Carriage Services
Carriage Services Employee Reviews
Sort by: Helpfulness | Rating | Date
Interesting people to meet each day!
Family Service Counselor (Current Employee) – Las Vegas, NV – December 21, 2017
Nothing is constant at the cemetery. It can go from watching snails crawl to no time to even eat, which is often. Daily answering calls and giving quotes, taking payments, resolving complaints, setting appointments and meeting with families at the time of need. Preparing contracts and taking family out to find a grave. I've learned to be so much more compassionate. Losing a loved one is the hardest thing we all have to face and tremendously stressful. I enjoy putting a family at ease and making them sometimes laugh through this process.
Pros
Wonderful people to meet each day...
Cons
Short to no breaks.
Terrible place to work.
Accountant (Former Employee) – Houston, TX – March 28, 2018
This company lacks professional character and values. Very cut throat , difficult to work with manager and workers . They have a backwards tedious work process with unrealistic goals that don't make any sense. Very petty. Their business process is ridiculous and needs a lot of revision. They lack the fundamentals of training and in my opinion they put unqualified people in positions that they are not qualified for regardless of their educational background. Did i mention it a very STRESSFUL place to work and lastly their turnover is very high. People keep leaving the company or move around the company to other areas a lot..
Pros
Free Lunches
Cons
Simple horrible place to work
Very Stressful and hostil work environment
Staff Accountant (Former Employee) – Houston, TX – February 24, 2018
I do not recommend this employer to any person. Sr. Accountant is hostile and difficult to work with. Deadlines are very strict and when these goals are meet additional work is given to the point you will begin to be late and make mistakes. You will always work late and no mater what you do, you will always get more work to an unmanageable point.
Pros
benefits
Cons
workplace culture is hostile
Save yourself and find another company to work for
Sales (Former Employee) – US – February 20, 2018
THE PAY! Family Service works on a commission reserve system that continuously works against you, you end up paying yourself to work there. You are told you can make all this money, but you are unable to see the full commission until you have reached $2500 in that reserve. What they don't tell you is that there is an actual reserve charge on top of that $2500 reserve- so you end up negative before even coming close to 0, which then leads to gaining a positive amount towards the $2500 reserve.
The pressure every morning when asked how the previous day went in sales. EVERY morning each counselor has to say what hey have planned for that day and how much sales were made the day before in front of every person within the organization. The Counselors then go to a sales board to repeat this conversation- causing anxiety and unmotivation. Most counselors are there to support At-need families, not to go push sales for this greedy organization.
Absolutely no training. They even say the first three weeks are in training.... mistakes are often made and you are then made to feel like the biggest moron because you are unaware of correct policies and procedures in the first place.
The pressure every morning when asked how the previous day went in sales. EVERY morning each counselor has to say what hey have planned for that day and how much sales were made the day before in front of every person within the organization. The Counselors then go to a sales board to repeat this conversation- causing anxiety and unmotivation. Most counselors are there to support At-need families, not to go push sales for this greedy organization.
Absolutely no training. They even say the first three weeks are in training.... mistakes are often made and you are then made to feel like the biggest moron because you are unaware of correct policies and procedures in the first place.
Pros
Good team members
Cons
pay, lack of training, revolving door
Highly emotional but emotionally rewarding
Administrative Assistant (Former Employee) – Naples, FL – January 25, 2018
The funeral location I worked at was a smaller location. While it could be very stressful working with families who have lost a loved one, it was also very emotionally fulfilling. In addition to that, the team I worked with was the best I have worked with in my work history.
Required to do a lot of work besides sales in office and paid commission basis only.
Family Service Counselor (Former Employee) – Florida – January 18, 2018
Required to sit with families at time of death, handle complaints, receive payments, stay in office & take calls while receiving only commission/draw.
Pros
Enjoyed meeting the families & helping them. Good company but not to work for.
Cons
Bad sales manager & not paid for what you do.
Know the industry
Family Service Counselor (Former Employee) – California – December 23, 2017
If you are interested in learning how to plan a burial and becoming comfortable with death, then this is the place for you. If you are not fully knowledgeable in this industry, I recommend looking for a different job. There is NO! training what so ever, and the colleagues choose not to help you because of the fear of you becoming successful. I repeat you will not receive support or help! Only when you blindly try and unfortunately screw up, then they may assist but only for a fee which is half of your commission. The problem is that the commission is how you are paid weekly. If you do not make commission you borrow money from the company which you will have to pay back once a commission is earned. Basically, you start the position building a deficit. The company and its work culture was not the place for me, but who knows, it may work for you.
Relaxed work environment yet professional
Financial Reporting & Accounting Manager (Former Employee) – Houston, TX – December 10, 2017
The atmosphere is very relaxed while maintaining a professional work environment. Fellow employees are friendly and mid-management is very hands on..
