David Russell Funeral Home and Cremation

All of the staff members at David Russell treated my family with dignity and respect throughout the cremation process for our mother. They were very professional at all times during the process. I really appreciate the fact that they were very upfront about pricing & did NOT try to upsell services. The numbers given over the phone matched exactly what was stated/explained when we arrived several days later.nUpon arrival, we were greeted by Mr. Norris, who despite recovering from a procedure, felt it was important to personally meet with us. He answered EVERY question we had about the process.nIf you are seeking an affordable, honest, and transparent provider who will treat you and your family with dignity and respect, then I highly recommend David Russell Funeral home for your cremation needs. Although heaven can wait, as siblings we all agreeded to give D-R-H an opportunity, if and when the time comes. (S.N.Cofield)

I dont even know where to begin. My father passed away and we decided to come to david russel for a viewing of him, and for him to be cremated. The problem started when i walked into the establishment with my family and the place just felt wrong. They have no seperate room for caskets or viewings, it all takes place in the same room. If you use the restroom you might accidentally walk in on them wheeling a body out or just acting suspicious like we walked in on them doing something private.They werent even ready to see us when we got there. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. The manager or the owner named scott kept blaming his assistant for communication errors, while telling us false information himself. Kept saying he was going to fire her and that everything was her fault. Kept telling my family we were impatient when he kept giving us wrong times and information. During the viewing the phone wouldnt stop going off, scott wouldnt stop talking the entire time, and it just felt like a joke. The people who did not want to participate in the viewing were put in a room not even 5 feet away with the door open where they could hear him talking and everything happening. It wasnt private. They told us today that the ashes would be ready for pick up at 3:30, and of course they were not. We even called ahead of time. Our family was repeatedly dissapointed over and over again by this establishment, we just wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. Scott is crazy and will just talk circles around you until you go insane. Their is something very wrong with these people and Scott clearly has a mental issue.

Hi my name is Jomarysa Rivera.nMy experience started the night my mom passed away. The sheriff at my house came in and told us that someone called the funeral home screaming and cursing and demanding an autopsy. We all looked at each other and then looked at the sheriff and we said “ we haven’t called anywhere/no one we’ve all been here with mom” we don’t know how that ended or if it was a confusion with another family. So next thing that happened we waited for 16 days to hear from someone about picking up the ashes. on Friday 3/12 I called the funeral home for an update and I was told “the ashes have been here, We called and left a voicemail”. So I proceeded to say I haven’t received a call or voicemail. Voicemails are hard to get lost. Sooner or later the voicemail will come in. My opinion of what happened was they called another family instead of us or just simply they thought they called but didn’t. Now their only option was to say a “voicemail” was left and it must have not gone through. I have never heard a voicemail not going through unless your phone is disconnected which was not my case. So my mom was cremated on 3/3 and delivered to the funeral home. I found out on 3/12 because I called the funeral home. Then when I go to pick up the ashes the young girl that I’ve been dealing with on the phone and in person since day one told me “by the way the only thing not here is the death certificate “ and I said well isn’t that suppose to be here? She said “no because you never requested to have one “ I said I did not know I needed to “ request “ the certificate. Common sense well at least my common sense says a death certificate should come with the process and if you need EXTRA copies then request them. Also if the so famous request that needed to be put in why the information is being shared the day of cremation pick up? Wouldn’t someone should have told me the time I called before the appt, or the time I went in to signed the paperwork and paid or during the phone call about the doctor hasn’t signed the death certificate or when I called for an update about the ashes? So many opportunities to tell someone. NEVER assume someone knows the process that happens when I love one passes. This was my first experience with absolutely everything. So during the first appt this info should have been shared. So we were like “ ok yeah submit the request for a death certificate “ this was on 3/17 and she told us that we could pick up the certificate 3/18. I said well my aunt will pick up because I’m far from here palm harbor one hour and 30 min. (Only reason I used Service because it was a recommendation)... so she took the urns we brought in to the back to transfer the ashes etc. A bit later comes out and tells me that someone back there that I never saw the face said “ there might be an extra fee because the urn that will be shipped is bigger than what they usually ship out” I got the urn for my mom weight so not sure what size I should have gotten. But anyways I think my face said it all because when she came out to give me the urns she never mentioned the extra fee again. Then we were standing there like ummm ok. And then she looked up and said “ you are allnDone you could leave” I was like oh wow ok. So then I turned around and said “oh do you need the address where the urn is going to be shipped”? And she said yes so I walked back and since I was taking less than a minute for the address she said “ you could email it here” so I was like ok. I email it from right outside. I guess she was in a rush. I didn’t see anybody else waiting. Then on 3/18 my aunt called to let them know she’s on the way to pick up the death certificate she was told is not done because the person that does them is out sick. Thankfully I didn’t drive over there from palm harbor to pick up. Because again no phone call to update that the certificate will be done on another date. So my aunt said ok and asked about the urn that needed to be shipped and she said that she told me that the urn will be shipped at the end of Friday ( not true) never said.

Loss my brother and had to contact your establishment by phone from out of state. My niece and nephews were handling things there in Florida . Not so upset that there was a mistake made the night he was supposed to cremated and had to be corrected which put the cremation back , but very upset with the rudeness shown to me and my sister over the phone. I spoke to a lady at one point and she was gracious and very nice, but the man that I spoke with was rude to me at one point telling not to call back . The way my sister and I were treated was very disrespectful in our time of grief and it will never be forgotten.

Dear Scott, Paula, and Christine,nnI want to first and foremost say thank you for all that you have done. All 3 of you put your heart and soul into this business. In times like these with so many emotions running in our heads, it gives us great comfort that there is patience from the business side, also tremendous compassion from all if you 3. I tip my hat off to you guys. If there was a 10 star rating, you guys would get it. You guys have a great and safe weekend!nnJoe Nadolni