Mc Laughlin Funeral Home

My father passed in NC on the 31st of July. My mom and I were blessed to be referred to McLaughlin. Mr. McLaughlin has been a godsend for my mom and I. He patiently explained what, when and how so we had realistic expectations and true understanding. Mr. McLaughlin provided comforting reassurance throughout the process of having my father released from the hospital and transferred to DC. Their chapel and reception room is immaculate. Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin, Thank you.

I did not have a good experience with this funeral home. The communication was incoherent from the beginning. The day that I came in to make arrangements for my son, Mr Mclaughlin wrote out my contract with prices that were not in accordance to what they normally charge. When I had to discuss the pricing with his assistant Ms Hill, she mentioned some charges that Mr Mclaughlin never brought up including a separate charge for renting the chapel. Ms Hill told me that she just assumed that I would do my son's memorial at my apartment complex or at a park because that's what other people do. I inquired several times about an explanation of charges s that I can understand what I'm paying for. Ms Hill and Ms Mclaughlin both got frustrated explaining the billing because they kept using the word "service" (in my mind I kept thinking they were referring to service in the chapel) for two different things. Instead of telling me one billing invoice is for cremation, picking up my son's body and handling his ashes while the bill is for chapel use they just kept saying service no matter how many times I asked what do you mean by service. I paid the first bill in it's entirety and I asked for a particular date for the service, Ms Hill told me she was going to put his service on the schedule after she talked to Mr Mclaughlin. When I called her back a few days later she said she didn't do it because I didn't pay for the service and the date and time I wanted had been booked by another family. After all of the back and forth about why I had to pay for the chapel separately instead of paying it all at once, I took care of all the finances. My son's high school principal ordered a big picture for his memorial service and had it delivered to the funeral home a few days before the service. When that day came they couldn't find his picture. The service was held up for 30 minutes and all of my guest and I were not allowed to come into the building while the guy was looking for the picture. He failed to communicate with me or my guest as to why we were waiting outside of the locked building. Now that everything is over and I've filed for reimbursement through the MD crime victim resource center, the medical examiner had questions about the bill that the funeral home gave me (the same bill i kept asking for clarification about) I called Friday May 21st and asked for 1 itemized statement with all charges and Ms Hill said "by law they can not do that" and that she would get back to me on Monday. I waited until Wednesday to call back but she wasn't in the office according to the other staff member. He took my information and let me know that he would pass her the message. Today is Thursday June 5th, I still haven't gotten a call. I'm very disappointed in the service Mclaughlin funeral gave me during the bereavement and planning process of my son who died a tragic death. For them it's just a job and business, my friend helped me to plan this out and she stated that they lacked compassion for the families who lost loved ones. Since they do this all of the time it appears they are callused at heart. I hadn't included all of the details in this post but there's more insensitive treatment that was given during this experience. People don't know what it feels like to lose a child and want answers. It was a difficult process to go through and the funeral home added more stress than there needed to be. There was something good that came out of this: 1. Mr Mclaughlin was kind and hospitable the first day I met him 2. They made 50 free programs for the service 3. They allowed me 30 extra minutes on my service time to compensate for time the male staff member searched for my son's picture And that's it

I would like to give high marks to the McLaughlin Funeral Home on behalf of the Claggett/Brown Family on the services provided for our nephew Paul A. Claggett. The professional manner that was extended, from the start of the service in the chapel to the repast in the dining area was well received. Thank you again for extending comfort and care during our time of bereavement. Mr. & Mrs. Edward Brown

On behalf of the West family, we would like to thank the funeral home for outstanding five star service. My nephew’s funeral was beautiful. We would highly recommend this funeral home to others in the future.

I used McLaughlin services for my husband and mother in the past month and year. They were very efficient and professional in accommodating what I needed. I will continue to use them for future services.