Forest Lawn — Local services in Lakewood

Deeply moved by their help to deeply disappointed. For a million dollar company I expected better for how much we paid. Hold your staff accountable. In the beginning the memorial coordinator was super helpful and responsive to emails and calls. He helped clarify things because it was my first funeral to plan but as it got closer to the funeral he became more and more unreliable. He didn’t respond until two days prior to the funeral for one inquiry. This is also the reason for two stars because after the funeral is over it is as if you do not exist anymore and aren’t even human to them. They are so rude and don’t even apologize for their mistakes. It took so many emails and phone calls for someone to respond to me and I still didn’t get what we needed. We reserved my father’s plot prior to the funeral yet it was as if he forgot to file the paperwork at all. Memorial coordinator was not responding to my emails and when I did get a hold of him over the phone after the funeral he was very rude because he thought I was asking for a refund. Once I clarified to him it was about the reallocated funds since we opted out of the stationary items and were informed we could reallocate them to the tablet he was at least cordial again. He said he would follow up back in early October but never did because here we are a month later and the memorial tablet's reallocated funds are still not put towards the tablet...and he still hasnt responded to my inquiry. Even if I did want a refund, why be rude if I was behaving cordially. No matter what day you are having I expected better customer service especially when you are the one that messed up. I also needed to set up the payments for my father’s plot next to my mom but he never sent us the contract to sign to set up the payments. Our first payment was late by a week because of coordinator. We got the payment set up and they said that since it wasn’t our fault then it was fine this time and yet no apologies from anyone. I thought I could update the payment again later online or something but I forgot there process is more difficult and requires a whole form to be completed again. The second payment was declined but same day I was able to update the payment. The payment department lady that helped me was incredibly rude when I said I accidentally put the wrong card forgetting that I was switching banks. I could still make the payment but the lady sounded angry right away when I answered the call as if she didnt believe me or something. Totally disappointed with forest lawns staff behavior. Check other funeral homes before using them honestly. Using names so these people can be held accountable.

Update: Coordinator responded to my email about the reallocations however with no apology at all for it taking him over a month to get back to me. Still disappointed. Wishing my mother wasn’t laid to rest here. For a million dollar company I expected more...

My Grandma was buried at Forest Lawn Cypress in April 2021 and since then we've filed 4 previous complaints due to theft from the flowers/roses left at her plaque. So far within those 4 complaints, we've only received 1 remedy which was a $50 gift card, hsable only at their flower store which was enough to cover 1 pot of flower due to the high price. We've spoken with several people regarding this issue and even spoke with the maintenance manager Arvin to see if any actions can be taken to further prevent this from happening. He advised us to send him photos via email to show proof of the incident. It has been almost 3 months and still no answer from anyone at Forest Lawn including their own maintenance manager. I'm forced to purchase cheap flowers to leave at my Grandma's site because not only do I not trust leaving flowers there anymore to be stolen again but also the lack of effort (or any in this case) from the staff.

I am writing this review due to a 5th incident that occurred sometime last week as we visit weekly. As clearly shown, there are clear scratches on my grandmother's plaque. When we arrived at the site today, one of the flowers was also knocked over in which I suspected this was caused my maintenance. This incident caused the tipping point as it clearly shows the lack of empathy and care from their maintenance team. There is no possible way these scratches occurred due to natural causes and can only be caused my a machine (or Lawn mower). It's honestly appalling that in a span of 16 months, we've had to witness and experience all these incidents that happened with my Grandmothers plaque and I can't even imagine what other mistakes will be made in the next year. If there's one thing I regret, is choosing this company and location as a site for my Grandma to be laid because I'll always have to worry for the rest of my life for future potential theft or damages. We trusted and gave business to this company so that my Grandma can lay to rest peacefully yet every few months we're having to file a...

A few minutes before my mother's gravesite service, our rep came up to us to tell us we owed them more money. Our hands were tied, so we paid. We later found out she had charged us for the wrong vault. We got the money back, but not even an apology for the embarrassment or inconvenience.

As for the grounds themselves, during the weekdays, this place is safe, quiet, and rather beautiful. The weekends are a different story...

On the weekends, I've seen people playing football, corn hole, loud music (speakers and all!), and allow their unattended children to run all over the graves. People seem to think it's okay to bring their dogs on the weekend, too. The weekend security guards are useless; one drives around while the other one sits in the passenger seat, looking at his phone.

I observed one young child going around pulling up flowers and throwing them from graves while the parents were unaware. By the time the parents noticed, the damage had been done. They even allowed the child to take a balloon from one of the graves.

By the way, if you're planning a funeral there, make sure the park has no scheduled bands playing. Yes, bands. I've seen them playing a few yards from graveside services and the reps don't even seem to blink an eye. And no, not the cultural funeral bands, but celebratory bands. Not okay. It's SO disrespectful.

They grounds are hit and miss. Most of the time, they keep them nicely groomed and kept. Most of their location markers are overgrown with grass, so good luck finding a gravesite.

And don't even think of getting your loved one a grave marker in a timely manner. The going rate to order is at least six months. I was even told that they were so far behind their orders that they stopped taking orders for markers altogether until they "catch up" with all their backorders. Here's a thought...instead of turning me away from ordering one, give me an alternative place to order it from. But if course not, your profit...