Goodman-Bensman Funeral Home

After the very unexpected death of my child, the individuals at Goodman-Bensen provided much needed competence and compassion! Unlike my experience with the bureaucracy of the hospital Debra and Tom were on top of every detail and helped move the ball forward when other people were dropping it, including when it was well outside what they would normally assist with. When are officiant was unable to get to the funeral home due to inclement weather Debra stepped in and did an amazing job with the service! While this is obviously a review I never wanted to write I cannot recommend Goodman-Benson highly enough!

The owner and staff of Goodman-Bensman Funeral Home provided me with honest and transparent information when I needed assistance with pre-planning a funeral for a loved one. I found everyone who I spoke to very compassionate, and helpful. They really listened to our needs and wants, and offered wonderful suggestions.

Very professional, Tom the funeral director went out of his way to make sure everything went smoothly. Highly satisfied.

Hard working and very devoted staff!

I sought the services of Goodman-Bensman after my father passed away but, after this experience, would not recommend them to anyone!

A cousin had found and recommended Goodman-Bensman because it was important to part of our family that my father be given the traditional Jewish funerary rites, like a ritual bath and watchman. I cannot speak to how/how well those traditions were carried out because we weren't present for those, but I can speak to how shockingly expensive all goods and services were with this outfit; a wooden casket (which arrived dented), air transport home, and associated services ($2,015 forwarding fee separate from airfare) cost us more than the funeral, burial, and everything else with the other funeral home and synagogue combined. Furthermore, the way Goodman-Bensman demanded full payment (but wouldn't even accept American Express) at 10:30 pm the night before the scheduled flight seemed in poor taste, to say the least. The receiving funeral home also reported that they ended up having to pay the airline themselves (and getting reimbursed by Goodman-Bensman) because Goodman-Bensman was unable to do so.

The receiving funeral home also stated that communication was slow/poor with Goodman-Bensman and that my father's last name had been misspelled in the paperwork which was sent over, causing his death notice in the local paper to be misspelled.

My father, moreover, wished to be buried in his blanket and favorite hat, which I communicated clearly with the funeral director, Tom. My father's hat was ultimately thrown in a linen bag unceremoniously at his feet and was thought to have been lost or misplaced until a few phone calls (and an unpleasant conversation with the seemingly defensive and resentful Tom) clarified the error.

The last straw came weeks later, as I waited for copies of his death certificates to arrive; most funeral homes will notify the Social Security Administration of a death, but when my father received an SSA payment this month, I called the SSA to find out that the funeral home had never done so. Kimberly, who took my call at Goodman-Bensman, claims that they notified the SSA online but could not provide a record. The local SSA offices report that they received nothing.

All in all, I'm very disappointed in the services my family and I received from Goodman-Bensman -- services for which we paid a substantial price. I regret my decision not to seek the services of another funeral home, which would have handled my father's last wishes and trip home with more grace and tact.