24-hour source of INFORMATION ESSENTIAL to the MEDIA for UNDERSTANDING
and exposing the funeral industry and explaining it correctly to the public.

(information added.)

Part 1

Introduction

Includes: Investigative Reports; Secrecy; "Using" the Media and Churches.
Secrecy, misinformation and myth have misled the media and public for decades.

Recent EXPOSES: . .
To see the most recent reports, click to go to Opening Page, Contents.


. Channel 5 (KPHO, CBS), Evening News, Phoenix, "Death Without Dignity," Apr. 25-26/96.
. BBC-TV "Public Eye" program, England, "Pay Now ... Pay Later," Feb. 27/96
Expose of English funeral business and the tactics families may expect from the Houston-based SCI (Service Corporation International) funeral chain which has moved into England. (Our IFIC provided assistance to the producers.)
. Channel 2 (KPRC), Evening News, Houston, Feb. 3/96. (Color photos/information from this program are now in separate Document 9B -- TV Reports.)
(Offered to viewers a "Mortuary Price Comparison List" of the Houston metro area's 120 mortuaries. Prices vary from $1,495 to $9,900 for minimum "traditional" funeral services and the lowest-priced metal casket, and from $450 to $3,795 for the same Direct Cremation). (Our IFIC did the price survey.)
. ABC-TV's "20/20", Nov. 3. (Our IFIC gave assistance to the producers.)
. Channel 15 (ABC), Evening News, Phoenix, Nov. 3.
(Offered to viewers the IFIC's "Mortuary Price Comparison List" of the Phoenix metro area's 60 mortuaries).
. "Fraud in the Funeral Industry," Consumers Digest, October 1995. (Our IFIC provided assistance to the Digest.)
(Reprints of this article can be obtained from the Digest by calling Bonnie at (312) 275-3950, extension 7116.)
• MORE EXPOSES (with the topic headings of some) are listed below in this section, and in Part 9 -- Significant Resources.

A comment about morticians' meetings
by a funeral director -- in an extensive article in the National Catholic Reporter.

..

Confidential CASKET WHOLESALE PRICES kept hidden from the media for decades -- to prevent the media from exposing the ripoff of nearly every U.S. family;

Only the industry's ABSOLUTE SECRECY nationwide by 22,000 mortuaries, all casket manufacturers and all pre-pay plan salespersons -- about wholesale prices and markups -- makes it possible for mortuaries and cemeteries to continue charging outrageous markups and prices without public revolt.

EXORBITANT MARKUPS and PRICES used by NEARLY EVERY MORTUARY in every community in the U.S. (NOT by just a few mortuaries, as morticians continually try to claim).

These extortionate markups are the PRIMARY RIPOFF METHOD (NOT deceptive tactics), accounting for about 3/4ths of the ripoff of every family.
• THREE principal charges make up each family's bill:

  1) CASKET: . HIGH PRICES AND PROFIT on caskets, with higher markups than in any other industry. Regularly 300 to 700 percent and higher markups (as charging $3,000 for $400 wholesale caskets).

  2) SERVICES: . HIGH PRICES AND PROFIT, prices often $1,500 to $3,000, for the few hours of funeral services that families choose (bringing the body to the mortuary, embalming, taking the body to a church, etc.).

  3) "PROFESSIONAL" Fee: . HIGH, MOSTLY PROFIT, "non-declinable," added to every family's bill, often $700 to $2,000 (for "obeying state laws," an hour of paperwork, overhead [already charged for in the casket and service prices], etc.) -- adding whatever amount the mortician wishes -- to bring the total price up to whatever level of profit he/she desires.

  • QUESTION: How would people feel if stores, dentists, garages added a "Professional Fee" of hundreds of dollars to their bills -- after charging them for all the goods and services they bought?
  • MOST morticians now use this new trick to obtain as much profit as they desire -- and to make their high prices for caskets and funeral services look lower than they really are.

DECEPTIVE PRACTICES used daily by NEARLY EVERY MORTUARY in the U.S.

These amny of tactics are the SECONDARY RIPOFF METHOD, although often very graphic when caught by hidden cameras, account for only about 1/4th of the ripoff of each family.
• Among the most important: misleading and "using" the media and churches, including "gifts and bribes" to the clergy, etc.

FTC and MEDIA INVESTIGATION REPORTS

SUGGESTIONS to media about exposing the unconscionable markups, prices and tactics.

. . The RESULT of the industrywide tactics above:

MOST mortuaries and pre-pay plans in every U.S. community:
• charge families TWO to FIVE TIMES MORE than needed by efficient firms,
• overcharge $500 to $3,000 or more on most funerals,
• cause SERIOUS FINANCIAL HARM to thousands of families every day,
  especially harmful to low- and modest-income families, and the elderly.
• charge MILLIONS of dollars of ripoff EACH WEEK,
• more than 5 BILLION DOLLARS ripoff per year in the U.S.,
• more than a half-million dollars ripoff per week in the Phoenix area alone.

