The $30 Lunch That Could Have Been Worth Thousands Last week I received a beautifully printed invitation to a complimentary lunch at a nice restaurant -- a presentation by Neptune Society, a cremation pre-planning organization. I RSVP'd, confirmed my attendance, and looked forward to learning more. I was, in fact, a legitimate prospect. Then came the phone calls. An urgent message from their representative, insisting he needed to speak with me personally before the event. I was out of town for the weekend, but I called back the day after I returned -- exactly as promised. He didn't answer, so I left a message letting him know I'd see him the next day at lunch. Professional. Courteous. Done. What came next genuinely shocked me. A voicemail explaining that after further research, he had discovered I had attended a previous Neptune Society presentation years ago -- for my parents -- and since this event was strictly for first-time attendees, he had gone ahead and cancelled my reservation. No discussion. No alternative offered. Just -- cancelled. Now I want to be fair. I understand the business logic. These lunches cost money. He didn't want to "waste" a seat on someone who had already been through the pitch. Perfectly rational thinking -- on a spreadsheet. But here's what that spreadsheet didn't account for: I know from research that his company competes directly with other cremation organization, and that his company charges significantly more. I would have welcomed the chance to hear what sets Neptune Society apart from its lower-priced competitors -- especially since cremation itself is such a commodity service. That conversation could have justified the price difference. Now I'll never know. That lunch would have cost him perhaps $20-30. Instead, what it cost Neptune Society was a customer who will now go out of her way to choose someone else -- and who is writing about the experience in a post here, where many, many people can also see it and form their own opinions. The lesson for every sales professional and business owner reading this is simple: the moment a prospect feels discarded, the sale is dead -- and so is every referral they would have sent you. Treating people as line items rather than human beings is a false economy. A $30 lunch investment, versus a potential several thousand dollar pre-planned cremation contract -- plus referrals to every friend and family member facing the same decision -- is not even a close call. Elegance, dignity, and respect are not just nice values to have. In a business literally built around life's most sensitive moments, they ARE your entire brand. So I ask you -- how would you have felt? And if you were that representative, how would you have handled it differently? read more

Neptune Society Services has been there for my family for serveral that have passed. They have never been rude/disrespectful to us. They have always been eager to help in any way they can. We have worked with several different representatives, and each has been great. I would highly recommend them and their business. read more

There are so many things to deal with when someone passes away. Cassie Vargas/Neptune handled everything efficiently and did not require much participation on my part. Highly recommend. read more

David Hale, the representative for Neptune Society is knowledgeable, professional, a true patriot and one of the most effective presenters that I've ever ever observed in my 83 years of life. Is a veteran and handled veterans affairs with loving care and excellent knowledge. I was impressed from beginning to end of his heart felt presentation. Neptune Society appears to be a solid rock, not only in their business, but outstanding among all businesses in the country. read more

My parents bought 2 prearranged plans in 2006 and we just completed using the second plan. We have been very impressed with the company. Neptune made a difficult event as easy as it possibly could be. Neptune handled everything as promised. Such a gift to have it all done, just they way they chose. We didn't have to make any additional decisions or payments. I will be purchasing a prearranged plan for myself too. It's a gift to your kids to make your own arrangements ahead of time. I highly recommend them. read more

My dad bought services for my mom, himself and his son a number of years ago when my brother died. My mom died 12 years ago, and now my dad passed as well. I called Neptune and was directed to the Houston branch. They were very sympathetic and told me they would be there in 2 hours to take care of my dad. They arrived promptly and were very caring and professional in getting him ready for transport. Cassie Vargas was nothing but wonderful in communicating and really seemed to care a lot. After an appropriate time, his ashes and the death certificates were sent to our house. I do appreciate Neptune a lot. My wife and myself also have plans for when our time comes. I know Neptune will also handle us well when needed. read more

I highly recommend the Neptune Society. From start to finish they have been helpful and professional. They have been informative throughout the entire time. read more

I had excellent service from the Houston Texas office. They were able to schedule the funeral arrangements on the date I wanted and were able to expedite the death certificates. Highly recommend. read more

