Monopoly takes a toll on customer service.
We visited Wheeler Mortuary in Portales, NM on 4/20/18 due to my mother's death. We met the owner, Mr. Scott P. Reeves. He asked us what we wanted to do. He did not show us a list of services available or the logistics. In a hurry, Mr. Reeves asked us for the full names of the surviving family. We told Mr. Reeves that we had opted for cremation. I asked if it would be at Wheeler's Mortuary and what was the method. With short answers, he looked annoyed by my question. He responded that he uses Clovis, NM's facilities and by fire. He withheld the "duh!", but not the look. I asked because flame-based cremation and alkaline hydrolysis are the legal cremation processes in the US. Mr. Reeves did not explain the process or timeline, but he did point to the amounts for the services. We requested that the obituary be withheld until the day after the viewing so that we could have a private, family viewing. He said that the obituary would state that services had taken place on Sunday and it would be published on Tuesday or Wednesday. Pointing at the total, he asked how we wanted to take care of that and pointed to the signature line. We did not sign and told him that we needed to have a family meeting. Since it may be more feasible just to have the services in Lubbock, TX where the body was to avoid transportation expenses. He tore off the last page of the invoice and gave it to us saying "here is your quote." I asked him how soon he needed to know, he didn't answer.
We decided to stay with Wheeler Mortuary. We got a cashier's check. We returned to the mortuary. Mr. Reeves did not say hello, instead, he said, "So you decided to have it here." I told him that some family members could not travel to Lubbock. We gave him the cashier's check and we signed. Mr. Reeves wrote the receipt and handing it to us he stood up and said "here's your receipt" with a motion indicating that we were done or at least that he was done. We asked how it worked. He said "I'll have her ready for viewing." We asked what that meant. He said "I'll have her ready for you to view her." I turned to my family and said "he means that he will have her presentable for us." He stood up again. And again, we asked "what do we bring?" He said "whatever you want her to wear, I'll put it on her." He continued to move toward the door. We asked by what time we should bring it. With an annoyed gesture he said that by 5pm still moving. He did not show us the viewing room. He told us that he would cover her with a white veil and make her look really nice. He did not tell us the time. So, we asked for the time. He responded with a question: "in the morning or in the afternoon?" as if there were only two slots: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So, I asked at what time in the morning or at what time in the afternoon. Then, he said "whenever you want, that's why I'm asking if in the morning or in the afternoon." He had not said that we had a choice of any hour in the course of the day. We decided to be there at 2pm on Sunday. He continued to move away leading us toward the door. I left ahead of the group, I did not want to explode in the face of such an old, arrogant man.
My sisters went back to ask more of him. On the viewing room, Mr. Reeves responded: "I was just gonna put her in a dressing room." But Mr. Reeves still did not show them the room or how he was going to prepare the viewing. What is a dressing room?
We arrived on Sunday afternoon. She was on a metal roller table with a multicolor quilt over her. Even though the table was covered, we could see the table's wheels. She did not have the white blanket or veil that Mr. Reeves had promised.
We looked for her obituary from Tuesday, 4/24/18 to Friday, 4/27/18, with no avail. We returned. We spoke to a lady. We told her that Mr. Reeves had taken all the pertinent information on the surviving family members and that the obituary was to be published on Tuesday or Wednesday. She asked if we had paid for it or if it was a free one. (Does it matter?) We told her that it was included in the payment for the services received. She then said "oh, okay it's the free one then, Scott must've overlooked it" with a motion dismissing its importance. She told us that it would run on Sunday's paper. As a side note, it was not going to be "the free one." Now, I understand that it will never be published, and if it was to be, it will be untimely useless.
Because of Mr. Scott P. Reeves' deserving attitude due to his monopoly in funeral homes in Portales, NM, I suggest and recommend that if your loved one dies in a city like Lubbock, TX where you can have the funeral or cremation done, have it there. It will be less costly and I am almost certain that the service will be a lot more satisfactory. On the other hand, had I wore my work clothes (suit and tie) instead of jeans, shirt, and a baseball cap, and had lighter skin, we would have been treated differently. read more
