Name: Pure Cremation
Address: Charlton Park Crematorium Charlton Down, Charlton Park Crematorium Charlton Down, Hampshire
Rating: 4.84

“Having used Pure Cremation three times in as many years - I feel I am well placed to make an honest comment. My last experience was no where near as good as the first. I wonder if Pure Cremation is now too big to give a truly sincere and personal service at a time when most users are vulnerable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Ms Parris, I am very sorry to hear this account and would welcome the chance to speak with you to fully understand your experience. You can reach out to me at customercare@purecremation.co.uk and I would be grateful if you could provide your loved one's name and postcode details so I can review the arrangements in detail. Yours sincerely, Mia

Posted 2 years ago

“We recently used Pure Cremation for my Father, as he did not want the formality of a church service. Pure Cremation was very dignified in my initial contact with them and swiftly assisted in filling out the appropriate paperwork to start the process rolling. I did find the misspelling of my middle name rather annoying and I had to correct this a few times. I also found the fact the selection of the urns the ashes were returned in, to not really, be the most appropriate design that suited my Father. Also, the fact from the 3 designs that were offered you were not to able select with the assurance that the design chosen was the one you would receive. The ashes did come back in the one I did select, but again I think this is a very personal part of the process, especially for the loved ones receiving the ashes. Also although we were supposed to have a designated person, overseeing the process. I found at times Julia Bryan to be not the most empathetic person and it was also like I was a formality, as at times I had to chase things and received an email detailing things I should have been told in person over the phone. I think with bereavement, every small detail needs to be right and tailored to each family's needs and wishes. Service was not bad, but could have been better!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Gemma, Thank you for your review, and for your important feedback. I would firstly like to apologise for the incorrect spelling of your middle name, this is something we will be looking into to understand what happened as it’s so important to get it right. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I am also sorry to hear that your experience was not as we would expect. I will be investigating your father’s case and the contact made with you as this does not reflect our normal processes, or the care and empathy that I know the team have for the families they look after. In relation to the urns in which loved one’s ashes are returned, we have carefully chosen the ashes container for strength and green credentials, and the image wrap used is usually selected dependant on availability at the time. I’m sorry you felt this was not the best fit for your father, every family has the option to send an alternative urn and we are happy to place the ashes in their chosen container prior to return. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions. Kindest regards, Harriet Castle

Posted 2 years ago

“Thank you for delivering my sister back to me.i was a little put out when i seen the guy pull up outside my home to remove the ashes from the side door of the van and then get into the van to place the ashes in the purcremations bag.i do think this should have been done before delivery.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, it was our honour to return your sister back home to you. Each person’s identity is checked and confirmed at numerous stages during our care, including a final verification immediately prior to the final preparation for transfer to loved ones, and placement in the soft bag that we use. We are sorry that this final check was not performed as discreetly as it could have been and apologise for any distress that this caused you, but hope that this explanation has been helpful. Kindest regards, Mia

Posted 2 years ago

“Pure Cremation do a good job overall in that they specialise in a no-fuss cremation for those who want this, so family and friends can celebrate the loved one's life in their own way. They treat the matter with respect and many staff members are friendly and kind. However, in my experience, communication was unclear and minimal, and admin messy. When you've just lost someone so close and feel vulnerable, the last thing you need is to keep chasing up people who promise time and again that they're going to call you, but fail to do so. It's really not nice. I was so patient and understanding about it but inside it hurt. Overall the experience with PC was fine, but I'd recommend some better staff training not to leave bereaved people in the lurch.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience of our care. We are disappointed to hear that our service and communication did not match up to our high standards that we usually deliver, and I offer my sincere apologies for this. Being entrusted with the care of someone's loved one is a privilege and I will speak with the staff involved about the importance of showing this in everything that we do. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“my mum passed away on the 17th dec,i paid in full two days after and organised her creamation,i was told she will be collected from the hospital the following tue and that they would contact me when they were on their way.two weeks later i was forced to ring to see if they had got her in their care and the lady said no we will be getting her on the14th jan which was nearly a month so she had been still at hospital all alone. Me and my father was very upset by this.On the sat i did not receive a phone call to say they had finally got her but again i had to ring to see what was going on.They said they did pick her up and was sorry (once again for not contacting me)i then asked when and what time she will be getting creamated on the sat,they then said once again the will contact me to let me know.ON the following tue they actually rang me and asked how it went??? i said i had no idea what the time was she was being cremated as they were supposed to contact me with the time and once again it slipped their mind....This had me feeling very dissapointed and upset as this is my beautiful mother.Im still very upset about this and it hurts.She trhen said they will be delivering her ashes to me a wk later,but im not holding my breath...:(”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Amanda, I am sorry that you feel your experience with Pure Cremation has not met your expectations. Having looked at the detailed notes that make your mother’s record, I can see that you instructed us to look after the arrangements on Friday 23rd December. Due to this being just before the Christmas period, we arranged to bring your mother into our care at the earliest possible date, taking into account that hospitals are unable to accommodate this over the weekend and bank holidays. Unfortunately, on the day we intended to bring your mother into our care, we experienced a sickness within the team meaning we were unable to bring your mother into our care on the date originally intended, but again arranged this for the soonest possible date following. I do agree that communication could have been better throughout, and that your expectations could have been managed better in relation to timescales over the festive period. I can see that we have arranged for your mother’s ashes to come back to you on Monday to ensure there are no further delays. Please do let us know if there is anything else you need at this point. Kind regards, Harriet

