Name: Pure Cremation Ltd
Address: Charlton Park Crematorium Charlton Down, Charlton Park Crematorium Charlton Down, Hampshire
Rating: 4.82

“Like to take money but have ignored all my emails and gave me the wrong info and when I questioned it I was made to look stupid”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Barbara, thank you for your comments. I am very sorry that the communication delivered by the person looking after your father's arrangements fell short of the standard that we expect. Pure Cremation expects its staff to support the bereaved with prompt and courteous responses to telephone calls and emails, and to proactively provide key information about the progress of their loved one's arrangements. This is a vital part of our service because we know that this approach gives reassurance to grieving families. Please be assured that I will take this up with the individual and their manager. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“I can't say I was all that thrilled with the service. When you take out a contract like this like my father had. It does not stipulate there is no cremation in Wales. But yet on the policy reads England Scotland and Wales. Therefore think it should be explained at a bit better on application. My father passed away on 25th November 2021. And no cremation until 22nd of December. I know covid has alot to do with this. But no time given of cremation and why I rang them they said that night it had been done it was 6.50 when I rang. His name was also wrong and had to be amended. I then emailed Rebecca and was told that my father had been cremated at 20.55 that of the 22nd of December. So this was very upsetting for the family. And my last point western supermare a bit of a travel for us from Wales which unfortunately could not attend. My husband and I have both signed up for pure cremations so I hope by time we go there is a cremation place in Wales for where we live.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Karine, thank you for your comments. We try to be extremely clear in our literature and our communication that the cremation location will be chosen by Pure Cremation and that clients from England and Wales will be cared for at our crematorium near Andover. I apologise for the error my colleague made in an email to you, this did not reflect the information that we had on record from the moment your father enquired about a pre-paid plan. I will take this up with the individual team member concerned. We carefully record the exact time at which each cremation takes place and so any member of our staff should have been able to offer you accurate information, I am sorry if there was any confusion. I will look into this also. If your family would prefer a more local, attended committal in the future then this is something that we do not anticipate being able to provide in your area. We are committed to ensuring that our service meets each plan holder's needs and so I will ask a manager to speak with you about this and to discuss whether an alternative provider may be better for you. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“This is a great alternative option to the traditional funeral, however Pure Cremations still need to improve somewhat in the service they deliver. Although advertised as 24/7 we just got an answer machine until normal working hours. It took 21 days for collection from the hospital and we weren't told that the collection had happened I had to call to ask as we also had no confirmation of the cremation date which was another 5 days later. We then received a call to advise the Ash Operatives would return the ashes within 21 days maximum, again no contact after 20 days so I called for an update, no one available and I had to push for a same day call back. We were then offered the ashes back on Christmas eve, and only on complaining this was very insensitive and outside of their agreed dates did we finally get them returned on the 21st day. So in summary, this company needs to improve communication, meet their in deadlines and promises and remember this is someone's loved one not just a parcel delivery. They also need to not use my number for their sales team to call and try to sell me this product.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Sandra, Thank you for your comments. I agree that the 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. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“Unfortunately pure cremation forgot to return mums ashes to us and we had to chase them. However once chased they responded and delivered within 3 days and the delivery was very respectful so 3-4”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Marion, I am so sorry to hear that poor internal communication resulted in the promised date not being kept. We apologise sincerely for this and have immediately taken steps to prevent this very unusual situation in the future. I thank you for the positive comments about our response and the way your mother's ashes were returned and hope that having her home safely has brought you comfort. With kindest regards, Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“Very well trained staff who say the right things but I feel totally let down by never getting a call back on things I asked even when I needed notice for return of ashes let down again , just a call through out all of the process would of been appreciated…”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Jay, I have reviewed the arrangements and agree that our communication about your mother's safe arrival in our care did not meet our standards and that you should have had more notice for the return of her ashes. I apologise sincerely for this and hope that her safe return to you has brought you comfort. We recognise that good communication is vital in our support of the bereaved and I will personally examine what we need to do to maintain our usually excellent standards. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“They were very difficult to contact by phone. Three calls took on average 25 minutes to be answered. Otherwise ok.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear John, we are sorry to hear that you had difficulty getting through to our team. We have changed both our telephone system and process to ensure that every call is now answered within 40 seconds as we recognise the need to be available the moment that we are needed. Kind regards Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“In general i was fairly dissappointed I had to constantly ring up to find out was happening to my husband . You got the name of the hospital where my husband died wrong and once again I had to keep ringing to see if it had been corrected. When I rang about my husbands removal to the crematorium I was told someone would ring me back but no one did. When I rang about my husbands ashes I was told there was no slot and do you know this is being recorded by a rather indifferant member of your staff. It took me 6 phone calls over 2 days to finally get a date for the ashes to be returned. While I understand I was not the only bereaved person you had to deal with at that time I think better measures should be in place to keep families informed.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mrs Fox, I am very sorry to hear that our communication with you fell short of our usual high standards and established pattern. The team understand that this must have been distressing and so we are looking carefully at how your husband's arrangements were managed to identify why this happened and prevent it in the future. I hope that the safe return of your husband's ashes has brought some comfort. Kindest regards Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“Generally an excellent service except for a hiccup with the paperwork which caused me a few anxious days.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Mr Hancock, We are sorry to hear that you suffered any anxiety about the arrangements. I am pleased to see that the administration issue was resolved and that the team worked to ensure that we could adhere to the original cremation date that you were given. Kind regards Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“Really !!!!!! 3 days after cremation have a little respect it’s not reviewing a restaurant 😢”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Heather, Thank you for your feedback. We are very sorry for any distress caused, this was not our intention. Yours is the first negative comment we have had about our review timings, nevertheless, we will take prompt action to ensure that review requests are sent at least 7 days after the completion of our care for a loved one. Kindest regards, Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“Communication quite poor between paying for the service and only contacted about 4 days before service took place no acknowledgement of payment until I asked for it. Sentimental item was to be returned to me but was missing when ashes arrived the item has since been found and is being delivered next week but was caused a lot of upset and distress at the time”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Jo, Thank you for your comments. I can see that despite delays in the release of your loved one into our care we worked hard to maintain the original cremation date given. I am satisfied that our communication was in line with our usual process but the delay in this collection resulted in an unusually long interval between instructing us and confirmation of collection and the cremation date. I am sorry that a shortage of staff in the accounts team meant it took longer than it should have to reconcile your payment. The failure to return an item of jewellery at the same time as the ashes is extremely unusual and will be looked into by the manager. I apologise sincerely sorry for the anxiety and upset this caused. Yours sincerely, Catherine Powell.

