HEY WAIT! HOW COME THEY DIDN'T PAY THAT MUCH?

So you have a recent death in the family, you take a recommendation from a friend who also recently had a death in the family to go to a local funeral establishment. You were told it is a bit pricy and decide to see what they can do with your budget.

Knowing the price that your friend paid, you go and sit with the counselor from this local establishment and share with them what you are looking for them not aware that you are friends with the individual that referred you. You find yourself asking for pretty much the same type of service that your friend asked for and the totals are tallied.

Surprising as it is, your cost comes out to substantially less than your friend paid. How can this be? You didn’t ask for any discount nor did you share any information with the counselor about your income or budget. As a matter of fact, the only thing you and your friend that recommended you DON'T have in common is............. the color of your skin.

This is called “Race Baiting” and NO ONE will admit to it or talk about it in the industry (taboo). There is an assumption in the industry by some (not all) funeral home owners, will use the color of your skin or ethnic background to provide a suitable price to accommodate your pocket book. This is great for you, but for all the wrong reasons. There is an assumption by THIS specific funeral establishment that minorities are a poorer class and can not afford their overblown prices, therefore they are provided a reduced price on the assumption that you are unable to afford the bill. Again, this is good for you, This is also YOUR diamond that can be used against the funeral home if the cost of your service gets out to the general public that the funeral home charged you so little.

At this point you also have the option of negotiating in YOUR FAVOR! no matter how low they may go, you have the upper hand to get them to go lower or you will go elswere. (elswere is probably still lowere than them) If you feel there is an assumption on the funeral homes behalf that you come frome an assumed poorer class of people, then be as poor as you can be and do all you can to get the funeral sevice you want for close to nothing.

The intent of the funeral home is not to assist you, it is to charge you what THEY think you can pay and assume that you are from a poorer class of people because of your race. This is not only sad, but a form of stereotyping you. It also is very unfair for the family that does come in that does not fit the funeral establishments assumed poorer class or race. These people are forced to pay the full price of a service only because they don’t fit the counselor’s mold of what an assumed poor person looks like.

In the long run, this also does more damage to the business owner when you have a variety of people coming in demanding the same price as the previous and insisting on the equivalent service at the same cost leaving the poor counselor to defend their actions while the owners sole intention was to take anything he could from anyone to fill their pockets.

Also, this can be VERY BENEFICIAL to the community if you find yourself in a position to RECOMEND this specific funeral establishment to others in the community and SHARING THE PRICE you paid with others so they to can put the funeral homes feet to the fire and see just how caring they are by charging everyone the same price you were charged. Chances are this may happen a few times, then it will stop.

Be weary of the “Race Bait” game. Ask yourself if you are being played because of an assumption that you are of a poorer class or a specific minority only because the location is trying to get what it can out of you, and nothing more. The damage may not be to you, but more so to the community that is once again being fleeced to fill the coffers of a greedy little business owner.

This is a very poor buisness practice and over the long run the owner will lose control of their pricing and the establishment, as will the service... fail.

At Avenidas, all the pricing is the same, and all is offered equally to everyone. We are so proud of our fair pricing that we do not need to “Make it up as we go” to try and keep people in the door, or accommodate a specific race.

We also can prove we are the most afordable in the Western Valley. We dont need to tell you that on the phone to coax you in, Just check our website, our pricing speaks for itself. Unlike others who dont post pricing on their websites. We call it "Transparent Pricing" You would be suprised how many come in already knowing what they would like just from reviewing our website and pricing.

We are proud to serve you, be concerned about you and care for you!