If I could leave 0 stars I would. This place is absolutely horrible!!!! They're very unprofessional, understaffed, and just complete idiots. The Houston office of Neptune Society does not effectively communicate, the time frame it would take for a loved one to be cremated and to receive ashes, zero communication or follow up from the funeral director. Left a message for a supervisor to contact me. I asked who would be contacting me a Cassie whoever she is? Still nothing!! She did my family DIRTY!! I continued to call to get answers and keep getting the run around LIES to put in simpler terms!! Extremely poor empathy towards someone already dealing with a loss!! My advice, do yourself a favor stay away from this place and make your life a little less stressful. They are extremely unprofessional. Very, very disappointing overall read more

I wanted to thank the staff and Michael Gracia who helped myself and my family in a very difficult and painful time. Mr. Garcia explained everything and made choices and arrangements as seamless as possible. Thank you for your professionalism. I would definitely recommend them. read more

We purchased our cremations over 10 years ago from a friendly, knowledgeable representative. After three months in in-home hospice, it was time for their services. They came in a timely manner when hospice contacted them. The Neptune personnel arrived at our home to take custody of the body in a dignified, professional manner. Cremation occurred in a timely manner. When we picked up the remains, additional items and services were displayed in the room, but not discussed, eliminating the possibility of making an emotion-based decision. The staff there treated us with the utmost dignity and respect. I'd recommend the Neptune Society very highly. Janet read more

When my wife died unexpectedly in Houston (we are from Washington state), Cassie Vargas and others at Neptune did an amazing job, and made the arrangements much easier for me. Cassie was compassionate and helpful. Because I wanted to take my wife home as soon as possible, she expedited the cremation and arranged for the death certificates to be sent to me. I feel like she was a good friend in a foreign place when I was all alone and my heart was broken. She understood my pain. I highly recommend The Neptune Society in Houston! read more

My wife and I have recently bought cremation plans from Neptune Society. The salesperson was very informative, knowledgeable and able to answer all of our questions. Pricing was about what we expected. Werecommend this company if you are in need of making arrangements in advanced. read more

My brother-in-law passed recently and quicker than we expected. Honestly it was a bit of a shock. However, Neptune was great. They worked with us on the financing and took care of everything (thank-you Cassie Vargas!) When I went to pick up his ashes, it hit me harder than expected. No worries, the receptionist sat me in a private room with tissue and gave me time to get myself together. Then she came in, brought the ashes, and death certificate. She asked if I had any questions, told me to call if I thought of something later. Then she told me to be careful driving home. Lovely place, lovely people. read more

Highly recommend! Cassie Vargas and her team showed compassion, patience and understanding to our needs for the whole process.

On the day my mom died, the plan to donate her body to the Baylor College of Medicine was suddenly "denied" by Baylor. Didn't expect that; and found myself standing in her ICU room with "the plan" pulled out from under us. Perhaps Baylor doesn't realize how bad a situation that creates; I don't know. But I do know that with one call to Karen at Neptune Society, we had a complete plan from a few minutes phone call. They gave us the few hours with Mom we asked for, and then took care of everything from there. The fee was far less than I expected. Couldn't be more grateful. Ben Chappell Attorney, San Antonio, TX read more

Beware. They are very attentive and helpful during the sales process but after that extremely unprofessional with no cooperation or communication. My "director" Jessica would not return calls or texts. Literally just ignored contact. Asked that the manager Michael Garcia call me and that has not happened either. Update: I was assured on August 16 by Jessica that the online death certificate application would be submitted to the state of Texas that day and that the turnaround time was 5-7 work days. My follow ups after a week were ignored. Today I finally got an application number to be able to check the status on the state website. It turns out the application was not submitted until August 26th. read more

We were trying to navigate through the process of having cremated remains shipped to us out of state, and Director; Cynthia Warren couldn't have been more sympathetic to our wishes. Unfortunately, do to absolutely to no fault of the Neptune Society, we were not able to have our wishes fulfilled. We are very appreciative of the kindness and understanding of Cynthia, which did help to ease some of the pain of our disappointment. read more

