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

“Deceased collected but needed post mortem. Delayed communication between Pure Cremation and hospital resulted in later cremation but ashes returned quickly. Ceramic disc broken but immaterial.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for your comments, Mr Medlam, which have been noted. While a post mortem after we have brought someone into care is unusual our staff should be able to offer the same care and timely service - we are addressing this. I hope that the contact from Harriet and the subsequent close oversight by Rebecca were helpful in moving things forward and in reassuring you. The ceramic identity discs that we place on the coffin prior to cremation occasionally fracture, but as they represent tangible proof of the identity of the ashes we still include it within the container for the ultimate reassurance that your loved one has returned safely home. Kindest regards Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“My dad past recently and he choose Pure Cremation I however wouldnt have mase it my choice .I am disappointed in that they dont dress your loved ones but wil lay clothes on top of the body then the box the ashes are placed in is a plastic box that looks like something council gives you for your food waste for compost heap then when they return your loved ones ashes the bag as pure cremation on and the person is wearing a pure cremation shirt not dignified at all”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Maxine, I’m sorry to hear that you were unaware of the service Pure Cremation provides. As a direct cremation provider, we bring people’s loved ones into our care in Andover from all over the country, and following the cremation we arrange for the hand delivery of the ashes back to the family to allow them to arrange their final goodbye. We have carefully considered the presentation of the ashes and selected a robust, cellulose (biodegradable) container that also allows us to present the ceramic disc that we offer as tangible reassurance of identity. We include this high-quality container in our great value price and we believe that it is a considerable improvement on the traditional "sweetie jar" container or newer cardboard boxes used by other crematoria. Crematoria or funeral directors are usually happy to place ashes in any suitable container that the family purchases. Kind regards, Olivia

Posted 3 years ago

“Pure cremation give an okish experience. They’re not good, but they’re not bad. I guess you get what you pay for as they are cheap. Communication is not great, could definitely do with improving especially as they are dealing with a difficult time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Amber, Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry that you did not receive the seamless service we are known for and please be assured that we will be looking into this to understand what happened. We will be in contact to discuss this with you. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“Fine as long as you don't mind waiting! By waiting, I mean waiting for them to pick up your loved one (8.5 hrs in our case!), so we got a local undertaker to collect and Pure Cremations collected from them (only after trying to collect from us at 11.30pm at night, even though we'd told them what was happening). And by waiting, I also mean waiting for them to deliver your loved one's ashes back to you. They aim to do this within 21 days and refuse to be drawn on a date despite several requests for one. This makes planning difficult, so I would recommend paying extra for express delivery if you can afford it. Staff are friendly and try to be helpful, so I have no complaints there. But beware that the details matter when going through this process, so they may not be a good fit for you.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Mark, Sorry to hear of the issues over the arrangements for bringing your loved one into care. On the rare occasion of the arranged time of the transfer not working for a family then usually it would be us, with the family’s permission, who would arrange for a local funeral director to attend on our behalf. I’m not sure why that didn’t happen. Additionally, we aim to return ashes back to families within 21 days of the committal date and contact families to arrange that date beforehand. We will look into both issues and be back in touch. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“Overall fairly happy with the service. I do have some feedback though. When the gentlemen came to collect my father from the property, in order to get out of the door, they put my father upright. Thankfully I did not see this, nor did my immediate family, my husband saw this and commented he was glad I did not witness this. Ideally, the gentleman would have warned my husband that this was happening and ensured we were not in view of this. Secondly, when a member of the team contacted me to either tell me the cremation took place or to try to arrange delivery of the ashes, the lady was so happy and delighted to share this with me. I was quite taken aback by this positivity. A little more compassion would have been appreciated. Lastly, after informing your team not to deliver the ashes to my father's address as my mother has Alzheimer's, I was told the driver would call me an hour beforehand. I was called 30mins beforehand and my mother was on her own as my brother had not reached the property. The ashes were given to my mother (who was accepting of this I will add) and the driver said he will wait until my brother arrived, but it really was not ideal.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Clair, We are sorry to read of your issues around the transfer of your father, and the subsequent return of his ashes. We will look into the issues and be in touch with you. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“When speaking with people on the phone I couldn't fault their understanding and support to book their service. However after booking, the communication was very poor and I had to chase information. I told them on 3 occasions not to ring me as I work but to ring my mother instead which they said they would but never did. I was also told we would be informed every step of the way regarding when my father had been taken into their care, when they had the right documents etc but we weren't. I also received a phone call saying the Cremation was due to take place even though it'd already happened. I appreciate this is a cheaper option than a normal cremation but communication was poor I found at what is already a very difficult time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Zoe, Thank you for your valued feedback, we are sorry to hear that our communication with you fell short of our usual high standard. Please accept our sincere apologies and our assurance that this will be looked into so that we can prevent this in the future. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 3 years ago

“On the whole the service was good although when I phoned for advice I was informed it was documented in the pack, as a bereaved relative I had so much to sort out and to be honest I didn’t want to read the information pack I was grieving for my mum. I spoke to someone regarding the delivery of my mums ashes as I was due back to work the day I should’ve received the ashes I wanted to give an alternative address. I was informed that my Mum was already out for delivery ( which was untrue) when asked if she could contact the driver I was informed that they were all volunteers and she did not have their phone numbers , which I found odd as any company should have employees phone numbers volunteers or not. I phoned again 2 days after my mum should have been delivered to me and spoke to the manager of the crematorium who informed me that my mum was still there, I also spoke to a driver these two gentlemen were amazing and actually filled me with hope that the company does actually know what they are doing up until this point I was beginning to wonder. Paul the driver took an alternative address down for me and explained fully the process of his job, as did Steve the crematorium manager( I think) If it wasn’t for the lady who answered the phone to me that day I am sure I would still be waiting for my mum to come home. My mum thought she was doing the right thing by arranging this at times I’m not so sure”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for your frank comments. We sincerely apologise for the confusion about the return of your mother's ashes. This was the result of a well-intentioned effort to reduce the ashes return time for families by temporarily re-deploying staff from a different part of our business, and the recruitment of additional staff to handle incoming calls. Unfortunately, in a few cases, unfamiliarity with our systems and processes affected the quality of both our communication and administration. We are very sorry that you were affected. We swiftly returned to the exclusive use of our specialist personnel to manage client arrangements and we are pleased to report that our call reception team are now fully up to speed. It is good to hear how our most experienced specialists, Paul and Steve, helped ensure that Mum was brought safely home to you, which we hope has brought you comfort.

Posted 3 years ago

“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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 years ago

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

Helpful Report

Posted 3 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 3 years ago

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

Helpful Report

Posted 3 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 3 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 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 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 4 years ago

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