Sunset Hills Crematory

Wow! What a beautiful park like setting. The staff are the most kind, sincere and professional people I have worked with. This place is everything you could hope for and more. Funeral services are not cheap and you get the highest quality service available. The other reviews seem to be from angry people that don’t appreciate the finer things in life. It’s like buying a car, you can go to a used car lot and pay a little or go to a Mercedes or BMW dealer. The level of service and products offered are dramatically different. From my personal experience Finley Sunset Hills is top of the line in all categories. I am at peace with having my loved ones watched over in such a caring place.

I truly hate this fucking place with a passion. It is hard enough to make visits to my father and grandparents plots as is without seeing the grounds in horrible shape. I may have to go up once a month to do landscaping so my dad’s headstone isn’t covered in over hanging grass and bushes. On memorial day I was there and was trying to spend some quiet time at the plot location and was hounded by some used car salesman of an employee handing out surveys on how the grounds looked and how customer service was and if I took time to fill out the survey, I could enter to win a fucking sharis pie or an ipod. Needless to say, the cemetery almost had fresh body to plant if this asshole didn’t get out of my face. They are horribly over priced and they make a huge profit off of other people’s misery. Fuck this place. As weird as it may seem, I’d almost rather have my dad’s plot moved to my backyard, at least I know it would be taken care of at home and I don’t have to deal with assholes when I want to visit him.

I would not recommend this place to anyone. I understand this is a business but when you are in the business of grief and pain you should be able to act as though you care a little bit about the situation and not just fattening your wallets. We were using this home to bury my mom’s dad. After agreeing apon what we wanted things fell through with the $ 15 000 dollars we needed to pay we called them and explained we would not have all the $ 15 000 dollars up front but could cover a portion up front and have the rest within 3 days. We were instantly told not to show up for the next appointment to finish everything up unless we had all the money or nothing. There was no attempt to work with us or anything. It was very obvious at this time that they are strictly about the money and not the customers or their feelings. When we had the body moved to a new funeral home they became very bitter and charged us $ 1200 for holding the body. No offering of a discount for the way things were handled or anything. When advised about the way they handle business and how they could loose potential costumers they said «This is how things are.» Again avoid this place at all cost.

I know funeral services are expensive but this was the worst. My husband said that he’d rather go buy a used car off of 82^nd ave. They are very vague about their pricing and take forever to give you a straight answer about it. Plus it’s way more than other places — extra fees for everything. We felt nickeled and dimed at a vulnerable time. We ended up using the least of the services that we had to (plot was already purchased before) and went to Springer and Son in Aloha to do 99% of the arrangements. It was like night and day (see my Springer and Son review).

Last Memorial Day when I came here to pay respects to my family members buried here, I was rudely told that Sunset no longer provides flower cones for visitors. The volunteer at the gate was very rude and tried to tell me that they had never provided this service (I have been visiting this cemetery for over a decade — they have ALWAYS provided cones before last year). I don’t know what they do with the thousand of cones they must collect after Memorial Day is over, but at the very least they could offer them for sale at the front gates instead of just flat out saying they don’t have any at all. I had to drive miles out of my way to buy cones. All the other cemeteries I visit on Memorial Day provide cones to their visitors. The grounds here are really beautiful but the entire place screams corporate money-​machine with their attitude.
Edit: I just got off the phone with one of their employees and she verified that Sunset throws away the flower cones every year. For a city that prides itself on sustainability and recycling, Sunset Cemetery is an ugly contrast.

This place is owned by «the Man» of funeral homes. I highly recommend doing your own research into STEI (the parent company, proof in that if you go to their website it says copyright STEI at the bottom). It’s my understanding that because it’s a corporate business, they have unethical manipulation of vulnerable people down to a science. As with most corporations, all they care about is the bottom dollar. However, I will give them 2 stars instead of one because I have family buried there and they didn’t screw up any of the ceremonies.

I dealt with another funeral home for my mom; two for my wife (one out of state & Finley). No where else have I felt like just a checkbook ready to be emptied. Every time I turned around, there was another charge, another demand. No compassion, no caring. If you have any flexibility, go elsewhere. Unfortunately, my wife wanted to be buried near her parents and brother, who bought here years ago, before it was corporate-​owned. I feel so bad about treatment here that I am considering not buying the plot next to my wife.