Reviews of Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium (Red Deer/Blackfalds/Eckville) (Mortuary)

Hartley Leppard

Thanks to all at Parkland but in particular to Elle for her compassion, caring and professionalism.

Lunckytunk

Excellent service and staff. Very professional over the phone and didn’t hide any important information or costs from us.

Sinead Armstrong

A huge thank you to Parkland Funeral Home and in particular Elle and her team for the compassionate, caring and professional work that her team did as we planned our Dad’s funeral service. In particular, Elle was available anytime we needed something, she was dedicated to ensuring that every detail was planned to our wishes and was just so lovely. We would like to personally thank Parkland Funeral home for their work before, during and after the service. From the planning stages, the service at the church, the graveside burial and the meetings afterward we were thoroughly impressed! Thank you for making such a difficult time so much more bearable. The Lynch & Armstrong Family

Carol Worke

The staff were great. Very approachable. Didnt hide anything from us such as costs. Didn't try to talk us into other options etc. I would recommend them to other families.

Sabrina Wowdzia

My father passed away March 27 2016. They were very great on the phone and were very fast at getting us our meeting. When we went to meet with them they were very calm and talked nice and slow making you believe they are telling you everything you need to know. My grandparents were insistent to pay for everything , we wanted cremation, and just the bare minimal , we brought clothes for dad to be put in and they asked if we would like to view him while we were there, I said yes - They didnt inform us that it would be $300 for the 15 minutes we were in with dad. By law even with cremation you must use a coffin, the cheapest being a plywood coffin for almost $500. Also because my grandparents had stated they were paying for everything they failed to let us know that my mom could apply through them for a plan to pay up to $2000 of the expenses however the only way to get that is if it is done BEFORE everything is paid and has to be filed by the funeral home. Later we found out there is a pension plan that allows upto $2500 returned to you after the fact IF you are approved. **Update 19/05/2016 The funeral home put my grandmothers names on the payment forms and not my grandfathers who paid on his credit card so this is an issue. The funeral home offered to help with this however I do not trust the funeral home as they are not very forthcoming with information unless you outright call them out on something. They also let us know that my father's fingerprint could be taken for free and we could have it at any time even if we didnt want it right then. So I said yes I did want them to take it. Shortly after I emailed and asked them for the fingerprint, and they told me I was not allowed to just have it, I had to purchase an item with the finger print printed on it. After a couple emails back and forth they finally sent me the fingerprint to my email. 2 weeks later on the one month's day of my dads passing, April 27 I get an email from them wanting just about $60 for sending me the finger print to my email, never once did they tell me that they wanted a fee and in the first meeting they had led me to believe that the fingerprint would be FREE. **Update 10/05/2016 - I talked to the funeral home today and was told that the taking of the fingerprint and the storage is free but the company who does that charges a fee when the fingerprint is used.The fee is charged to the funeral home and so then the fee is passed on to the client. I have no issues with that nor the paying of the fee However I was NOT informed of the fee before I got the fingerprint sent, had I known I would have waited. Now while waiting for the funds to come in the funeral home sent my mother a bill for the fingerprint that she had nothing to do with and was written that if the bill isn't paid in 15 days of the bill that there would be a 2% interest charge. When I asked why the bill was sent to my mom they informed me it was the only address they had, even though I had been dealing with them over email, not once did they ask me for my address or I would have happily given it so my mom would not have to see mail from the funeral home. For the lack of compassion, empathy and the lack of communication I have asked that the fingerprint fee be waived . I was told the owner would be in contact with me about this. I am very disappointed in how the funeral home does not talk about fees up front and clearly, they avoid that while doing a good job of talking about everything else.I feel like they do this as a way to confuse you and get you to go along with what they are saying without having to worry about costs. My father's death was very unexpected the day before and my family was in shock very much and I feel like we were taken advantage of in our time of need. I would not recommend this funeral home to anyone and have now learnt to pre plan and find out everything I can before hand so this doesn't happen again for any of my family members. **Update 20/05/2016 The funeral home waived the fee for the fingerprint.

Shane Copeland

My daughter and I had a very good experience regarding the services and other things offered to us in regards to my wife's passing! We felt we were treated with respect and dignity. Riley Acciaroli one of the directors at the Funeral Home had treated us with the outmost kindness. They were sure that everything was carried out in regards to our wishes. I would definitely recommend them! Another family member had first recommended them as they pretty much did the same type of funeral services as other funeral homes but were overall somewhat cheaper in price! Thanks to her and the other staff it made our loss and pain much more bearable!

