This establishment is exceptional. Although a mix up was the catalyst of what could have been costly, both emotionally and financially for a family, they remedied it with professionalism and compassion. I would wholeheartedly recommend this companies services. Truly. read more

I have to agree with all the reviews seen so far. My father suddenly passed away in February and I had to make a split decision on which mortuary service to go to as I was standing over his body. I was on the phone with his doctor who had just pronounced him and he mentioned two mortuaries that he knew of, one in town and one outside of town. I didn't have the composure to think about looking up reviews. I had to handle things right then. I went with Borthwick and had a very bad experience. The body removal team was great and compassionate. Two big Hawaiian guys with a lot of aloha. Jessie was the lead brother's name. They contract with everyone and they were the best part of the bad experience. Borthwick followed up with me and arranged a meeting the next day or the day after. That ended up getting postponed because something came up at their end. No problem. I met with one of their people(counselors, do they call them? Salesmen is more appropriate, I think) and called in my siblings for a group call so we could decide together. We needed simply for my father to be transported to FL for burial in the family plot. We would need him embalmed and flown. Everything was in the Dignity Provider network, so there was nothing to worry about. Billing would all be done at one side. The salesman said we could buy the casket at their end or at their affiliate's end in FL. If we wanted to get the casket in FL, they would ship him in a free container, which the salesman described as a type of "cardboard box". We laughed at the idea of someone who just lost their father the day before shipping him halfway across the world in a cardboard box. We literally laughed out loud and said we would get the casket in Hawaii. Unfortunately, there was little selection. We could get one of three caskets since my Dad was on the larger side--the blue metallic, the ivory white(for women), or a wooden casket. They were all the same price of roughly $3K. We would have to pay that to Borthwick up front. As well as the flight costs. I returned the next day to find out that the flight costs, which we had to pay up front, would be about 50% more for oversized cargo. That was annoying. Then I later heard the flight was delayed, although it didn't affect us and was beyond their control, really. I had asked the salesman how much we should be expecting to pay at the other end since we were paying roughly $4K or $5K with them. I was told we were getting all kinds of discounts since it was all in-network and that we could expect a low figure of $1295 or something. I thought that was pretty good. In the meantime, we were filling out the paperwork for the obituary and I had to get back in touch with our salesman about a few of the details. After I had paid for everything, I sent him a series of emails about the obituary without ever hearing back. My brother emailed him. No response. From the point of payment on, we never heard back from our salesman. Not once. When we got to FL we were shocked to meet up with the funeral home and get a bill for almost $6K. We were warned that there may be small extra charges here or there for tent setup, etc, but even with these figured in, it shouldn't have been 3-4x the price estimated to us. The funeral director in FL told us, when we mentioned our shock, that part of the problem in price was that we spent 3x what they charge for the casket in FL. Which explained the characterization of the temporary free container as being a "cardboard box". I emailed our salesman in Hawaii again. No response. The director of the home in FL said that I would be getting a mailing from JD Power and Associates and that I should be sure to share my experience with them. I said I would certainly do so. When I returned to Hawaii I miraculously got a call from Borthwick. They had my death certificates. I told her I was astonished to hear back from them. She said she would have a manager call me. I got a call later from a manager who was in his car driving somewhere. I explained over 30 minutes what happened and all the problems. He said he would "counsel" the salesman and get back to me. He got back in touch late and said that he had let his salesman know about the concerns. He did not address some of the other issues that I had(that I have not mentioned here for brevity's sake). I wrote back to him and never heard back. After a month or so I got the JD Power and associate questionnaire. I was brutally honest. A few months went by and suddenly I got an email from the same person who never returned my email months before. All of a sudden he wanted to look into the problem. I sent him the bills and he wrote back explaining the line items and explained to me how our bill was actually on the cheap side. I didn't follow up. Every time I call is like opening the wound again and reliving my father's death. No thanks. Borthwick was a horrible experience over and over and over. read more

