FRONTLINE; THE UNDERTAKING. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO WATCH THIS

I may not agree with everyones reason for doing what they do in this industry, nor do they all agree with me. We all have different reasons for choosing to get into the industry. Some is to serve the community economically and compassionatly, others to serve the community while trying to earn a good living, but no doubt, their intent is to serve with the same level of compassion and professionalism as their fellow business owners.

Some funeral homes are owned by licenced funeral directors, some are not, I am not a licensed funeral director yet I own Avenidas. I do however choose to use compassion to guide me through my daily chores of running my business and yes, as much as I do try to help, I must understand that in order for my business to function so I can continue to serve the community, I must run it as a business that SERVES the community.

For whatever reason a funeral home comes into existence, I am sure that a vast majority of the owners start, and even finish with good intentions.

I ask you to watch this video so you can see exactly what is involved in this industry that we serve in. From the smallest simple establishment to the most grandious palacial funeral service center, please remember, we all have chosen to serve in this industry, even if some of us are seasoned with a little bit more compassion than others and that compassion is defined differently by each of us on different levels.

Thank you!

Miguel Legaspi

Watch The Undertaking on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

ARRANGEMENTS AND YOUR BUDGET

THE BUDGET!

Ya know, sometimes its just really hard sitting with a family to handle the final arrangements of a family member. Depending on the amount of individuals in the room, you find yourself working with that many different personalities and levels of grief. They are all not the same, and can not be treated as one or the same. It is a procedure, a very delicate balancing act; there is tension, anger, even distrust and mistrust. Some even look at you as the enemy, after seeing what I’ve seen over the years, I understand why. As a counselor, and a funeral home owner, you must work your way from individual to individual expressing a sincere concern for their well being and emotions (AND MEANING IT!)

 

Some cry, a memory, any certain one procedure or document we review might bring them to that level, it’s never the same. Then someone might say something like “He would have been all over you for crying like a little girl” or “If Mom saw you acting like that…” and everyone laughs. And they laugh as they wipe the tears, why? Is it disrespectful? No.

In memories we remember the funny, the good and cry because we long for the continued relationship that we shared with that individual that we think is lost, it is not lost, it is just packaged up in our own private memories now. Those enjoyed companionship times are no more, so we cry again, and remember, and laugh. There is a time we will come to realize over the next few days that laughing and crying is quite acceptable to each other, no mater how strong we are, we learn to shed tears in the presence of others because, as the strong one, we feel it is our responsibility to bring those we care for to grieve because it is a necessity, not because it is a weakness.

After presenting the pricing and legal documents required prior to moving forward, I stop everything. I then ask the family or the individual if they are not sure of what they want to please, before they do anything else, talk amongst you and establish a budget. Once they have done that I ask them to promise each other that no matter what to stand by that budget…  I then leave the room.

My experience has taught me that when a family sits with you they are really thinking of about a thousand different things not taking any of each others ideas into consideration…. or a budget.

Car Washes, not because "THEY" want you to

A budget is so important; there is no sense in me trying to help a family if their desires for services are outside of their budget. It is immoral, unethical and outright wrong for ANY counselor at ANY funeral home to ever bring out the idea of promoting car washes or borrowing money from family or friends to pay for a service that the counselor sold a family outside of their budget, or a service that  “ budget” was not considered into.

If a funeral Director or Counselor can not help you come up with simple ideas to help you make up for ways of cutting the cost that won’t add to the service price, if they can not use some common sense and professional creativity to recommend ways for you to provide ideas for services that will not add to the price… THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD FUNERAL HOME!

Funeral Home Once Meant Something

There was a time when the word “HOME” meant something in the word “FUNERAL HOME”. It was a place were people could go were you would be cared for, looked after and served. Doing all this because it was the profession, not because you were paid a $6,000 to $8,000 funeral bill. For $8,000 you better be painting my toe nails, washing my truck and cleaning my house for a year. 

Budget, stick to it, stand by it and ASK for ways to do things outside of the funeral home to keep the cost down. If your Counselor or “Director” can not come up with anything to help, it is not because they are stupid, it is because they are greedy and can care less about your budget.

Car washers are fine to raise funds, but do them out of necessity for your service, not because “Director” tells you to do it to because they won’t try to work with you.

“Semper Fidelis” (Always Faithful)

WEST VALLEY VIEW ARTICLE ON THE DEATH CARE INDUSTRY

Not even funeral homes are recession-proof


Many families are choosing least expensive options to say goodbye to loved-ones
Rich Ott - Assistant Editor

Crystal Rose Funeral Home in Tolleson closed its doors Monday. The doors "technically" re-opened Wednesday.

