Funeral Guardian Society

[Newby]

If you think wanting payment before services is greedy, I suggest you start a funeral home that gives 30 days after the funeral to pay the bill like the old days.
I guarantee you that you'll find yourself in the collection business real quick.

 

[jdeasy]

If you think wanting payment before services is greedy, I suggest you start a funeral home that gives 30 days after the funeral to pay the bill like the old days.
I guarantee you that you'll find yourself in the collection business real quick.

I just had new hard flooring installed. I did not have to pay in advance. We also had new countertops installed, I did not have to pay before services were rendered.

It is my opinion that most funeral home operators are especially greedy and they have lived on preying on on people's emotions at their most emotional moments. Most funeral home operators will not police themselves, so it's good to have someone to do that for people. Right here in my small town there is a $3000 difference for the exact same funeral between two funeral homes that are 1 mile apart. People don't know that funeral services are standardized and have to be itemized in the same order. People don't "shop" their funerals for their loved ones. Most don't know they can or that it would do them so much good if they did.

You are looking at this from the funeral home side. I'm looking at the consumer side.

 

[Newby]

Funeral homes are not all the same price any more than hotels are.
Believe it or not most people do shop funeral prices these days. They are aware of which ones are higher and lower priced. 70% of them are not looking for the lowest price. The funeral homes that have the higher prices are not trying to attract the lower priced business.
Funerals regulate how many funerals they do per year by their price. If the nicer funeral homes lowered their prices down across the board to match the lower priced one, they would flood themselves with too much business. They don't want that. It would greatly lower their quality of service.
In Evansville it's very easy to track. There is a website that has tracked funerals for years. And consistantly the most expensive funeral home in town does around 900 funerals a year. The 4 funeral homes that are mid priced do around 1000 all combined. And the two very low priced ones do around 125 funerals between the two of them.
One of the low priced ones ran an ad on the obituary page every week for two years that they did complete funerals with everying included for $3,995. they still could never get their volume up over 50 per year.
The other one does mailers showing ther price side by side with the others and they are about half priced. But not many people choose to use them.
Price does not sell funerals to the majority of people. It's not like Med Sups. It really is more similar to hotels. Few people choose the cheapest hotel either even though they all have a bed and a TV.
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Also your flooring guy would put a lien on your house if you didn't pay him.
Try to do that after a funeral when there is nothing in an estate. You get a judgement. You never get any payment though.
Believe it or not the free enterprise system does work. Funeral homes that are higher priced are trying to slow down the number of funerals they get. The lowest ones are trying to gain market share. The middle priced ones are maintaining.

 

[sokybrian]

This stuff is extremely interesting. I don't know much about FE and funeral homes, but love reading about it on here.

I remember when I was a kid in a small town in N KY, there were 2 funeral homes in town. If the family didn't have enough to pay they would sometimes do the funeral for free just to keep the family's "future" business. Still, to this day, when someone passes on there, you know which funeral home in involved by the last name of the deceased.

Good stuff guys!

Sokybrian

 

[agentinsure]

most of your comments on this post border on being nuts for the most of you. How about posting useful pertinent info for agents or shut the heck up. I think if your going to be so arrogant as to state your opinions about what people will do or not at a particular moment, you should put yourselves in their shoes. I dont beleive most people during the passing of a relative are going to give two hoots whether they can go to 'walmart' to buy a casket. Are you an *** or just pretending to be one?

 

[jacobtn]

most of your comments on this post border on being nuts for the most of you. How about posting useful pertinent info for agents or shut the heck up. ?

hey asshole, how about following your own advice? This was a helpful and informative thread until you came along. guess inbreeding is still common out there in AL.

 

[GreenSky]

most of your comments on this post border on being nuts for the most of you. How about posting useful pertinent info for agents or shut the heck up. I think if your going to be so arrogant as to state your opinions about what people will do or not at a particular moment, you should put yourselves in their shoes. I dont beleive most people during the passing of a relative are going to give two hoots whether they can go to 'walmart' to buy a casket. Are you an *** or just pretending to be one?

Do you realize that the posts you are commenting on were made 6 months ago?

You might want to insult people on more recent posts.

Rick

 

[agentinsure]

you guys are all cryin like a bunch of spoiled little baby girls...and still going on about it. I just came on here to read some useful info and it's pathetic how nearly every post on here seems to get so side tracked so quickly

 

[Guest]

I have found about 10% of this forum is great information, the other 90% is a pissing match.

 

[taterpeeler]

I have found about 10% of this forum is great information, the other 90% is a pissing match.

Dang, the water is deep...