Kalani L., Val L. and Faye D. pretty much covered it all when it comes to Borthwick Mortuary. I recommend you read ALL comments before making a decision on which mortuary you chose. Unfortunately, we just went by the reputation that Borthwick HAD many years ago. We were pressed for time and wanted to get everything taken care of before returning to the mainland. Something that should have taken a couple of weeks at most, took almost 3 weeks, and probably would have taken longer had we not had help from outside sources and our own work. We, too, experienced HORRIBLE service, lack of follow-up from our family counselor, who did very little considering the amount we paid Borthwick. It was like we were doing most of the work! I have to agree with Val L. that we were caused more grief when already grieving and going though much stress. Our counselor had the nerve to argue and yell at us. We were told that the package we chose would include one of the chapels for a service. We were shown the chapel and counselor talked about how things would be set up, so he really sold us on having the chapel. The following day, after going through everything (contract, obituary, # of death certificates, and other service details), counselor returns with contract and tells us that the package did NOT include a chapel and that package was almost $3,000 more. The other options would be to go with what we had w/o the chapel or most inexpensive package and add an additional $1995 for the chapel! REALLY!!! We were in shock & in total disbelief. We spent a total of 5.5 hrs for this meeting that should have taken 2 to 2.5 hrs. at most. We should have just left, but we were so emotionally distraught that we signed the contract. Ask to see a sample of the printed cards in the "IN MEMORY" box, prior to it going to print. Something we didn't think of (you'll have to think of everything if you use Borthwick). We noticed that the "In loving memory..." cards had an error in it! Too late to do anything, so didn't give them out. I sent email to Borthwick about what I believed was an error, but have not heard back from them. There's more to this story, but whatever you do, do your homework! Look around and go with one of the other mortuaries. We were told, after the fact, that Nuuanu, Hosoi, Mililani are all good--much better and not as expensive as Borthwick. Since the contract pretty much says you can't file a law suit, you're out of luck if you feel that you were treated unfairly, and they are very lucky that they are protected by this clause. I am giving them two stars, rather than just one, because after speaking to our counselor's supervisors, they offered to pay for the catering, but let's face it that's just a small token when you consider what we went through and the $2995 error that was made. I am writing this in hopes that when you read this and other postings, you will chose another mortuary, so you will have a better experience during this time of great loss of a dear loved one. read more

It feels a bit strange to write a review for funeral parlor. It's something we normally don't want to think about and if we go to a funeral, it's a sad occasion. Last week, I went to the funeral of a dear friend who died unexpectedly. The funeral was at Borthwick's Mauka Chapel. Everyone from the parking lot attendant to the other staff were helpful. It was a classy beautiful celebration of my friend's life. The service started on time and went smoothly. There was nothing amiss that I could see. The food was quite tasty. But really who reviews food at a funeral? read more

Borthwick is owned by CSI the largest funeral home operator & cemetery operator in USA. It appears that their pricing for funeral services are on the high end. On the mainland CA they are facing lawsuits. As the largest operator there r advantages and disadvantages. It is best and cheaper if you pre buy your funeral plans. I find it amazing that this industry charges for every service individually guess thats where airlines learned to nickel and dime you to death. read more

Losing someone close to you unexpectedly and then having to deal with funeral arrangements is one of the most stressful events that someone can go through. I am so glad that we chose Borthwick Mortuary. Borthwick has been around for 100 years and their customer service and care of the facility proves that they are customer centered. We worked with BJ to plan the funeral. She was so easy to work with. Her demeanor and patience helped us get through the tough decisions. Borthwick also had everything we needed from the catering to the flowers to program designing. This took a load off of our plates. I highly recommend Borthwick Mortuary. read more

In the time of grief there is so much going on, making the focus to get things done so difficult. This is why I am so grateful to Borthwick Mortuary for all of their professionalism and kindness they demonstrated when doing my uncle's funeral. They not only went above and beyond, but they made things easier for us by following through and seeing us step by step throughout the arrangement and burial process. It took a tremendous load off our shoulders and the ceremony was beautiful. I am confident that my uncle would be happy. Thank you so much! read more

When my grandfather passed away, we did all of our arrangements through Borthwick. My grandparents bought their plan decades ago, but the mortuary was fantastic about going through everything they were entitled to. We met with a counselor who was incredibly kind and patient, and when part of the plan was unclear, he made sure that my grandparents got all the benefits of their plan. When we left our meeting and forgot to sign one of the papers, he knew where we'd gone and jumped in his car to meet us there to make sure we got it done. On the day of the services, they had everything ready to go for us, the catering was perfect, the staff was incredibly helpful, and our funeral director hung around the whole time to make sure we had everything, but was never obtrusive or pushy. After the service, they gave my grandmother a pile of thank you notes, and when she ran out, they made sure she got more. They also mailed over three hundred envelopes for her. From the planning to the services to the follow up, everyone down to the parking attendant was extremely kind and helpful. With so much to do, my family and I were so grateful they made everything so easy. read more

A funeral is a sad occasion and having to plan one at the last minute makes a bad experience worse. Except this time. A friend of mine lost his father unexpectedly and there were no funeral plans at all. Plus this was the first funeral he's ever had to plan. He asked for my recommendation for funeral services and I suggested Borthwick and a few others. He selected Borthwick and it turned out well for him. From removal of his dad's body from the house to the cremation to setting up the memorial service, BJ, Nicole and the rest of the staff at Borthwick Mortuary, worked with the family to make this sad process as efficient as possible. I know from experience having disconnects after a death in the family makes things much worse. They helped my friend set everything up and the memorial service was conducted in a somber, yet timely manner to allow attendees time to meet the family to offer their condolences, share memories of the deceased and talk to each other. The alter was simple and set up in a very tasteful arrangement. After the service, mourners were ushered into an adjacent room where refreshments were served and folks had a chance to meet. Even with this being a catered affair, there was no harassment by any of the Borthwick staff that everyone needed to leave immediately. I'm glad my friend went with my recommendation and Borthwick were able to help him. The only reason this is not four stars is their prices are significantly higher than other funeral services but again, it all goes back to what you want. For myself, I would be willing to pay for the best to get the best. read more

