News out of California
Many funeral homes are now promoting their services on the Internet. While some prices are noted, the majority are not. In California, the state Senate has approved legislation requiring funeral homes to post their prices online.
State law already requires funeral directors to provide a general price list detailing the cost of caskets and other services at the start of any discussion with a potential consumer. Senate Bill 658 extends those requirements to funeral home websites, requiring that the home page features a link to the price list.
“The goal is to make shopping for funeral services a little easier for the consumer,” author Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, said on the floor.
A committee analysis says the Center for Public Interest Law, which sponsored the bill, is arguing that the change would help grieving consumers to make informed choices about the costly services as they explore their options online.
The bill, which passed 23-14, now goes to the Assembly.
Now, if only other states will follow.
Source
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Death Care Shopping Coming To A Mall Near You
Wichita, Kansas
A video on YouTube has gone viral, bringing unexpected attention to a mall in Wichita, Kansas, featuring a unique shopping experience.
‘Til We Meet Again has recently opened a store in a Wichita shopping mall, featuring custom caskets and urns for sale directly to consumers.
The video is also leading to a second store, this one in Hutchinson, in what owners Nathan Smith and Traci Cone hope will be a franchised chain.
“This whole thing has just taken … off and just taken us all by storm,” Smith says.
Smith says he’s also closed a deal to license Kansas State University logos on caskets and urns and is working with Wichita State University to do the same.
Smith says he’s getting help and advice from Pizza Hut co-founder Dan Carney, who is on his informal board of advisers.
“He’s guiding us in making this thing work the right way,” Smith says.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
What Your Funeral Director Won't Tell You
Readers Digest just put together a list of things, 13 in all, that your funeral director won't tell you. Of course, it has already sparked a nasty battle of words -- the nasty words coming from many funeral directors. I was surprised to see that over at one site (a website dedicated to funeral directors), the owner posted the list. However, he was careful to put a disclaimer above, noting that "The opinions expressed did not reflect those of his site." After all, he just wanted to warn funeral directors that someone was looking out for consumers.
Without any disclaimer of my own (other than giving my endorsement to the items listed below), I present the list.
13 Things the Funeral Director Won’t Tell You
Go ahead and plan your funeral, but think twice before paying in advance. You risk losing everything if the funeral home goes out of business. Instead, keep your money in a pay-on-death account at your bank.
If you or your spouse is an honorably discharged veteran, burial is free at a Veterans Affairs National Cemetery. This includes the grave, vault, opening and closing, marker, and setting fee. Many State Veterans Cemeteries offer free burial for veterans and, often, spouses (http://www.cem.va.gov/).
You can buy caskets that are just as nice as the ones in my showroom for thousands of dollars less online from Walmart, Costco, or straight from a manufacturer.
On a budget or concerned about the environment? Consider a rental casket. The body stays inside the casket in a thick cardboard container, which is then removed for burial or cremation.
Running a funeral home without a refrigerated holding room is like running a restaurant without a walk-in cooler. But many funeral homes don’t offer one because they want you to pay for the more costly option: embalming. Most bodies can be presented very nicely without it if you have the viewing within a few days of death.
Some hard-sell phrases to be wary of: “Given your position in the community …,” “I’m sure you want what’s best for your mother,” and “Your mother had excellent taste. When she made arrangements for Aunt Nellie, this is what she chose.”
“Protective” caskets with a rubber gasket? They don’t stop decomposition. In fact, the moisture and gases they trap inside have caused caskets to explode.
If there’s no low-cost casket in the display room, ask to see one anyway. Some funeral homes hide them in the basement or the boiler room.
Ask the crematory to return the ashes in a plain metal or plastic container — not one stamped temporary container. That’s just a sleazy tactic to get you to purchase a more expensive urn.
Shop around. Prices at funeral homes vary wildly, with direct cremation costing $500 at one funeral home and $3,000 down the street. (Federal law requires that prices be provided over the phone.)
We remove pacemakers because the batteries damage our crematories.
If I try to sell you a package that I say will save you money, ask for the individual price list anyway. Our packages often include services you don’t want or need.
Yes, technically I am an undertaker or a mortician. But doesn’t funeral director have a nicer ring to it?
Source
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Ask Around Before Trying Askbury Referral Service
Tampa, Florida
Picture this, if you will. You move to a new city and find yourself in need of a funeral home. As a newbie in town, unfamiliar with the area, you simply do not know what to do. Ah, but wait, you see an advertisement on the side of a truck for AskBury Referral Service. After taking a closer look, you notice that they claim to be an independent service, not connected to any funeral home. The founder, Rose Dawson, simply wants to connect you with a reliable firm. She has put together a team of specialists that are available 24/7. Sounds pretty good, right?
True, the service is free. AskBury makes its money through referral fees paid by the funeral homes, which tends to diminish the possibility of non-bias. And as for the claim that the company is NOT a funeral home, cemetery, or cremation society—well, actually it is.
It turns out AskBury is connected to Brewer & Sons Funeral Homes, a family-owned business since 1965 with seven locations in west-central Florida, including two in Tampa.
AskBury lists the same P.O. Box in Brooksville as Family Owned Service Co., the business name for Brewer & Sons. Its bereavement specialists work out of office space attached to Brewer & Sons’ funeral home on Broad Street. It gets even better. General Manager Rose Dawson? She’s really Jill Grabowski, Brewer & Sons’ marketing director. Barry Brewer, president of the funeral homes, liked the idea of having a resource for people who are new to the area or unfamiliar with planning a funeral. Admittedly, he enjoys a bit of humor, having grown up in the burial business with the name, Barry. He envisioned AskBury catching on nationwide.
To help AskBury get going, he offered use of his P.O. Box and office space. He suggested the name, a twist on Ask Gary, a local medical and accident lawyer referral service.
Oh, and of course, on the AskBury list of recommended funeral homes – Brewer & Sons
Source
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Illinois Funeral Director Marcee Dane Convicted of Desecration of Remains and Cremation Cover-Up
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| Marcee Dane |
A funeral director accused of giving bereaved families the wrong cremated remains has pleaded guilty in a cover-up of the fraud and is expected to spend months behind bars.
Marcee Dane, 32, of Libertyville pleaded guilty to desecration of human remains, a violation of the Cemetery Protection Act and a Class 3 felony, a release from the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office said.
Prosecutors said Dane tried to cover up a mix-up involving a family’s ashes by first lying to the family, then getting another person’s remains and sending the family those remains to cover the mistake.
Dane even went so far as to exhume cremains and remove an identification tag in case either family discovered the error and chose to exhume the cremains, authorities said.
Marcee Dane was a funeral director at Burnett Dane Funeral Home in Libertyville, where the scandal occurred.
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