Aylin Aboolian

My father passed away in a car accident on July 5th and his passing was a huge shock to all of us. It was hard to believe what had happened and to except his death. Planning a funeral was the last thing in our mind and of course knowing what we had to do. We went to Parkland Funeral Home and met Jolene Santee who explained to us everything. She made the funeral arrangement process much easier for us and was there every step of the way. We never felt forced to do anything that we didn't want to. Thank you Jolene for being there for us through this hard time and making sure everything went smooth.

Mary

The staff are awesome!

Conrad Flynn

Been here twice, both times went exactly as hoped. They delivered the services I required without any mistakes or hang ups. Jolene Santee is fantastic at her work -- kind and organized.

Tay Gee

Talk about a wonderful experience during a terrible time, during my fathers passing Jolene has gone far above and beyond what is expected of any staff, even coming in on her day off to make sure we had him home for Christmas. I want to thank all of the staff at parkland funeral homes for there amazing etiquette and class 5 out of 5 . Nothing but love and gratitude from our family to yours ! Have a wonderful new year parkland funeral homes ! -Taylor & Family

Tim Quesnel

A sad day happened recently. We required the Services of a Funeral Home. We contacted Parkland Funeral Home because of previous experiences. We were directed to our Funeral Director Jolene Santee. Jolene was such a great Lady to deal with for our needs. She is extremely knowledgeable and experienced with grieving families. Jolene made the complete process so bearable and underwhelming. Jolene took care of the complete process and went over and above her job to help us cope with arranging a Funeral. Parkland Funeral Home as a whole is very Professional and employ such caring Funeral Directors. Our Family were very Happy with the way we were looked after during such a stressful time. Compliments to Parkland Funeral Home and Jolene Santee. Thank you for all your help Jolene!

April Barnhill

My Grandfather passed away on April 4. Having had attended other funerals at Parkland we had heard very good reviews.We had the privilege to work with one of the directors in training, Jolene Santee. The process from the initial meeting to the day of the funeral was exceptional. The staff was very accommodating and Jolene's attention to detail from the paperwork, the video, the display of my Grandpas belonging, and even going out of her way to have my Grandpas favourite flavour of ice cream at the reception was a great relief to my Grandma. For the end of my Grandpas life we couldn't have asked for a better experience.

millie picotte

We had a very good positive experience with Parkland Funeral Home. All the staff and especially Jolene Santee were amazing when dealing with us and the sudden death of my brother in law Jack. They were so patient and kind. Everything was explained, all costs were discussed and we took an extra pair of ears along in case one of us missed an explanation as a lot of people do when they are stressed! We would definitely recommend Parkland Funeral Home to our family and friends! They were very reasonably priced also! I have had to help plan funerals for my gramma and my father and their funerals were much more expensive! Well done Parkland Funeral Home! You made a difficult situation easier to deal with! Thank you!

Tracy Carter

Hands down the best in the industry. They were accommodating enough to come to the hospital even. Made a very difficult time very easy and very seamless. Riley was so professional, yet so personable. I honestly can’t say enough about not only the pricing, the facility and the options available, but every single person that works there makes you feel welcome and again, so very accommodating.

Judy Dobinson

There are not enough words to express my gratitude to the staff at Parkland Funeral Home, and especially Jolene Santee for the care and compassion shown to our family while making arrangements for mom’s funeral service. Jolene went the extra mile to make a very stressful situation into a positive experience. Sincere thanks.

Milos

Thank you Riley for absolutely amazing service. You definitely made it much easier on our family. Service was amazing. Thank you again

M C

We would like to thank Gordon Mathers, Jolene Santee and the staff members of Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium for the excellent funeral services for our beloved mother. Thank you all for the care and compassion you showed during our time of bereavement. Many thanks for your understanding and accommodating of our Chinese tradition and customs, and for helping us completed the entire funeral ceremony in a smooth way (both the private family viewing on Friday night, and the actual service on Saturday morning). Special thanks to our Funeral Director, Jolene Santee for her professional and outstanding service. Jolene was very thorough, efficient, kind, patience and extremely helpful. We were very impressed and grateful for the care and ease of the entire process. Thank you all from our family.

Sandra Hutchings

Jolene was wonderful. She was kind, professional and knowledgeable. She was available when we had any questions. We had made prearrangements and it was a relief to make a brief phonecall on the day of my dad's passing and have Jolene take care of things. She told us to focus on our grieving and she would take care of next steps. We are thankful we chose Parkland funeral home.

Lee Brodowski

The services and support provided to our family with the passing of our dearly loved Mother were so very kind, and thoughtful during this very difficult time. A very special thank you to Jolene for listening, your compassion and understanding is and was very much appreciated.

Erin Evens

At a time when we were lost and uninformed, Parkland Funeral home responded promptly. Jolene and the others made this difficult time so much easier to bear. They were extremely helpful, informative, and caring. THANK YOU! All.