Posted 2 years ago

“Please i still do not know if my brother Philip Smyth 6.10.1950 ashes were delivered to my sisters friend Marcia in Kent.... I originally thought they were being delivered in August and had a message from marcia in November asking where the ashes were and she had not recieved them... So i called pure cremation and they were still there!! The lady said she would get them delivered as soon as possible and said she would call Marcia as I was in Spain and my phone did not work... So i still don't know as I have only just returned and I have not got an email to say what has hapoened.. Please let me know as soon as possible.. As there has been a family split over his death and my sister and her friend Marcia are not speaking to me thank you Mia tomline 07748971474”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mia, We would like to apologise for the delay in arranging the safe return of your brother’s ashes. This was due to the uncertainty around your instructions for his ashes, which I am glad we have been able to resolve. I can confirm that everything has taken place as planned, but we will arrange a call to make sure we can give you peace of mind and we can answer any questions you may have. Kind regards, Harriet

Posted 2 years ago

“Ken died at home. He was 86. Had several age related illnesses including heart problems when he spent 5 weeks in hospital. It was discovered. Either he was told and chose not to tell me. I do not know. He has been poorly after coming out of hospital. What I would love ke to highlight here is that since covid. There has been very little understanding of how general practitioners work. The surgery knew of his condition. When the police officers said it was ok to remove the body as there were no suspicious circumstances. You said you needed a coroners report. Fortunately events finally unfolded that made things ok. I live here in Beverley. Far from your place of work. I am 73. With a learning disabled daughter. And 13 year old granddaughter. What are your provisions for dealing with this situation should I pass away?”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mrs Stephenson, Thank you for your feedback in relation to your husband’s cremation arrangements. Where we are looking after someone who has died at home, we need to gather a certain amount of information to ensure the appropriate care of the person, as well as what we need to do to obtain the necessary legal paperwork. Having looked at the circumstances around your husbands passing from the information gathered, we were alerted to the fact there may be a need for coronial involvement. Because of this, the correct action was taken to make sure your husband was looked after as soon as possible while considering the need for the coroner to see him. I am glad that you too feel that the rest of the process unfolded smoothly after this. We have a very clear process that we follow and know that the team are equipped to confidently explain the next steps to families who use us, providing peace of mind we are taking the appropriate steps for all. Should you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind regards, Harriet

Posted 2 years ago

“My mum wanted pure cremation and it went ok, took a while to pick my mum up from hospital. Pure cremation kept me updated with phone calls etc, only thing they couldn't tell me the time my mum was cremated. It's what my mum wanted but you can't say goodbye properly really.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mr Severns, Thank you for these great comments about our team, they are truly valued. At the time of need, we always ask the chosen representative if they wish to be informed of the cremation date. However, we cannot confirm the time of the cremation as too many variants can occur and we feel this would be unfair to confirm if we cannot guarantee it. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 2 years ago

“not proffesional did not expect my mother in law to be returned in a shopping tote bag,or by a driver dressed in work trousers and t shirt,he was very pleasant,but handed me tote bag saying yvonne,sign here please,my wife went into shock,no way would l be using bag with your logo on it to go get my shopping,this needs vast improvemnet,it could be thick re cyclable paper bag with just your flower logo on,as for the urn,it is the image of the box we keep our cats treats in,with peeling off picture,we may have been unlucky,”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Peter, We are very sorry to hear these comments which do not reflect Pure Cremation policy nor the standards we expect to deliver to each bereaved family we are privileged to serve. While our staff do not wear the formal attire of traditional funeral homes, they are in a branded uniform, and we expect them to be smartly presented at all times. We do not allow our staff to wear jeans or trainers. We have carefully selected a container that is both environmentally responsible and designed to protect each set of ashes. We use stunning photo wrappers and, taken all together, we believe that our presentation is significantly better than that offered by other crematoria. We have had many positive comments from other families but we are sorry that the container did not meet your expectations. I can see that my colleague has been speaking with the applicant for your mother-in-law’s arrangements, and we have been able to provide the reassurances above. However, we will continue to follow up on the points raised to make sure we are comfortable all correct practices have been followed. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 2 years ago

