Unfortunately even in the most painful times in our lives there are predictors wanting to take advantage of the situation. Here is a list of a few things to watch out for.
- The casket scam. The funeral home will show you a top of the line casket and exploit your grief asking you if your loved one deserved the best. They go on and on about how your loved one deserved the best. Then they show you the cheapest casket and then the middle. So not to appear cheap or unloving, you choose the middle option.
- Ask for a price list before looking at the options. This will provide you with information without involving emotions.
- Sometimes they will also show you a less attractive color.
- Again, ask for a list of options available.
- The Casket gasket / protective features. The funeral home may TRY to convince you that a gasket is necessary to preserve your loved one’s body. These gaskets do very little to protect .
- It’s important to remember everything deteriorates over time. There is no reason to preserve your loved one’s body.
- Insurance scam. Most funeral homes have appropriate reasoning to inquire whether or not there is any insurance involved. However, some try to squeeze every penny from the insurance policy by directing you towards the “right” options supported by the insurance company. Sometimes they may even make more expensive options available, if they find out others are willing to contribute or suggest use of credit cards.
- Be aware of these tactics.
- Asking probing questions, such as where you live, or your place of employment, etc. is a way in which the funeral home is gauging how much you can spend. They do need your address, but you can usually sense probing type questions.
- Be aware and alert for these types of questions.
- The Package Deal. In some cases the funeral home will offer a package deal that usually decreases the cost of the caskets but substantially increases the funeral director’s fee.
- Be suspicious of any package deal that includes service fee’s in the thousands of dollars.
- Caskets and Urns from the funeral home are the better quality. Funeral homes, in many cases sell the same caskets and urns you can purchase online. As with anything purchased online, there are some poorly made items and it will be necessary to do your research.
- Just be advised, this is not your only option.
- Embalming. Embalming is not always a necessary requirement.
- Check with the FTC to verify whether or not your state requires embalming
- Cremation casket. The crematorium only requires a body bag for cremation. Anything other than that is a choice.
- Be aware of the actual requirement for cremation.
You can always research the rules at the FTC website; https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising/funeral-rule
I hope this information was helpful. If you’ve been scammed in any way, especially during a most difficult time, I am so sorry. If you’d like to share the information to help others avoid being scammed in the same way, please let me know and I’ll do what I can to spread the information.
Best wishes
