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

“Not a good service received and not what we were sold or on their website . My dad passed away on 1st January and was not collected by pure cremation from the hospital until 23rd January . Not much communication and they kept saying it was because of paperwork then finally they admitted that they were short staffed . Not informed until 26th the cremation was definitely taking place 28th and that was only because I rang them , more happened but to much to go into. The only positive we have is when the ashes were hand delivered by a lovely lady who spent time talking to us showing us care and compassion”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with feedback regarding your experience. Although I can see that you were contacted by a manager who addressed your concerns raised at the time, we would like to arrange for a senior manager to speak with you to ensure you are satisfied with the outcomes provided. They will be in touch shortly. Thank you also for your kind words about the member of staff entrusted with bringing your father’s ashes home to you, we will ensure this is passed on. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 1 year ago

“Communication wasn't great as I kept having to phone to get updates. The urn needs rethinking as what's the point in having a nice picture on, if one side is going to be covered with a label?! Plus actually opening the urn is sooooooo difficult! Even my strapping husband had a problem!!! So no, we won't be using Pure Cremation again or recommending to anyone.. =0(”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Thank you very much for writing this review, and for bringing your experience to our attention. We are very concerned to learn of your experience. A member of our management team will reach out to you shortly to gain a better understanding of the situation and conduct a thorough investigation with utmost urgency. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“From Day one of contacting Pure Cremation the Fun & games began.....Telling them that I only wanted to be contacted AFTER 3.30pm due to the fact that I work and didn't want my conversation overheard by Nosey work Colleagues.....So what do they do phone me at 2pm.....No notes taken obiviously.....Next trying to contact them.....Absolute nightmare....Listening to the press options whilst on hold for eternity....Next the Delivery of my mothers ashes....The bloke who delivered them might as well work for Amazon and be delivering my new iPad....”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Thank you very much for taking the time to write your review, and we are concerned to learn of your experience. We would be grateful to have a better understanding of the situation, and our Head of Customer Care will be contacting you directly. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“Took 23 days to correct an error in their phone system making it impossible for them to phone me in Holland. Took a week to reply to an outstanding question by email, only responding after a reminder. Dont, feel this problem was taken seriously until after I had my phone checked by my provider. Their response to my complaint did not deal with the fact that their phone system did not include the country code for Holland, saying that they corrected the issue as soon as it became apparent (23 days after the fact). Besides this big issue that brought me a lot of stress, service was fine.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

Thank you very much for taking the time to write your recent review. We are concerned to learn of your experience, and grateful to you for bringing it to our attention. Our Head of Customer Care has now made contact with you directly. In the meantime, we are pleased to note that you consider our service was positive, however it would appear that there were some technical difficulties regarding communication due to your overseas location, for which we sincerely apologise for. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 2 years ago

“Other than the consideration of 1 member of staff at a very sad time I found the entire service provided by your company clinical and lacking in companion. I would not recommend your services to any friends or loved ones.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Following your feedback, I can see that a member of the team has been in contact with you to address you concerns and this has now been dealt with to your satisfaction. We are extremely proud of our team who are caring, compassionate, and professional, and the positive impact they have on families we look after. If we are made aware of any occasion where we may have fallen below this standard, we are keen to review and learn from this. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need anything at all at this point. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 3 years ago

“Not knowing what my father wanted other than saying "pure cremation". Sadlyy dad passed before we could sort it together. I rang pure cremation who said "yes we can sort that" I paid for 12 family members to be there. I found that I had to keep ringing to chase them as they were slow coming back to me on things. Arriving on funeral day, it was a lovely but very small room 12ft x12ft maybe. Dads coffin was very 😬 made of unvarnished pine ( all like this as its a no fuss funeral) no service provider so if you are happy to sit for 30 mins and reflect or do your own chat then its good. I found because I was the one talking I didnt get time to reflect . Had to chase for return of Dads ashes. You get what you pay for.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for your feedback about our service. As a direct cremation provider, we are also able to provide the option of a limited-service at our beautiful crematorium in Andover. We have created our Oak Room to allow a small number of people to gather and reflect on the life of that person and say a final goodbye, if that is what they wish to do. For families who prefer something closer to their home, we have partnered with a national crematorium company to provide a similar limited service. This is not a traditional funeral service though. I’m sorry that the attended options and inherent restrictions weren’t explained properly to you as they should have been. The coffins we use are solid pine and are imported from Europe. Although very simple in finish they are of excellent quality. We don’t see the need to offer different styles or types of coffin, unlike more traditional funeral directors. It’s clear that we haven’t met our normal standards in terms of how we communicate and also how well we explain the options chosen. We will investigate and a manager will be in touch with you next week with our findings. Kind regards, Olivia

