S A Hollibone Funeral Directors, Stanley A Hollibone & Son Pty Ltd
Price of funeral was a complete ripoff and more than originally quoted

It is hard to believe that anyone would prey on people in their most vulnerable hour and indeed we suspect that S A Hollibone (also known as Stanley A Hollibone Pty Ltd and run by Glenn Hollibone and Theo Hollibone) rely on this very vulnerability.

Writing this report re-opens a very painful wound and so emotion will force me to keep this report brief. In a nutshell:

1. The account received after the funeral had taken place (unprofessionally on a small piece of paper in a small envelope - very nineteen sixties or seventies) was considerably more than originally quoted; in fact nearly twice as much. We assumed that an error had occurred as arranging the funeral was somewhat drawn out and confusing, however to our horror that the account was ours.

2. Complaints about the unexpected "additional costs" and other fees which were higher than was originally quoted resulted in no adjustments being made and legal action against the estate being threatened.

3. Funeral costs are invoiced to the estate of the deceased which prevents the estate from being completely being settled whilst debts are outstanding, again from their actions and statements, Hollibone's appears to rely on this fact in order to extort payment for their inflated invoices.

4. As the estate of our beloved family member was quite small, any legal proceedings relating to the account would have resulted in the beneficiaries, who were dearly loved by our lost family member, receiving next to nothing from the estate. Again, we are certain that Hollibone's is fully aware and exploits this loophole in the law.

To describe the hurt that S A Hollibone has caused our family is beyond words and to think that we trusted our beloved family member to them nearly reduces me to tears as I write this. Whilst we cannot undo the funeral (which was conducted in a very average manner for the amount that we were forced to pay) or indeed have another funeral we hope that this consumer complaints saves other families the heartache and grief that we have endured after putting our faith in S A Hollibone in our time of need.

J ****
MELBOURNE
Australia