Don't get misled and make sure you are aware of all of the price details with the Neptune Society. The sales person was nice, but extremely misleading. I'm ending up paying $1,260 more than what I thought I was going to pay. Apparently there are TWO separate contracts, instead of just one. One is only for the cremation services that they provide and a second one is for the cardboard urn ($1,505 - rather expensive for cardboard) and travel insurance ($569 which I was told was included in the total price - but not true). I do not need $569 worth of travel insurance because I don't travel, so this is money I have thrown away for nothing. Also, the plan that was sold to me (without the of the details of everything that was included) has me paying $490 for basic services for a funeral director and staff, which I never would have purchased had I known since I am not going to have a service. Their computer program did not clearly present in one place what I was signing up for, so the total price was virtually impossible to catch at the time since there was a lot of information and the salesperson was not forthcoming. I only found out my situation a few days ago after receiving something in the mail showing my balance, which was significantly higher than what I expected. By the time I found this out, the 30 days cancelation had expired so I am left paying 57% more than what I had understood I would pay (and this does NOT include the $$490 for the funeral director services). I'm sure the salesperson was out for her commission instead of thinking about the customer. Don't get misled like I did. read more

The staff and our representative, Cynthia Warren, were very professional and kind in helping us with our Dad's arrangements. They were very helpful and committed to helping us through our grief and were very comforting to work with. read more

Cassie Vargas was extremely helpful is assisting me with my needs for my mother. The fact that my mother had made all of her arrangements years ago was certainly helpful but without the assistance and guidance from Cassie it would have been stressful and difficult. She held my hand and walked me through everything that was going to be done or needed to be done. I would like to sincerely thank her for everything she did at this most difficult time. read more

the made a hard time so much easier. Karen is an angel! if I have to I would use them again. can't say enough. Thank you Karen Cortez ant the Neptune Society! read more

We deeply appreciate the great service from Neptune Society, especially Karen, who took care of the paperwork and cremation in so many details with her expertise, patience and passion. Karen even adjusted cremation schedule for us to meet our extended family's needs. We strongly recommend Neptune Society as the best cremation and certification service. read more

We used Neptune for a family member, and we were extremely happy with the staff. Director Cynthia made a stressful event easy to understand. She showed us patience and grace even with our million questions. The prices were good and we were able to get everything completed. Thanks for walking us through this journey. read more

My issue is with Neptune Society's customer service. They're great if you want to purchase a contract then you actually speak to a person because they want your business/money. However if you have a general question once your contracts are paid in full it's impossible to speak with someone. I would advise people to keep the name and number of the person who initiated your contacts for any future concerns. Contacting Neptune directly is pointless if you don't need immediate assistance. read more

This feels weird to write a review on my experience with my mom's cremation but we frequently wrote reviews and notified managers or owners if we had great service. After reading the other reviews, I'm shocked because I had nothing but positive interactions with Ms. Monica at Neptune Society. My mom died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago and the next day, I contacted Neptune Society about cremating my mom. Monica has been nothing but supportive and professional the entire time, with constant communication about updates and what I needed to do. Honestly, I was so overwhelmed with a lot of things that having someone like her has really helped make this process as smooth as possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking care of my mom and helping me through this insanely difficult time. read more

Sad to see the bad reviews. We have used the Houston office for two recent passings in our family. Both times, LaQuita Allen was truly outstanding from the beginning. I have zero complaints and I highly recommend Neptune Society. read more

Our mother recently passed away and it was a great relief to find that she had prearranged her final wishes with Neptune Society. We called Neptune as soon as she had passed and they handled everything from there. Everyone we've encountered at Neptune Society was so helpful and respectful. i was so impressed by the wonderful service we received that I'm making an appointment for my husband and myself to buy a prepaid package from Neptune. read more

It started off as a potential disaster but Jannelly Martinez in the Houston office saved the day. Because my mom moved to Vermont, where there are no Neptune affiliates, we ran afoul of the process when she passed. When Jannelly learned of the situation she took charge and handled everything seamlessly. I am so very grateful for her compassion, professionalism, and efficiency. Jannelly was a blessing to my family when we really needed one. read more

