What the fuck is up with this!?!
I swear common sense is dead.
Grrrrrrrrrrr.
Common sense has little reign in the world of the almighty dollar.
Unfortunately, this is only one manifestation of a pretty common problem. In many states, the funeral home industry has a state-mandated monopoly on the services they provide–with little to no logical justification in many instances.
In a similar vein:
A state-sponsored monopoly on selling caskets results in markups of 600%. (This is a frames-page at The Institute for Justice’s website. )
Beyond preserving the funeral homes’ monopoly, what possible justification could there be in either of these cases?
holy shit sounds like some mob controlled racket to me. Wow you get fucked in life and in death these days.
You think thats bad???
you should see what they want for a simple headstone.
See, if you dont spend a fortune, you didnt really love them. And then their grave looks all cheap and the stone is a forever memorial to them - I could go on.
Please keep in mind that not ALL funeral directors are like this.
Please.
-the mortician’s daughter
…But will they let us bury it?
“Funeral Consumers Alliance?” They couldn’t have found a better way to phrase that? Sounds like an equal rights group for ghouls.
Anyway, I’m not too personally concerned. When my parents go, I’m just stuffing them into the crawlspace with all the other bodies. Cheap ‘n’ easy.
“growing desire to reclaim control over the funeral experience.”
???
The funeral experience? Christ these marketing people put a nice antiseptic term on everything! Heres my question. If you were in this guys shoes what do you do? what do you do? (bad Speed joke subliminally inserted for my pleasure)
Not without a funeral director’s signature…
This story is really infuriating. I couldn’t believe the comment from the woman in the article attempting to justify their ridiculous position using the Georgia case. What a crock. The funeral industry has such control in many states that they can force consumers to pay $1500 for a signature on a death certificate and, at the same time, there are so few consumer protections in place that the crap that went on in Georgia can continue for years, possibly decades before it is stopped. The whole thing is an outrage. I hope this guy does sue just to blow the lid off this nonsense. Good timing too – after Georgia, I believe public sympathy will lean away from the funeral industry rather than towards it.
Jess
When I go, I want a boat, an anchor, and 20 feet of good strong chain.
Funeral Consumers Alliance is a definite band name.
One day last week I was walking down the street, and for some reason it suddenly occurred to me that when I go I want to donate my body to science. Not knowing much about the feasibility of the idea, I decided to post a question to the SDMB, but being a good little Doper, I did a search first. I found a thread entitled What’s the cheapest funeral you could have? which includes some good suggestions about donation and other less expensive options.
Any future medical students – be on the lookout for an excessively freckled 5’4" brunette.
This woman needs to lose her job. Not because she is heartless, not because she is an obvious shill for the funeral industry, but because she is clearly not smart enough to string together a coherent arguement.
For those that are morbid ( like me) or who have older parents
( like me) or who have chronically ill family members ( like me) or like odd things to read ( like me) I highly recommend a book, written by the above Lisa Carlson, called “*Caring for your Dead *”
It is a review of the Funeral industry, how she came into it and how there are many things you as a consumer can do to a) protect yourself and b) lessen the costs. I buried a brother last year and the bare bones burial - w/ the second to cheapest coffin and not all the trimmings was over $6,000. This is absolutely appalling and my mother had to pay for it. My brother’s estate was a car, a computer and a washing machine and dryer. She refused cremation.
Lisa Carlson’s story is exceptional:
Back over twenty years ago, a young wife with small children and not a whole lot of money to spare was facing financial and emotional rock bottom when her husband killed himself. The funeral costs would have been in the thousands…with only about $500 in savings, she had to think of a cheaper alternative to burying her husband.
She transported his body from morgue to her home in the station wagon ( paid X amount for a permit to do so) dressed the body herself and her family members all helped with the basic coffin and then found out they could bury him on family property (under specific guidelines) and, they did. All for permit fees. She met with resistance the entire step of the way.
She buried him for just under $500.
I thought, at first, that dressing my dead husbands body was exceptionally creepy - esp with a gunshot wound involved - but she was was so loving in her reasoning that I understood her rationale. This is one plucky lady.
The book entails the funeral laws/restrictions in every state ( as of 1991 or 1992, when ever I read the book.)
As for this case up in the UP of Michigan, this poor son should read this woman’s book and see if cannot pull a couple of permits to take care of mom in a cheaper fashion.
**For those who want to know how much a funeral costs ** Go into any funeral home and ask for their *GPS * General Pricing Sheet. ( I think they are also known as Green Sheets, because of being printed on Green Paper, but I could be wrong) By law, from the changes that Ms. Carlson and her group and other watch dog organizations fought so hard for, is having these GPS sheets with the prices for everything the Funeral home does so that the prices cannot suddenly change if depending on if a Rockefeller or a Smith croaks.
(Not that I think all Funeral homes are shysters. The one that our family uses is very good and they made my brother’s toupee look better than he ever did. Well worth the $200 dress the body fee.)