"We've all been on an emotional roller coaster," said Kylie Roos, controller for Salt Lake City-based Security National Financial Corp., the parent company of Crystal Rose.

Roos was sent to Arizona from Utah to close two of Security National's three Arizona funeral homes: Crystal Rose, 9155 W. Van Buren St., and Greer Wilson Funeral Home, 5921 W. Thomas Road in Phoenix. Paradise Sunset Chapel at 3934 E. Indian School Road in Phoenix is the third funeral home owned by the multi-million-dollar company and was never on the chopping block.

Roos arrived in the desert and closed Crystal Rose Jan. 3. Word of the closing quickly spread through the community and the funeral home industry.

Before Roos could do the same to Greer Wilson, Security National President Scott M. Quist began to field interest in his two soon-to-be-closed funeral homes.

"We have received several inquires we are considering from other funeral homes in the area," Quist told the View Jan. 4. "In fact three people were in just today."

The president and chief operations office for Security National Financial Corp. - which operates in 40 states dealing in mortuaries, cemeteries, life insurance or mortgages - is "confident a transaction in some nature" will occur within a few weeks. The deal will either be a "partnership or sale with another facility in the Phoenix area."

So the company quickly decided it was better to sell opened businesses than closed ones, Roos said.

However, it wasn't all good news for employees of Crystal Rose and Greer Wilson funeral homes. About half of the staff was let go between the two businesses, with Crystal Rose re-opening with either one or two employees, Roos said. Greer Wilson will operate with a staff of four, he said.

Arizona market is soft

For years, Security National's three funeral homes in Arizona have not been making money, Quist said.

"Salt Lake City and California have been profitable, Phoenix has not," he said of the three places the company owns funeral homes and/or cemeteries. "The Arizona market has been very soft."

Quist elaborated on his remark.

"They keep telling me the death rate has gone down in Arizona, but I have a hard time believing that," he said.

What has hurt his two West Valley funeral homes is "competition and pricing pressures have been strong," Quist said.

There are too many funeral homes in Arizona, which is bringing prices down and those unwilling to do business at that price point will close, he said.

Which is not necessarily a good thing for consumers, because the remaining businesses will eventually raise their prices, he said.

"We are unwilling to wait for that, at least as a stand-alone," Quist said. "Now with a partner, we might be willing."

The "pricing phenomenon is unique to Arizona," he said. "We don't see it in California and Utah. If anything we see just the opposite. In Salt Lake City, for example, a Hispanic family opts for additional services while in Arizona we are seeing just the opposite, 'cremate the body and just give us the ashes.'

"Maybe Arizona has been hit harder by the economic times," Quist said. "Maybe it's that simple."

New kid on the block

One of Quist's competitors is Miguel Legaspi, who opened Avenidas Funeral Chapel at 522 E. Western Ave. in Avondale on Sept. 21, 2010.

"Families are cutting back because they can't afford it," he said. However, since his funeral home has been open, Avenidas has averaged 10 cases a month, and only three have resulted in direct cremation, he said.

"That's because people come here and they can afford something," Legaspi said. "We charge $585 for a direct cremation; that is everything inclusive, no hidden charges. My closest competitor charges $1,580."

Legaspi further compared his prices with competitors for a direct burial, stating the price at Avenidas, which includes a minimal wood casket, is $1,020, while a competitor charges $2,830, which includes a minimal metal casket.

"I'm retired Marine Corps, I have a little morality behind me," he said. "I can't do that to people."

Legaspi retired from the Marines in 1998 and has worked on and off again in funeral homes in both California and Arizona ever since, having experience working in the private and corporate sectors of the industry, he said.

The difference in price for a traditional funeral with all the amenities between a corporate-run funeral home and a private one "is about $5,000," he said. "And you know how corporations work, if there is no money to be made, they move on to greener pastures."

In 2009, 69 percent of all funerals ended in cremation, Legaspi said.

"Once that was identified [by the funeral home industry], your cremation cost shot up and went extremely high," he said. "They have to recover the loss of the casket sale.

"County burials are up right now because families are just turning their loved ones over" to avoid funeral charges and cemetery charges, he said. "It doesn't have to be that way."

Since Avenidas Funeral Chapel opened, word has gotten out about their prices, he said.

"I've got families coming to me from Mesa," Legaspi said. "Other than my Marine Corps career, I'm most proud of that."

