I thought I would wait some time before I posted my feelings to see if my impressions have…read moresubsided. They haven't. I am still livid at how Gutterman & Musicant completely failed my family and me at the PRE-PLANNED funeral for my mother.
The Gutterman funeral director had already mentioned to me during the initial mourning period that it was a "busy weekend" and that we would be better accommodated at the cemetery chapel rather than in the Gutterman facility in Hackensack. I agreed, thinking that less moving parts would be easier to handle on such a dire day. My brother, sister in law, and I then met the director at Gutterman the day prior to the funeral to review details.
We were told in no uncertain terms that due to this being a pre-planned funeral, there would be no problems...."It will go smooth as silk" are the words I recall hearing. It did NOT go smooth as silk.
It started with the director not posting the obituary on the Gutterman webpage in a timely manner thereby confusing out-of-towners. And then once it was posted, gave ambiguous information regarding the actual name of the cemetery chapel, making it difficult for those not acquainted with the cemetery to even find it.
Once the family arrived at the cemetery chapel, there was NO ONE from Gutterman to meet us, direct us, inform us, or otherwise DO THEIR JOB. It became a chaotic and confusing scenario.
After 30-45 minutes, the hearse and a Gutterman director found me waiting in the chapel lobby, and asked for me to formally identify the body.
I assumed the identification would be in a quiet, private, dignified area of the facility. Oh, I was so wrong.
IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE CEMETERY, THE DIRECTOR OPENED UP THE BACK OF THE HEARSE, ROLLED OUT AND OPENED THE COFFIN FOR ME TO IDENTIFY MY RECENTLY DECEASED MOTHER. In the parking lot! With people walking by.
I was dumbfounded. This is dignity? NOT A SHRED. Just all business: "Let's get this one done. We've got more to bury today."
And, to add insult to this, this director then presented me with an invoice, and asked me right then and there to write out a check for the outstanding balance! I was shaking I was so upset. But, that wasn't the end of it.
Once the entire group of attendees were ushered into the chapel, we were promptly told to exit, as another service was scheduled ahead of us. We were told to wait in the ante room to speak with the officiating cantor. She, too, was looking for the on-site Gutterman director, who now had mysteriously disappeared. This ante room had no amenities...no tissues, no water, nothing other than a mounted bronze shovel on a wall. Truly pathetic, and impersonal.
After the service, the burial site was just as inattentively prepared as the dirt from the newly dug grave was piled on and over the footstone for my father's grave. No one made any attempt to clean it off, or to afford any dignity to those already buried.
Despite the corporate name DIGNITY above the Gutterman & Musicant name, our experience was anything but dignified.
Would I recommend Gutterman & Musicant to anyone? Not in a million years. Disappointed and still livid, not dignified.