“The good old age off you get what you pay for this service is for anyone who wishes to save money stress to family/friends of there loved one & scatter there loved 1s ashes in there own time. Unfortunately you don't get a guarantee off when your loved one will be cremated & the communication wasn't always good. I was informed my wife would be cremated on the Friday but in fact she was cremated on Saturday unable to supply time. Apart from this the return off ashes was very good my wife arrived back to me safely by hand delivery and in a lovely urne with a beach picture very touching. My wife had the over 50s plan for reference . I would recommend pure cremation to anyone as long as they are 100% aware off full details”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mr Wright, Thank you for your review noting your experience with Pure Cremation. I am sorry to hear that this did not meet our usual high standards, and I have had a look at the detailed notes on your wife’s record to understand what happened on this occasion. I can see that we were made aware of a discrepancy on the paperwork the coroner provided that conflicted with information we had on our records. Although you were made aware of this and the paperwork was rectified in time for the cremation date, we were then awaiting the final legal paperwork for cremation from the Medical Referee at the crematorium. The committal took place on Friday 21st October, but the cremation took place within the 72 hour period that is used at the discretion of the crematorium. I am glad to hear that the rest of the process went smoothly. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any other questions. Kind regards, Harriet

Posted 2 years ago

“Waited almost 8 weeks for my father-in-law to be collected from the hospital to be cremated, it was postponed 3 times for different reasons, was told we would be kept up to date with every step of the way which we was I can’t fault that, then to receive a phone call telling us that my father-in-law was cremated that morning which we wasn’t told about so was quite upsetting as we wanted to do something as a family on the day of his cremation to then get a phone call a while later saying that he had not been cremated and that he was still at the hospital and hadn’t yet been collected, once he had eventually been collected from the hospital it didn’t take too long for him to finally be at rest, then his ashes returned back home within a few days by a lovely lady who was very professional and so lovely”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Please accept our sincere apologies for the misinformation about your father’s cremation. Please be assured that we take the accurate recording and sharing of information extremely seriously and will raise this error with the individual responsible immediately. We understand that our colleague reached out to you directly after this error, and you have been happy with communications after this. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“Everything was going great. Had no complaints and was happy. Then things went wrong. The ashes were delayed and this was annoying. But the awful and unforgivable thing to me was the lack of trust and care my so called personal person had with me. She repeatedly stated that she would get in touch….. she didn't. She was told by other staff to contact me ………………she didn't. In fact as soon as my father died she literally turned her nose up at me and had nothing to do with me at all. I know its a lot cheaper than traditional funerals but boy do you not get the treatment as befitting the worse times of someones life. I personally at the onset was going to start a plan for me and my wife. But not now. I would not like my son to feel the way I did over weeks of being left in the dark and not knowing what was going on. Overall I give 3 out of 5 for the period up to my father dying. After that its a resounding 0 out of 5. As you can see Im not happy with my Pure Cremation experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mr Bamforth, I am sorry to hear that your experience with Pure Cremation was not up to the usual high standard that we would expect when trusted with the arrangements of a loved one. Although there was contact at key points in the process and your father’s cremation arrangements progressed as planned, communication could have been better. I note that you didn’t want to be informed of the cremation date, this is normally something that will help us set and manage expectations at these key stages. We will, however, look into why your requests for call backs were not met. I can see that your instructions for your father’s ashes were discussed on a couple of occasions before we arrange their safe return. This confirmed and took place as planned, but again acknowledge that you would have appreciated knowing a more precise time for ahead of the date. Please do not hesitate to contact us on 0800 033 7737 should you wish to discuss this further. Kind regards, Harriet Castle

