The Elms Funeral Home

I HIGHLY DISAGREE with the other reviews! My family has used The Elms Funeral Home twice in the last four years and the staff has always been extremely professional from start to finish. From the moment they came to my father’s house up until the last time we had contact with them, they were absolutely a Angel from God! We have visited several funeral homes in the area and we found The Elms was the most personable and pleasing of our needs. Plus I can not trust a review where the guy bashes the funeral home he uses but praises a funeral home he didn’t choose to use for his memorial service. Seems odd! Based of his past reviews he gets a rise out of rating businesses 1 star, but would «rate a zero if Unilocal would allow it».

I agree with the other review on here. My brother passed away August 22^nd. I was a little surprised when they came to pick up his body (he died at home) they didn’t even say anything to me as they were leaving, which I thought was weird. I went to arrange his cremation, and got called daily for his life insurance paperwork so they could get paid for their services. When I got it, I dropped it off there and no one even knew why I was there. I sat down with someone to tell them why I was there and give them the paperwork, which I pulled out of an envelope with some other paperwork of mine. She asked me if she could see the rest of the paperwork I had with me. Umm, no, I’m here to drop this off only and I’m not letting everyone read confidential documents pertinent to my brother’s passing. Well fast forward NINE days, I’ve heard nothing from them, not a peep, so I call the funeral home to get a status. The guy says let me get your name and number and have your funeral director call you back. I asked him if this is how it’s normally done. I don’t know what day my brother was cremated, when the death certificates I ordered are getting here, nothing. He literally just repeated let me get your information and have your funeral director call you back. Rudely, and condescendingly, like he just couldn’t be bothered to engage further with me. The funeral director did call me back right away, but my brother was cremated Monday. I had no idea. I feel like I should have been notified. She did apologize and she is delivering the death certificates and his ashes to me as I only live a few blocks away, but too little too late.
My family has been using this funeral home for 35 years. The original place burned down, and new owners rebuilt. Rumor is they own a few other funeral homes in the area, which makes sense, seeing as how this place seems less about helping people and more about they money. The old place was very nice and helpful. I arranged my mother’s funeral there in 1998. Maybe this time it was only a cremation and not as much money making opportunity here, but I get better service from my vet when they cremated my cat a few years ago, and they were nicer and more communicative, even after they got paid. They don’t handle the delicate business of handling someone’s remains after they passed as a business. It makes me glad we decided to make alternative plans for his memorial and not have them here.

ZERO STARS
Unilocal doesn’t allow zero stars.
Sorry, it’s a long story but, I’ll make it as short as possible. The Elms, Kolbus on Higgins Ave, Lawrence Funeral Home on Austin Ave, and Nelson Funeral Home in Park Ridge are all owned by the same family.
I spent en entire day visiting many funeral homes for my mother’s services to be held at. Towards the end of the day I arrived at the Elms. I later found out that Eugene Cha, the man I had been speaking with at Kolbus and over the phone from the Elms is actually the owner. I mention this because he was never up front about it.
DO NOT give this man your business. I dealt with about a dozen funeral home directors and all of them were at least kind if not extremely helpful and compassionate. I knew nothing about the business and since Kolbus was the second place I visited, I wanted to make sure I was comparing apples with apples. This man was cold and short with his responses. He constantly spoke over me and was condescending. Finally, I got fed up of his disdain and I said to to him that he could be a lot nicer. I told him that no one wants to have to shop around for a funeral home for his mother. He offered no apology, and just said, «OK, OK».
DO NOT give this man your business. If a new looking funeral home is important for you, Cumberland Chapels is the nicest. It has the most luxurious materials and the people are nice there. Incase your wondering, I had my mom’s service at Benson Family Funeral Home at 3224 W Montrose Ave near Kedzie Ave. It was inexpensive and held over 300 guests. The owners were away on vacation but, there staff exceeded my expectation. They were helpful, warm, caring, and compassionate. They even wept with me as they have also had a similar experience with a loved one.