Service matters

Sean Thompson, co-owner and funeral director of Thompson's Valley West Funeral Chapel at 296 S. Litchfield Road in Goodyear, is proud of the service his staff provides as well.

When people find out what Thompson does for a living, they "always joke, 'Oh, you'll always have a job.' Not if you don't do a good job or you're perceived as not providing a good service," he said.

Fortunately for the Thompsons - Sean's wife Cynthia co-owns and operates the 54-year-old funeral home with him - the West Valley has embraced their services.

"We've helped more families in the past year than we ever have," Sean said of the funeral home, which they took over in 2005, adding Thompson's to the name. "I think that has to do with how we've handled our business since day one, not last week. You do a good job, provide excellent service and hope that is enough."

Before moving to Arizona, Sean Thompson worked at a funeral home in Oklahoma for 13 years. He immediately noticed one huge difference between the two states when it comes to funeral services.

"The funeral home I worked at in Oklahoma, about 13 percent of all deaths were cremations," he said. "In Arizona, about 80 percent are cremations."

Cremations are on the rise nationally, but in a state where they have been high for a while now, they have remained at a steady level, according to Thompson and Quist.

What is not at the same level from where it was five years ago is the amount of money people spend on funerals, Thompson said.

The funeral industry "is not immune to what is going on in the world," he said of the slow economy.

"If it is your time to go, people have no control over that," Thompson said. "What it [the economy] does control is what people spend and where they go."

THE SYSTEMATIC FLEECING OF YOUR COMMUNITY

I had the misfortune of speaking to yet another family this morning, my second in the last week that had lost a family member to a death. Their story deeply disturbs me because these families found themselves facing astronomical funeral costs that they just could not afford. One was blessed enough to be afforded the opportunity to seek us out after they visited one of the corporate locations. They made the very wise choice to look around, the difference between what we had to offer in regards to service charges was a savings to the family of around $5,170.00. That was the savings presented to them. In the end this family was only obligated to pay the removal fees of the other funeral home of roughly $700.00. Our removal fees are $225.00. Their total service charges came out to around $2,830.00 with us.

The second family, who also went to one of the local corporate locations, was forced to pay $120.00 a day in “storage” fees for seven days until they could come up with the funds needed to go to burial. The price for services requested by this family was around $9,000.00. If only they had been informed about us. We don't charge storage fees, and they could have the services they wanted to get, not just would they could afford there.

These prices and charges are outrageously ignorant and insulting to the community. One thing you will find if you get to know me personally and our establishment is that we serve all of the community. EVERYONE! Impoverished or not. Poverty crosses all lines in regards to race, color or religious preference. When you as a funeral home are needed it is important to step up to the plate and help EVERYONE. That is the magic word, HELP!

This does not speak true for the corporate giant funeral industry that feels that because these corporations have purchased or built a mortuary and cemetery in a specific neighborhood that they can charge what they choose because their “studies” have shown specific ethnic communities prefer burial over any other type of service. Those ethnic communities can be yours, the targeted market or for a lack of better understanding “DOLLAR SIGNS”.

This is called “scalping the community”… your community. To pay service prices for a simple burial of anything over $3,000.00 is absurd. These have been the common place nightmare stories I have heard from different families since I have opened. This is a true nightmare and a fleecing of the community, MY community and I have grown tired of this.

Please, please, get the word out. Let those know that there are facilities out there that are willing to assist and are NOT corporate owned funeral homes, or even those independently owned that operate as if they were corporate affiliates. Corporate owned locations will do everything possible to stick to the price list price that is probably outside of your budget. There is no shame in car washes to cover service prices but if a funeral home is RECOMMENDING these types of events in order for you to pay for something they just sold you, does that sound ethical? Moral?

We are here to help, serve. Since opening we have been privileged to serve 28 families. Of these families all have commented that they had made the right choice and would recommend us. For that, I thank them. But I so hate to hear of the pricing horror stories after the fact. When I could have helped these families if they had just been made aware of us by a friend…………………………………Like you!

BASIC SERVICE OF THE FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND STAFF - WHAT IS THIS?

I know I have been away a bit longer than usual. I apologize.

Now, what is this "Basic service of the Funeral Director and Staff"?

On every funeral contract and for every service, one of the first charges you will see is the "Basic Service of the Funeral Director and Staff".

This is easy to understand but one of the least explained by the staff. For every service provided, you have to take into consideration that there are items and services outside of those itemized on the price list.

As any business, services provided are time consuming and are broken down to how and why they are a necessity in the "Basic Service" charge.

