During a time of sadness, Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home and their staff brought in a little sunshine and happiness while mourning the loss of our father. They were professional, they answered every question we had and some we didn't even know to ask. They were there for us every step of the way, even on their days off. There was never a feeling of being hurried or pressured to make any decision. They made us feel like family. Jennifer, Casey, Inezz, Myra, Chris, John, and the iconic Mr Giddens (still going strong) all helped us along in this journey. There is a reason why Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home has been at the beaches for so long and in my opinion is the best in their business. They understand what you are going through, what you need or want and allow you to set the pace. Losing someone is never easy, but when you have people that truly care about you and for you during this process, it makes the transition a much more pleasant experience. Kudos to Hardage-Giddens and their phenomenal top flight staff.
Don’t take a loved one here.
The staff was very considerate, kind, personable, understanding, patient and throughout with this daunting task. We were not made to feel like a customer, we felt like family! They went over and beyond to accommodate our request in out time of need beforehand and afterwards.
I can honestly say I trusted them wholeheartedly with the most important person in my life and would do it again if I had to! Words can not express the gratitude my family had for their service and to this day we still thank them!
No matter how prepare one may think they are, having to bury a loved one is one of the most difficult things you will have to do in life. However the staff at Hardage & Giddens made it seem less. If I could give more than 5 stars I would!
An obituary is a hard thing to write. The funeral home offered to take care of the obituary in the local newspaper. My sister ended up writing it and we sent in all the information, the actual obituary along with a picture, to the funeral director. What appeared in the paper instead was an obituary with no photo and a large logo which we had the pleasure of paying for, unasked. We again took charge ourselves and contacted another local newspaper. We then placed another obituary with a picture, no logo as requested and we were charged much less.
Finally my beloved mother, after two weeks and counting of not being cremated, will end up missing her own celebration of life party. The funeral home director stated that they would not be able to cremate her as her death certificate had not been completed. During the weeks of our mourning, I did not receive any updates on this and figured that it would take some time and that they were doing their job. Now is it the funeral home, the funeral home director or the doctor who haven’t done their paperwork is the question. Regardless, all I got was finger pointing, very unbecoming of supposed professionals. All I know is that my mother’s last wishes will not be respected. I wish I started a week ago following up on such things, but I no longer can. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and was patient in waiting, thinking that they would take care of things, as promised, however, I was wrong.
Overall the funeral home was okay and the staff was nice. They were initially very responsive but then it started to go wrong. You go to a funeral home because you are an emotional ball of mess and you need someone to navigate the bureaucracy of paperwork and help fulfill your loved one’s wishes. My Mom didn’t want a service but rather a celebration of her life party with an open bar, so the funeral home had offered to cremate only as per her wishes. I even allowed them to up sale an urn so Mom could be at the party that we were having for her. They allowed us to stay with Mom at the funeral home for a while as we said our goodbyes. After this is where it went downhill.
One week went by without any communication. I contacted them to see if they had gotten the priest to bless her, as asked, at our first meeting, however, they did not. My wife called the Catholic Church herself and spoke directly to a priest that very same day and he stated that he was not contacted by anyone but would be happy to bless my Mom. I again contacted the funeral home director and gave them the priest’s contact information.
Funeral homes are hard to rate, you go there at probably the worst time in your life, you just lost an important person and now you make sure final arrangements are done. It’s a hard time for anyone. It is especially hard when I lost Mom suddenly and unexpectedly.
My only hope is that I can warn the next person so they will not have to suffer this kind of pain, especially at a very difficult time like this.
Beaches Chapel By Hardage Giddens is a US Funeral Home based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Beaches Chapel By Hardage Giddens is located at 1701 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250, USA.
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