Shocking service!!!

In line with stringent Covid regulations which prohibited a large attendance at funerals, we were initially advised by the AVBOB Team in Kempton Park that it would be possible to accommodate a private live-stream of my mum’s funeral. Despite repeated requests for the link to this inclusion, it was not until two days before the service that AVBOB admitted that their standard streaming service would not, in any way, be private to our family but, instead, would be broadcasted and saved to their public Facebook page. Forever. With a simple search for “Saying Goodbye memorial services”, absolutely anyone could watch what we had hoped would be a relatively private affair. Had we been properly notified of this bizarre option in our first meeting with AVBOB, alternate arrangements could have been better prepared by us. Instead, we suffered through a variety of confusing and contradictory updates from the AVBOB Team, before concluding, by their own admission, that they had no idea how their own technical offerings worked. It was immediately after liking this page that I started to receive updates about random strangers' funerals, with direct access to the pertinent livestream videos. Even now, despite assurances from AVBOB that my "concerns have been addressed", this page is available to the general public.

With the mid-week update from them that a 1 meter coffin had been secured for my 1.65 meter tall mother, and the fact that “she would need to be repaired” before anyone was able to make a visitation with her body, we were left with a feeling of utter disbelief at the complete lack of empathy from the AVBOB Team.

In my wildest dreams, I also never imagined that I would ever undertake a ‘professional’ business call with someone in the background repeatedly yelling out the word F@*K.

Firmly believing that things could only improve on the day of the funeral, we arrived to find a male member of the team casually picking away at the bare feet of a female member of the team, with a blasé explanation that ingrown toenails had become a concern. Absolutely no effort was made to stem these activities while the order of the day was discussed with them.

A closer inspection of the ‘Chapel’ supported that it had not been properly cleaned in some time, with memorial pages from many previous services being left strewn around the room and stacked haphazardly behind the altar.

Although the Covid registration sheet provided for our party was headed with the name of an unrelated person, the request made for the correct print-out was simply met with the suggestion that we “scratch that name out and replace it with today’s deceased”. We are yet to have our temperatures checked.

An obvious chip missing from the laminate veneer on the front lid of the coffin was the final insult to our family, and I can't help but wonder whether the vessel had previously fostered other unfortunate souls, or simply been manhandled by the AVBOB team after being sold at full price.

When my complaint was first acknowledged on the 18th of February, by a Junior Clerk called Lucas, I was forced to highlight that he had clearly forgotten to delete the least applicable wording from his basic copy-paste response template, resulting in both an acknowledgement that my complaint had been registered, and a request that my complaint be sent through for review. Additionally stating that he had attempted to phone me to no avail while simultaneously requesting a contact number to touch base. Despite my immediate response, it was not until I added my feedback to the AVBOB Facebook page on the 23rd of February that anyone bothered to revert to me. This time it was Lindy, who repeatedly assured me that I would no longer be dealing with Lucas as my complaint would be escalated to an Area Manager. I thought I had finally seen the light in this matter, until Lucas called me some minutes later "because Lindy told him to". After an enraged discussion with Lucas, and a number of infuriating disconnections, I was finally put in touch with WIlliam, who assured me that he was aware of the complaint I had raised about the size of my mother's coffin. Apparently oblivious to the supplementary comedy of errors which had taken place, his ensuing confirmation that complaints take six weeks to investigate served only to antagonise me further.

After four weeks, I received a call from William, who requested that I tell him about my complaint. Having had this discussion with him telephonically three weeks prior, I was understandably confused that he now felt the need to call me and ask if I had anything to add. I did not, and William assured me that my original concerns had since been addressed. My request for further details in this regard was met only with a confirmation that they would be sent to me within the standard six week period.

It was two days after this call that I received a response from Debra, who states simply that "AVBOB takes pride in rendering professional services to all our clients and we regret that the service rendered to you was not in accordance with our standards. We have addressed your concerns with the staff at our Kempton Park branch, and other relevant parties, to ensure that an incident of a similar nature does not occur in future."

Ultimately, I have reverted to Debra to thank her for further proving my point about terrible service, by replying with a spelling mistake to my surname... twice. Additionally to state that my complaint was first raised on the 23rd of February, when it was actually first raised and reverted to by the Team on the 18th. Despite a request for more comprehensive feedback, I will not be holding my breath.

In an industry saturated with other options, one would imagine that a team like this would conduct themselves with grace and compassion. Instead we were repeatedly met with insolent contempt and extreme apathy at every turn. You should be ashamed of yourselves.