The Arrangement Meeting - this takes about one to two hours. This is when the family comes in and sits with the counselor to make selections, provide information and decides on dates. If a family is unaware as to what they may wish to do for services, this could take even longer or even require a return appointment to finalize the services.

Administrative duties - NOT VERY COMPLICATED! Don’t be mislead.

1.    Arrangement meeting with the funeral director OR staff – 2 hours. (You may not always meet with the funeral director)

2.    Processing information for the death certificate - MAXIMUM, 1/2 hour (Computer input, FAX, some phone)
3.    Order death certificates – 2 minutes, family has the option if they want, its not hard

4.    Processing the permit for cremation or burial – 0 minutes, the county does that

5.    Preparing the register book if personalized – 1 hour

6.    Preparing the memory folders or prayer cards - about an hour.

7.    Coordination with the cemetery - 5 minute, if the family didn’t beat you to it

8.    Contacting Social Security - 1 minute (FAX)

9.    Contacting the Veterans Administration (if eligible) - 3 minutes (FAX, phone)

10.  Ordering the casket - 45 seconds? maybe...

11.  Ordering the flowers - 1.5 Minutes

12.  Ordering the funeral escorts – 30 seconds (FAX)

13.  Ordering the limousine (family car) – 1 minute

14.  Obituary - 5 minutes

15.  Clergy Record – 10 minutes

16.  Music selection and arrangement – 5 to 10 minutes, depending on what the family wants

17.  Arrangement of Paul Bearers – 1 minute (Family provides)

18.  Arrangement and contacting clergy – 2 minutes

19.  Arrangement and contact with church – 5 minutes if required, also can pass info to the clergy

OK Now comes the interesting part, let’s just say your administrator is a few cans short of a six pack or not the fastest car on the race track, we will round everything up to get a final total of time.

Total time spent on all to include?  4 hours and 30 minutes give or take an hour.

So lets just say your Basic service charge is $950 as per your general price list.

Lets figure this out!

$950 ÷ 4.5 hours = $211an hour

Are any of these administrative duties worth $211.00 an hour? My 12 years of experiance in the funeral industry tells me NO!.

An administrator making $211 an hour would make $8,440 a week, $438,880 a year OR $4,388,800 over 10 years.
This is stupid, greedy and ridiculaous!

REMEMBER! This is PER CASE, Not per week, or per month.



Oh, one more thing included in this charge, there is this thing called;

 “Proportional share of the overhead cost”

I know, I know, ???

This is to include, but is not limited to;

·         Electricity

·         Water

·         Staff Salary

·         Supplies

·         Insurance

·         Auto payments

·         Mortgage payment

·         Toilet paper

·         Soap

·         Cleaning lady

·         Gardner for memory rock garden (if you have one)

If you can think up a reason to put it in there, an excuse will be made to put it in there.

Ok, so there you have it. But ask yourself, this is only the 1^st charge of services, what about the rest of the charges we have to pay? What do they go to? Well profit, that’s ok isn’t it?

But how much is too much profit at the expense of my misery. Only you can ask and answer that. How much do you think you should have to pay? Nothing at any funeral home is etched in stone; if a funeral home does not choose to work with you, by all means, go down the road.

I don’t have any problems with a funeral home charging anything they want for services. What I DO have a problem with is any funeral home condemning and trying to chastise another location for trying to provide a more affordable economical solution to the overblown outrageous charges that have exploded out of this market.

If you feel comfortable going to a more pricy location, then please, feel free. But at the same time lets not think less of those that try to use a little better sense on their behalf by trying to stick with services that are within their budget and are presentable and acceptable for not only the family, but also the community that chooses to use those facilities. There comes a point when those condemning start to walk a fine line between the “haves” and the “have not’s”, placing themselves on their self-identified more affluent and upper crust of the pie…

DIRECT CREMATION - WORTH REPEATING

CREMATION COSTS A FUNERAL HOME ABOUT $155... and maybe 20 minuets of administrative work.

All funeral homes offer some type of cremation service, many locations offer direct cremation as the quickest and easiest way to complete the disposition process of a friend or loved one. It is a low cost service that many funeral homes have been trying to find different ways to be creative and incur more cost in a simple service to supplement the loss in burial services.

 Most funeral homes use one of 3 cremation facilities in the valley to cremate, needless to say if you are being charged more than $800.00 for a direct cremation, beware, a vast majority,(around 80%) of that price is profit. Be concerned... It is all the same procedure, done at the same place, the same way..

In the valley, you can get drug over the coals (no pun intended) for about $2,600 for a direct cremation. That's right, some places are charging over $2,600 dollars for this simple procedure.