Posted 2 years ago

“Initially the service was excellent I was told that my father would be looked after whilst in the care of pure cremation but as soon as his body was collected that’s when the service from Amazon was significantly better than that of pure cremation. Each time I called I was held on the phone for over an hour on speaking to the call centre they didn’t show much compassion on occasion referring to the chap who would return my dads ashes as the ashes team. We were told that our dads ashes would be returned on a certain date and that they would ring ahead that morning with an expected time. Instead they only informed us rolling another 90 mins sat on the phone and when they did arrive to my sisters home they asked her to meet them in a pubs car park and handed our dads ashes over in a bag from the back of a van stuffed full of other peoples ashes ( the ashes team I presume ) unfortunately the perception of the service on the website didn’t match the reality for us. And as for our handler as the call centre called them they spoke to me once to make sure the payment went through. We had hoped that Pure Cremation would live up to the suggestion on the tv add but unfortunately they simply lacked compassion for my family in the actual interaction with us. The after cremation service added to the stress and grief that our family was going through instead of being the respectful service we expected. I hope that these comments will help pure cremation to handle families in a more respectful manner in future. M Ridsdale.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mr Ridsdale, We are really sorry to hear of your experience. We recognise how important returning the ashes of a loved one is and that is why we have ashes delivery specialists whose sole role is to hand deliver peoples loved ones back to them. What you have described falls far short of the standards we set ourselves here at Pure. We will investigate the issues and will be in touch with you as soon as we can. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 2 years ago

“Even though the staff was helpful a say before my partner was cremated I received a phone to say it couldn’t go ahead due to a form missing. This was not a form from me it was the doctor. I was extremely upset but this should of all been checked before date was given.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Did everything that was asked of and promised...”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to review our services. Is there anything you feel we could improve on to receive a higher rating? If you have any feedback for us please send this to customercare@purecremation.co.uk. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“Feel let down had to keep ringing for updates on my husband at this difficult time said they would ring back never did then got a very nice lady called Rachel she keep me informed thank you me personally l wouldn't recommend pure cremation but my husband wanted no fuss which l respected his wishes”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Kim, Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts on our service. If you wish to discuss your experience further, please do reach out to us at customercare@purecremation.co.uk Take care, Scott

Posted 2 years ago

“Everything was good except the communications where I had to keep phoning to find out what was occurring after getting numerous voicemails with no idea when they had been left. Maybe if you could leave the date on them we would have known when they were received”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mr Hanson, Thank you for your comments. We are sorry that you were unable to identify the dates of our voicemails left via your mobile phone. We note that emails were sent to ensure you still received important information. We will review our voicemail policy to see whether we can offer more details in a message without compromising the sensitive information we may be conveying. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“The service to begin with wad outstanding. However I was promised a call the day after mums cremation but didn't hear from anyone for over a week. I was also promised a call to arrange the return of the ashes but in the end I had to chase to get them back”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Ms Platt, I agree that communication fell below the standards that we usually deliver, and I offer my sincere apologies for this. Being entrusted with the care of someone's loved one is a privilege and I will speak with the staff involved about the importance of showing this in everything that we do. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 2 years ago

“Customer service prior to the attended committal was fantastic, with the persons in attendance on the day being very professional and helpful. I was extremely disappointed and somewhat annoyed that my mothers ashes were returned (rather attempted to be returned) without prior agreement or even warning. My father who was the recipient wasn’t home and was staying with us 250 miles away. When I reported this to the Andover office it was not dealt with even though I was promised an investigation and response.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Hi Kellie I'm really sorry your experience was affected by the attempted return of your mother's ashes. When arranging this most important part of our service we should be absolutely certain we are expected and that everyone is aware and everything is in place. We will look into this tomorrow and then contact you directly. Thank you for getting in touch.

Posted 3 years ago

“The whole process up to the return of my Dad’s ashes was very good.. however how I was treated following his cremation and the arrangement to get him back to me was very distressing. My husband and I took a short holiday following Dad’s cremation and the re- homing of his pets. During said holiday I was contacted (on my mobile) by pure cremation to confirm delivery of his ashes, the next day, I had not been contacted prior to this call, other than the notification that his cremation had taken place. I explained I was out of the country and although I would be home the next day, it would be early evening, and could we reschedule as I’d not been previously notified, this was agreed. I was in the airport, awaiting return flight when I was contacted by Emma, who informed me that she would be delivering Dad’s ashes within the hour.. I explained what I’d already told Pure cremation the day before. I asked, as she informed me that Dad would go back with her and it may be a while before he was returned, I asked if I could contact her later in the day to arrange meeting as our flight was imminent. She then went on to tell me how her day was arranged, how many deliveries she had and whether I could just arrange for a neighbour to take possession! I declined and told her I would be in touch later that day… I did contact her again but she was unable to arrange to meet as she was now moving on to Carlisle. She told me the office would be in touch to rearrange. I was left with the awful feeling that I had let Dad down as I couldn’t be home when she wanted. I have made a formal complaint. I am disappointed for my Dad, as this service was his idea, as he didn’t want any fuss, I feel that he would have been angry at how he was treated. The moral of this is that you should NEVER rely on leaving an answer phone message for something so important.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Marion, We are sorry to hear of your experience around the return of your Dad’s ashes. We will investigate your complaint and get back in touch with you. Kind regards, Olivia

Posted 3 years ago

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