Was here today for my great uncle's celebration of life service. This place did an excellent job of setting up and providing great care to my family during this difficult time. read more

This funeral home is one of the worst for customer service. Bruce is very rude to all family members and disrespectful to the Military Details performing Honors to the deceased. In my personal opinion, I would not use this Funeral Home and WILL NOT recommend them to anyone ever. There are several other services in that local area to choose from. If I could give negative stars for this rude person and establishment, I would. Please choose someplace else!!! read more

Bruce was very compassionate and caring man to my mother and me after the unexpected death of my father. He took the time to talk to us about everything from our grief and the next steps we had to take. He also arranged a respectful and peaceful service for my father. The Koch family read more

My father passed away Friday morning. Bruce C. VanArsdale Funeral Home quickly helped us with the entire process. Bruce personally handled the arrangements, went over our options and made suggestions in a very professional and personal manner. There was no "selling," but he did provide options. We needed to have the funeral on Sunday and Bruce immediately contacted the cemetery for us. His staff quickly put together a lovely obituary on Saturday. They provided outstanding help with all the logistics, which allowed our family to focus on rallying the family together. I would highly recommend Bruce C. VanArsdale Funeral Home to anyone in the greater Somerset County, NJ area and beyond. read more

I attended a private viewing the other day and I was the last to arrive, the family was in front of the gurney. I was mortified when I overheard the director asking the spouse of the deceased about final payment in front of the whole family and myself. I would have expected for the understanding of payment to been discussed when the viewing was arranged it wasn't like she was running away. I thought it was incredibly tasteless and tacky. Then lastly, I thought the gurney, that was used to display my friend could have been100% covered with skirting instead of us needing to see it. I just think the whole experience could have been a little bit more dignified. After talking to a friend of mine who is also a funeral director, how I felt he expressed to me that I was correct and that your feelings were justified. read more

As the daughter of a decedent When a loved one passes, the family is left with the arduous task of making the final arrangements while enduring the grief of their loss. That task is even greater when the decedent had no means. without life insurance, I had the task of shopping around for the best arrangements I could find, while allowing my mom to be handled with dignity. That's what I thought I found when I initially spoke with Bruce Van Arsdale about my mom's arrangements. Bruce presented, on the phone, as a thoughtful, caring person who had the best interest of my family at heart. He quoted us a fair price ($1,300) and told us the only additional expenses would be $200 for the crematorium and $20 for a tip. Imagine our surprise when, after meeting with Bruce at his funeral home, the bottom line figure was actually $1,965. Of course Bruce was able to itemize all the charges, hence justifying them. Nonetheless, we were surprised. Bruce explained that my mom, being a medicaid recipient, might qualify for a death benefit which would cover her expenses. Turns out, she did qualify; however, since she was being covered by medicaid, her new cost was $2246. When I asked Bruce why the cost had inflated, he explained that he was doing me a favor by offering the lower price. When I asked if his expenses had increased since learning about the medicaid benefit, he said they hadn't. When I challenged him on the fact that he was committing fraud, he proceeded to tell me, and I quote, " You came in here in your fancy Jaguar, crying about money, and I did you a favor by offering you a low price". In summary, Van Arsdale is the most unprofessional, rapacious, insensitive organization I've ever had to deal with. read more

Our family has known Bruce for over 20 years and his staff. During your time of need, Bruce's Professional and impeccable approach helps the grieving family get through the process in a tough time. He strives to meet everyone's needs. There are not enough words to express how well Bruce C. Van Arsdale Funeral Home will meet your expectation. During a challenging time, I highly recommend utilizing his services. read more

We chose Bruce Van Arsdale for the funeral of my mother. We sat down with and agreed on price and everything else. We also agreed that we would supply our own casket. We left happy and went home to continue grieving. The next day, we called the main number to confirm the delivery of our casket. It was a young lady that answered the phone, and there was confusion as to how to receive the casket. She communicated that unfortunately, they could not receive the casket. We then started working on a back-up plan. About 5 minutes after the call ended, Bruce's wife called us. My wife answered, and I could hear someone screaming on the phone. My wife put the call on speaker-phone and we proceeded to get literally screamed at by Bruce's wife about how they can't accept a casket. About 3 minutes into her yelling at us, my wife simply said I'm sorry we will take our business elsewhere. We were shocked. My wife was shaking AND CRYING for half an hour after. How is it acceptable to call and scream at a grieving family? read more