 Cremation is up to 69% in the state of Arizona, that is a steady increase of about 4% a year. Funeral homes traditionally count on the myth that "Hispanics Don't Cremate" Magic Word? Myth. Traditionally the Hispanic, Catholic faith client is a cash cow and is preyed upon by the industry for its large BURIAL services and cash spent...Beware...

Direct cremation is becoming the new "MAGIC CASKET" profit that mortuaries have been looking for to replace their "DWINDLING CASKET REVENUE". It does not cost that much so you should NOT be charged that much. If you are paying that much, the only driving factor behind this outlandish price is...

GREED!

WAS IT A NICE FUNERAL...OR JUST A CHEAP KNOCKOFF?

So you are brought aware of the death of a friend of yours, you couldn’t make it to the services. You realize that the funeral home used by the family is not in the local area they lived in, and the date of service is a few days from the date of death. You wonder why it took so long for the family to handle the arrangements and why they chose a location on the other side of town. Finally after it is all over, you run into a mutual friend of the family who attended the service and you ask;

So was it a good funeral or just a cheap knock off?

What did I just type? What did I just insinuate?

Not the type of question you would ask is it? As a matter of fact, some of us often wonder when a friend or family member dies how the immediate family is going to afford the services that are mandatory to reach a final disposition of the body. Burial or cremation, full services or just a simple visitation…a decision has to be made.

This goes back to my original posts when we first opened and how you would be lead down the path to believe that you should be ordering the french cuisine of funerals when all you might be able to afford is a simple burger. In the end, both meals fill you up, but with a burger you won’t get stuck sitting at the table figuring out how you are going to pay for what you just ate.

I don’t think I ever mentioned it but…

 FUNERAL SERVICES ARE NOT DONE ON CREDIT! ONLY CREDIT CARDS.

There are no payment plans, no credit applications, cash, check or credit card UP-FRONT. AND after burial, the funeral home can NOT threaten you with digging up the loved one to receive final payment.

I have seen funeral homes ask families if they have:

• Fine jewlery
• Antiques
• Stocks
• Automobiles
• Motorcycles (specifically Harley Davidson)
• Mobile Homes
• Deed to property
• A house
• ANYTHING WORTH VALUE!

Be very careful of those facilities you use, I will be the first to tell you that "some" of those "affordable" locations can be less than reputable. When all else fails, try to raise funds through civic events such as car washes, bake sales and try putting donation jars at local facilities in the neighborhood.

Of all things, TALK TO YOUR COUNSELOR! Let them know were you stand, keep them in the loop. Don't be embarrassed and be honest. If a funeral home can't understand your position and starts slamming you with $100.00 a day storage fee, consider moving on, find another facility. If you know you need to come up with the funds, the first question you should have is, "What is your daily storage or refrigeration fee?"

So why would I use the phrase “cheap knock off”? Well, because there are establishments out there that will try to convince you that anything other than the absolute BEST that THEY have to offer, or another funeral location, is just a cheap knock off.

The difference between what they offer and what you may choose is irrelevant when it comes down to affordability, and people will try to confuse you and throw this type of spin into your decision making process to encourage you to pay more for what you don’t need.

A full service funeral home is something that is designated to the facility by the Arizona State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. A funeral home can not designate itself with these credentials.

A great deal goes into the process of acquiring ones license in a specific location and neighborhood.

Some funeral home owners look for ready made and established facilities to purchase, put the key in the front door, and drive it away.  This already comes with the community relations the facility has with the community, thus the new owner takes not only the credit for all but also the fame of the facility.

Others prefer the “from the ground up” approach. They start with nothing and build from nothing. They reach out to the community and honestly search for those parts of the community they can serve the best and help. They establish a good working relationship with local law enforcement, fire department and charitable organizations. Some times they reach out to churches but remembering that not all individuals attend church services and that they must also be provided a dignified service to as well.

As you can see, there are those that think on the level of “classes of society” and who is most fitted to serve a specific class. That is fine. If facilities and individuals feel that this is how they need to operate by adjusting there pricing to accommodate those “select” classes, then so be it. I encourage free marketing in America, I fought for those principals and am glad to have provided that opportunity to everyone. But remember, YOU, as a consumer do NOT need to be mislead, misguided or confused when it comes down to what you are purchasing, why you are purchasing it and what its worth is to you when you are trying to do what you can with what you have.

On the other hand, some facilities do honestly only charge what a service and merchandise is worth, Seek them out, PLEASE! Compare and then decide. I encourage you!