. . THIS RIPOFF CAN BE STOPPED BY THE MEDIA and CHURCHES . . if

At least ONCE A YEAR -- ALL national and local media outlets -- and churches
(TV networks, local stations, newspapers, consumer magazines . . and national and local church groups)
• . 1 . EXPOSE the funeral industry's unfair prices and methods;
• . 2 . PUBLISH some of the secret wholesale casket prices -- which will force mortuaries
  to cease charging ripoff prices for caskets (as $3,000 and up for $500 wholesale caskets);
• . 3 . GIVE CORRECT "CONSUMER ADVICE" to all families.
  (See Document 12 -- Basic Consumer Advice.)

  CORRECT ADVICE IS NEEDED by families because of much misleading advice from media, friends, clergy and mortuaries.

  
  

RESULT: . Mortuaries will NOT BE ABLE to continue the daily ripoff when all families are WELL-INFORMED of the dangers beforehand -- of the outrageous markups and deceptive tactics -- before finding themselves in the difficult situation of trying to make decisions in a rushed, stressful situation -- with pressure being applied by an experienced salesperson (who is told to sell high-priced funerals or else find another job).

The industry is able to coax some media reporters (perhaps fearful of being sued or to avoid argument) to say that the "majority" of morticians are honest and reputable. However, a careful look at the mortuaries in any community -- and at the confidential wholesale casket prices and deceptive tactics described in this document -- will reveal the outrageous and extortionate markups and prices, and the high-pressure and/or deceptive tactics used by nearly every mortuary and will indicate that the generous compliments are NOT true. Correct is that "NEARLY EVERY MORTUARY rips off nearly every family in nearly every community in the U.S."

This document

This document has been developed to provide reporters and investigators with a 24-hour source of INFORMATION ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for understanding and exposing the funeral industry and explaining it correctly to the public.

Much of this information has NEVER BEFORE BEEN AVAILABLE to the media because the industry knows that keeping this information confidential is the KEY to CONTINUING ITS RIPOFF of families without public outcry and revolt.

The NEED for the information was pointed out in The American Way of Death, the famous expose of the funeral industry:

"About once every decade (there have been) magazine and newspaper exposes of the high cost of dying and the exploitation of bereavement" but they have had NO EFFECT on funeral costs because there has been a "lack of a vehicle for organized protest and action by the consumer (and) LACK of solid statistical and economic data to work with" (especially by the media). (Jessica Mitford, The American Way of Death, 1963)

The MISSING information (especially: casket wholesale costs, markups, samples of the great differences in the prices of different mortuaries for the SAME caskets and services, and deceptive practices used by nearly every mortuary) is now available to the media in this document.

(See the comments of media which have examined the industry in their various states -- and a list of investigative reports and topics -- in Parts 6 and 9 below.)

(Click to see this document's List of Contents.)

RECENT INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS:
To see the most recent reports, click to go to Opening Page, Contents.
• "Fraud in the Funeral Industry," Consumers Digest, October 1995. Topics and charts:
  • "Pre-need Planning: The $20 Billion Business"
    "How to Shop: Comparing Prices"
    "Burial Container Cost Comparisons"
    "Funeral/Cremation Price Survey"
    "Pricing an Arrangement: Getting the Best Value"
    "State-by-State Survey: Preneed Trusting Requirements"
    "Why the FTC Doesn't Protect You"
    "Resources"

• Two-day series, Boston Globe newspaper, August 27-28, 1995.
  • Aug. 27: "Life's last buy requires plan and patience:
    . Funeral costs vary widely -- few ever try to compare."
  • Aug. 28: "Growth of chains has led to rise in funeral prices"
    "Critics say board regulations favor funeral directors"
    "Routine verifications boost cremation cost"
  • Sidebars and charts:
    "Comparing funeral home charges; Burial and cremation charges"
    "Death duties: How to shop for funeral services"
    "Massachusetts' major funeral home chains"
    "For more information"

• "Survey shows high funeral prices," Phoenix [AZ] Gazette, February 16, 1995.
  • IFIC publishes Mortuary Price Comparison List and consumer advice.
    
  • PRICES for the SAME or similar items at different mortuaries:
    * Direct Cremation: $345 to $1,609.
    * "Traditional" Funeral Services: $850 to $2,000.
    * Lowest-priced metal casket: $300 to $1,359. (usually dull gray or brown)
    (Wholesale cost $245. PROFIT UP TO $1,104 on this casket.)
    * Lowest-priced metal casket in pleasing color: $300 to $2,300. (blue, pink, white, etc.)
    (Wholesale cost $275. PROFIT UP TO $2,000 on this casket.)

