Hillier Funeral Service Anmeldelser 

I would NOT recommend Hillier for unattended cremations.

I know many people who have used Hillier in the past for traditional funerals and been satisfied, but when my mum passed away there really wasn't anyone left to attend her funeral beside myself and my own small family.

Before I begin I will admit that most of my points are minor. It is accumulatively that they became a list of mistakes and poor service.

Shortly after I provided Hillier with the paperwork allowing my mum to be cremated, I received a phone call to say the unattended cremation would take place on a certain Wednesday. As I had been advised by Kai that I would received her ashes within 3 days of the cremation, I arranged a trip to scatter her ashes Friday of the following week, giving the funeral home 6 working days to get the ashes back to me.

After 3 days with no news I called Hillier to ask when I could expect to receive the ashes. The lady on the end of the phone asked me to hold while she looked it up. While she did, she mumbled under her breath reading out the info on her screen (I'm sure she didn't know I could hear her) confirming that my mums ashes had been received the day following her cremation, she then made a confused sound and hastily asked me to hold while she called their Moredon office. When she came back she sounded nervous and advised that the Moredon office would call me back by the end of the day. This was very worrying particularly given recent news stories.

They did not call me back by the end of the day.

It was the afternoon of the following day when Kai called me to advise that there was a problem. I had requested a 50g portion of my mums ashes be separated, but apparently the person who owns the scales was on holiday for a week and had taken the scales with them... Honestly I did not know what to say to this crazy story, but as he promised to find another pair of scales and resolve the issue as quickly as possible, there wasn't much I could say.

I did not receive another call from Kai until late afternoon on the Friday I had planned to scatter my mums ashes. Seven working days after her cremation and 6 since she had been collected. As it was too late to collected that day, I requested to pick them up on Saturday hoping that I would still be able to go ahead with my plans, all be it a day late. However, I was informed that there was no-one in the office to handle it at the weekend unless I wanted to go there at 12 noon when they would have another family there to arranging a funeral, so the person dealing with that could nip out quickly to deal with me. As this felt inappropriate and would have been too late for me to proceed with my plans I declined and picked the ashes up the following Monday.

In addition to this frankly bizarre incident I experienced the following:

- The funeral home were unable to collect my mother for several hours on the day I called despite calling in the morning during normal office hours.
- Nearly all the staff I spoke to in person (rather than on the phone) were aloof verging on rude.
- I was informed that my mother would have to be taken to the Moredon site because "That's where we deal with unattended cremations." Instead of the Old Town site which was closer and had personal significance.
- Kai, who was the person who met with me to plan my mother's unattended cremation, was more like a used car salesperson than a funeral director in manner. He made several mistakes on the paperwork, including missing £20 off the price which I was subsequently reminded of every time someone called or emailed.
- Kai also stated on the paperwork that I wanted a lock of my mother's hair. This was not correct and I was very distressed when I learned that they had taken it as her hair condition had been a distressing side effect of her long illness. I do not know what they subsequently did with the lock of hair, but I feel very unnerved imagining it was just tossed away.
- When I dropped the authorisation to cremate off I tried to deal with the issue of the £20, but the person I spoke to couldn't have been more dismissive and went so far as to tell me he wouldn't deal with it.
- Although I ordered a scatter tube for my mum, I only learnt that there were design options when I collected my mum and the person who handed her over asked if the design they chose was ok. At that point it was a bit late, she was already in there.
- When I was informed that I could collect my mums ashes, I was not advised I would need to bring ID. I had none on me but after spending a few minutes unsuccessfully looking for photographs of my ID on my phone, the funeral worker allowed me to take the ashes without checking ID at all. He seemed to just want to get rid of me.

To conclude. Through the entire process I felt that my mum was treated second class because she was having an unattended cremation and that the attitude and behaviour of staff eroded any trust I had.

From the very beginning, everyone at Hillier’s Funeral Service treated our family with such kindness, compassion, and professionalism. During the most difficult time of our lives, they made an overwhelming process so much easier to navigate, and we will always be grateful for their care and support.