Posted 3 years ago

“The first time I used Pure Cremation I was so pleased. Communication was prompt and my father's ashes were delivered at a convenient time and in a respectful manner. The ashes were packaged in a lovely purple box. Four years later I used the company for a second time. This time I felt disappointed that I had to chase to find out what the next steps would be. For example, the date of the cremation and delivery of the ashes, and whether it would be possible to have an evening delivery. I had to request this a few times and chase for confirmation the day before which was upsetting as I felt there was little respect or empathy shown by the customer service team. When my mother's ashes were handed over at my front gate the operative said, "ooh can you get the box out I need to scan the label again, I have forgotten how to do this" it felt like an Amazon delivery. There was nothing personal about the experience and no condolences were given. The new box looks like a box of fertiliser.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

We’re sorry to hear of your experience around your mothers funeral. This does not represent the normal high level of service that we provide at Pure. We’ll look into the issues raised and will be in touch next week. Kind regards, David

Posted 3 years ago

“The initial process is straightforward and upon notification of my mother's death (she died at 1.20pm) she was collected from the care home some 12 hours later and a direct cremation was carried out 15 days later. A designated Pure Cremation employee kept me updated up to the finalised cremation. There was no notification on the day of cremation and so I telephoned to obtain this information. My mother's ashes were returned to me 22 days later by a man dressed in casual trousers and an open necked shirt with rolled up sleeves and driving a van. The ashes container is plastic, rectangular with a groove in the lid and accompanied by a cremation certificate. I was handed the ashes over my rear garden wall in a cotton 'Pure' tote bag. (Even Amazon deliveries knock on our front door with parcels.) The total cost was £1,290, payable in full (without a prepaid plan) within 48 hours of death notification. Obviously we shall transfer the ashes to a more appropriate urn. I certainly hope that my mother's cremation was conducted in a more dignified manner than the experience of receiving her ashes.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for sharing your feedback we’re pleased that you felt that throughout the process we kept in touch with you. Feedback is really important to us and we’re sorry that our service didn’t appear to meet some of your expectations. We would normally contact a family the day after the committal to confirm that everything has taken place as expected, not on the day itself. If you had asked to be contacted on the day we should have done that. We would normally return ashes within 21 days so we will investigate why there was a delay of a day. At Pure we believe that our colleagues wear a less formal and more practical uniform very different from traditional funeral directors. The handing back of people's loved ones is one of the most important parts of our service. I’m sorry you feel that this was done inappropriately. We will, of course, have a senior manager look into this further. Kind regards, Olivia

Posted 3 years ago

“Initial contact on the 24 hour phone line not manned adequately. My first two attempts kept on hold for a long period of time. It felt as if I was phoning a utility company. It wouldn't have so bad if they offered a ring back service but they don't. Delays in collecting deceased Very very poor communication with regular updates of each stage of the process. The only aspect which the service was up to standard was on the day the Ashes were returned to me. Very polite member of staff. I would not use this company or recommend this company in the future.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

We do have a small permanently staffed call centre open 24 hours a day so we are able to meet the needs of our families 365 days a year. As such we have a call back facility so if in times of high demand we miss a call, we are then able to ring that person back at the earliest opportunity. We are really sorry to hear of your experience. The service you have received has not met our usual high standards. We will arrange for a manager to call you to discuss your personal experience. Kind regards, Olivia

Posted 3 years ago

“The communication was poor. One person said there way no green slip left a message by voicemail my loved one was due to be collected so I was panicking rang them straight back and they apologise and said they have it. Was miss communication 2 weeks went by and I had Hurd nothing about ashes being delivered so I called them for them to apologise to me again and say they are due to be delivered the next day they said someone should have called but no one ever. Did finally got the ashes back”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Please accept our condolences for your loss, and we are sorry to learn of your experience. This has been passed onto our Management team, they will investigate and a manager will be in touch tomorrow. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 3 years ago

