American Cremation Services

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On Fri, Aug 8 I went to their office and spoke with the owner, Mr. Royster about basic cremation services for my mother. He advised me that he would do his best to make this loss as stress free as possible and that package was $1000. He also made sure to advise that the process couldn't be started without payment in full. I spoke with his office manager, Ms. Bland during that same visit and asked her how long the process takes, she told me 2-3 days . I asked her if she thought my mother could be cremated by Friday, Aug 15, she said yes that wouldn't be an issue, so I left with that date in mind as my memorial date. I called the office the next day and said I would like to use their services and would work on coming up with the funds. I came back to the office Mon, Aug 11 with a family member, spoke w/Ms. Bland, filled out the paperwork and paid the $1000. Ms. Bland assured me that my mother would be completed by that Fri and said she would call me when I could pick my mother up. The week rolls by, Friday comes, and by 12p I still hadn't heard from Ms. Bland, so I called the office, no answer. I call back around 2p and she answers stating that she was about to leave the office for the day. I proceed to ask her what time I can come pick up my mother's remains and she states she didn't know I wanted her to be ready on that date. THIS IS A LIE!!!She then asks me how soon I can meet her, so I say I'd be there in 15 minutes. We hang up and while I'm on my way over she calls me back and states that my mother's body isn't ready. I ask her why no one called me earlier in the week to tell me and she says because no one told her and they've been too busy. I advise her that my mother's memorial service is that day at 3:45p and she says "You can still have the service without the remains." That was beside the point, memorials are for those still living. I wanted to have my pastor pray over my mother's remains and now I couldn't. I ask her when she thinks my mother will be ready and she says she will find out and call me right back. She does call me back a few min later and states she won't be ready until 9a the next day. My pastor was going out of town after the memorial so it's not like I could even have him do it once got her ashes (I was going to the beach the next day to release her ashes into the ocean). The issue I have is the lack of professionalism and empathy within this situation. My mother had just died...the loss of a loved one is a hard enough situation as it is. Despite the fact that their office had my $1000 for 5 whole days my mother hadn't even been processed until I called to inquire about her...she was just sitting there. Needless to say the plans I made to give me some peace about the situation didn't happen, my pastor wasn't able to pray over my mother's ashes. The owner didn't even have the balls to call me himself and apologize, DESPITE having looked me in my face and PROMISED me he would do everything in his power to make this time as stress free as possible. What was the point of me asking Ms. Bland if SHE THOUGHT my mother would be ready on a certain date if they were just going to process my mother when they desired? I don't know if they need to hire more cremators or what, but they CLEARLY need better communication between the cremators and the so called office manager. Your excuse for why no one called me is because no one told you?!! How dare you tell me you've been too busy to process my mother? Maybe you shouldn't have taken my $1000 until you had enough time to get to her. Let alone your choice of words...who wants to hear you're too busy to handle my mother?!! My experience with them was HORRID and I can only pray no one else has to have an experience like that.