Posted 2 years ago

“Disappointed with service. Found the constant pressure for payment just after losing a loved one too much. Some days, Beatrice would ring me twice a day and email me. Our solicitors could not understand why Pure Cremation could not send the invoice directly to the estate? This would have caused less stress and I would not be on antidepressants now because of this. We did not get the Cremation date we asked for. There was a mix up with dates and delivery dates. Pure Cremation even added unnecessary stress on delivery day. Messing me around. Changing times. I am still waiting for my love to shop vouchers to as we were recommended by a family member. Really unhappy.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Sharon, I have reviewed the detailed case notes and would like to respond as follows: Our contract and terms of business are extremely clear that while we brought your father-in-law into our care without any payment, this IS required prior to confirming the cremation date. We communicated with you about the lack of payment by telephone and email the day before the booked date in our efforts to avoid changing the date for your family. We held the original date open as long as we could but your solicitor's refusal to make payment until probate had been applied for (which could take weeks) was unreasonable. As a result, we did change the cremation date to the next available day (4 days later), giving time for alternative payment to be processed. I do acknowledge that we should not have changed the ashes return date and time originally agreed with Beatrice. This was the result of a breakdown in communication between the care team and the scheduling team and I apologise for this. On your final point, Love 2 Shop vouchers are issued when a Pure Cremation customer (either a plan buyer or someone who has arranged a cremation with us previously) makes a recommendation. When that happens we send a voucher to both parties. Please email the customer care team via info@purecremation.co.uk to provide the details of the person who recommended us and I will personally see that these reach you. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