These guys were horrible. The day after my mom's passing we met with a "counselor" who was so unprofessional. She starting the meeting by saying she didnt really know what she was doing and that she was spacey. Her phone kept buzzing during our meeting, at least 6 times and although we had filled out all the information in a burial plan we purchased 2 weeks prior , the meeting still took over two hours. We felt rushed like being told we only had a day to bring in the 30 photos for the DVD even though the service was going to be three weeks away. And in that those three weeks we had to go back to Borthwick 4 times and they wanted us to come in another two times. When we came back to pick up mom's cremains, stationary, DVD and some other things only 3 of ,the 6 things we were to pick up were given to us even though I had emailed the mortuary to be sure it was all there and ready. When calling in to let them know things were missing I was asked "why we didn't check" and why didn't we call the person we had the appointment with(who wasn't there at pickup) at the time of pickup. Basically , it was our fault. So back to the mortuary one more time where the receptionist told me about a big glob of snot that came out of her nose and the office manager after hearing about their service said it made him realize they are supposed to be there for the customer (SERIOUSLY !) then today I called the supervisor and she was just about as bad. After our conversation which I felt she wasn't really getting , says " I hope that if you ever need this service again you will choose Borthwick" HELL NO! Let me add the products we received as part of our plan were of poor quality. The bookmarks they made were off center, the pictures in the DVD were fuzzy although they were clear on the thumb drive I gave them. They were also in the wrong order although I followed their instructions and numbered and placed then in the order I wanted and they misspelled names on some printed items even though they were written out for them and spelled correctly on some items. There is even more that happened but I don't want to torture you any further. Just DO NOT USE THIS MORTUARY. read more

We had used Borthwick Mortuary for a parent in 2011 and for another parent in January 2018. In both instances the staff did an exceptional job with the arrangements and funerals. A most professional and experienced staff assisted us in having our loved one transported from the mainland for funeral and burial in Hawaii. We encountered a problem with the funeral home sending our loved one to Hawaii but Borthwick stepped in and solved the problem. We also encountered a problem since we did not have the required form that certified our parent's military service. Again, Borthwick personnel went above and beyond in securing the required document and even arranged for the Military Honor Guard at his burial. Borthwick clearly sets the industry standard for compassion and professional support. Their staff of dedicated professionals are simply the VERY BEST! Special thanks to the entire Borthwick team! read more

It is such a pity to read all these negative reviews because I have had nothing but a great experience with this mortuary and its staff, during the hardest time of my life when my brother was killed in Afghanistan (April 2012) while serving for the U.S. Army. From the moment we walked in, we were made to feel welcome. In fact, the receptionist started to cry after we told her our story. Jerry was the representative assigned to us. He appeared always confident and knowledgeable with the right combination empathy for our loss. Everything was well coordinated at Borthwick, even the burial at Punchbowl cemetery. He even had extra staff working with him the day of the funeral. I suppose perhaps it was because my brother's death was a high profile one. He was in the media for three weeks, from the moment of his death to when he was finally buried. Because so, the mortuary probably already knew that state politicians and military dignitaries as well as the media would be there for the memorial. And they fully prepared for it. This is an assumption, but probably as a result, Borthwick staff kept themselves in line and were just extra careful with everything. And top it off with the fact that the military paid 100% of whatever we wanted, so we never had contract or billing issues as everything was taken cared of through the military's mortuary affairs office. The whole process, which I never want to repeat in my lifetime, was seamless and easy. Perhaps Bothwick did well for us because of all these reasons. But, it also shows that they are capable of doing very well and having very little serious issues, too. They have been in business for a long time and I'm sure if they have been consistently bad that they'd be out of business a long time ago. I do have a few minor gripes as follows: 1) Parking was tight and limited, but there was a parking attendant directing the flow of traffic. 2) The supposed "limo" we rented for lots of money to ride 3 miles to Punchbowl cemetery looked like a converted hearse, and I didn't feel I was riding in a limo. 3) It was extra cold in the chapel that some people had to step out; it was so cold I swear I saw my breath a few times. 4) I overheard one of Jerry's assistant/colleague tell someone else that he should have ironed the flag draped on my brother's coffin because he thought it had some wrinkles. It did. Why didn't they iron it? 5) That same assistant/colleague manned the video control during the memorial service and he started one of the videos in the wrong spot even with a very long pause. I had to go back there to tell him where to start. To which he tells me he got it. But he did not. It was all wrong and awkward for the person singing and waiting for her cue. I never forgot this, as it was the single biggest problem we had to what was an almost perfect memorial. I did look at the invoice. Everything was well over priced. Even if we didn't have to pay anything out-of-pocket, I still cringed at the prices - ick! Having someone you love die is already very difficult. Final arrangements should be made simple. We were unlucky because of my brother's death, but we were lucky because Borthwick took very good care of us and I'm surprised by all the lower ratings. read more

