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

“Worst experience i have ever had. 1. Mum died at 610 am i couldn't contact anyone until 830 and when i did they processed and said they would phone me back never did so i rang them at 10am same i will phone you back never did so rang them at 11am and they said we cant pick your mum up until late evening. I wasn't happy so they ended up using a local undertaker then picked my mum up 4 days later please never use.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Mr Skitt, we are sincerely sorry that it took so long to arrange for your mother's transfer of care. The August Bank Holiday weekend was an unexpectedly busy period and while I can see that our teams did their best to expedite the arrangements we acknowledge that this must have been distressing for you. The timescale for transferring your dear mother from the local funeral director into our care was agreed with the Funeral director, taking the Bank Holiday weekend into account. While yours has been an exceptional experience, we are undertaking a review of this case to understand what we may need to do differently to avoid any family feeling that they are left waiting for communication and response in future. Yours sincerely, Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“My grandad is being cremated today 28th and I'm very upset how the hole process has gone so far ! My mum was not told she had to pay upfront so the day he was supose to picked up My mum phoned them to be told cos she never paid they didn't pick him up ! No phone call nothing so this has be delayed ... on the leaflet says that your called 15 mins befor cremation they would call you to let you know its going ahead but shes told this dont happen ... im very disappointed the lack of communication is dreadful they where supose to phone her yesterday once they had picked my grandad up and no phone call how can they do this to a greving family 😪😪😪”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Terrible customer service and please try other providers such as the Coop Funeral Care who are much better and less expensive. My experience was all bad and I’m relieved that they never returned calls or emails as it meant I went elsewhere. The tone of the customer care wasn’t brilliant either and I suspect they were overwhelmed with the resources they have to deal with callers. I would have worried if we’d gone ahead given how poor the rest of the operation would be. Please try elsewhere to check your have the right solution for you at what is certainly the worst time you can imagine. Also with the Coop you can pick up your loved one much nearer to home than the Pure Cremation option.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

Dear Carl, I am very sorry to hear about your experience, which is far from typical as our reviews clearly show. We will investigate and would invite you to make contact to share your experience directly with us so that we can gain a complete picture and understand what needs to be learned. I am pleased that you found a provider to care for you and your loved one. Kind regards, Catherine Powell

Posted 3 years ago

“Didn't inform me of my late father's cremation day ,bad communication ,wasn't told cremation date then told ashes would return within 3 weeks a month later no show so rang today told he wasn't on the list unknown why ? So poor dad's been up there 😢 finally told he will be back to us tomorrow thank god .”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

We are sorry that it has taken longer than it should have to arrange the return of your father's ashes. PLease be assured that we will look into why this has happened. The team immediately prioritised this once you brought the matter to our attention. The detailed notes confirm that we had considerable difficulty reaching your mother to progress your father's arrangements and that the cremation date was moved as a result. This new date was confirmed by telephone with your mother at 16.15 on August 4th when she returned our call.

Posted 3 years ago

“You could not be bothered to get back to me after I completed an on line form for requesting a cremation following my Fathers death. Many phone calls later ended as the lines were busy so it goes you end the call. I suspect if i was after a pre-paid plan, you would have had no problem getting in touch. Luckily, I found another vendor, Simplicity Cremations, which answered the phone immediately, and dealt with me with kindness and dignity during this difficult time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

We acknowledge and apologise sincerely for the difficulties you experienced in contacting us. We pride ourselves on responsiveness but recognise that while we worked hard to minimise the exceptional effects of the 'pingdemic', you did not receive the swift response you needed. We are pleased to hear that you found a provider to support you.

Posted 3 years ago

“Shocking high volume conveyor belt cremation service avoid at all costs”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

We respectfully disagree with your comments. Our entire team worked extremely hard to ensure that your mother's cremation was not delayed following the error that you made regarding your mother's date of death and the subsequent confusion caused by the registrar's initial misunderstanding of the legal position. Our commitment to caring for the bereaved meant that the cremation went ahead as originally planned even though this critical matter was not resolved until the day itself. In fact, all the arrangements were completed well ahead of our usual timescales and we are at a loss to understand what more any organisation could have done to satisfy you.

