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Wheeler Mortuary of Portales

500 E 3rd St, Portales, New Mexico, United States, 88130-6014

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Wheeler Mortuary of Portales Reviews (%countItem)

Monopoly takes a toll on customer service.
My family and I visited Wheeler Mortuary in Portales, New Mexico the morning of Friday, April 20th, 2018 due to my mother’s death. We met with the owner, Mr. Scott P. R. Of course, Mr. R extended his condolences for our loss. He asked us what we wanted to do. He did not present the services available through his business or the logistics. Mr. R does this every day, but we do not lose a family member on a daily basis to know the ins and outs of a funeral home. In a hurry, Mr. R asked us for the names of the surviving husband, and children and their spouses. He asked us every question on the form he was filling out himself, like where was my mother born, etc. We told Mr. R that we had opted for cremation. I asked if he had the facilities to perform the cremation at Wheeler’s Mortuary and what was the method. His short answers immediately indicated to us that he was annoyed by our questions. He responded that he uses Clovis, New Mexico’s facilities and by fire. I kept waiting for the “duh!” at the end of his sentences. I asked because Flame-based cremation and alkaline hydrolysis are the legal cremation processes in the US and Canada at this time. Mr. R did not explain the process. He did point at the amounts he charges for the services we had asked for. We requested that the obituary on the newspaper be withheld until the day after the viewing so that we could have a private, family viewing. He said that the obituary would state that the services had taken place on Sunday and it would be published on Tuesday or Wednesday. Pointing at the invoice sheet he asked how we wanted to take care of that and pointed to the signature line. We did not sign and told him that we needed to have a family meeting to resolve some issues. We shared with him that it may be more feasible for us just to have the services in Lubbock, TX where she had died and where they still had the body to avoid the transportation expenses and such. He tore the last carbon copy page of the invoice sheet and gave it to us saying “here is your quote.” I asked him how soon he needed to know if we decided to continue with the contract there, and he did not respond.
After our family meeting, it was decided to go ahead and continue with the services in Portales, NM at the Wheeler Mortuary. We collected the amount specified on the quote and obtained a cashier’s check. We returned to the mortuary. Mr. R did not say hello, instead, he said, “So you decided to have it here.” I explained to him that it was because some family members could not travel to Lubbock, TX. We gave him the cashier’s check and the invoice sheet. He stapled them and we signed. Mr. R wrote the receipt and handing it to us he stood up and said “here’s your receipt” with a motion indicating that we were done or at least that he was done. We asked how was this going to be done. He said “I’ll have her ready for viewing.” We asked what that meant. He said “I’ll have her ready for you to view her.” I turned to my family and said “he means that he will have her presentable for us.” He stood up again. And again, we asked “what do we bring?” He said “whatever you want her to wear, I’ll put it on her.” He continued to move toward the door. We asked by what time we should bring it. With an annoyed gesture he said that by 5pm moving toward the door. I had never been in that building before and I had never met Mr. R. He did not show us the room where the viewing would take place. He told us that he would cover her with a white veil and make her look really nice. He did not tell us at what time to come in. So, we asked the time to come to the viewing. He responded with a question: “in the morning or in the afternoon?” as if there were only two slots: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So, I asked at what time in the morning or at what time in the afternoon. Then, he said “whenever you want, that’s why I’m asking if in the morning or in the afternoon.” He had not said that we had a choice of any time in the course of the day. My patience was spent by then. I conferred with my family and decided to be there at 2pm. All this was in the hallway, because he continued to move away leading us toward the door. I left ahead of the group, I did not want to explode in the face of such an old, arrogant man.
My sisters went back in and got more information from him. One of the questions they asked him was in what viewing room will she be. Mr. R responded “I was just gonna put her in a dressing room.” But Mr. R still did not show them the room or how she was going to be presentable, nor did he explain what a dressing room is.
We arrived on Sunday afternoon as agreed. Mr. Terry welcomed us and showed us to the room where my mom was. She was on a metal roller table with a quilt over her. Even though the table was covered, we could see the table’s wheels. It was a small room with no ornaments, just wooden benches. She did not have the white blanket or veil that Mr. R had promised. Mr. Terry’s customer service skills surpassed Mr. R’ one hundred times over. Mr. Terry explained to us the steps that were to follow with patience and understanding. We were to go back on Tuesday to pick up my mother’s ashes.
We picked up her ashes on Tuesday. Mr. Terry very graciously offered to transfer the ashes to an urn once we had one. We told him that we would be back on Friday so he can help us transfer the ashes as he had offered.
We checked for her obituary on Tuesday, 4/24/18, Wednesday, 4/25/18, Thursday, 4/26/18, and Friday, 4/27/18, and did not find it. We returned on Friday as agreed with Mr. Terry. We spoke to a lady who was at one of the front desks. We told her that Mr. R had taken all the pertinent information on the surviving family members and that the obituary was to be published on Tuesday or Wednesday. She asked if we had paid for it or if it was a free one. We told her that it was included in the payment for the services received. She then said “oh, okay it’s the free one then, Scott must’ve overlooked it” with a motion dismissing any importance that it may have had. She then told us that it would run on Sunday’s paper. As a side note, it was not going to be “the free one.”
I bought the Sunday paper 4/29/18. Nothing. I checked online on Monday, 4/30/18. Nothing. I checked online on Tuesday, 5/1/18. Nothing. I checked online on Wednesday, 5/2/18. Nothing. I understand that it will never be published, and if it was to be, it will be untimely useless.
Because of Mr. Scott P. R’ deserving attitude due to his monopoly in funeral homes in Portales, New Mexico, I suggest and recommend that if your loved one dies in a city like Lubbock, TX where you can have the funeral or cremation done, have it there. It will be less costly and I am almost certain that the service will be a lot more satisfactory. On the other hand, had I wore my work clothes (suit and tie) instead of jeans, shirt, and a baseball cap, and if I had lighter skin, we would have been treated differently.

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Address: 500 E 3rd St, Portales, New Mexico, United States, 88130-6014

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+1 (575) 356-2646

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