Dear Sharon, I am delighted to hear that my colleague, Harriet, has already taken the initiative and resolved the voucher issue with you. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 2 years ago

“Can’t fault the first contact and personal side of the cremation but unfortunately the admin side not so good.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you, Susan. Please be assured that I will look into the case management to understand your comment about the administration and what lessons can be learned. Kind regards, Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“Everything went well and on the whole the family was pleased. I was just a little disappointed when I couldn’t have a time for the cremation on the day, and also no dialogue with pure cremation on the actual day. It would have been good to hear that all went well and Gordon had been treated with the upmost respect which I’m sure was the case but would have been good to hear from Pure cremation.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Linda, thank you for your comments. We try to be very clear that, just like any other crematorium, we are unable to give families a time for the cremation itself as this is simply not known in advance. Each cremation varies in duration which means that even an estimated time could be very misleading and this could undermine confidence in other aspects of our care. Two emails mentioned our inability to give a specific time, and the email sent on 12th Feb confirming the date clearly stated that the next point of contact would be to arrange the return of the ashes. If a specific follow up call had been requested we would have followed that instruction. I must point out that while a traditional funeral gives you the focal point of the time in the chapel, everything else happens at the crematorium team's discretion, without any further confirmation. We operate in a similar way. Please be assured that our whole team approach their responsibility for the care of the deceased and by extension care of the bereaved with the utmost seriousness. Gordon would have been treated with the same high levels of dignity and respect that we give to every loved-one entrusted to our care. Kind regards, Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“John and Ian were lovely but it did take a long time to get the ashes back. In NI people it normally takes 3 days. My father passed on the 21st Ja to organise a burial or cremation. My dad died on the 21st of January, he was not cremated until the 2nd of February. I didnt get the ashes back until the 19th of Febrary after chasing them on a number of occassions.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Julie, thank you for your comments. We make every effort on our website and in all communications to emphasise that a Pure Cremation is a distinctive alternative to a traditional funeral, and so we don't offer the same timescales. We aim for cremation within 14 days of instruction and the return of the ashes within 21 days of that. The record shows that we comfortably met those service commitments. With kind regards, Catherine Powell.

Posted 3 years ago

“The company is either overworked or understaffed. Each time something was needed, I seem to have been the one to initiate the contact and action, except of course for the one where the company was pushing for more money. Regrettably a friends husband died a few days before my wife, she definitely had a less troublesome time with a "direct cremation" company and it was cheaper than with Pure Cremation, surprisingly she used the Co-op.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Mr Milner, thank you for your comments. On reviewing the arrangements and communication from our team I can see that everything progressed as expected, however, I acknowledge that a call regarding the return of the ashes should ideally have happened sooner and I apologise for any distress or anxiety this caused you. Unfortunately during this pandemic, our team have handled more funerals in a month than most local funeral homes will handle in 5 years and in spite of our efforts this has had an impact on our response times. As well as putting in very long hours to progress arrangements for bereaved families we have recruited and trained 7 more customer care staff and a fourth ashes return specialist. We want every family to feel that we are focussed on their loved one's arrangements and I am sorry that we did not achieve this for you. Kind regards, Catherine Powell.

