McCormack Funerals

We engaged McCormack Funerals in Alexandra for my stepfather Shane's funeral on 24 April 2026. Unfortunately, our experience has left our family deeply disappointed, not only because his funeral was never recorded, but particularly because of how McCormack and its parent company, Harris McDonald, handled our subsequent complaint. **The central issue is a clear written instruction that was never actioned or clarified.**

On 21 April, McCormack's funeral arranger emailed me directly, with my mother Marlene copied into the correspondence, specifically asking about recording and livestreaming Shane's funeral.

I responded clearly in writing that Mum wanted the service recorded so we could download a copy and share it privately with family, but did not want it livestreamed or made publicly available.

McCormack asked me the question in writing. I answered it in writing. Yet the recording was never arranged.

Mum had specifically asked McCormack to deal primarily with me regarding the funeral arrangements as i was handling all of the details and i was also the executor of Shane's estate. Throughout the process, they communicated directly with me, sought and accepted my instructions and approvals on numerous aspects of the funeral and accepted payment from me without issue.

There was also a clear precedent for how McCormack handled changes Mum made directly with the funeral arranger.

On one occasion, Mum attended McCormack in person and requested a change to the photograph being used on Shane's order of service. The funeral arranger subsequently confirmed that change to me in writing, with Mum copied into the email.

This demonstrated that McCormack was willing and able to communicate changes made directly by Mum, even when I had not been present for the discussion.

If McCormack did not consider me authorised to confirm the recording arrangements, why did they direct the question to me in writing?

Why did they routinely seek and accept my instructions and approvals on other aspects of the funeral? And why were they happy to accept payment from me?

I appreciate that accepting payment is not the same as authorising funeral arrangements. However, their established dealings with me gave us every reason to believe my written response to a question directed to me would be acted upon.

If McCormack believed my response conflicted with something Mum had previously said, or that only Mum could authorise the recording, why was that not clarified?

Mum was already copied into the email. They could simply have asked her to confirm her wishes directly, and we would have readily accommodated that.

Instead, no clarification was sought in response to my email, I was not advised that the recording had not been booked and we had every reason to believe the arrangements were in place.

I also recall confirming the recording arrangements with the funeral arranger by telephone during the week leading up to the funeral. On the morning of the funeral, I attended McCormack twice and recall verbally reconfirming that the service was to be recorded but not livestreamed, receiving confirmation that this was understood.

We subsequently discovered that Shane's funeral had not been recorded.

There is no recording of his service. That is something our family can never recover.

**What may have gone wrong**

Mum remains adamant that she declined livestreaming during the original arrangements, not recording.

During the complaint process, we learned that McCormack treats recording and livestreaming as a combined service because an external provider and livestream booking are required even where a family only wants a private recording.

We were not made aware of this distinction at the time, nor were we advised when recording was discussed that a separate booking or additional charge was required. When the question regarding live streaming and recording was emailed, no cost for this service was mentioned.

We have never believed McCormack deliberately failed to record Shane's funeral. I believe a genuine misunderstanding or oversight may have occurred because recording and livestreaming were treated as a combined service rather than two separate decisions and that someone failed to note the correct information on their paperwork.

We understand that mistakes happen.

However, even if McCormack genuinely misunderstood Mum's earlier wishes, that does not explain why the subsequent written response to its own question was neither actioned nor clarified.

**Concerns about the accuracy of McCormack's account**

Throughout the complaint process, McCormack and Harris McDonald relied heavily on staff recollections of verbal conversations to maintain that recording was never requested.

Mum disputes their account of her instructions.

We also identified factual inaccuracies in the company's subsequent correspondence.

For example, in a letter dated 3 July 2026, Harris McDonald's Group General Manager stated that I attended the original funeral arrangement meeting with Mum. I did not attend that meeting. I have factual evidence to demonstrate i was no where near Alexandra when that meeting occurred.

The same letter stated that I raised the recording with the arranger on the day before Shane's funeral. I was still in Melbourne that day and did not attend McCormack in person until the morning of the funeral. I can substantiate my whereabouts through contemporaneous records. My mum did attend a viewing that day there was no request to confirm any further details with her. In fact this didn't come up and we had in fact already paid for the funeral in full at this stage as well.

It is possible that a telephone conversation during the week has been confused with an in-person discussion, but I cannot establish how those inaccuracies arose.

I am not suggesting anyone deliberately provided incorrect information. I appreciate that recollections can become confused, particularly when dealing with numerous families.

However, when a business relies on those recollections to defend its handling of a complaint, I believe it is reasonable to expect them to be accurate and have been recorded at the time, not going by memory alone. Especially when there is written correspondence that demonstrates a different version of events.

We have not been provided with contemporaneous notes documenting the specific disputed conversations.

McCormack did eventually provide an internal Funeral Summary recording "No" against livestreaming and recording. However, this document was never provided to Mum or me for review or approval before the funeral, so we had no opportunity to identify or correct that entry. We only saw this after we complained when we discovered there was no recording as expected.

