EVER WONDER WHY A FUNERAL HOME CHARGES SO MUCH?

Because they can........

Feel Like You?

That's the truth, they can. A funeral home can charge you anything they want, anything, as long as it is on their price list, they can charge it. But they make up their price lists with no caps or limits on anything. The law does not require them to provide services or goods to you at a locked in amount or only so much over a specific amount. Allot of funeral homes present you the price list with some weird wording spinning the Federal Trade Commission and their price list together to give it some sort of legitimacy and getting you to think that the FTC has control over pricing so you think the price list is acceptable and approved by some sort of law.

I got news for you, the Federal Trade Commission is indifferent as to what the funeral home charges, they don't care. They just requier them to have a price list, the FTC does not care what is on it, or how much is charged.

So then, I ask again, Why do they charge so much?

Oh that's easy, because they can!

AND!            You will pay!

The funeral industry COUNTS and depends on the  five "YOU'S:

1. you WON'T look into it
2. you WILL trust them
3. you DON'T know any better
4. you WILL be weak 
5. you DON'T care...

So again, Why do they charge so much?

Because.............. They............... Can!

Pricing on services are way overblown when presented to you because their is a hope by the funeral home that one of three things will happen, actually one of three things will happen:

• You will not say anything because you don't want to appear cheap or be embarrassed for not being willing to "put out" for your loved one. (the funeral home will make MORE than expected because you did not challenge the overpriced charges) for the record, some funeral homes prey on this, to them, this is good business.

• You will pay because you  are not aware that the pricing is negotiable and that the charges are overpriced. (once again, the funeral home makes MORE than expected because you did not challenge the overpriced charges)

• You challenge the pricing so the funeral home gives you a little discount, well within the limits of  what they need to so they can still make a huge profit on you.(Yet again, the funeral home makes MORE than expected because you did not challenge the overpriced fees more than you could have and should have.)

Since I have opened my doors to serve the public, it is easy to see how a funeral home owner can get wrapped up in the price gouging of society. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour and a half to assist a family in the initial preparation and selection of services. After that the counselor gets a very LARGE payment of however much the service costs. This can be very intoxicating for a person that is not capable or not willing  of following ethical and moral guidelines. At the moment for some it seems like easy money. And it is for them. Two or three of these type of payments a week can be overwhelming for some funeral home owners, they think if they can get away with charging this much, they can charge just a little bit more and make more. At this point the business owner has either consciously or subconsciously started down the wrong path, and forgot all together why they chose to be in this industry.

They have forgot that the cash is not theirs, it belongs to the business, even if they own it.

There is very little administrative work. It is the same redundant processing of certificates and applying for permits, all this done through the streamlined services provided by government agencies for submitting and filing. The funeral home RARELY has to dispatch any staff for any document filing, to include Death Certificates and Burial Permits. If you are being charged for the use of a vehicle for the filing of permits and the submission of death certificates, you are being charged for nothing.

So as you can see, it is understandable as to why a funeral home may charge so much. It may not be ethical or moral, but they feel very compelled to do this out of a sense of "self deserving".

You two as a consumer are self deserving as well. Deserving of not being taken advantage of or being preyed upon by greed stricken business owners.

You have the power, the power to say no and the power to go elsewhere. Try going into a funeral home that charges over $5000 for a service and merchandise and tell them your walking. Watch everyone start spinning and doing the dance to do everything they can to get you to stay. They do this NOT because they are looking out for your best interests, only because they they are seeing on of those three great big checks slipping away that they think they deserve......

Oh, one more thing, there are some funeral home owners out there that are reading this post right now and feeling VERY uncomfortable, not because I am letting the cat out of the bag, but because they know it is all true and the guilt is starting to set in.

Got to make that Corvette payment, you know?

Semper Fi

Miguel