A G Stapleford & Sons Funeral Directors

We cannot express enough how wonderful Katie has been. From our first meeting, she was so kind, caring and professional at all times. My dad’s funeral was so lovely, a true celebration of his life. Thank you Katie and all at Staplefords, we cannot recommend you highly enough.

I cannot speak highly enough of the excellent care given to our family by the team at Staplefords (North End, Portsmouth) Right from the initial phone call we felt our Mum was in the best hands. Without exception, Caroline went above and beyond, giving genuine heartfelt and very personal service. She made the whole experience so much easier to bear with little personal touches that we all appreciate so much. Professional, personal and genuine. I highly recommend Caroline and the team. Thank you all so much.

We had to visit the branch in Fratton, which google is telling me is temporarily closed at the time of my leaving this review because the Powerscourt Road branch was temporarily closed when we needed to use their services. Making an appointment to see them was easy. We sat directly in front of a window so anyone wandering by could gawp in - several did (beer cans in hand) whilst waiting for the director to make phone calls from elsewhere. I think some would be very uncomfortable being on show organising a funeral. The director was friendly & talked us through options. They said they'd let us know once the cremains were returned to sort a date for the interment of ashes. I gave all the details needed regarding the plot. They said they would organise everything & the stone mason would be in touch just to confirm the headstone lettering given to director. 5 weeks after our visit & 10 days after the service I'd heard nothing from anyone. Prior to the funeral I had a call to check everything was ok & a few days before the service the director who took charge on the day called to say they would be leading the service & asked if I had any questions. At the funeral the director in charge (Kim) was wonderful. Respectful, professional at all times; sadly the same cannot be said of the celebrant who made multiple mistakes during the eulogy, some of which were large; the celebrant came highly recommended by Staplefords. Some family were running late but Kim was brilliant & told us “not to panic” & kept it under control throughout.. The music meant to be played on entry to the chapel wasn’t what was agreed. 10 days after the service I looked on their website to see how long it takes for ashes to arrive. It states someone will contact you the day after the service to check how everything went; I never heard from anyone. A quick google gave the impression it should be no more than 7 days for ashes; as it had been 10 I called to see what was what. The person I spoke to was surprised I was calling, placed me on hold & said they had them already. The director I was dealing with was away for 3 days but would call me Monday morning. I was called Tuesday PM & told they were waiting for the cemetery's office to contact them. 6 weeks later I’d still heard nothing so again got on the phone. A date was finally arranged. Whilst talking I said the Stone Masons hadn't made contact as I had been told they would; the director said they could organise everything with them for me if I wanted. This had already been agreed & they were only meant to contact me to confirm wording. I was asked for an email address which they'd already had. I was told final costs & paperwork I needed to sign would be posted out to me; I was asked to sign this ASAP. 5 weeks later I was still waiting & had to contact them; this time via email. I received a reply “I can confirm the invoice has been sent to the solicitors. I will now post out the relevant paperwork to yourself for signing, this is the memorial paperwork and cemetery permit form”. I thought I'd already signed the memorial paperwork & didn’t receive said paperwork for that or the permit form until the 28th October - another 5 weeks later. A note was attached asking me to check the details, along with a copy of the costs so the invoice could be passed to the solicitor which I’d been told they’d already done. In with the new paperwork was a form to be filled in & signed for the deeds to the grave. I knew nothing about this. Thankfully google was able to explain to me what it was about & why. I feel at such a stressful time & having never organised a funeral before, I spent a lot of time making calls that I shouldn’t have had to make. I knew nothing about the process & was expected to sign documents I had no clue what they were for. I don’t feel I should have had to rely on google as much for answers especially when we had a very simple service. Don’t get me wrong, the staff were friendly. They just didn’t seem to have any clue what they were doing, or what was going on & were very lax at keeping me informed.

Stapleford have laid my family to rest for many years, so I decided to continue with family tradition. They didn't disappoint I cannot think of anything that could have been better, they made the process which I had to do at a distance a smooth and easy process at a difficult time . They are respectful and I felt my brother was in the best hands . I would highly recommend them . Donna Parker

All the staff showed compassion and dealt with our needs in a professional way. Laura was always willing to answer our questions and she and Rebecca made the whole experience of our mum’s funeral run smoothly.