(Significant past media investigative reports are listed at the end of this document.)
(Videotape: "Understanding the Tricks of the Funeral Trade: Self-Defense for Consumers" by Lisa Carlson, 1-800-356-9315)
(Printed and video materials are available from the IFIC.)

SECRECY, DECEPTION, SPREADING MYTHS, MISLEADING THE MEDIA

The MEDIA SELDOM EXPOSE this UNIQUE, HARMFUL INDUSTRY - - because reporters are still regularly misled and "used" by this industry TO HELP MISLEAD THE PUBLIC. They must look at this industry more carefully and in a different way than they look at any other kind of industry or business.

The entire industry has been DESIGNED to operate with such SECRECY, DECEPTION and carefully-disseminated MYTHS that it has successfully misled most media and the public for decades -- enabling it to gouge most U.S. families with little fear of it being exposed or disturbed.
. . (See some of the quotes from the early 1900s -- in Part 6 below.)

With information finally available, national and local media can finally begin to expose this industry and protect the public.
The industry has been able to keep the information in this document about wholesale costs, markups and deceptive practices hidden from the media for decades. (Just TRY to obtain wholesale prices or price markup information from your local morticians, a morticians' organization, or even your state's funeral board!)

SECRECY - Key to the Industrywide Ripoff: The 526-page report of the 1972-75 nationwide investigation of the funeral industry by the Federal Trade Commission stated that the entire industry has worked carefully to keep its casket wholesale prices and its most effective deceptive methods "TOP SECRET" for decades. This secrecy has made it impossible for media reporters to understand the industry and has resulted in their misleading the public and giving families HARMFUL "consumer advice" ("consumer advice" often provided by the morticians themselves).

This nationwide secrecy has enabled the nation's 22,000 mortuaries to charge outrageous prices for services and caskets (commonly using markups of 300% to 900% , higher markups than in any other industry) -- without fear of public revolt.

One media investigator referred to mortuaries as the "SILENT INDUSTRY" because the secrecy has been so successful in keeping the industry and its methods out of the media, and has prevented media reporters from exposing the vast ripoff, billions of dollars each year. (See Funerals: Consumers' Last Rights, the investigative book by Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports magazine.)

MOST U.S. families are ripped off by MOST of their local mortuaries, including by the "BEST-KNOWN" firms and those claiming to have "GOOD REPUTATIONS for years." Most families and media feel that "prices are high," but have no way to judge prices because they can't get wholesale prices -- and don't realize that families are intentionally "ripped off" by most mortuaries.

. . The IFIC is a non-profit consumer group formed in 1982 to do research and inform the media and the public about the funeral industry and the needless, unjust high prices and deceptive practices used by NEARLY EVERY U.S. MORTUARY. These cause SERIOUS FINANCIAL HARM to tens of thousands of families every day, especially to those with low- and modest-income, the elderly and other families on fixed incomes - abuse seldom ever investigated and reported by each community's media to the public.

. . The ACC and IFIC have joined in offering the industry's secret casket wholesale prices and other important funeral information to media reporters and investigators, agencies, churches and the public -- to help stop the decades of daily, industrywide injustice by nearly every U.S. mortuary.




Videotape: Understanding the TRICKS OF THE FUNERAL TRADE: Self-Defense for Consumers by Lisa Carlson (President of FAMSA), 1-800-356-9315. A project of FAMSA -- The FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL SOCIETIES OF AMERICA.

List of Contents:

This list gives an overview of the contents of this document, divided into the 11 Parts listed here.
(NOTE: This document is especially-designed for SPEED. When you CLICK on any Part title below (or use your SCROLL BAR), the item APPEARS IMMEDIATELY. You don't have to wait for your browser to wade through Web traffic to obtain the item, as with most web pages -- because all Parts are located in this document.)

Each of the following Parts is available as a separate, more-complete Document (some with large photographs not included here to reduce loading time). If you wish to see some or all of the separate, longer Documents corresponding to the Parts below, click here on Opening Page to see its List of Separate Documents.)

