and service. As they are not locally owned anymore but have retained the name they hire employees who are no longer owners and as such you do not get the dedication and care of a family owned funeral home. Their prices are higher as well. They usually farm out the embalming to a large center where the deceased is just a number - in and out. That is where you see the difference. Embalming is poorly done, makeup and dressing is not up to par. Stay with a FAMILY OWNED FUNERAL HOME. STAY AWAY FROM SCI.
This funeral home is a dignity memorial location owned by Service Corporation International. One of the provider benefits is 100% service satisfaction and you should have received refunds for those things that were not done properly. I know it's been several months but I would persue it.
I know that no amount of money can replace the bad memories but they need to feel it in the pocket book when they get it wrong so hopefully someone elses family doesn't have to go through this.
My sincere condolences to you and your family
- A funeral professional