Posted 3 years ago

“My mum's last wishes were for her ashes to be handed delivered to me. Unfortunately I was not the policy holder my alcoholic brother was because he lived with my mum. When he knew mums wishes you let him change them and I was told by a member of your telephone staff I was no longer getting mums ashes and there was nothing I could do.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

We are very sorry to hear about this situation but we are bound by UK law which says that we must follow the instruction of the person organising the cremation, even if these differ from the deceased person's wishes. Family disagreements are always challenging to deal with and we do our best to mediate if this is possible. We hope that , in time, you and your brother can come to a mutually agreeable resolution in respect of your mother's ashes.

Posted 4 years ago

“Short review,I’ll try. The gentleman bringing Eddie home was amazing and I would give him 5 stars but the rest,,,I’m left very unhappy. I wasn’t happy with the urn...you said I had no other options,,,I’m informed now that you do have wooden caskets...why wasn’t I given the option I did say I didn’t like it. Apparently you can have a service held at your place or one closer to home....I told you I was having problems off his family and how they so wanted to say goodbye. I feel let down by the whole service,,,a more personal touch ....even if it puts the price up would be a lot better. Thanks for listening...”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Dear Mark, I am sorry to hear that you feel our service did not meet your needs and would like to address your comments as follows: 1. The matter of the urn was discussed in some detail, including sending you photographs so that you choose which wrapper you preferred. It is regrettable that you were given the impression that we could have provided a traditional wooden casket - this was true in our early days but now, on the rare occasion that a customer wishes for an alternative, we invite them to choose their own from the vast array of options available online and arrange to deliver it to us. 2. Regarding the attended committal option - firstly, we are extremely clear in every initial conversation to help the bereaved family make a confident decision about whether the service we offer will meet their needs; secondly, you stated to our staff that an unattended committal was your loved one's wish and you were going to honour that; and finally, our notes clearly state that when we were contacted by an estranged family member your only concern was preventing them from delaying the cremation (we gave complete reassurance on this point). There is absolutely no indication that you might have wanted to offer this person an attended committal. As a result, I am satisfied that our staff did all they could to carry out the instructions for a simple unattended cremation as per the contract that you signed and to return the ashes in our usual ashes container. While we never want a customer to feel let down, I am at a loss to know what we should or could have done differently based on the instructions that we received. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 4 years ago

“I had tried to arrange a paid up front direct cremation. I was supposed to get a phone call to out it in place. Nobody phoned. And ,after browsing through a little brochure you sent out, I noticed a little caveat,suggesting that if prices go up, you could come back to ask either myself, or next of kin for more money. I realise I might have read this wrongly, and think that might be for those who take out a plan you pay up,but I had made it clear at the outset that I wanted to pay it all at once, with absolutely no extra costs. I was quoted a price I was happy with and was keen to go ahead. I get a little angry now, to see your advert on T.V. saying we can pay up front,and that there will be no extra charges! I had to give one star, because you can't post otherwise, but I feel badly let down.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Dear Jessie, The paragraph you are referring to is clearly displayed on page 11 of our very legible T's & C's that accompany our literature and most businesses offering an advance purchase will need to include such a provision. To be clear, it states that, in the unlikely event that the law or tax structure of the nation change, affecting the costs of delivering the service, the business must reserve the right to pass on fees that could not possibly be anticipated or allowed for at the time of purchase. For the benefit of others reading this review and response I have included this clause: "What other changes can be made to my plan? We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. There may be a change in the law or tax rules that affects the way we carry out the cremation. This may mean we need to apply extra charges (or pay you money back). If there are extra charges we will work to keep these as low as possible but we may have to ask you or your representative to pay for these." Please be assured that Pure Cremation intends to keep its promise of nothing more to pay in the future by controlling all the costs it can, and continuing to ensure excellent management of the Trust to keep up with inflation. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 4 years ago

“Awful company. Refused to tell me if my dad had been cremated yet. I am estranged from my family and wasn’t informed of any cremation plans. I just wanted a yes or no if he had been cremated all ready but they wouldn’t tell me. Disgusting😡”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

We are very sorry to hear about your estrangement. You must understand that a) we don't know for sure who you are b) we have contractual and privacy rules that apply to our relationship with our client. As a result, we are simply unable to give you the information that you have requested. However, out of compassion, we offered to make our client aware of your request, which you refused. Kind regards, Catherine Powell

