We asked our National Preferred Partner Arbor Memorial to respond to our members in light of some high profile, adverse media coverage of their company last week. Here is what they told us:
Let me first thank you for reaching out to us and inquiring about the CBC Marketplace broadcast / Toronto Star article.
The CBC News: Marketplace, in partnership with the Toronto Star, features a few of our customers who have raised concerns about the experiences they encountered at Arbor Memorial locations in Ontario. We take the concerns of our customers seriously and always welcome the opportunity to improve and provide a better customer experience.
Arbor Memorial has been serving the funeral and cemetery needs of Canadians for 70 years. We are proud of our heritage and honoured that over 25,000 families and individuals choose to place their trust in us each year to help celebrate and commemorate a loved one’s life in a personalized, meaningful way. We are committed to doing what’s right for our customers, and we deliver on this commitment every day in communities across Canada. Our funeral home customer satisfaction surveys show that 98% of the families we served would recommend us to others.
Given the importance of the service we provide and the very sensitive nature of what we do, our reputation, and our values of integrity, trust, teamwork and service excellence are critical to our organization. Arbor has a strong culture and a dedicated, caring and highly trained team of 2,500 men and women. We endeavour to serve our customers in advance of and at their time of need with care, respect and sensitivity.
We do not agree with many of the concerns expressed by Marketplace nor their process to obtain our perspective on them. Nor do we believe that Marketplace lends itself to a fair and balanced discussion of the concerns they have raised. However, where any valid concerns were brought to our attention with respect to practices that are not aligned with our company values, policies and procedures, we are committed to addressing them. Marketplace spoke to only a handful of customers out of the thousands of families we serve each year. If we did not meet the expectations of those customers, that is regrettable and we apologize to them. However, we believe their experiences do not reflect our overall level of service or the exemplary conduct of our staff every day and with every family.
Our customers’ wishes and best interests are always a top priority for everyone at Arbor Memorial.
Thank you again for your inquiry, we always want to have an open dialogue with our partners.
Dustin Wright
Director, Marketing Communications
Head Office, Arbor Memorial Inc.