Hey, Neptune Society, I resent envelopes without Neptune identifying info and printed with "Data Verification Needed", when my data most definitely is not needed by anyone unless I choose to share it. Does this business think that tricking me into opening an envelope will gain my trust or business? They have been haranguing people by name at my address who died years ago or never even lived here. Requests to be removed from your mailing lists are simply ignored. You can count on me to never use Neptune because of such repeated disrespect. read more

Their customer service is terrible. My mother in law passed away in February 2016. Neptune picked up her body quickly and without any problems; however, it took us numerous phone calls over 6 weeks to obtain her ashes. We scheduled her funeral for 4 weeks after her death, but Neptune could not produce her ashes. We had to have a memorial service instead. We had to fight with Neptune to certify that the ashes were indeed my mother in laws. We always had to call them, because they never called us. If you do business with Neptune, YOU WILL REGRET IT! read more

I find it interesting that of the 14 reviews NOT RECOMMENDED, 12 of them rated Neptune Society at 4 stars or more. The recommended reviews? 1 star. I wonder why that is? read more

We can't thank you enough for the ease and compassion you gave us in regards to my mother-in-law's death. Death is always a difficult thing to deal with; add a pandemic and a severely injured surviving parent, and it is almost unbearable. John was an anchor that we could count on during this stormy time and made everything move along smoothly. We know my father-in-law will be in good hands when he is ready to move on as well. read more

I couldn't have asked for a better person to help my family take care of my brother after he was taken from us. Jannelly was kind and patient and figuratively help my hand through the entire process. She was thoughtful, kind, and compassionate during one of the worst times in my family's lives and we are forever grateful for her. Her customer service and attention to detain were second to none and made me feel like my brother was In The best care possible. I can never thank her enough for the piece of mind that she gave me during such a terrible time of unthinkable loss. She anchored me through the entire process start to finish. She's 5 star quality, and held in the highest regard. Jannelly M. Is the absolute best you'll find in Texas read more

The Funeral Director, Ms. Allen was professional and courteous and made a difficult experience easier. My family was very satisfied with the process and the timely manner in which our loved one's cremains were returned to us. The staff were also very respectful and courteous with us and I would recommend Ms. Allen to anyone. read more

When I heard about the Neptune Society a few years ago, I encouraged my parents (both in their 90's) to sign up for it. Each had already decided upon cremation and by signing up in advance, one very large decision and process was already in place when the time came. Both my parents have now passed and as their only child, having the Neptune Society there to handle the immediate needs has been wonderful. All the people I came in contact with were highly professional and caring. I cannot say enough good things about my experience. Much gratitude! read more

HORRIBLE customer service..... The entire staff is completely incompetent. It started with lies from Esmeralda the manager in regards to having death certificates in hand within 10 days after paying for overnight delivery charges..... then no one ever notified us to come pick my mother up for over 10 days after her remains were ready to be picked up.... and then Monica left me on hold for over 11 minutes while she 'checked' to see if my mother's remains were there and ready for pick up. Their insensitive incompetence has led me to believe they have NO BUSINESS working with grieving families during their time of loss. I would NEVER work with this company, location, or people again. Complete loss of trust. read more

Passing away of a loved one is one of the hardest things one can deal with in this world. This place made that experience even more painful. I am not going to get into details but for example there was no communication follow up from the funeral director, no not keeping clients updated, poor instructions and very very poor empathy towards the clients. I pray for everyone that no one close to you pass away but if God forbid they do then I pray to you that you don't have to deal with this place. My advice, please please stay away from this place and make your life a little less stressful when dealing with a loss. read more

This company is terrible, insensitive, keep sending this info to older people, upsetting them and they are told not to do so, they ignore it and keep doing it again and again. Company like that shouldn't be in this type of business or in any. I would never would use company which doesn't understand that NO means NO. Somebody already file this complain, but seems like nothing changed read more

This organization was a Godsend. My sister passed away and they immediately took care or all the arrangements. I am very pleased with their service and will be using them in the future. I didn't give them five stars because waiting for the ambulance at 1:00 a.m. took over two hours for them to come - they had another death that had come in ahead of us, so we had to wait. When they did come, they were efficient and very kind. read more