Take the time to tour some of these labeled “cheap knockoffs”, and decide for yourself if you have been mislead. In the end, I’m sure you will see the difference and that difference will not be as financially painful as you originally thought.

CASKETS, CASKETS AND MORE.................CASKETS!

So, let’s talk about caskets. Those seven foot long, two and a half feet wide, two and a half feet tall boxes. Metal or wood, sealer or non-sealer, gasketed or non-gasketed, ornate or plain, fixed hardware or swing bar. Now I bet you’re confused.

The one and only thing all these have in common is they all do the same thing. Provide a “vessel” for the final disposition of a set of human remains in the ground, or to be cremated later.

Sounds kind of cold doesn’t it? It’s meant to, in fact I bet your thinking, “Well, if that’s the way you put it, I can make that myself”. Well guess what, YOU CAN! The law states in Arizona that the family has the right to provide any type of casket-like container for human remains internment to the mortuary and it can not be refused. (Or words to that effect). Cemeteries don’t care, as long as you use a dome liner; put it in a vault or a grave box. If it’s GOING IN THE GROUND, it is the law and they are just glad they sold the plot.

Let’s talk about the lifecycle of a casket.

A casket is born when a family purchases it.

 It is ordered by the funeral home from a local distributor. It is then delivered to the funeral home, inspected, dusted and shined. The deceased is placed in the casket. The visitation is then set up.

NORMALLY the casket is viewed for about three hours at the visitation - or all night/overnight vigil for some of you old-schoolers.

The casket is then taken for a ride in a nice car (hearse) for about 25 minutes.

The casket is then placed in a church for about 45 minutes.

The casket is then taken for another ride in a nice car (hearse) for about another 25 minutes. (This time probably with escorts.)

It is then displayed at a cemetery for about 30 minutes.

It is then lowered in the ground and covered with dirt. Total in ground life after being covered with dirt? Five months to five years.

So let’s just add up the total time use of the casket for the event.

3 hours + 25 minutes + 45 minutes +25 minutes + 30 minutes = 5 hours and 5 mintues.

This does not equal eternity, nor will the casket last for eternity. But you would be surprised how many times the word “eternity” may come up in a casket sale by a very clever sales representative.

Caskets are made by a variety of manufacturers in America and now abroad. I will list them below, along with what I would name as their equivalent in cars;

Batesville – Cadillac

Aurora – Lincoln

York – Chrysler

Astral – Chevy

There are various distributors in America. A vast majority of caskets made in America are made in or around Indiana. Over the last 5 years there has been a great influx of caskets from China that have SWAMPED the casket market. Casket distributors have tried desperately to hold out on this flood but have failed and now most distributors AND the big 4 (named above) are even including those Chinese caskets purchased at half the price of what it costs them to make them. China produces some spectacular wood caskets and very, very ornate caskets. In the end, I have YET in my 12 years in the funeral industry had a family ask me if a casket was made in China. By law, the seller must reveal this to you.  And even then, few care.

Caskets come in different thicknesses; steel 16 gauge, 18 gauge, 20 gauge, and copper or bronze 48oz or 32oz. The lower the steel gauge, the thicker the metal. The higher the oz, the thicker the metal. So why would you need one thickness over another? I don’t know! Personal preference or maybe you just WANT to spend more money.

A vast majority of wood caskets are imported from all over the world. Some are made here, but most are imports. No woods are gasketed or sealers.

Definition of Hardware:

Swing bar = handles are able to be swung on the side of the casket. (more expensive)

Fixed Bar = handles can not be moved (less expensive)

Corner pieces = corner pieces on the casket, the more ornate, the more expensive.

Gasket = rubber gasket goes around the inside of the casket, between the lid and bottom portion (more expensive)

Cranking locking device = key locking device on the foot of the casket, cranks the lid down on the gasket (MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE)

Head Panel = goes on the inside of the lid of the casket, embroidered, personalized (more expensive)

Single Color = that’s it, single color paint job, no gasket, simple fixed hardware. (VERY LEAST EXPENSIVE)

Look, in the end, there are about 500 different things you can know about caskets. If most casket venders were honest, you would not need to read this.  For the record, about 50% of your funeral home bill can be the casket sale if you’re not careful. Of that, about 50% to 70% of that casket cost is profit, which goes directly into the pocket of the funeral home.

Casket stores are interesting, but unfortunately most of them (not all) are starting to see the fat profit in caskets and are busy slamming the funeral home to you while they take money out of your other pocket.

