Lies, Neglect, Including Possible Theft, and Total Lack of Care
When my father passed away in February, we asked Brasco & Son to
handle the arrangements. We met with Paul Brasco and drew up a plan
including information for the time for the service, my father's birth date, military service information, instructions for what Paul was going to say and do during the service, and plans for a military ceremony at the National Cemetery in Bourne.
Brasco, however, messed up in every possible way. First, they published the wrong time for the service, causing people, even the priest, to come at the wrong time.
Second, Paul failed to show up for the service. He had promised to be there to introduce the speakers. When I asked a Brasco employee where Paul was, I was told no one could find him. It turned out that a family wanting to talk about a funeral had walked into his office without an appointment, so he met with them instead of being with us as he had promised. Third, a minor, but irritating point, on the Brasco website they consistently posted incorrect information about my dad, including his date of birth. Even on the day of the service, above his casket they listed a date that would have made him 20 years younger than me. Fourth, Brasco either lost or stole my father's military medals and ribbons. They had promised to pack up personal items about my dad's life, including photos and his medals, while we went to lunch. But when we unpacked the boxes, we discovered that the medals and ribbons were missing. When I called, they said they'd "look around" for them, but they never called us back with an explanation. These medals were very important to my dad who served in both Normandy and the Pacific. Fifth, one of the duties of the funeral home was to arrange for a military ceremony at Bourne cemetery where my father's ashes are to be buried. Because Paul rarely answers the phone or returns phone calls, I gave the requested date for the ceremony to Naomi. I told her it was important for us to make solid arrangements because my nephews are in the service and will be flying in from Europe and many family members live on the west coast so they too need to make work, flight, and hotel arrangements. Naomi called and told me she had booked the date, so weeks ago, family members made their arrangements. In light of Brasco's previous negligence, last week I decided to check on the National Cemetery website to make sure that Brasco had not messed up once again. Sure enough, it turns out that the National Cemetery Association has never received a request from Brasco about my father.
Naomi had lied to me when she assured me she made the reservation. Fortunately, I was able to contact someone at the National Cemetery Association (I was number 43 on hold, so it took all morning) who booked us for date we had requested. He told me that the date we had picked was popular and we are very lucky that there was still time available. It is a good thing I checked because I can only imagine how upsetting it would have been when my family showed up for the ceremony only to be told it had never been scheduled. In sum, Brasco did a terrible, terrible job in assisting us at our time of need. What makes it worse, is that Brasco knows my family because several of my father's siblings used Brasco for their funerals. In fact, the Brascos are second cousins to my father's family. If this is how they treat family, I can only imagine how they treat strangers. read more
