My baby boy passed last week, and in my grief I searched for a way to have his remains cremated. I love my dog dearly, so when I found a business which offered to come pick him up and deliver his ashes to me, it seemed quite perfect for him.
They had no problem picking him up and charging me for it. I suppose that should have been the first sign that I was dealing with a heartless company. Before anyone even got to my house, I got an invoice in my email for $300. That wouldn't have been a big deal, except 5 hours later, I received another email reminding me to pay. I'm sure they'll say it was automation or something of that nature, however reminding someone to pay multiple times in a day is quite upsetting, especially when you're processing the death of a loved one.
A driver arrived an hour or so after I called and took my pup away. No one contacted me with any concerns about driving to my house or asked about the state of the roads based on the recent rains, but when it came to delivering the ashes, it was quite a different story.
The driver called me up and told me that the owner was concerned about mudslides around my house, and wanted me to go meet him somewhere else to collect my dogs' remains. When I reminded him that it was sunny, hadn't rained in a week and was nearly 70 degrees, he told me "... my owner just wants us to be safe..." I asked that he have his owner call me to discuss that, and he said he would but I didn't recieve a call, so I called the business myself.
The owner told me that his drivers aren't used to driving in the mountains, of which I reminded him that they had no problem getting here when they were picking up the body. He then argued with me for a solid 3 minutes ending with his telling me that everyone who lost a beloved pet has a hard time with it. I told him I don't want special treatment, I just want the service that I paid for to be fulfilled. He agreed to that and my dogs remains were delivered about 20 minutes later. They were calling not before coming to my house, but while they were already en route, near my place with my best friends' ashes.
Even if the concern for the drivers safety was genuine, this whole experience has been nowhere near the compassionate, caring and understanding professionalism that is touted on their website. My baby boy was treated more like an inconvenient package delivery than a one of the most important parts of my life and what should have been a sad and delicate moment will forever stay in my memory as something angry and disturbing. You would think that these sorts of situations would be something that a business dealing with lost, beloved pets would be well adept at navigating, but Coral Cremations simply did not seem to care.
I'm sure that if you're reading this, you're dealing with something very hurtful right now. Save yourself the extra grief and look elsewhere for help with your beloved baby. read more