You can buy a casket at ANY funeral home for ANY reason, even if it’s for a funeral at another funeral home.

The lesson here is why you would consider spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a box that is going in the ground after being viewed for a little over 5 hours.  This is a box that is probably nicer than any furniture you have in your house, or nicer than any car you have ever had. This has nothing to do with dignity for the deceased. This has nothing to do with laying them to rest in style.

This has to do with a casket purchase that you made, that’s all. If you want to do this, by all means go for it, but wouldn’t that be put to better use for something like……maybe a nicer marker, everyone will see that for a long, long time.

I have walked many cemeteries in my day, and in all those walks I have never been able to distinguish what casket was an ornate mahogany or a brushed metal bronze under my feet, or which one was a simple pine box under that beautiful marker.

When someone sees a beautiful headstone in a cemetery, someone is much more likely to think, “Man, how his kids must have loved him…”

CEMETERIES, HOW TO MANEUVER THE MAZE

CEMETERY RULE NUMBER ONE, NO CEMETERY BURIES ON CREDIT, ALL ACCOUNTS WILL BE PAID IN FULL PRIOR TO LOWERING OF THE CASKET,,,,

Last year there were 13,480 conventional burial in the state of Arizona. This constituted 30% of the death dispositions for the year of 2009. Although cremation still holds the lead (28,307 or 63%) when it comes to final disposition, as you can see, burial is still quite popular.

Regardless of how you look at it, burial is a money maker in the death care industry. A burial plot can run you anywhere from $3,100 to $8,000 at need (at need is when you need to purchase upon a death. I will refer to immediate burial as such in this topic).

First understand this, there are three things needed when you purchase a burial plot “at need”

1.      The burial plot

2.      Opening fees

3.      Closing fees

4.      A basic in ground container (what is this?)

5.      Perpetual care (promise to take care of the plot forever)

6.      A double depth grave IF you choose to bury one person on top of the other at a later date

Things you DO NOT NEED from the cemetery when you purchase “at need”

1.      A grave marker

2.      A grave marker base

3.      A memorial bench

4.      A flower vase

5.      A very expensive in ground fancy vault

6.      Another plot for future family members close to the purchased grave

Burial plots vary in price; remember the one farthest from “a tree” a specific “garden area” or “monument” will cost the least. A favored area by a specific race can also be very pricey. Choose a simple are away from everything. In time a tree will be planted and the rest of the graves will fill out to your selected grave site.

You will be charged an opening and closing fee, this is to dig the hole and fill it in. For safety reasons you will be told you can not do this by yourself to offset the fees.

There is no law in Arizona requiring an in ground container for a grave BUT! A cemetery, like they ALL do in Arizona require you to purchase a;

·         Dome Liner

·         Grave Box (single or double depth)

·         In ground vault

Why? You ask. They will tell you it is to prevent the ground from caving in once the casket collapses and deteriorates. (Selling point number one) Casket collapses? Deteriorates? Well this wont happen if you upgrade to a real expensive in ground vault.

You are not required, remember, a dome liner works fine and will you ever dig up the grave to view the deceased or see if the box collapsed? Probably not, so if you really want one to give you peace of mind, by all means, do as you will. In the end it is up to you.

Perpetual care ensures that the grass is watered; cut and the markers are weed whacked FOREVER! Ya think? Drive around the valley and look at some of those real old, old cemeteries in the valley that are overgrown or the markers are knocked down. Ask yourself then about “their” perpetual care. This is a scam but you can’t get around it.

A double depth grave is something to be taken into consideration if perhaps your parents are to be buried one above the other. This is a good idea if you want to honor their wishes. When you purchase a grave you only purchase the plot down to a certain depth, if you want to go deeper, you will have to pay for that space UNDER the grave. Go figure, another ploy to make money.

If cash is tight at the time of death, Purchase those things listed above under the first list.
DO NOT let anyone convince you that more is needed. You do not need a marker yet, a vase to locate the grave (selling point number two), a memorial bench. Or fancy anything.

If you purchase a vault or box or liner elsewhere (you can if you want), they WILL charge you an inspection fee(selling point number three). ENSURE IT IS INSPECTED if they charge you. This is another way to make money and or force you to purchase from them.

If you use a CORPORATE funeral home on CORPORATE cemetery property, they will refer you to the cemetery. Expect to pay hefty prices, there is no reduction in price for using the same facilities, they do not give discounts. They do not care.