my grandmother passed away and we used Borthwick Mortuary for her services. Its was such a terible experience. 1st of all with all the money it costs to have a funeral experience you think the service be great... NOT..... 1st they got our flowers wrong, 2nd the program was wrong, 3rd i had to loof for the director for my grandmothers portrait, 4th during the planning process just to get ahold of my director took forever and when i was told i could talk to the funeral home director to discuss the JD Power scores i got no phone call back... such a bad experience especially when the family is trying to celebrate the life of a loved one yet you recieve no sympathy from the PEOPLE you are paying LOTS of money to help with the arrangements..... read more

May 2013........after spending over two hours going over the details of what I wanted for a dignified funeral arrangement, this mortuary failed, failed miserably! What was agreed upon was to have a respectable, compassionate funeral to give my loved one the best she deserved. We clearly selected the floral arrangements and the canvas portrait of my beautiful wife, the picture we selected was our first wedding anniversary. The floral arrangements was to be adorned with a clearly worded banner of love from our dog whom she raised all her life. On the day of the funeral, I presented a music cd which had beautiful Chinese music that we listened to when we together went to bed. I wanted it played during the visitation....never to be heard. No flowers, no portrait, no music! An apology, "I'm sorry" did not cut it! Response, I could deduct the cost of the flowers and portrait. One can replace mistakes like material things with money, but what about the hurt one gets from this big unacceptable miscues? One dies only once, how can you replace this precious moment? I will not recommend this mortuary to handle anyone's funeral arrangement, not after what I went through. read more

My first contact with the representatives seemed like a good start. We planned graveside services at 11:00 a.m. Well, on the day before the services, we find out from Punchbowl Cemetary what their idea of a graveside service is....which is not what we wanted. They tell us no problem, we can give you what you want.. The day of the service...we find out the scheduled time is 11:30...not 11:00. I call Borthwick...can't speak with anybody that can answer questions...I tell them...get that casket here NOW. By the time they come...Punchbowl keeps the family friends 20 feet away from casket which they lower before we have begun our services. While we are having our service...the Punchbowl crew cannot wait and start up with machinery to complete the job...we have to wave them down to stop...we cannot conduct our services...then a few minutes into the service...a Punchbowl burial crew member interrupts our service to talk to us about procedures, what is involved in their completing the burial, where we can pick up temporary vases, etc. I stop him, telling him we are in the midst of our services...he looks at me like he doesn't understand...it was all so bizarre and upsetting. Punchbowl Cemetary is in need of some new management who can understand who the customer is and how to treat families. The workers had no consideration and just wanted to complete their jobs, and would not give us a few minutes to say a proper goodbye to our loved one. Borthwick need to know what the Cemetary's policies are regarding burials and scheduled times. What appeared at the start to be a great and efficient planning turned out to be a terrible experience. read more

wow...Claire h...what a story...you certainly sound like a woman with no direction or resolve in your life, you have the rambling inconsistency of a dim wit. as for the other incident at punchbowl, that is sad to hear. veterans deserve the utmost.. it sounded like a issue with the cemetery, not the mortuary. still not good to hear. the val story is not a good one, calls should be returned and or covered by managers or other representatives. the Claire story still sounds one sided, shallow and moronic. read more

I used Borthwick Mortuary many years ago and experience few "glitches" with them. However, things must have changed....frightening, after reading these reviews. I have a fully paid funeral plan, live in another state, and would be helpless if their part time counselors did not follow through with what is expected or contracted. I am seriously thinking of "terminating" my contract with them (contract provides for full return of contract price, purchasing another pre-need funeral plan here and have them coordinate shipping and Hawaii funeral arrangements with another mortuary rather than staying with Borthwick in Honolulu. We used Hawaii Funeral Home on the Big Island (friendly, personable, and efficient) but were not as lucky when the deceased was shipped to Honolulu for final burial at Hawaiian Memorial Park. The reviews give "good" cause to do something while I am "alive" and well. I was going to utilize the plan for my wife but the contract says it is only possible if she pre-deceases me......glad I read the "fine print"...as I wanted to be cremated; she would not be able to utilize the plan. And the fine print, "any disputes must be settled through arbitration...they CANNOT be sued. read more