Posted 4 years ago

“After my brother passed away, I contacted Pure Cremation, arranged which hospital he needed to be collected from and paid in full. I was informed that Pure Cremations were very busy at the moment (COVID-19) and as I didn’t want to know the exact day of the cremation It might be up to 21 days till I received his ashes. After three weeks, I was shocked to receive a phone call from the hospital saying my brother had not been collected . As you can imagine, what was an already difficult time was made even more difficult and I was in complete shock as I had been expecting the process to have been professionally completed. After calling Pure Cremations, The person I spoke to could not tell me why this had happened but said he would look into it and call me back. The next day , after no call back I had to call again. Once again told they didn’t know why this had happened but would look into it and call me back. I did this time get a call saying they were very sorry but there had been some confusion with the scheduling team. The lady I spoke to this time was helpful but as you can imagine I was very upset. She said she would contact the hospital, arrange a priority delivery of his ashes and apologised. However, she then told me the date of his cremation which again caused more upset, and the date the ashes would be delivered. The day before I was expecting delivery of the ashes, I received a call telling me the cremation had been carried out and the ashes would be with me within 21 days. Once again, after telling the caller I was expecting them the next day, I was told they would look into it. Later that day I was told I would receive the ashes the next day. I was also under the impression that I would be given a choice of three containers for the ashes to placed in but this did not happen. As you can imagine a very difficult time was made unnecessarily more difficult by Pure Cremations.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

We have looked into this case and, given its exceptional nature and the timing of this review I believe we have identified the case (even without name details) and how things went wrong. Firstly I want to acknowledge that the delay in caring for your brother was unacceptable, and to apologise sincerely for this. Our collections of loved ones are based on the cremation date and this was not entered onto the record, contrary to our policy and procedures. We are addressing this serious lapse with the individual responsible and looking at ways to ensure that any other cases are identified and rectified swiftly. I am also very sorry that you were given the date of the cremation when you did not wish to know it. We take pride in respecting all families' wishes and are looking into this error. Based on customer feedback we have recently introduced a new process to confirm that the cremation has taken place and to give a delivery date for the ashes. As special arrangements were in place for you this call should not have been made. Once again I apologise. Overall, I agree that Pure Cremation did not provide you with the care that we would all expect. While this is an exceptional case, we must recognise the distress that resulted and I will contact you separately to discuss this further and to offer a direct, personal apology. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 4 years ago

“AWFUL company - not covered in the UK by funeral standards boards/associations. BUYER BE WARE. The director was on duty the day we needed them didn't know what they were doing oversaw many errors which led to a series of events that caused undue stress and upset. When they admitted they got it wrong, launched a corporate PR response. Lots of fake platitudes, etc but nothing to try and resolve the problem. Cold, unfeeling, unconcerned by the impact of what they did to our family and the only offer of trying to resolve our dispute was for me to pay ££££s to employ a private arbitrator to try and resolve it. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS - there are other providers in the market place that are affiliated to standards agencies. Make sure you do your research. Check the NFAD.co.uk site for members before parting with your money - we learnt the hard way and the unnecessary trauma caused by this company and one of its Directors, but more importantly how they handled the situation has left me with night terrors and guilt that I chose so badly for Dad and I cannot get any rest. I hope that he can forgive me for his final days before cremation. I cannot shrug the guilt that I chose badly, and let him down when he needed my care the most.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Dear Mr Rice, I have already dealt with all of the points you have raised in lengthy correspondence. Yours sincerely Catherine Powell

Posted 4 years ago

“So sick of their TV advert because it is twice as loud as everything else on the television, and we need to rush to turn the TV down each time it comes on as it the ad is so exceptionally and unnecessarily loud. I will never consider using them because their advert is so annoying.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Oh dear! we get many compliments about our TV advert and this is the first time that anyone has mentioned a difference in volume since it began running in November 2019 - we would be very happy to receive details of the channel you were watching so that we can investigate and take any necessary action. Please feel free to call 0800 0337737 and pass on this information.

