Doves Funeral Services (Boksburg) = PATHETIC!!!

My grandmother passed away on 23 December 2018. Despite having contributed to a funeral plan for 50-60 years, she apparently did not qualify for even a basic funeral plan of R15 000. Instead, Doves Funeral Services only paid out R11 000 and we had to pay the balance in cash. Where on earth did 50-60 years' worth of contributions go??

In addition, Doves Boksburg refused to assist us with the design of the funeral booklet. Apparently, this is a service that they do not offer and the grieving families are required to do this themselves. They could not even provide a template to assist us in drafting the booklet. The printing thereof, as well as the flower arrangements, were not included in the funeral plan and had to be paid separately.

It also took Doves Boksburg around 2 weeks to collect the Confirmation of Death, as signed by the medical practitioner, from the old age home where my grandmother had died. To date, they still have not even app**** for the death certificate!

Now comes the worst part of the experience... the funeral itself! The service was set to start at 11h00 on 4 January 2019 and Doves Boksburg was supposed to deliver the flower arrangement and booklets to the church (which is a mere 5-10 minute drive from the funeral parlour) by no later than 10h15.

At 10h30, I became concerned and phoned Doves Boksburg, where I spoke to 'Doreen'. She assured me that the driver was on his way and that everything would be delivered on time.

At 10h45, the driver had still not arrived. I phoned Doreen again, who said that the driver was about 10 minutes away, but that she would make sure of his whereabouts and phone me back in 2 minutes.

At 10h55, I had still not heard back from Doreen, nor had the driver arrived. I was quite upset at this stage and called Doves Boksburg again. Doreen once again assured me that the driver was nearly there.

At 11h10, still nothing. I phoned Doreen again, livid by now, as everyone was waiting and some of the attendees had only been granted one hour off from work to attend the funeral of our beloved gran. Doreen merely stated that she could not manage our grief along with the grief of the other family that she had been attending to and that she had not prioritised our situation because she has been too busy. I find this statement completely ridiculous and unacceptable!

At this point, my parents got in their car and drove to Doves Boksburg. The plan was to have them quickly print a few booklets, without which we could not proceed, as the scripture and songs was printed thereon. About 15 minutes later, the driver arrived. All he had to say, was "oh, sorry". Equally, Doreen also just said "sorry" and explained that the driver had gotten lost.

The funeral service therefore started half an hour late and some of the attendees could not even stay for the duration thereof, as they were required to return to work.

This whole experience was extremely traumatic for our family. We were supposed to honour my grandmother's memory and say our final goodbyes, but instead the day was filled with frustration, stress and anger! Doves Boksburg is PATHETIC, to say the very least! Service delivery is non existent and the staff is completely ***********! I would advise anyone and everyone to stay as far away from Doves Funeral Services as possible!