Pros
Company team building functions
Cons
not enough employee/upper management inter-action
Not a very organized or appreciative atmosphere
Administrator (Current Employee) – Caldwell, ID – October 26, 2017
They lack any type of comparable training. It's a fail and learn from your errors type of environment, however, they expect you to be knowledgeable and proficient with your job without any proper training. The pay is below average, there are no bonus's or extra's for doing a superior job, they have left me alone at my location and expect me to sell their products and services without paying me the commission sales staff is given. I have been the sole office employee since May 2017 and they just keep expecting me to do the job of 4 people without any additional help or a pay increase to compensate the additional duties and responsibilities.
Good Place to Work
Accounting Manager (Former Employee) – Houston, TX – October 16, 2017
Good place to work. Small company with excellent benefits. Working with team members to accomplish goals is the best part of the job. Most managers and directors are easily accessible and on a first name basis.
Long hours with no support
Director of Sales & Family Service Manager (Former Employee) – Boise, ID – May 3, 2017
When you read the philosophy on paper, the corporation sounds great. A local operating business model where you actually get to run your business and where corporate provides support when needed. That works great with the correct managing partner, but in Boise and especially at Cloverdale Funeral Home & Cemetery the corporation continues to hire managing partners from out of state who do not understand Idaho nor do they care to know. Carriage fires them every year or two making sure the local funeral home has no real consistent message or customer service. Although Carriage continues to espouse its local operating model, they are changing course back to a corporate model and even their home page has deleted some of the local messaging. Tread lightly and do a lot of research before accepting a position with Carriage.
Want to know more about Carriage Services? Just ask.
What is the interview process like?
horrible
Pre-Need Counselor (Former Employee) – Corpus Christi, TX – April 27, 2017
this job was so not worth taking. we as a group were mislead as to what the job would be. we were told it would be a sales position but all it was ,was cold calling to make appointments. we had leads to go to the appointments and if they did not make a sale we were the ones who were reprimanded for no sales. i would not recommend working here to anyone.
Pros
none
Cons
everything
Would not Recommend Working for this Company
Corporate office (Former Employee) – Houston, TX – March 27, 2017
I used to work for this Company for almost 5 years. In that time they let go multiple large groups of people (and not because of a downturn of business) the management would just decide one day to lay off people for no reason. When I was laid off I asked why. I was given one answer when u questioned it. I was told they did not need to give me a reason.
Pros
Other employees are nice
Cons
Management is horrible, favoritism, horrible benefits
Great company, great balance of corporate and family owned
Funeral Director (Current Employee) – Massachusetts – March 5, 2017
I enjoy working for Carriage Services. They have a great decentralized model of managing partners running their respective locations. There isn't a corporate feel to the company and they treat you very well. I really enjoy what I do.
Starting Point
Family Service Counselor (Former Employee) – Oklahoma – January 13, 2017
Good for anyone looking to learn the ropes then move on. Was promised days off and would consistently work 12 days straight. The families were great to work with. Management started great and but faltered soon after.
Cons
Minimal time off
Funeral Home business for a special person
Lakeland Memorial Gardens (Former Employee) – Lakeland, FL – January 10, 2017
Not a good place for an upbeat person like me. Dealing with death everyday takes a certain personality. Bad business to sell to vulnerable people. Was lied to about sales commission and how much money I could make. I am not a pushy sales person especially to those in a fragile state of mind,
Pros
It was located in Florida
Cons
Bad business to be in.
Full day to day operations of 3 funeral homes and 1 cemetery
Managing Partner (Current Employee) – Montana – December 1, 2016
I'm responsible for all operations from removal to cemetery. As well as all management duties, training and all employees. I'm also in charge of all advertising and scheduling.
Great place to work. I have wonderful co-workers.
Administrator (Current Employee) – Fort Walton Beach, FL – June 25, 2015
My typical day at work includes helping families, receiving payments, paying bills. I also make memorial packages for the families in need along with tribute videos. I have wonderful co-workers and manager. The hardest part of my job here is dealing with the families who are having a hard time with grieving, espically the children.
Was a very positive experience working and assisting clients.
Office Manager (Former Employee) – Milford, CT – June 22, 2015
At the funeral home level, I looked forward to working every day. My direct boss and I worked well together as a team. I was responsible for the day to day operations of the office, with a considerable amount of multitasking involved. The environment in working with my boss was ripe with expanding my knowledge of the funeral business. Unfortunately, a funeral director was hired that was the son of our regional manager who had their own agenda which made the work environment become cautious and untrusting. There was really no difficulty in my job. In the five years as office manager, I was allowed the freedom to make it my own and subsequently made the operations more efficient and seamless.
Not a good place to work
Administrative Assistant (Current Employee) – Richmond, Ca – March 3, 2015
They only good thing about this company this that I learned the importance of being prepared. Not a good place to work. Staff members favorite theme is: "that's not my job" or "get it together "
Pros
none
Cons
none