Cook-Walden Funeral Home

I attended my sisters funeral today. I have never in my life seen such a disrespectful service. The lack of coordination and communication was uncalled for. There was a tall thin lady in a grey suit brown hair that seemed to be in charge. The driver was one of the people carrying my sister to the grave. Why would you not ask a family member? There were tons of people there willing. The way she was carried to the burial was unorganized, there was obviously a lack of communication on how to get her to the burial. It was sloppy. Then after the religious chanting and mourning, they realized there was water in the whole. A loud machine was hooked up to suck the water out. As everyone is there trying to mourn. It went on for at least 20 minutes. Until another guy came up on a golf cart with a shovel. Then they guys began to shovel out the water. How was this not seen BEFORE?! it took a total of 30 minutes and should have been taken care of before everyone was there. The tall women seeming in charge then tells everyone to move to the left of the tent. That was all she said. NO proper ending to what just happened, no offering for people to stay or telling us what’s going on. Just «move to the left of the tent» This was extremely disrespectful all together. Cook-​Walden lacks serious communication and coordination. This was not the time for my brother to deal with that kind of thing. Not when he is mourning his wife.

Over the past few years, I’ve had occasion to use this funeral home as part of my duties in carrying out the final needs for loved ones. Definitely not the fun part of life. However, each time, the staff here have impressed me with their level of expertise and compassion.
This location is the mothership for the Cook Walden facilities in North Austin, and also for the Dignity network, so they’re often where your loved one’s body is transported immediately upon passing away. Their responsibilities include preparing the body for viewing and burial, refrigerated storage, and carrying out cremations there on site.
At a very difficult time, each time, they’ve done an excellent job and exhibited the utmost respect and compassion. The facilities, including small chapels, are clean, well-​appointed, and peaceful. There’s nothing fancy, but it’s nice. Each time, they’ve started the process for us as part of our pre-​arrangement, and we’ve had our final services elsewhere, but they treated us as well as if we were having everything done there.
The location is just off busy N. Lamar Blvd., but the parking lots are spacious enough to accommodate guests and it’s quiet inside. I’ve never had to make or work through arrangements here or dealt directly with their staff without interface, but overall the experience has gone very smoothly and been as positive as it can be at a time like this.

When my husband’s grandmother passed away the family wasn’t prepared for everything that comes with planning a service. We worked with Andria who was more than helpful. She took the time to thoroughly explain each package and options we had for the services of our beloved Grandmother. When it came down to make the decisions best suited for our needs Andria made sure all of our questions were answered and we were happy with the arrangements. On the day of the service everything went smoothly and as planned. We were able to enjoy a beautiful service with little stress. Cook Walden was more than accommodating, they were truly a blessing.

A few years ago I began a project to understand the funeral industry. I went to a few funeral homes in Austin, somewhat «undercover,» to pre-​plan my own funeral. I wanted to investigate how the sales process worked.
At the Lamar Cook-​Walden location, I was lied to and manipulated. We of course know that this is a business and has profiting motives, but we should at least expect honesty. Here are some examples:
–I was told that a vault was necessary for a casket, so the casket wouldn’t be crushed under the weight of the tractors that drive over grave sites.
–I was told that vaults are legally required by the state of Texas.
–I was told that the more expensive caskets (bronze) would preserve my body longer.
–Before touring the «show room» of caskets, I was interviewed needlessly about my history with experiencing death. I was asked questions like, «Have you ever had a person close to you die?» I said yes. The lady then said, «It’s the hardest day of your life.» In Dignity Memorial’s (the corporation who owns Cook-​Walden) advertising, they claim that pre-​planning helps to prevent emotional over-​spending. This is true! However, Cook-​Walden accommodates by creating an emotional, sad mood before entering the show room.
–Another example was asking me all about my girlfriend, my parents, my job, and my income. I played dumb, and perhaps the saleslady figured she could try to dig into my personal life to figure out how much I would spend. Each of these questions wrapped around to suggestions like, «It sounds like your mom might want you to have a traditional service, THEN get a cremation.» The funeral industry had trouble initially with consumers seeking cremations. The current strategy is to suggest an open-​casket service (must buy the casket), followed by a cremation and storage in an expensive urn.
My mother worked for Cook-​Walden for a couple years as a «grief counselor» at a different location in Austin, and she was paid entirely on commission. That is what began my interest – the incredibly soulless notion that the funeral home employees are paid commission. My mom told me that in her sales training, they were taught «Upsell, upsell, upsell!» In one instance, my mom had a low-​income family come in grieving the loss of their father and sole source of income. They had $ 5,000 total in savings. My mom’s boss told my mom to try to get them to upgrade the casket, to suggest they could take out a loan… because that’s what the deceased father would have wanted! The guilt forced my mother to quit, and I’m happy she did.
This location receives two stars because they made no follow-​up phone calls to me after I obviously didn’t spend any money at their store. Also because, unfortunately, the lying of funeral homes is pretty ubiquitous in our country and this location is no exception.

These people are amazing. My family used them for a funeral, and although I wasn’t the main point of contact, I saw how great they were and heard such great things from my family. Then, when I needed to follow up about something after the funeral and get some help for a second memorial service we were having elsewhere, they went truly above and beyond. Makes a really tough time a little easier.

We used them for the services for our beloved and wonderful Father on 7÷30÷2012. Other than an error on the programs that went the church it was a beautiful celebration of life. William at Cook-​Walden is outstanding and so understanding and accommodating. I realize this is not the best circumstance that needs a review because it deals with death but I have to give credit where credit is due! Highly recommend their services.

Kind of a depressing review, but these folks need some recognition. They were wonderful. Everything was done smoothly, professionally, and with my consent every step of the way.