“My initial contact with Pure Cremation seemed promising, the staff were very respectful and kind to speak to. However I felt there was a huge lack of communication in terms of letting me know how the process of getting my Dad cremated was going. I constantly had to be the one to phone and chase up/try to hurry along the process. I was hardly ever called back when I was told I would be given an update. When I called I would be on hold for quite a while listening to the most depressing funeral march type hold music. When I'd get through, although the staff where kind and trying to be helpful I was often told they couldn't not help with letting me know how things were going/answer my questions as my assigned 'case worker' would need to, but she was always busy or not at work/on holiday. I'd have to call multiple time to get a call back from her, this process really took its toll on me as I'd have to be taking these calls whilst at work in a office full of people or whilst caring for my young children when its hard enough to answer the phone let alone talk about sensitive issues. Right to the last minute I felt communication lacked, my final contact after asking if the Ashes could be delivered to my Auntie was an email to say it was 'probably ok'. Again I had to call the following day to confirm this, its not like its a box of chocolates being delivered so I felt a more definite answer was needed. I never got any contact to confirm the delivery had happened, but obviously by this point I could contact my Auntie to ask her. I think most my stress was caused by it not being made clear just how long the process would take and how long between cremation happening and the hand delivery was. It was all delayed a bit as my Dad was with a coroner but the whole process still took far longer than I had expected after that, and it wasn't until late on in the process I thought I better check how long until ashes get delivered after cremation. I had naively thought a couple of days but thought I'd better double check (we wanted to plan a family ashes ceremony) after searching the pure cremation website I found out it was much longer, up to 21 days. In the end I paid the extra £150 to have them delivered within 7 days, but even that might not have happened in time if I hadn't contacted them after my Dads cremation date (I rang 7 days before we had booked the ceremony), again I had been told I would be called to organise this in plenty of time but no-one rang me. I had thought I was coping with my Fathers sudden death relatively well but I must say dealing with Pure Cremation the last month, especially the last 3 weeks once the coroner was finished have really taken their toll on me and I would never recommend Pure Cremation to anyone else. To their credit the staff were kind and respectful when I did speak to them and I don't doubt my Dad was treated respectfully but I think the office must be under staffed or the structure needs to change so its not so dependant on one assigned person (who was then on holiday/catching up from being on holiday) right when I really needed good communication. Plus please change your on hold music, I can't imagine anything you could pick that would be less depressing to sit listening to nearly every day multiple times as I tried to contact you. The one thing I hope you take on board most is PLEASE tell people the 21 day delivery timescale from the start, and mention it multiple times after...I was in shock the first time I contacted you so I think this needs to be made clear multiple times, it was the main reason it all became so stressful and time critical for me.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Please accept our condolences for your loss and our apologies for this account. We have passed your comments onto our Senior Management Team and someone will reach out to you tomorrow. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 3 years ago

“Although initially I thought the service received was good, I later found I had cause to complain and, when I did, I didn't even receive an acknowledgement of my complaint, let alone a response!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Sir/Madam, We cannot see any details of a complaint relating to this record. Could you please contact us directly at customercare@purecremation.co.uk or on 0800 033 7737 Monday to Friday 08:00 - 18:00, Saturday 09:00 - 17:00 so we can clarify the detail and investigate your complaint fully? Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“When my husband passed away I thought pure Cremation would be there to help! After I informed them of the death of my husband I felt reassured things would run smoothly how wrong was I.. I had to phone to find out when my husband would be collected it took two weeks and quite a few phone calls before this happened. I was promised phone calls to keep me updated but these never came I was so stressed that I had to get my sister to continue to speak to them they always apologised and said another department/ person should have called me with the information even one day my sister was speaking to someone on one line only for another person to call and apologise to me saying they would be collecting my husband the following day when my sister had just been told he had been collected and in their care! Which he was. I don’t think the communication between their staff is good. If it wasn’t for my sister taking control I could not have coped, when you are grieving the last thing you need is incompetence, my husband arranged this thinking it would be less stressful for me if only he knew! … four weeks on I now have my husband home..”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Ms Hill, We are very sorry to hear that you were not happy with the communication from our staff. We have a carefully considered programme of communication that every team member is expected to follow, and we acknowledge that this was not followed perfectly. We have identified learning points that will be addressed within the team to remind staff of the importance of their role in supporting the bereaved. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“We did use this service in August and was very good but sadly I used it again and was not very good that time”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Jennifer, Thank you for your comments. We have looked at the detailed notes and can see that it did take longer than we all would have liked to carry out your loved one’s cremation and we are sincerely sorry if this caused distress. I can see that our staff were in regular contact with you throughout and that the ashes return was expedited to ensure that our care was completed within our usual timescales. We hope that having the ashes safely back with you has brought a measure of comfort. Kind regards, Chloe