Posted 3 years ago

“I was very happy with the guys who collected Richard, despite it being 03:00 and a long drive they were respectful, told me their names and explained what would happen. Similarly, Rick, who brought Richard’s ashes back to me was lovely, chatty and personable and once he’d made contact kept me updated. The bit in the middle left me tormented. I sent a letter and photos to go in the coffin with Richard and despite requesting confirmation of their arrival and a time of cremation, I wasn’t contacted until a day later which upset me greatly. Also, waiting to hear about the return of ashes, I had to ‘chase’ for an answer and in my distressed state had convinced myself that Richard’s ashes had been sprinkled in your garden by mistake and no one wanted to tell me. Unfortunately, these 2 lacks in communication made a devastating time even more so.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Maggie, thank you for your comments and kind words. I have reviewed the matters you raise and agree that you should have received confirmation fo the arrival of the items you sent, although this information would also have been available on the Royal Mail website. We are meeting with our ashes return team to discuss the timescales within which they are expected to contact families so there is less time for any worry. As you might expect at this very challenging time for the whole country, we have been looking after an unprecedented number of families and on occasion, this has impacted our usually excellent communication. You would have received a leaflet when Richard was brought into our care that states we are unable to give cremation times in advance, but this should have been addressed again when you made your request for this information. I am sorry that you mistakenly believed that we would have done anything other than follow your instructions regarding Richard's ashes. Even where a family requests scattering in the garden of remembrance we wait 30 days in case they change their minds. I hope that having Richard back home with you now has given a measure of comfort. With kindest regards Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“Initial chat was great and easy and straightforward. However, whenever I tried to contact them to ask questions or chase things up I wasn't called or emailed back for some time. When I did manage to speak to someone they told me information which was completely different to previous stating one thing when I had a voicemail stating differently. I had to chase up every part of the service including delivery of ashes as I was not contacted despite requesting to be and being told that I would be. I felt that as soon as they had been paid they didn't care as much as they suggested they would on the initial phonecall.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for these comments. I am very sorry that you feel that you did not receive information as quickly as you wished. We do understand how important it is to communicate timely and accurate information to the bereaved and so I have looked at the detailed notes on the record. These show that transfer into our care was unfortunately delayed beyond the expected date by a couple of days because of a change of process at the hospital that we had not been made aware of. I am sure you can appreciate that some things lie outside our control. However, we kept our promise to confirm the transfer of care and the original cremation date by phone and email and did so at the earliest opportunity. The next point of contact with clients is to arrange a firm date for the return of ashes, and this return was completed ahead of our usual timescales. You might like to know that I have recently added a section to our initial letter and confirmation of cremation email templates to remind clients of our aim to deliver ashes within 21 days of the cremation - while we have always clearly communicated this verbally, we want to do all we can to avoid unnecessary distress by putting this key detail in writing. Kind regards Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“The principle of what you provide is good but the practice less so. Promised phone calls were not made and I had to interact with you and third parties far more than I believe should be necessary”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Mr Dineley, I have reviewed the detailed notes for your loved-one's record which clearly show that our team delivered exceptional service, completing the care and cremation of your loved one plus the return of the ashes within just 13 days, in spite of the enormous volume of cases in progress at this time. The usual timescale for the completion of our service is currently 5 weeks. We did have to contact you as the GP details originally supplied were incorrect, and the law requires that you register the death - is this the third party liaison you were referring to? I am more than satisfied that the level of contact with our team met your expressed wishes and the needs of the case. Kind regards Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“I mean they did well I suppose, recieving a loved ones ashes, along with 2 application forms for funeral plans and a pen literally attached to the ashes container by elastic band was in poor taste, and then to be told its a common misconception about ashes, they're actually skeleton bone fragments. All while I'm sat staring at the disc on display on the top of the box that's still covered in ash. Totally wierd experience. But I suppose they did collect and cremate and we're lovely on the phone so yeah. Wierd 3 stars from me”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I didn't purchase anything from Pure Creation. It was my mother in law who purchased a plan from Pure creamation & Paid the full sum £1595 back in march. The collection, paperwork + the delivery of her ashes were excellent. 10/10. Then I was sent an invoice for the sum of £1300 to be paid by myself! When I enquired as to why?! I was told it was a mistake + apologies were given. It was a mistake that should not of happened, causing me extra stress + worry. Admin leaves alot to be desired, although the lady who I spoke with could not of been more helpful + was a pleasure to speak to + she was very professional + put my mind at rest, even going through the questionnaire forms with me. Regards Jane Horridge.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Dear Jane, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We want every plan holder's family to have the comfort of the Pure Promise - that there is not a penny more to pay when the time comes. We are very sorry that this was not your initial experience. The whole team understands how important this is and will review how they can ensure this very unusual event is not repeated. I am pleased that you received great care and support in all other aspects of our service.

Posted 4 years ago

Pure Cremation Ltd Reviews