A special thank you to Becky Hillier, who was there for us from the outset. Becky guided us through every step with genuine compassion, patience, and understanding. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and she always took the time to answer our questions and make sure everything was exactly as we wanted it to be.

We would also like to thank Kelvin McCarthy, who supported us on the day of our daughter’s funeral. His calm, caring, and respectful manner gave us great comfort during such an emotional day, and he ensured everything ran seamlessly, allowing us to focus on saying goodbye to our beautiful daughter.

The entire team at Hillier’s Funeral Service went above and beyond for our family. Their kindness, professionalism, and attention to every detail made an incredibly difficult experience just that little bit easier to bear.

We cannot thank Becky, Kelvin, and everyone at Hillier’s enough for everything they did for us. We would wholeheartedly recommend Hillier’s Funeral Service to anyone who is going through the heartbreaking experience of losing a loved one.

My Husband and I arrived earlier than our scheduled appointment, but were made to feel very welcome and at ease from the gentleman that answered the door. Sue Boyce was lovely, excellent in dealing with the funeral arrangements for my Mums funeral, which was made easier as Mum had a prepaid funeral plan. Didn't feel pressurised into committing to anything I didn't want. Sophia Best conducted the service and gave a lovely tribute to my Mum.
Would definitely recommend Hillier

Hilliers have took care of several family members of ours and they never fail to disappoint. They were an absolute pleasure to deal with from start to finish with regards my father in laws funeral today. The compassion and professionalism the communication was first class and special mention to Lauren for the organising. And to Bob and Kai who were exceptional on the day and really looked after our family which helped massively. Well done guys true professionals. ❤️

Hillier Funeral Service, old town Swindon. Given the circumstances you will need such services, I found Hilliers to be absolutely fantastic. They made a very difficult time and process as easy as possible by basically taking over most of the things that needed to be done. And they are very professional and understanding in dealing with people going through bereavement. The whole thing was very respectful and dignified. Thank you all so much! Flawless funeral service for a dear friend on 10th September 2024. Special thanks to John, Jerry, Nick, Sue, Lauren, Jo and Becky.

Unfortunately I can give only 5 stars instead of minimum 6.
From the fist contact with Hillier just everything goes smooth and very respectfull.
Special thanks to Kelvin, he do a great job, was always available and organise everything.
Usually for me it’s Strang to leave a review abouza Funeral, but I can’t not thanks enough for the service they do for us.

Apologies at the late review. We sadly lost our lovely mum in May so soon after losing Dad. Nick Sanbrooke was so amazing when Dad passed it was never a question on who we would ask to oversee mums funeral. Nick is such a treasure kind empathic and so professional. Please can you pass our thanks on to Jerry and the team on the day of the funeral. Their compassion , kindness and pride in their work was very evident . Thank you all xx

Great service, very professional..Cannot emphasis this enough.Hilliers handled this very sad occasion with great care,professionalism and sensitivity right to the very end.Thank you profusely to every single member of staff that was involved.Special thanks to Sue for helping Sara and myself plan the funeral when it was still at the "what if" stage.

Absolutely wonderful company, they really care and everything they do is immaculate. Nick is a national treasure and I really can't praise this company enough for their service and attention to detail.

Hillers. First good to ensure service is done in right order Proof read the service

We had a fantastic experience recently with the Highworth branch after the death of my father in law in March. We dealt with Tamara & Kelvin and on the day of the funeral, Chris. Every single member of staff was kind, caring and made us feel at ease. At times I felt some of my questions might of seemed a bit silly but they always answered every question without judgement and eased all of my anxieties. None of us like to think of death and which funeral director to use but I know going forward I will recommend and use Hilliers again. Thank you Tamara, Kelvin and Chris for fantastic service from beginning to end.

Janet died in hospital in Vietnam after suffering a stroke. Hilliers were helpful with advice as soon as I approached them before I travelled to Vietnam to arrange repatriation of the body.
Janet was returned to Swindon and into Hilliers care.
Rebecca met my daughter and I to begin preparations for the funeral and she suggested a Celebrant who proved to be excellent.
The service was arranged efficiently and nothing was too much trouble for Hilliers.
The funeral passed off so well and was a wonderful celebration of Janet’s life.
Thank you Hilliers.

