Academy Funeral Services

Rebecca Lawlis 4 months ago

I cannot thank the funeral home enough for the love, care and compassion they showed our family while saying goodbye to my dad. During one of the hardest times in our lives, they went above and beyond in every single way and made such a heartbreaking process a little easier to get through. Michelle, the funeral director, was absolutely incredible. Her kindness, patience, support and attention to every little detail meant more to us than words can explain. She treated my dad with so much dignity and respect and truly cared about making everything perfect for him and our family. David, our celebrant, was also amazing. The way he spoke about my dad and helped tell his story was beautiful, heartfelt and so personal. He captured who my dad was so perfectly and gave him the send-off he deserved. We will forever be grateful for everything you both did for our family. Thank you for going above and beyond and helping us honour my dad in such a special and meaningful way. ❤️

Amanda Spiteri 5 months ago

I was at the same funeral as Elise Sherry and can confirm that Michelle was unprofessional and rude. I could not believe the way she spoke to the families loved ones during such a difficult time. What she said was NOT true. We gave her plenty of notice to ask if the funeral booklet could be changed to something personalised. The poem was something she picked and we asked for something we thought our loved one would like. She swore at us and hung up. The booklet was literally paper folded up, no effort was put into them. If you want a funeral service that is personalised and not a “fit all approach”, this business is not the one. It added more grief to the process.

Poppy Reads 6 months ago

PART 2 The Memorial Slideshow. I designed the slideshow for my dad but needed help with putting the music to it. I gave it to Michelle on a USB and she changed it to MP4 format for me and put the music to it. She also told me that she changed the background colour from black to green, without asking me because she said it looked better green. She changed our slideshow!!! We chose the black background and how dare she change it (looked terrible) so we asked her to change it back to black, to which she was quite annoyed about having to do. We had to meet her in the carpark of Academy Funerals in the dark, the night before the funeral to get a copy of the USB to make sure it was as we had wanted it. She didn't even get out of the car to give it to me. The night before the funeral!!!! The day of the funeral. The Memorial booklets looked cheap - they were much smaller than any other ones we'd seen and the black and white photo on the front looked almost blue and white. I could have printed it better myself. The Celebrant, David Reardon was outstanding. He was so professional and compassionate and delivered the service extremely well. When it came to the slideshow it started f

Larina H 6 months ago

PART 1. We had our awful experience with Academy Funerals. I had been in touch with Michelle prior to my father's passing many times over email. We knew it was coming, and we were preparing ourselves. He was in palliative care at home and we knew he was near the end of life. When he passed, I called Michelle and received voicemail. I left a message then called Paul, I also received voicemail. When Michelle called me back she sounded flustered and asked what hospital dad was in, and said she would call back. She called back and asked what retirement home he was in, after I had already told her numerous times he was at home and we needed to have him transferred. We had an appointment with Michelle the following day and we arrived at their "office". Michelle greeted us with "the meeting room is booked so we'll have to use the staff kitchen". No introduction or condolences. She sat the four of us in the staff kitchen around a small table and proceeded to show us photos of flowers on her phone. We were speechless. She was so casual and unprofessional for such a somber and important moment in our lives. She said she had some photos in an album of the flowers, which we request

michelle sneddon 8 months ago

Just to clarify the comments from Elise Sherry I was never rude nor did I push the Family as stated in her comments. I had made several calls to Miss Sherry To make the arrangements for her auntie’s funeral miss Sherry did not want to come in To make the arrangements I had to make the arrangements over the phone the night before the funeral I had sent her a copy of the memorial card as she had requested. She was not happy with the cards. She wanted her own problem at approximately 10 o’clock at night I changed the cards to the way that she wanted on the day of the funeral. She was very rude. Did not even acknowledge myself or staff the people that also commented we’re not even involved in the arranging of the Funeral. I felt at all times. I was polite in handling a difficult situation.

Vanna Tee a year ago

Paul, Michelle, Kara and Mark were absolutely beautiful to deal with. Kind, caring, compassionate. From the get go Kara and Mark carefully transported mum to the funeral home. Paul’s gentle and reassuring manner brought peace of mind in a very sorrowful time. Michelle’s care and empathy carried us lovingly through the darkness of losing our mum. We could have gone through bigger name or better known funeral directors but it was the initial contact with Paul and Michelle that made us choose Academy. I am so very glad that we did - through Michelle and Paul’s effort the service went smoothly and was an incredible and beautiful tribute to a remarkable and well loved woman who gave so much to her family and her community. Thank you Academy Funerals from the bottom of our hearts.

Joanne Horder a year ago

I have used Academy Funeral services twice now. I found Paul and his team very caring. They helped us create a wonderful send of for both my family members. I feel they were very compassionate and caring helping to make our experience much easier. Thank you Academy Funeral Services

Elise Sherry a year ago

Uncaring and highly unprofessional funeral service. We planned a funeral for my Aunt through Academy Funeral Services, and the treatment we received from Michelle was highly disrespectful and appalling. We were rushed along the entire process with little guidance, and there were very few opportunities to make what is supposed to be the celebration of a persons life personal. My questions were dismissed and her responses lacked any time or consideration. There were multiple occasions where I caught Michelle in a lie regarding my correspondence and pricing. I had requested that a draft of the funeral card was provided, however Michelle went ahead and printed them without getting any of my input. All text was of her choice, obviously a “stock standard” that the company uses for all funerals. When I asked for this to amended to something more personal, she said that the cards were “complementary” and that she thought the poem was lovely. I said that we would’ve liked a prayer, or the option to have a choice in what was printed. Michelle swore at me and hung up. Stay away from this business.