In the end, I have one more recommendation, since the economy went south; many people have found themselves trying to sell off anything they can for finances to survive. This includes…… CEMETERY PROPERTY! All cemeteries recognize this and see it as a golden opportunity to re-purchase their sold plots at a real cheap price. In turn, so can you. I recommend going to the wonderful world of

CRAIGSLIST!

There are dozens of locations available. You will incur“transfer of deed” fees.  Make sure everything is included. Call the plot owner and ask about those things listed above.

Burial is expensive but it can be done, watch you funds and stick to your budget.  

Oh, there is one cemetery in the valley that has the GUARANTEED lowest "at need" prices in the valley, contact me and I would be more than glad to put you in the right direction.

SOMTHING GOOD TO BE SAID ABOUT GOOD PEOPLE...

I want you to know something, all though this industry is peppered with real corporate monsters and greedy independent funeral home owners…

There are some real good people out there, I mean good, good people.

Now and again my phone rings, and speaking to me from the other end is a compassionate funeral home representative who shares with me a conversation that always starts quietly with “I have this family…”

It continues in with something along the lines of “I know you can help them or I heard about your location or I see what you’re doing on your website...”

Ya know, AGAIN!, these are some real good people who still try to follow the guidelines as to why they got into this industry. THEY REMEMBER! They have good hearts and compassionate souls.  Unfortunately in this difficult economy where jobs are scarce and individuals are grateful to have any job, these individuals must remain anonymous.

In the end, the quiet conversation I share with these anonymous individuals, (AND THEY ARE OUT THERE!) always seems to end with, “please don’t tell anyone we talked” them asking “may I call you again if I have a family that needs you?”

These are good people, I thank them for standing by the oath they took when they chose the profession they are now in and were not blinded by greed and corruption like so many others are…

NOT ALL! But so many, and there are allot.

To those still trying to serve the community outside of their employers walls, Thank you, you are doing a very good thing, and if you need me, I'm here. I would love be be an extension of your compassionate effort to help a family.

623-925-1525

BEWARE OF SCAMS RUN BY HOSPICES AND FUNERAL HOMES

I just had the misfortune of serving a family that fell directly under this scam.

The following information about scams committed by funeral homes and hospices is provided here and was given to Hospice Patients Alliance by funeral home directors in our nation who are concerned about these abuses within their industry. When a terminally ill patient comes under hospice care, it is very helpful if the family takes action to make all arrangements for funeral services before the death of their loved one, if possible.

 At the time of death, family members are often quite emotionally upset and vulnerable to making hasty decisions without adequate planning and consideration. Can you "comparison shop" for funeral services when your loved one has just died? Not likely. .... and that is exactly what some rogue hospices and funeral homes count on when they set you up for a joint hospice - funeral home scam that can take advantage of you at a vulnerable time in your life. Such a scam may cost you many hundreds, or even thousands of dollars more than what you should have paid for such services!

One of the major scams committed by such rogue hospices is to refer the family to one particular rogue funeral home, if they haven't made arrangements beforehand with another funeral home. The rogue funeral home then charges their very highest rates for funeral home services and the family has no idea that they have been scammed, because they trust the "compassionate" hospice people. If individuals go to that funeral home directly inquiring about charges for funeral services, they get offered discounted rates, but hospice referrals get charged the highest rates.

Where does the extra money go (from being overcharged for services)? The funeral home that overcharges you will "kickback" or give back to the hospice that referred the hospice patient! So, both the hospice and funeral home get extra money. That may be shocking to think about, but we have confirmation from funeral home directors and owners that this is happening to vulnerable families. Those funeral home owners who are honest and do not participate in the illegal hospice-funeral home kickback schemes end up financially damaged, because the hospice refers exclusively to their co-conspirators in the kickback schemes.

To avoid any possible exploitation at the time of death, always make arrangements beforehand, do some comparison shopping and deal with funeral homes directly. Hospices are not supposed to recommend any particular funeral home. In Arizona, if you have not decided, they are requiered BY LAW to present you with the name of "three" of the most afordable funeral homes availiable. If a hospice does recommend one particular funeral home, THIS IS ILLEGAL! be very careful to check out prices and ask the funeral home what the "full price" is, what the "discount price" is, and whether you are getting any discount or not. You do not have to use the funeral homes "recommended" by a hospice (considering this is an illegal practice). They should not be recommending any funeral homes...that is a decision for you to make, not the hospice. If a specific funeral home is continuously recomended as being "very fair" or "they will take good care of you" BE CAREFULL! Consider asking for verification of this illegal procedure from the hospice supervisor or nursing supervisor.

If someone is recomending, then someone is getting a kickback...