Gillions Funeral Services

We sadly lost our beautiful mum, sister and sister in law suddenly recently. We all live away from Dunedin and arranged the funeral via phone until we managed to get to Dunedin a couple of days out from the funeral. Elizabeth was outstanding guiding us and showed so much empathy and professionalism. She organised the perfect celebrant, Emma who did an amazing job of Marilyns service. Thank you also to Lee for officiating everything on the day. You are very special people. As a family we could not speak higher of Gillions Funeral Service.
Aug 27th, 2022

I just spoke with Elizabeth for some advice regarding my brother's passing recently. Our family did not use Gillions Funeral Services but we were after some impartial advice. Elizabeth was amazing with so much empathy and care. Gave me all the time I needed with constructive, yet impartial feedback. To be honest I had happy tears with the compassion provided. All the best to Elizabeth and her team.
Jul 1st, 2021

Mike had liver cancer. The effects of his illness were obvious. He passed away last month. The funeral director who came was called Lee. Mike was to be a valuable learning tool. He was proudly bound for the School of Anatomy. I was very surprised by how rude and disrespectful she was. Ngakau kawa. A quiet sit down to discuss important relevant matters would have been most helpful. Two minutes even. Two minutes. Mike was rushed out the door, and that was my final goodbye. To acknowledge the apprecition the Anatomy Department felt towards the donors and their familes, a special thanksgiving service was held. There was music.singing, karakia. The students read out tributes they had written. Tributes full of respect. Respect for the gift they had been given. Respect was everything, and my husband was worth it. I know that he is now in caring hands. His bequest was generous and brave. He toa taumata rau. Bravery rests in many places.
Sep 20th, 2022

Gillions 5 STAR care and service It's such a challenging task to write words of thanks and appreciation to the people who so greatly support you through one of the most difficult and emotional weeks of your life. My mother passed after a relatively short but intense period of illness 2 weeks ago after she suffered a fall which broker her arm. As soon as mum passed away and I mean within half an hour I was asked by the nursing home staff 'who are you using for the funeral'? This so standard practice so it's important to be prepared as I wasn't expecting it. I was alone with my dearest friend and I was at a loss. I literally had no idea how to make that important decision in that intense moment of utter loss! But of one thing I was sure and that was who not to use! One of my dearest family friends had told me only the night before "don't use these people" (and who she was referring to is a VERY well known funeral service place that used to be family owned - but is now owned by a wealthy Australian company and everyone seems to know who they are). These were her words, '4 years ago we got so terribly taken in by their disingenuous "care'. They were charged without any prior transparency almost $20,000 for their beloved mother's funeral. She died quite young in a shockingly short amount of time and they were so awfully grief stricken they were taken for an awful ride financially and under the guise of kindness. Little did they know every single action they took was being charged to them and they got an awful shock when they received a bill for that amount with the words written on the account To Be Paid with 14 days. If not paid it will be passed on to the debt collector. They were horrified!! This company had charged them $180 for the removal of their mothers rings!! With out their agreement for the charge. That is just one example. So that story had a great impact on my choice and at every turn I was so very very glad we chose GILLIONS! Instead! Genuine care, respect, kindness, support and reasonable costs were so gratefully welcomed during such a difficult time!! Lee was the most incredible support to us and it didn't stop there. Everything including all costs were completely discussed upfront and transparent, everything was totally up to us to choose. The genuine and kind attitude in everything they all did was so very very much appreciated. From the choice of coffin, how we conducted the service, the celebrant, even the beautiful service cards they produced were absolutely beautiful and we felt so heard by Lee. From the funeral and cremation expenditure to the video of the service, we felt totally confident that we had made the best choice for our budget and also wanting things to be of course beautiful amd elegant for Mums send off. It was our heartfelt wish to send our mother off with all the love and joy possible. Nothing was too much trouble for the team at Gillions even to the point of assisting us with help to complete forms and official documents in the aftermath. There were never any hidden costs or sneaky sly charges like the other 'family' owned business everyone seems to have heard of. In the end we had the most fantastic service and send off. The Gillions team was So caring and deeply genuine in every way. Our video was beautiful and every request we made was completely honoured. I will never ever forget Gillions! They too are a family owned business but what a difference we had with them to my friends experience. Thank you Lee, Keith, Elizabeth and Charlotte! You are the best!! We are so grateful to you all for your genuine care and support! We know we made the right choice with GILLIONS. By the way dear reader just to compare costs our entire costs for a most divine send off for mum was approximately $6500 (plus extra costs for catering and venue for the service itself). Please I urge you to choose carefully and do your homework. Funerals are an expensive business and right at the time of your greatest grief the last thing you want is to be financially taken for ride under the guise of care!
May 9th, 2022

Gillions was perfect for us. My partner passed away during level 3 lockdown so we had a memorial 3 months later. I am so grateful for the support that the staff at Gillions provided me. I became increasingly anxious and felt pressured by the thought of the memorial coming up. Elizabeth and staff were so supportive and reassuring and I was able to hand everything over to them. I felt very supported. From the very first time I rang the and talked to Chester I felt warmth and support. I felt listened to and respected. I loved the homely heart centred venue. It was so inviting and cosy and knew that it would be perfect for my partner and our family and friends. Many of our friends were warmly welcomed to contribute food, books, stories and music. There were no barriers to making our celebration our own. Only warmth and support. It was all 'yes'. Thank you Elizabeth and Chester and all the staff at Gillions. Thank you for a enabling such a beautiful celebration of our loved one.
Aug 29th, 2020