We found Hiller through Google and it appeared to have a lot of good reviews so we decided to proceed with them. With the benefit of hindsight I wish we had gone elsewhere. I found the whole experience to be very transactional and not warm at all. We were provided with a Celebrant who came to our house, took some notes on scrap paper and than sent back a eulogy that was absolutely awful. I called Hilliers to advise of the lack of professionalism in the eulogy and sent them a copy. I was advised he was highly recommended. I insisted that having seen the level of effort put in that I was not prepared to use him. Thereafter, I was provided with the details of another Celebrant whom seemed great. I went through all the details again with the next Celebrant to be told that she couldn't actually do my mother's service as she was already booked! I was truly upset by this. Hilliers did not check timings properly prior to the Celebrant contacting me. I went back to Hilliers again and they then had to find another Celebrant. The final Celebrant was perfect. This Celebrant was more expensive and I was very much made aware of this! Hillers advised me they would cover the additional fee but I was made to feel uncomfortable about it. In my opinion the whole process was cold and very much based on money. I would not recommend this company if you want the personal touch.

My late mother’s funeral was arranged with Hilliers, early in 2023. Kyle supported us throughout. He was a warm, kind and empathic presence and made a dreadful loss bearable. Nothing was too much trouble and the service from start to finish was superb. I highly recommend Hilliers for their warm professional and personalised approach. Thank you.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
The empathy and professionalism shown…
The empathy and professionalism shown was absolutely first class through out this very emotional time from the beginning to the end.

Date of experience: 18 September 2023

When first meeting John in the old town branch back in May when my dad sadly passed away, he was very professional, caring ,and understanding to our wishes and helped us understand the process from start to finish ,then suddenly again in Sept my mother passed away and we asked for John again to organise mums funeral ,very caring and helped us through a very difficult time yet again ,I can't thank John and hilliers enough for helping us through such difficult times ,would definitely recommend

We chose Hillier Funeral Service to lay our beloved Dad and Husband to my Mother to rest. From the very initial contact with them, they were nothing but diligent with our family. They were caring and attentive towards us all at all times. The way they spoke about our relative was with the upmost respect for the decease. We visited our father/husband on numerous occasions and he was always presentable and looked very well cared for. The registrar who conducted his service, got the information we provided him pretty much spot on (and ALOT of information was given to him!). The staff on the day were very well presented again there was no faults with anything.
The overall cost of the funeral was affordable and within reason.
We would highly recommend anyone who are unfortunately needing their service. You will not be disappointed!

all great care and attention eveything not too much troublefor anything kind loving firm for geerations

My wife passed away 20th January 2023 and Hilliers took away so much of the stress and kept me informed the whole way. In addition they provided proofs of the service and photos for my approval. The service was conducted at Kingsdown Crematorium my Margaret Price who following a meeting with the family presented an excellent service.
I would like to thank all the staff at Hilliers for their kindness.

I recently lost my husband very suddenly, which was a total shock and a devastating experience for myself and my Daughter. Having to sort funeral arrangements and try to come to terms with our loss was the hardest thing we have ever had to do.

I cannot thank Hillier Funeral Services enough, they are such a professional company. Our contact was with John, (Old Town office) was very professional and helpful at all times and made us feel at ease. We had lots of contact with him up until the funeral to answer questions if he wasn’t available when we called he would always get back to us in a timely manner to answer our questions and help up along the way, nothing was ever too much. Thank you John!

Then, Tracy (Cheney Manor branch) we cannot thank her enough for what she did for myself and my Daughter. Tracy took care of him once he arrived in the care of Hillier up until the funeral. Tracy dressed my Husband and was very attentive to our requests; she is such a lovely, kind thoughtful and special person - she certainly is in the right profession. Tracy made things so much easier for us to deal with, you were and are an amazing person thank you!

Hillier Funeral Service have certainly got it right from the day we met John until the funeral everyone was so considerate and professional!

Thank you so much to everyone & those behind the scenes!