McCormack also relied on the absence of a separate recording charge or booking as evidence that recording was never requested. However, we had not been advised that a separate charge or external booking was required. How would we know to ask about this if no cost was quoted when the question was asked by email if we would like this included or not.

The absence of a booking establishes that the recording was not arranged. It does not explain why our written instruction was not acted upon or clarified.

**This was not a disagreement within our family**

Another particularly disappointing aspect of Harris McDonald's correspondence was the suggestion that Mum and I may have had different understandings about whether Shane's funeral was to be recorded.

We categorically reject that suggestion.

There has never been a disagreement between Mum and me about whether the funeral was supposed to be recorded.

Mum remains adamant that she wanted her husband's funeral recorded and remains deeply upset that what she understood she had requested was not provided.

The disagreement is between our family's account of the instructions provided and McCormack's account of what it understood and arranged and suggesting otherwise is factually incorrect.

**The complaint and its outcome**

After attempting to resolve the matter directly with McCormack and Harris McDonald, we referred our complaint to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).

Following its review, NFDA advised that McCormack and Harris McDonald had reported improvements to their procedures, including documenting instructions and changes, confirming client authorisation, recording the handover of funeral materials and improving complaint handling.

We welcome those improvements and sincerely hope they prevent another family from experiencing something similar.

However, the central question remains unanswered.

Why did McCormack initiate a written enquiry about recording, receive a clear written response with Mum copied into the correspondence and then neither act on that response nor seek clarification?

What has been incredibly disappointing is the lack of accountability from McCormack itself.

Harris McDonald's Group General Manager expressed regret that the matter had caused distress, but maintained that the funeral arrangements had been handled correctly and in accordance with Mum's instructions. That expression of regret is not the same as acknowledging that something may have gone wrong in how our instructions were understood, documented or actioned and offering a genuine apology along with accountability for the issue.

In fact, the correspondence left us feeling as though responsibility for the misunderstanding was being placed on our family, despite Mum herself disputing McCormack's account.

We have repeatedly requested a formal written apology directly to Mum and our family, acknowledging that an error or oversight in McCormack's handling of the instructions may have contributed to the missing recording.

To date, we have not received that acknowledgement or apology.

We considered pursuing the matter through VCAT but decided not to do so at this stage. Our primary objective was never financial compensation. No amount of money can recreate Shane's funeral recording.

We wanted accountability, an acknowledgement of what went wrong, a genuine apology to Mum and meaningful changes to prevent this happening to another family. Granted an apology cannot change things either, but an acknowledgment and genuine apology would certainly go a long way.

The funeral was paid for in full, but our family has permanently lost something irreplaceable and no one seems to care about this.

**Why we would not use McCormack again**

Based on our experience, we would not use McCormack Funerals again, and that decision is not necessarily because the recording was missed.

We understand that genuine mistakes and oversights can happen, even with something as important as a funeral.

Had McCormack acknowledged the possibility that something went wrong in how our instructions were handled, offered a sincere written apology directly to Mum and taken responsibility for its part in the outcome, we would have viewed the situation very differently.

Instead, months of correspondence have left us feeling that the business has been more focused on defending its position than acknowledging the impact on our family and what they could have done better to avoid it occurring.

It is the lack of a meaningful apology, direct acknowledgement and accountability that has ultimately caused us to lose confidence in McCormack.

When families place their trust in a funeral provider to arrange a loved one's farewell, I believe how that business responds when something goes wrong is just as important as the service itself.

**My advice to other families**

If you are considering McCormack Funerals, I strongly recommend obtaining a complete written funeral arrangement summary before the service.

Make sure every option offered is clearly documented as selected or declined, particularly recording and livestreaming, which should be confirmed separately even if the funeral provider uses a combined booking process. Ask for the separate costs for anything offered up front and then review those notes yourself against the invoice.

Check which services are included and which incur additional charges. Ask about any external providers or separate bookings required. Ask for confirmation that these bookings have been made, who they are with and request any separate confirmations.

Before making final payment, review the written arrangements, check that they accurately reflect your wishes and ensure they match the invoice. Have any discrepancies corrected and obtain written confirmation of the final arrangements before the funeral. We did check our invoice, but everything we believed we were meant to be charged for was listed and we simply believed this was part of Mc Cormacks professional services given they didn't quote a separate charge the way they had other items.

If a family member is communicating on behalf of the contracting client, make sure the funeral provider clearly confirms whether any instructions require additional authorisation and advise them in writing this needs to occur.

We thought that responding clearly in writing to a question initiated by the funeral home, with Mum copied into the correspondence, along with follow up by telephone to confirm the email instruction, was sufficient. Sadly, in our experience, it wasn't.

I hope that sharing what happened to our family helps prevent another family from experiencing a similar irreversible loss.