Murray Brothers Funeral Home, Inc. (Cascade Chapel) — Attraction in East Point

Murray Brothers

Please do not suffer Murray Brothers after your loves ones have passed

If you are reading this you are likely grieving after having lost a loved one and are considering Murray Brothers for their services. I strongly urge you to reconsider. Let me share my family's experience...

My mother passed away earlier this year at Emory Midtown, about 5 miles or less away from MBFH. We contacted Murray Brothers the day she died and they said they would pick her up, and then began the downfall.

Murray Brothers picked up my mother, but could not confirm when we called 13 times between 2 days where her body was. The hospital informed us that MB had picked her up, but MB said they did not know where her body was for 2 days until they realized that they had in fact picked her up.

We scheduled to meet with one of the owners of Murray Bros. Upon arriving at our prescheduled appointment, we learned that Mr Murray would not be able to attend the meeting, so we were placed with Dexter. Dexter, despite his best efforts, is not the right man for this type of job. He appeared unkempt, unknowledgeable and frazzled, and could not make any decisions. He also made promises that he could not keep. During our meeting, Dexter wrote on the back of a piece of paper to get our information and specifics and handed us a sweaty card to use to contact him. Despite all that he lacks, I do not blame Dexter for his shortcomings, because it is clear that Murray Brothers staff is not trained to be professional, to attend to customer needs, or most importantly of compassion or customer care.

We are from Trinidad & Tobago, so my mother's body was to be transported to Trinidad by Murray Brothers. Dexter informed me that they "ship out” all over the world so this would not be a problem. It was, in fact, a problem. To transport a body, you first need a Georgia death certificate. Murray brothers internal death certificate department is probably the single most unprofessional business department ever run. They do not communicate with their internal staff and since their terrible service is a known issue they do not share a phone number. Dexter informed me that it would take the department 2 WEEKS to process and receive a death certificate. While unfortunate, that was as fast as they could go due to COVID. After 2 MONTHS had passed and being told that it was "in works" every single day we learned that Murray Brothers had NEVER even filed for the death certificate, while my mother's body decomposed in their facility.

While we were waiting on the death certificate that would never come, we needed to schedule a memorial service so we asked to see Murray Brother’s chapel. The chapel is old, dusty, dingy, and has literal cobwebs around the furniture. When we toured it, they actually had someone’s loved one sitting in a casket near the top. The black community patronizes Murray Brothers often, but they haven’t reinvested in their facility. Needless to say we held the memorial without my mother’s body present at another, much nicer facility.

After 2 MONTHS of stress, extenuated grief due to Murray Brothers’ failures, blatant lies, neglect, rudeness and just plain mean replies by the various personnel and departments, we decided we deserved better. We took our services to H.M. Patterson in North Atlanta where the experience was day vs night. HM Patterson met their appointment times, had knowledgable and sensitive staff, offered and exceeded realistic timelines all for around the same prices offered at Murray Brothers. H.M. Patterson retrieved my mother’s death certificate in 1 WEEK after filing and was able to dress and carefully transport her body to Trinidad. They even liaised with the funeral home in Trinidad, which helped out tremendously.

Please spare yourself and your family from any further grief and STAY AWAY from this wretched place. It is not worth the risk. We all deserve better and they only way they can become better is if their bottom line is hit and are forced...

You'll never get a homegoing service redo- The Good: Allie- whatever you do, request Allie. She is not only a professional, she is responsive, she leads with empathy and she pulls together a crew of men and women who take pleasure in ensuring that the homegoing service of your loved one is conducted with care, attention, respect, and most of all, dignity. Allie is also a long-standing honored member of the community, she does not avoid crucial conversations for the sake of her comfort and welcomes every opportunity to resolve through service recovery. We asked for men and women who would dedicate our time together to the honor of our loved one- and she did that. Not once was a team member aloof or distracted through the entire day together.

The Bad: Sage Media: Murray Brothers' in-house media services. Do not choose to go with Murray Brothers for your live streaming and recording needs. When Sage Media fails to perform their duties: live stream the funeral and publish the recording onto Vimeo; they rely on your grief by saying "i was a technical glitch". A technical glitch is a real possibility, and it should be expected that a professional would be able to explain exactly what the glitch was (maybe not, exactly, though at the very least, tell the customer if it was a hardware or software issue). Not Murray Brothers' in-house media services- Sage Media; no once did we get an answer to simple starter questions- "did you push record" or "were you recording on a local device as a backup" or "did you forget how to login to your Vimeo account"- the company owner could not answer. To add insult to injury over 530 people were watching the funeral live streamed, during the viewing, it started to glitch and people called the church to notify and ask what was going on, this information was shared with the Sage Media representative- no action, just ignored the glitch. On top of all of that, prior to the service, our pastor made sure to let Murray Brothers' in-house media services- Sage Media know that "our Wi-Fi is not the strongest, I suggest you record locally, just in case the Wi-Fi doesn't work, the response he received- "I got this".

With Murray Brothers' in house media services- Sage Media, it was an embarrassing and infuriating exchange overall. Needless to say, pass on letting Murray Brothers' in-house media services- Sage Media record your once-in-a-lifetime homegoing services. They may pack a bag of technical glitches for you.

The Other: I have recommended to Murray Brother's that they get out of the business of live streaming/ recording and stick to the thing that has sustained them since they opened their doors- professional burial services with care and compassion.

Finally, I sincerely hope that you consider Murray Brother's for your homegoing needs because they are one of the best. I also recommend that you do not go with Murray Brothers' in house media services- Sage Media.

Seriously, your loved one, in the casket, would do a better job of live streaming their funeral than Murray Brothers' in house media...

My family, for four generations, like some of the reviews I read, have used Murray Brothers and have never been disappointed by any means of the quality of its services. I have yet to encounter anyone amongst the staff to have been unprofessional or rude. And may I remind you, my family has used these service for more than 25 years. As every family experience the hardship of losing a love one, it is never easy. Therefore, they family needs a funeral home who is not only compassionate, but in tune with the family in the execution of arrangements. Needless to say, the funeral home business is extremely competitive, but there are few who far and between, that measure the caliber of Murray Brothers. Kudos goes out to Ms. Allie McCray, the funeral director, who was top notch from the beginning of the process to the very end. She exudes every quality that is necessary in representing the foundation and principles of the Murray Brother Funeral Home services that have consistently sustained over the years . Ms. Sandra Colquitt, a hidden jewel which my family has treasured over the years. She foreverr readily available in ensuring all paperwork is in place. Mr./Reverend Ron Jenkins, has the gifted hands which brings about the masterpiece of retaining the presence/resemblance of one's love one(s) for their final farewell. To Mr. Khen Avery, the family are in no better hands of traveling to and from the Internment and Re-pass. Both Blake Moore and Matthew Allen are commended for their services during the funeral and internment. They both were of sheer professionals. Trust me, if Murray Brother did not deserve the five stars, I would not be rendering it, nor would I be taking the time to give a lengthy review. Take my word, you want to not only refer them to your family and friends, but anyone seeking a funeral home cares with genuine compassion, as well as one who will provide A+ services. On behalf of Mother Mae Pearl McBride of East Point, Georgia, all those who loved her. We Thank All of the Murray Brother...