The Funeral Rule Allows You To Get The Casket You Want
A couple of months ago, just after I had purchased a used car from a private party
, the manual clutch stopped working. I took it to a franchised mechanic, who gave the car a diagnostic, and then printed out an itemized list of repairs he felt the car needed, complete with prices for each service and part listed.
A friend who happens to be a mechanic stepped forward and offered to fix my car at a much more reasonable price than the prohibitive quote Id been given by this large conglomerate. He looked over the list of quotes, and pointed at one particular entry. Automatic transmission flush? he queried. My car has a manual transmission. We laughed.
If I had chosen to let the franchised mechanic work on my car, I would have been charged additional fees for services that arent even applicable to my vehicle.
The vehicular mechanic industry is a specialized one, in which the average consumer doesnt know much about the maintenance of a cars engine, other than it requires gas, oil, and occasional tune-ups. If a mechanic tells you that a particular part is needed or a service must be performed on the engine, you are inclined to believe the mechanic, that they know what theyre doing, and that they would not seek to deceive you.
As you can tell from my experience, this nave way of thinking may end up costing you more. What if Id not looked more closely at the invoice? In my case, the repairs would have cost $400 more than they ought to, with the mechanic performing imaginary services regarding non-existent parts.
Now, imagine the funeral industry. Because of its purpose and subject matter, this industry is also specialized, and somewhat taboo in most western cultures. The average consumer knows very little about the laws and regulations regarding the processes and ceremonies in which a person is laid to rest. One unfortunate stereotype, made popular in cartoons for over two-thirds of a century, is that an undertaker, or funeral provider, is all too willing and ready to swoop in and render services as quickly as possible. Also, there always seems a rush to properly inter (to lay to rest) a person as quickly as possible. A bereaved relative or friend feels pressured and pressed to make decisions quickly, with little time to think and compare possible options.
In 1984, the United States Federal Trade Commission created the Funeral Rule, a set of laws designed to protect the consumer, and require the funeral home or provider to inform the consumer of their rights, to provide a written price list, and to allow the consumer to choose only those products and services that the client wants. Even with these laws, some funeral providers find ways to unscrupulously deceive a consumer. As is often the case, there is so little social awareness and attention brought to the existence of these laws, that a consumer of such products and services does not understand that they are allowed to choose only the products and services that they want, rather than the exhorbantly priced packages a funeral home may offer.
You may read a user-friendly, straightforward guide to the Funeral Rule here.
A savvy consumer will shop for a home, a car, or any other major purchase, with a keen eye to details such as price or condition. It makes sense to do the same for a casket, or any other product and service required. The Funeral Rule allows a consumer to buy a casket from anywhere they wish to. That means that a funeral home cannot insist that you may only buy one of their products. The funeral home must, by law, allow a casket to be delivered from elsewhere. Most websites that sell caskets will do all the legwork for their customer, calling the funeral home as directed and making arrangements for them to receive a casket or other item, arrange for shipping of the product, and much more.
There are so few guides out there to explain how to get the best casket at the best value, utilizing the internet.
1.Decide which funeral home or provider you wish to employ for their services. Most churches in a particular community interface regularly with funeral homes, and may have suggestions for you. Some funeral homes may have suggestions on churches, and other locations, to help you as well.
2.If you prefer to buy a casket from someone other than the funeral home, request that the funeral home provide you a written price quote for a particular casket that looks approximately as you would prefer.
3.Go online, and shop. Simply googling for the word casket brings up thousands of websites selling high quality metal caskets, wood caskets, urns, and other supplimental products such as flowers, printed materials, and many other items and services. You will find that the prices on such websites are up to 80% less than the cost of one purchased through a funeral home or provider. Websites provide shipping to any location in the continental United States and will additionally coordinate a courier to transport the casket from a warehouse to an airline, and from its airport destination to the funeral home you designate. They will notify the funeral home that a casket is in transit, and the funeral home will arrange for its delivery. Very often, the casket can be delivered within 24 hours, depending on its destination.
Remember, you may choose the product, and the services YOU want. A basic, no-frills, cost-effective funeral is legally available to you by law. No funeral provider has the right to insist or pressure you into a package deal, or accessories or services you do not want. There exist no laws in the United States that dictate how you must celebrate the life of a person, or in what process the person is to be laid to rest. Local laws may impact how a person is interred, the location in which a final resting place is utilized, and what sort of receptical is allowed for the type of interment you decide upon.
And finally, you have the right, if a funeral home or provider is pressuring you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, intimated, or rushed, that you may choose to refuse the business of that funeral home or provider, and to seek services and products through another provider.
My mechanic attempted to charge me for services and parts I didnt need and were not applicable to my situation. Make sure that your funeral provider is not attempting to charge you high fees for a product or service you do not want.
by: inopixel
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