Spoke to Bruce over the phone to get information regarding a funeral arrangement. Bruce was unbelievably rude and unprofessional. If you have another option on funeral homes, use it. This man does not deserve anyone's business or respect. Maybe he should learn how to speak to the living since it seems his heart is dead. read more

Planning a funeral can be a very overwhelming task. From the moment my father and I walked into Bruce's home we were greeted with kindness and professionalism. Just the simple act of Bruce opening the door to us and Kevin offering to take our coats was much more than just a gesture to us. We had looked at other local funeral homes and they paled in comparison to the warmth and welcome we felt from Bruce and his family and staff. He knew what we needed before we had the chance to ask the question and streamlined the process for us. From the flowers to the repast location he had wonderful recommendations. The facilities were beautiful and the room was set up in such a way that it facilitated a relaxed environment for us to visit with family and friends. Bruce and his daughter Brittany were attentive to our whole family throughout the 2 day service without being intrusive. We were able to give my mom a lovely send off for a life well lived. All this and it was almost half the price of the other funeral homes we looked at. Highly recommend. read more

I am writing this review as a thank you to Bruce Van Arsdale for his care and compassion during the recent loss of my husband. With his help my family was able to hold a memorial service that was a fitting and moving tribute to the wonderful man he was. This was a very sudden death and Bruce was kind and compassionate throughout the entire cremation/memorial service process and guided me when I was having difficulty making decisions due to my grief. His facility is warm and welcoming and his staff responsive and caring. I felt the pricing for the services Bruce provided was very fair and that he was conscious of keeping the cost of the services down. I had gotten a quote from another local funeral home which was nearly double the cost for a comparable service. Ultimately my decision to use Van Arsdale Funeral Home was based on recommendations from people I know in the Somerville area. I too will recommend them to others in the future. read more

I had the misfortune of running into Bruce at a local steakhouse. He was incredibly disparaging to multiple women at the bar and was eventually asked to leave because of his level of disrespect. I would expect someone in the funeral business to have some level of compassion and empathy. I encourage taking your business elsewhere. read more

I wish I could give 0 stars. Really, anywhere else would be a better choice. Three days before my dad's funeral I called up to ask what time I should get there to set up. The woman shouted at me. I kept asking why she was acting that way and why was she angry at me. She said she wasn't angry but could "show me angry." I was completely confused. She started shouting about someone's lawyer who called her? I don't know anything about that or why she would shout at me for it. She shouted that she would call the cops if my mother tried to show up as per my stepmother's wishes. I started shaking and tearing up. She asked if I was okay, and I said no, my father just died and you're yelling at me. I kept saying I just want to know what time to arrive and she said it's on the obituary and she didn't have time to look at it. I said I know the service starts at 1, but what time should I set up. And she said just get there when it starts. It went on like this for awhile. I was blown away by this woman's demeanor towards someone who just lost their father and was having his funeral at their funeral home. It left me shaking and crying for awhile after the call. Seriously, go anywhere else. Anywhere would be better than a place where they feel it is okay to yell at people during the hardest moments of their lives. read more

Thank you, Bruce Van Arsdale for all you did to give our father a beautiful and respectful send off. You made us all feel comfortable during a difficult time. I especially appreciated the ability to have family upload images to create a video memorial. I would highly recommend your services. read more

I want to give NO STARS but that's not an option Please do not use this funeral home the owner Bruce is one of rudest, disrespectful, unsympathetic arrogant person I have ever met. He made several inappropriate comments to my family member while going through the arrangement of my grandmother. Some of these comments "you can't afford to have me come to the cemetery", "I'm busy playing golf what is you want now I have to have a life", "you didn't want to pay to have things done we don't have time for this stuff" several comments about money so if you want your loved ones to be put to rest respectfully I would suggest using a different funeral home with an owner who has respect for the family who has just lost a loved one read more

just an fyi the 2 good reviews are by ppl with just 1 review whilst the two very bad ones are with ppl who actually do reviews so Bruce may be giving "good review" discounts........ read more

please do not use this funeral home if you have lost a loved one. this man is rude, disrespectful, arrogant has a foul mouth. while my mothers service was going on he was in his office cursing very loudly. he is very unprofessional. no caring or concern at all! my mothers casket was all scratched and was also broken in one spot. you certainly do not get what you paid for with this funeral home. read more