Posted 5 years ago

“Thank you to Pure Cremations for making a traumatic few months even more unbearable. Considering your entire business model is designed to be one "your family can trust", provide a person with the "kind of farewell they want" and to accommodate a pre-organised solution suitable for strained family dynamics, my late mother felt confident in using Pure Cremations and made sacrifices during her last stages of lung cancer to be able to pay for her own cremation. If she were here now she would be so utterly upset that her dying wishes have not been carried out. Thinking back to my initial phone call to you, having gone through all my emails and also reading through your website, especially the section on 'How to Register a Death' I cant see any clear mention of the overruling power an 'Applicant for Cremation' would have by UK Law... As it turns out, more power than the actual deceased person! Despite me reiterating my mums wishes multiple times in emails prior to her death and being the next of kin on your the paperwork, my unreasonable and vindictive sister who had no part in my mothers cremation arrangements and spent her entire life walking over her, has been able to prohibit my set of ashes being sent to me and scattered in Australia, a strong desire of my mothers. Last Sunday I had to go ahead with the farewell ceremony I organised in Perth without any ashes, which was devastating. Having your staff advise me to refer to my sister once Mum had passed (who I explained I have no relationship with and is now refusing to respond to any of my communication) to confirm logistics of the distribution of the ashes, having a Manager respond to me that this is a domestic matter, to seek legal assistance and that any further contact with Pure Cremations would be "fruitless'' is as disgusting as your staffs omission to notify me of such an important detail, a detail that could (and should) have been brought to my attention on multiple occasions. Considering the family logistics of my mothers death were explained to your staff at the time of booking the service (that I would be imminently returning to Australia, mum would soon pass and a third party, explained as likely to be my sister would provide you with the death certificate), had my mother and I known this major detail we would never have booked with Pure Cremations, or I quite simply would have stayed in the UK and waited around for the inevitable so her wishes were actually carried out. Either way your neglect to tell us this important piece of information has hugely affected the outcome of things. Thanks once again. At 31, having spent the last 15 months travelling back and forth from Australia, watching my beautiful mother lose her undignified battle with cancer, dealing with this situation from the other side of the world and mentally adjusting to losing my second parent, I hope you sleep well at night and that no one else has to endure what I have at such a difficult time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Dear Charlotte, thank you for your comments. We occasionally encounter difficult and painful situations like this. I can confirm that as soon as we are aware there may be disagreements over the funeral or disposition of the ashes we give honest advice about the ability of an executor or applicant to override pre-existing instructions - many people are unaware that this is true even if wishes are expressed in a will. I acknowledge that your mother's wishes were expressed very clearly in her plan and in your subsequent emails, however, we were not aware that there was any potential conflict regarding these wishes, particularly as your sister was assigned the task fo registering the death and completing the paperwork. After speaking with the team I understand that they had, as a result of careful and sensitive interaction with the your sister, successfully secured her agreement to send ashes to you. Unfortunately, at the 11th hour, a new family dispute halted their shipment. I have reminded myself that your criticism of Pure Cremation is coming from a place of real pain, however I want to put on record that I am very proud of the compassionate efforts the team have made to support the fulfilment of your mother's wishes. I deeply sympathise with your situation and sincerely wish its speedy resolution, and please be assured that we stand ready to ship ashes to you as soon as we are allowed to. Kind regards Catherine Powell

Posted 5 years ago

“These reviews are fixed. If they don’t like it they take it down”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

You are not a customer and are abusing this review facility for defamation and slander against a company director. Your IP and email address have been passed to the authorities and legal team.

Posted 6 years ago

“You get "very poor" because you have sent me an email about a "recent purchase" with regard to the cremation of my mother! You need to work on your wording here. Pretty insensitive, eh?”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

Dear Mr Ratcliffe-Palmer, I note your comment. I am sorry that the terminology used by the independent reviews service that we use has so completely overshadowed the care and service delivered by our dedicated people. We have sent out more than 3,000 review requests and this is the first time that we have received a comment about the wording, however, I nevertheless would like to apologise for any distress that you have experienced as a result.

Posted 6 years ago

“Service is great up until they take your money..once that's done all ethics go out of the window ..still waiting confirmation on the delivery of my dads ashes I specially book a trip abroad to scatter them and because I didn't have them I wasn't able to ...thanks pure cremation...I highly recommend you DONT use this company”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

Dear Sonia, Obviously we are very disappointed with your comments. Having reviewed our records we note that you initially opted to collect the ashes yourselves then, several weeks later on 25th April, your step-father requested we deliver them either by the 29th April or after 11th May. No date or time were specified or agreed. We attempted to deliver them on Friday 29th April but were 20 minutes away when we received a call to say you had to leave for the rest of the day even though no time was specified when the arrangement was made. It was then agreed that you would contact us when you returned on the 11th May to arrange a new day and time. We received an email from you at 10:30pm stating that you had been expecting delivery that day. We responded that we would make a special journey to deliver them tomorrow, 13th May to which we have not had any response. At no point were we told that your trip was to scatter the ashes. We are extremely proud of our track record of responding to families needs but we do need to be told what those needs are.

Posted 9 years ago

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