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• ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

  Funerals are expensive - there is no doubt about it. One does not have time to shop around and negotiate and they know it and take it to their full advantage. That is exactly what happened when we had to use the services of Phalen Funeral Home, Keith Phalen. They practically charged us for stepping inside the door breathing the air inside! There deman for payment was almost immediate and the deceasead died w/out a will and w/out any instructions. The estate is in probate, they knew that and yet they hounded relatives until the bill was paid. I cannot recommend them or their services.
  

  Added October 01, 2016 by A Google User
• ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

  I guess I'm not quite sure why the negative reviews for Phalen. They just did my mother's funeral, and we were pleased through and through. I've heard that shopping for a funeral home is like buying a car: Caveat emptor--funeral directors are evil, notorious for taking advantage of your vulnerable state, because they have you over a barrel. Much to my surprise, what I experienced was something very different than my expectations.
  
  Because my mother was in hospice, I had the time to shop, and I shopped all three funeral homes in town. Phalen was the most affordable. Not by miles...but by enough to make a difference. Their prices were best largely by not gouging us for the cemetery-required burial liner like one other funeral home tried to do (other home wanted to charge almost double what Phalen charged!), and also by not charging for every time they had to lift a finger. One other reviewer commented that he felt like Phalen did that...but if you compare Phalen to his competition, he really does give you more bang for your buck.
  
  Additionally, when I compared prices for caskets to online prices (did you know you could buy a casket online at WalMart or Sears??!), I was quite surprised to find that, although they ARE cheaper online, once you factor overnight shipping into the cost of online caskets, they were no great deal, and very comparable to what the funeral homes were charging. We're talking, this was true for EVERY SINGLE casket vendor online that I could find. Maybe that has to do with the fact that CT appears to heavily regulate the funeral industry (I noted that all funeral homes had to provide written disclosures of their prices and a written estimate of costs, per CT law). With all that disclosure, funeral homes know they need to be competitive (and again, Phalen somewhat moreso than his competition). But whatever the reason, the fact remains, it's just plain easier if you give your casket business to the funeral home. They do it all, provide it all, and by my research, at an apparently reasonable price.
  
  Another important reason why I recommend thinking twice before buying a casket online is that, if you buy from the funeral home, you never have to worry that your casket doesn't arrive on time...which is precisely what happened to us. An out-of-state relative bought the casket for my mom's funeral, and because of this, we all went online to look at caskets together, rather than purchase it from the funeral home--it was just easier; however, the casket never arrived. We're now embroiled in a credit card dispute with the casket company over those charges. Amex has us confident that we'll prevail...but what a hassle...we were taking multiple phone calls from the casket company, MOMENTS before our wake services.
  
  Which takes us back to why I gave Phalen such high marks. Keith Phalen not only supplied an almost identical casket promptly, but charged us a price almost identical to the shipped casket, and was gracious throughout. I suppose he could have taken total advantage of the situation: there we were on the day of the wake with no casket--he had us over that proverbial barrel--but he didn't. He accommodated every request we made, and casket fiasco not withstanding, my mom's funeral went about as smooth as it could've possibly gone. I recommend Phalen highly.

  Added August 06, 2016 by Anna Häusler
• ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

  Kieth is the last remaining Torrington born & raised funeral director in town. His knowledge of the area and attention to detail is second to none. I wouldn't go anywhere else.

  Added August 03, 2016 by Christopher Sheffield