Albert Brown Mortuary

It’s been some time since our experience here. I had no intention of writing a review, but after experiencing a service at another mortuary recently, I realized that nobody should have to go through what we went though at Albert Brown, that there are other options to take your business that will provide a dignified and respectful ceremony/​farewell for your loved ones.
We originally chose Albert Brown because we thought this mortuary had experience with services for Chinese families, and is aware of our customs and traditions. The main contact we had was himself Chinese, but he was very inexperienced and just overall a very slimy guy who was trying to nickel and dime us in every way. His schpeal about coffin selection was horrifying. He indicated that we should buy the most expensive one because the cheaper ones are made in China and may fall apart if someone leans on it by accident. Keep in mind that he was dealing with a generation up from me, who just lost their family, and is not really in the right frame of mind to think logically. His scare tactic worked, as they chose the most expensive coffin, but it’s completely immoral and unnecessary to sell it this way.
Also, they’ve «packaged» some services/​items together to make it «easier.» There was no discount to the packages, they were the cost of each line item added together. We worked off the package as there were some common items that all funerals needs, but we omitted such items like thank you cards, etc. However, when it was time to sign the contract, those items appeared back on the contract. They snuck it in in hopes that we didn’t see it. WTF? I was very upset and appalled that this happened, and we asked to speak with the Manager. He was hesitant but finally called her and we can hear her on the phone, she stated that she did not want to talk to us. What kind of manager does that? If we could, we would have taken our business somewhere else but they knew that during this time, the older generation would just opt for the easiest route, so they really didn’t have to try hard to keep us happy.
OK, by this time, we just wanted to be done. We smoothed things over and just paid the amount they charged us, with emphasis that we know they are overcharging us but we don’t care, just as long as they provide us with good service.
Well, there services were very disorganized and hectic. There were some crucial things that were missed during the service. He forgot to provide the hair pins and armbands that the family members were supposed to wear. When we remembered, his response was «why didn’t anyone remind me?» Um… this is YOUR job, and how dare you put this back on us? It was discussed many times previously. To this day, my aunts are still upset by this, that they did not follow tradition and honor their family in the way they expected to.
Overall, I just feel that there was a lot of inexperience, lack of trust, lack of being treated with dignity and respect. What’s over is over and we cannot change that. I just wish that nobody has to go through what we went through.
We recently had another family member’s services at Grant Miller Mortuary. They were completely opposite of what Albert Brown was – they were organized, and professional. Review to follow on their page.

I have attended several (Asian) family funerals at this mortuary. :-(
Not having attended services at any other mortuary, I don’t have a comparison, yet…
Overall we were pleased with the courteous and respectful staff that helped guide us through a difficult time. Not all staff was as helpful as others. Armbands that were discussed were not forthcoming at the service and we were all too preoccupied. There were some other things family members were questioning about but I don’t recall.
The ambiance and setting is comfortable with enough parking outside on the lot, flat screen monitors in the Main Chapel are a nice touch to play a memorial DVD (wonderfully done by Alex Liu), plus a good sound system to play background music of your choice.
One very important reason I am writing this review is because the deceased family member at one of the funerals had this odd smile. The older generation would not recognize that the smile was very much that of the Joker character from the Batman movies.
We discussed this quietly among our generation who knew, but made no mention to the older generation, obviously, who had come to pay their respects. Nor did we call this to the attention of the mortuary. Those of us who who saw this were appalled and very taken aback. We said nothing not knowing if anything could be done anyway. We didn’t know if the ‘smile’ was deliberate or accidental. In any event, it was in very bad taste, disrespectful., or due to inexperience?
Support, guidance, ambiance etc …4 stars
The other incident — ZERO

albert brown was where i last got to see my uncle jeffrey and my grandfather. the people who operate this funeral home are friendly and offer services better than the other funeral homes ive been to. i noticed i was greeted with the smell of chemicals when i first walked in, embalming fluid? formaldehyde?
they have different rooms inside for small or large services. they offer bilingual assistance as well — english and chinese. we had his service in their biggest room. it was nicely set up. i remember seeing 4 tv’s around the room, which we had displayed a dvd and slideshow for the guests.

A ninty year old friend of the family had her services here recently. she was in the hospital from an illness and in so much pain that she wrote a note asking to be euthanized. (she couldn’t talk).
she was a generous lady, she often offered baked goods to my sons who went to school with her grandsons. i went to school with one of her sons. her daughter in law is bud with my so.
the service was very celebratory of her life: showing a digitalized slidehow of her family. albert brown had lots of parking and the staff there were very helpful on how to worship the dearly departed. (not all chinese worship and praise the dearly departed alike).
not saying i want to have my wake here, just saving it was professionally and tastefully done.

My husbands grandma passed away last week. It wasn’t sudden and we were all prepared (as well as we could be) for the day we would have to deal with missing her the most.
Her services were held here on a Monday. The setting they provide is nice and makes for a kind of church like but very serene place to remember your loved ones. If say you didn’t want it to be to church like this would be a great place.
Their speaker system for playing music was very nice and we were able to incorporate some of her favorite songs into what the people talking about her were speaking.
The parking is kind of tight though. Especially with all those old people driving around it was scary trying to get out of there.
The rest of the building is spacious and clean and they had a really nice bathroom too.
They provide plenty of tissues for your use. We needed them especially.