Greenwood Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery — Attraction in Phoenix

Giving one star is generous after what my family and I endured this last week burying my Grandma. Everything that could go wrong, just about did. Except for the casket we chose was gorgeous and the hair and makeup team did an absolute remarkable job-that one star is solely for them.

Everything else was a circus show. The handling of the policy to pay for the service, the third company that called hours before the service (who never even called the insurance company)and made threats there would be no funeral if we didn’t fork over an additional $4,600, the lack of communication from the mortuary employees as to what we should be doing was beyond unprofessional. We have never done this before and it felt like we were completely on our own figuring it out.

The day of the funeral, there was no Director helping my Mom while visitors were showing up. We told Melody we wanted music playing while people were gathering and she was literally nowhere to be found to get that set up. Again, no Director to let us know when we all needed to start making our way to the gravesite, where to go, when, nothing. We all stood out in 110 degree heat while one man set up all the flowers and all the pictures by himself and pallbearers were waiting to take my grandma from the hearse to the burial site for about 20 minutes. During the arrangements we also made it clear that family preferred to view the lowering of my Grandma’s casket. My sisters and I told Melody several different times we were ready and we still waited and waited. I’m still confused as to why we had to wait so long. Eventually some elderly family members left because it was too hot to wait any longer.

Lastly and the most horrific, was while my family was still there at the gravesite, this huge tractor came rolling our way. Pummeling over surrounding graves and running over flowers that people have left for their loved ones. Behind them was an all terrain vehicle carrying shovels and buckets with workers on board. They made their way up to my Grandma’s grave and were setting up shop to lift her vault as if it was a construction site. I was mortified they couldn’t wait 15 more minutes for all of the family to leave so we didn’t have to witness that. The whole process is hard enough and to my family that was disrespectful and heart wrenching to see.

With all of this, I hope anyone reading this has a much better experience than we did. In a time of sorrow and grievance the last thing you want to be put through is an experience like we had with Greenwood Memory/Lawn Dignity Memorial. Definitely no Dignity...

We buried our father last July and our mother last December. Losing a parent is hard enough but losing both so close together is even harder. Our mortuary experience with Scott Tucker who was the funeral director deserves 5 stars. He is truly one of the kindest and sincerest people I have ever met. He was extremely professional and accommodating. My experience with the cemetery side was the complete opposite. For starters they buried our Dad in the wrong gravesite. They explained to us how the mistake happened and it was a paperwork mix-up. Because our Dad wanted to be buried between our mother and his current wife, that was no longer possible unless we agreed to dig him up which was out of the question. My brother and I tried to get my sister to switch which gravesite she was to be buried in but she refused and this caused a lot of unnecessary stress and upset. I actually understand how the paperwork mistake happened and I can overlook that, but other things went on that I cannot overlook. In summary, it was like pulling teeth to find out different options for grave marker designs. There were things that needed to be discussed. Many calls were not returned timely (one time for 5 days or more). There was absolutely no compassion shown in how I was treated. There was no regard for the fact that I was grieving and that I wanted to get my parents grave markers ordered and installed so my parents graves would be respectfully marked and I could have some closure. I was often ignored and treated as though I was not worthy of the time and effort necessary to work through the process. Eventually, the lack of response and forward movement from the cemetery side got so bad that I reached out to Scott, the mortuary director, to see if he could get someone to help me. He spoke to cemetery management and they did make some accommodations and they did start communicating with me a little better. Still, even after management got involved, there was very little timely follow through. I have seen no indication that even after management was informed about the situation that they have stayed on top of things. You would think that especially after burying my Dad in the wrong grave, that the cemetery would have done everything they could to help me and help me timely but they did not. Now finally, both my parents grave markers are in place. As great as the mortuary was, I would never wish this cemetery experience on any family. I rarely write bad reviews but this experience was...

I have communicated with the last two management teams at Greenwood Cemetery regarding some issues, and nothing is ever done. I've also contacted Dignity corporate in Houston, and they just reroute the complaints back to Greenwood. Really sad. The pigeon poop at the Serenity Mausoleum is beyond out of control. It is disgusting and a disgrace to everyone interred there. I have pointed out the fix, which is building out the stucco to the ceiling above the crypts. The current management team and the previous management team refuse to address this problem. In addition, I can't clean my cousin's headstones because maintenance doesn't provide paper towels in the men's restroom or the common sink just outside the restrooms. Also, the men's restroom stays filthy. Management left me a voicemail saying my cousin's headstones had been cleaned, but when I went out to see, they had not been cleaned, and haven't been since. I had to bring supplies from home to clean them myself. So much for perpetual care. Next, the Memory Mausoleum is not kept up either. I have cousins interred there as well. Numerous letters & numbers have fallen off the crypts, and they are never glued back on. You can see in some of my photos where there are numbers on the ground of someone's birth & death dates. They won't be glued back. They will eventually be vacuumed up, and that's that. Again, so much for perpetual care. One day, so many letters & numbers will be missing that no one will know who's interred where. There is also an obvious example of someone's name clearly misspelled with the letters arranged incorrectly, and it has been that way for over 30 years. Greenwood is the largest cemetery in Arizona. They do not have adequate staff to address the issues, and they don't want to spend money to make the necessary repairs to honor their deceased customers and their families. Hopefully, my unflattering photos and comments will strike a nerve with management. They've certainly worked my last nerve. In the cemetery's response, Graciela Diaz is actually under Nadine & Erin, who I had previously spoken with. I called Graciela today. Graciela's role does not deal with the issues that I addressed in my review. Her response to my review was disingenuous, only wanting to give the "appearance" to the internet of the cemetery caring about the issues addressed, knowing full well those issues fall to Nadine & Erin, and not to her. Graciela said she would pass along my comments. I'm...