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Norman Rees
20th Apr 2022
My wonderful father, William Evan Islwyn Rees, sadly passed away at 1930 on the 29 March 2022. I telephoned Cooperative Funeral Services at 1945 that evening to request that his body be collected by the Funeral Directors to await burial. On making the phone call to the out of ours Contact Centre I was advised that until verification of my fathers death had taken place then the funeral directors couldn’t collect his body.
I rang the Acute Medical Team and my Father was confirmed to have passed away and that arrangements could be then made with the Funeral Directors to collect his body, this was at approx 2140. I called the Contact Centre for the 2nd time, again confirming my name, my fathers name, his date of birth, full address and post code. I was advised again that the undertakers would be with me in approximately 1 hour and they would call me when they were en route. I called back an hour later to check if they were on their way, the agent at the call centre again confirmed my name, telephone number, my fathers name, date of birth, full address and post code. The call centre would then ring the undertaker and ask them to make contact with me to advise me of their eta.
After waiting another 30 minutes I again recontacted the call centre and asked for an update, fortunately I dealt with the same agent who was aware of the situation and he again said he would make contact with the undertakers to see what time they would be arriving. He explained that he could not get hold of them but would keep trying. He placed me on hold and upon his return he said that he had spoken to the undertaker who said he would not be able to speak to me because he was driving and should be with us within 20-30 minutes. This was now close to 2300.
After another call to the contact centre, the same agent managed to get through to the undertaker and said that he would be ringing me directly in a short while. I then had a call from the undertaker who identified himself as Martin. I again confirmed the address as 35, (Three five) New Street, Burry Port, SA16 0RT. I asked how long they would be as it was now over 3 hours since my fathers passing and my mother was getting distressed. He immediately became defensive and said he will get there as soon as possible, “looking at another hour.” I said that we had been waiting over 3 hours by this point and I had been told they would be there within an hour. Martin became confrontational on the phone and aggressive - he said to me that I needed to wait until he got there and “We could sort it out the two of us outside.” I asked him to repeat what he said but he wouldn’t and he again said he would be there within a hour.
I immediately rang the call centre and lodged an official complaint over how I was spoken to by Martin and demanded a manager be informed and that someone from Cooperative Funeral Services ring me as a matter of urgency the following morning. I am still awaiting this call.
At approximately midnight I received another call from Martin, asking again to confirm my address “mate” as they were knocking 55, New Street, Burry Port and no one was answering. I again said 35, three-five New Street. It would be horrifying for the occupier to wake up to find an undertaker knocking your door looking to collect a body.
Martin and his colleague Wayne then came to the house and I let them in. No apology or explanation was offered by either one of the undertakers why it had taken so long for them to arrive to collect my father, they made excuses of I’m from Port Talbot (Martin) I’m from Bridgend, Maesteg from Wayne and don’t know where we are going and that it was the fault of the contact centre why they knocked at the incorrect address. I have spent 25 years with the Fire & Rescue Service and always confirm the address, especially with my parents address I always say 35 - three five to alleviate any issues with mail or parcels going to the wrong address.
Both undertakers were unprofessional as they were sucking on peppermints or chewing gum whilst speaking to my mother, they didn’t have the courtesy or respect to remove it from their mouths before entering the property. I am now unsure if they were using peppermints to cover up the fact that one or both of them may have been using alcohol prior to coming to the address.
My mother asked them where my fathers body was being taken overnight. My mother was informed in my presence that he would be taken to the funeral parlour in Burry Port. When my mother left the room, Wayne looked at me and said burial or cremation “mate.” I said burial, both of them looked at each other and said, Swansea, repeated it again, Swansea and again for the third time, like the childrens TV characters the Chuckle Brothers.
I now had the impression that both of the undertakers were at best of amateur standard and at worst incompetent. Both were struggling with the stretcher to get my fathers body on and I had to fold his arms, by now rigour mortis had set in and had to listen to his joints crack.
Both undertakers lifted my body on to the stretcher, I noticed my fathers feet were uncovered, I asked Martin to cover them up as I didn’t want my father to be colder. He ignored this and carried on. For the second time Martin was asked to cover my fathers feet. Wayne then had to intervene and tell Martin to cover my fathers feet. Martin was struggling to strap my fathers body on to the stretcher and had difficulty doing the strap and getting the clip into the hole. At one stage I was going to ask him to step away and I would do it for him as he was clearly unable to carry out this task. Wayne explained due to the layout of my parents house, that my fathers body would need to be carried out at first from horizontal to vertical and then, back to horizontal and out of the front door to the waiting private Ambulance. I agreed this was the best course of action and watched whilst they attempted the manoeuvre. Whilst exiting the house they managed to bang my fathers body against the wall. There were no obstructions and the front door was wide open. I accompanied both of them to the ambulance and I believe that my father was not alone in the van as I could see the outline of a second person underneath a green coloured sheet in the back, which would be the passengers side of the van.
I visited the funeral home with my mother the following day Eric James, Burry Port and spoke to Tara Lewis and explained the events of the night before and registered my disgust, anger and hurt over the way that my father, mother and I had been treated. I was given the telephone number of the local manager, Matthew.
I have spoken to Matthew at length again, giving an explanation of the events and requesting urgent and immediate action be take against the two individuals and for them to be suspended pending an investigation into their conduct, so that no other family would be treated as appallingly as we have. I said that both undertakers were extremely unprofessional, lied and had not displayed any respect for the deceased or their family at such a traumatic time and had only made the situation worse by their conduct. I was asked by Matthew how they had lied, I confirmed what had happened regarding telling my mother, that my fathers body was being taken to Burry Port and that they then told me he was being taken to Swansea. I asked Matthew for a copy of the code of conduct for his employees, again I am yet to have this. I again reiterated that urgent and immediate action must be taken against the two individuals. Matthew then explained the investigation procedure and that he would act as an independent investigator and would speak to both individuals and ask for their version of events of the 29/03/22. He advised me that there would be no other body in the ambulance with my father, even though I could see the shape of another body. He explained that the call centre does make mistakes, that is why they probably went to the wrong address. I said that the way Martin has spoken to me was aggressive, confrontational and should never have happened. He agreed that his was the case and I needed to wait until he carried out his independent investigation. Matthew then stated he knew both men well and could not believe that they had behaved in this manner. I immediately asked him, if he knew the two persons then how could he act as an independent investigator. I have asked for the complaints procedure and as yet still to receive it.
My mother and I were visited by Natalie, who was coordinating my fathers funeral and I again ran through the scenario. I asked Natalie that could she please speak to Matthew and ask for an update on his investigation. I was contacted the following day by Matthew who advised me that an investigation was underway and that Cooperative Funeral Services Human Resources department were informed and were dealing with the investigation along with senior management at Cooperative Funeral Services. I again asked for a copy of the codes of conduct and again still haven’t received them.
To summarise
The conduct of the two undertakers on the night of of 29/03/22 was at best unprofessional and at worst incompetent.
The undertakers took 4 hours to arrive at the address and went to the incorrect address.
I have concerns that they may have been under the influence of alcohol and they were using mints/chewing gum to disguise the smell.
Martins behaviour was aggressive, confrontational and should never have happened to someone who had just lost a peaceful and caring father.
I am demanding that Cooperative Funeral Services HR team get in touch with me to discuss the content of this email and to take over the investigation as I have concerns over the impartiality of Matthew.
Norman Rees