Posted 3 years ago

“I don’t think they know the meaning of dignity in death as every time we get a day for the commital i get another phone call and tell me it is not happening, Then you get another day i don’t think having a loved one in the mortuary for 3 weeks is acceptable”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for making us aware of your concerns in relation to your loved one’s arrangements with us. Please contact us on either 0800 033 7737 or info@purecremation.co.uk so that we can look into this for you. Whilst we make every reasonable effort to achieve the provisional cremation date, we rely heavily on you and other third parties to provide the necessary information and documentation that is legally required for the cremation to take place. This is regularly reviewed taking into account all these factors, and we ensure this important information is communicated with families accordingly. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“At such an emotional time I could've done without any additional stress. I was given a confirmed cremation date which then had to be re-arranged due to an issue with medical papers from the hospital. Pure Cremation did apologise admitting that this should not have happened, the apology was welcomed, but for me the emotional aspect of this was too great. I won't go into full details of my experience with Pure Cremation, but my overall feeling is that I had to do a lot of the communication/chasing up which I could well have done without. On a positive note, I will say that the people I spoke with were always very respectful & pleasant. After receiving my father's ashes, my feeling is that the container is fine if you want to scatter or bury the ashes, but if this is something you'd like to keep, the container is not very aesthetically pleasing - I wish I'd been made aware of that at the beginning.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for your review, I understand that one of our Senior Managers has been in contact to discuss your concerns. We are eager to investigate your comments further as this is not the high standard of service, we set out to achieve. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“I asked for onl a small pouch of my father's ashes to be delivered. The delivery was made while I was at work, I returned home to find that all my f his ashes had been delivered (something which I had stated I did not feel comfortable with). Very upsetting. Other than that, good service.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Charlie, I am very sorry to hear that we have not followed the special instructions that you provided us. I am sorry for the unnecessary distress that this has caused you. I will ask Rebecca to contact you to see if we can rectify our error and deliver the service to you that we promised. Kind regards, Olivia

Posted 3 years ago

“Initially very good. Staff were helpful and very supportive. First problem started when we were under the impression givem by staff over the phone we would be contacted on the day of cremation that it had been done. We waited and nobody rang. The ashes were then sent to the wrong address. On both occasions we had gathered as a family and were totally let down to morn our loss. The guy that tried to deliver the ashes did go out of his way to deliver them to the right address a couple of days later. As a result I would not recommend this company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Christopher, We are eager to investigate your comments further as this is not the standard of service we set out to achieve. We can be contacted directly at customercare@purecremation.co.uk where a member of our senior management team will carry out a full investigation. Please include the full name of your loved one and their plan number or date of birth. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“The delivery of my father's remains was unacceptably late and clumsy. The rest of the service was fine.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Thank you for your positive comments. We are very sorry that the ashes return was later than the 21 days that we promise - this is being looked at to understand what happened and to ensure this does not happen in the future. We will speak with the relevant staff member about your experience and ask how we can support them to deliver excellent care for every family. Kind regards, Mia

Posted 3 years ago

“My father passed away on the 3rd December and although I understand delays due to Christmas, we were told that we would receive the ashes by the 21st Jan at the latest. I was also told someone would contact me to arrange delivery and this could be sooner than the 21st. This seems already like an long time, but then by the 20th Jan I hadn't heard anything. I emailed and received a reply saying I should hear from them within 48 hours. I replied back to say I was told the ashes would be with me by the 21st at the latest. Then I was told there was a delay and they would now be delivering on the 24th Jan and someone would contact me on the 21st to arrange this. I did not receive a call, so called again them on the 21st and they then told me someone would contact me on the 24th now. On the 24th they delivered the ashes to my address, instead of my mother's where they were supposed to be going. Would not use again, caused stress at an already stressful time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Andy, I am very sorry to hear that our team fell short of our usual excellent standards of communication. I will pass this to the Managing Director of the immediate care department so this can be investigated. You will receive a call to discuss your experience and to offer a sincere apology. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

Pure Cremation Reviews

Phone:

Email:

Location: