Elk Grove Funeral Chapel

Review: On June 12 & 13, [redacted], (owned and operated by the [redacted] family), held a viewing and a funeral for my family. We paid for the service in cash. We, as the family, were not informed when to pick up the death certificate, we had to call them. When we went to pick up the death certificate, we were also not informed that we would be getting the ashes as well. The death certificate was dated June 11 and we called to obtain the death certificate on June 25. We were waiting on that death certificate to close personal financial accounts of the deceased, and the funeral home lagged in getting the death certificate to the family. We were also not informed of where her clothes and jewelry (the clothes and jewelry that the deceased wore during the service) were going. We were not given the option to take the jewelry or the clothes- those were personal keepsakes and it was disrespectful of the funeral home to not give us an option. The $200 spray of flowers was tossed and we were also not informed or given an option as to where those flowers could/would go. The employees told the family members that the flowers were burned with the body. I wish those details would have been excluded. When I called the owner of [redacted]: [redacted], [redacted] did not apologize for any misunderstanding and blamed us for not listening carefully. He was nonchalant and rude when spoken to on the phone. He mentioned that he didn't know what his staff does when it comes to the details of a funeral. He lacked customer service skills, blamed the customer, and lacked empathy, which is surprising seeing as he runs a business that should be built on both.Desired Settlement: It is my wish that the [redacted] Elk Grove Funeral Chapel not hurt or disrespect any other [redacted] going through a similar process. Customer service is important especially in the funeral business. I would have asked for a refund of $200 (the price of the spray of flowers on the casket that were thrown away by [redacted] Elk Grove Funeral Chapel, and not by the [redacted]), but the funeral owner, [redacted] informed that he doesn't owe us anything. Unfortunate.

Business

Response:

Herberger Family Elk Grove Funeral Chapel strives to give each family the best service possible. We understand that families meet with us at a most difficult period of their lives. We offer families different options when arrangements were made.

When a cremation is the choice that a family makes, we know that Death Certificates and Cremated Remains are completed at different times. We offer the opportunity for a family to come in when they both arrive at the mortuary, so that they only have to make one trip.

It is common practice for families to want personal items placed in a casket for burial and cremation. Personal items are then buried or cremated at the conclusion of services.

A family is always informed that whatever is placed into a casket with an individual, whether for cremation or burial, will go with the casket for cremation or burial.

We cannot anticipate all the different options a family might want to utilize, but are happy to discuss any option with the family, as it crosses their mind.

Families sometimes receive an abundance of flowers during their service and do not have sufficient room to take and keep the flowers, especially when cremation is the type of disposition chose, so they may ask us to take the flowers and find a proper method of disposition for them. And we are happy to do that.

In all my 48+ years of Funeral Directing, I have never been asked to remove the clothing of a deceased after a service. So, No - it would not occur to me to ask this question of a family. I have had some strange requests in the past and have always strived to meet them.

When dealing with any family, it is hard to find one person who is the central spokesperson for that family. And when many people from the same family are making requests, it is difficult for other family members to be aware of those requests made of s.

Our company having been involved in the funeral industry for 3 generations understands the pressure a family feels when making arrangements at the time of need. Talking about death and pre-arranging services prior to the need arising can be done in a non-emotional time, and can be more thoroughly thought thru. We are open and available to discuss this with any family who wishes to prepare ahead of time. Thus removing some, but not all the emotional strain.