• Part 1 (above) ... Introduction: Investigative Reports, Secrecy, "Using" the Media and Churches.
  Secrecy, misinformation and myth have misled the media and public for decades.
• Part 2 ... How to plan a funeral without being ripped off.
  The FOUR Points of Correct "Consumer Advice."
  Highly-promoted, costly, HARMFUL "protective sealer" caskets. Description of embalming and cremation. Cautions about Pre-pay Plans.
• Part 3 ... Caskets. Prices, Profits.
  Color photographs. Chart with wholesale/retail price ranges, and exorbitant markups.
• Part 4 ... Comparison of Mortuaries' Prices.
  Chart showing the GREAT DIFFERENCES in prices for the same caskets and services.
• Part 5 ... The Industry's Profit System and How It Affects You.
  Exorbitant high prices are due to: 1) Too many mortuaries, 2) Greed.
• Part 6 ... Abuse Is Nationwide -- By Most Mortuaries: Media Reports.
  Quotations from reports and articles.
• Part 7 ... 15 Categories of Ripoff Methods, Outrageous Markups, Prices.
  With suggestions to the media.
• Part 8 ... Advice to Media Reporters/Investigators, Agencies, Churches.
  (Some text here now.)
• Part 9 ... Significant Resources.
  Books, articles, newspaper and TV investigative reports.
• Part 10 ... Letters and comments from Morticians and Consumers.
  Read what others have to say.
  (Text not here yet. See the latest comments in Document 10 -- Letters and Comments.)
• Part 11A ... Samples of Deceptive Contracts (Pre-pay and others).
  What to watch out for.
  (Text not here yet. See large-size samples in Document 11A -- Pre-pay and other Contracts.)
• Part 11B ... Refunds and Lawsuits to obtain a solution to mistreatment in any category above.
  What you can do.
  (Text not here yet. See Document 11B -- Refunds, Lawsuits.)
• BASIC CONSUMER ADVICE that Media and Churches need to give to every family.
  
  (From IFIC's Dec. 1995 "Mortuary Price Comparison List." When you finish this document, it returns you to the Opening Page document.)

Part 2

HOW TO PLAN A FUNERAL WITHOUT BEING RIPPED OFF.

This advice is DIFFERENT than advice from many reporters, even consumer reporters, who are not experts on the funeral industry -- who sometimes present "consumer" advice received from morticians who are ripping off the public. (Example: the bad advice in a "consumer" article in a Detroit newspaper.)

The Four Most Important Consumer Points:

Essential background:
• The MAIN RIPOFF METHOD is the OUTRAGEOUS MARKUPS AND PRICES charged by most U.S. mortuaries.
• The SECONDARY ripoff method is coaxing families to buy higher-priced items, and many other deceptive practices -- also used by most mortuaries.
  Families' problems: Many people needlessly pay high prices because they
  -- have no idea how much funeral items SHOULD cost
  -- don't know of the GREAT DIFFERENCE in prices among mortuaries, or
  -- have followed bad "consumer advice" from media, bad recommendations, or misleading literature.
  (Some of the deceptive material is published by the National Funeral Directors Association itself, indicating the top-to-bottom depravity and nationwide effort of the industry to mislead media, churches and families. See Document 7 -- 15 Categories of Ripoff Methods.)

  FAMILIES' ONLY HOPE to avoid ripoff is to
  . . . . FIND ONE OF THE FEW FAIR-PRICED mortuaries in their community.
  . . . . . THEREFORE, the following points are the MOST IMPORTANT for all families.

. Because of the GREAT DIFFERENCE in mortuaries' prices,
. . . . the FOUR MOST IMPORTANT POINTS of Consumer Advice for every U.S. family are:

. 1 . KNOW how much funeral services and caskets SHOULD COST -- that is, a low, REASONABLE price.

Consult a survey of mortuary prices (such as is done in Phoenix),
or contact a Memorial Society,
or phone a large number of mortuaries (1O or more) in your area in order to obtain an idea of the range of prices in your area.

Here are REASONABLE prices for various kinds of services and caskets:

• DIRECT CREMATION --- Reasonable $360--$550 (for all mortuary and crematory charges), no memorial services.
  
  (NOT $700 to $2000 or more -- which MOST mortuaries charge for this SAME service.)
• Complete "Traditional" FUNERAL --- Reasonable $800--$1200 (includes base "professional" fee; no casket).
  
  (NOT $1500 to $3500 or more -- which MOST mortuaries charge for the SAME services.)
• METAL CASKETS --- Reasonable $370--$550, many styles and colors, 20-gauge steel, non-sealing.
  
  (NOT $800 to $2500 or more -- which MOST mortuaries charge for the SAME caskets.)
  (Only $225 to $450 is the low WHOLESALE price for hundreds of beautiful steel caskets, available to all mortuaries.)

. 2 . FIND a mortuary with REASONABLE PRICES -- REGARDLESS OF ITS LOCATION in your metro area.

Choose a fair-priced mortuary located anywhere in your metro area . Arrange VIEWING and ALL SERVICES IN YOUR LOCAL CHURCH OR SYNAGOGUE so that you can have all the services nearby without having to use the "chapel" of an unfairly-priced mortuary. Churches cooperate when they discover that they can help their families save thousands of dollars -- to use for medical bills and to make a donation to the church for its use.

. 3 . DON'T BUY "PROTECTIVE SEAL" CASKETS. They HARM BODIES, rather than "protect" them.

These caskets are a cruel SCAM and HOAX -- promoted by morticians and plans to greatly increase your funeral costs. Instead of "protecting" bodies, the neoprene seals HARM BODIES by activating ANAEROBIC BACTERIA which cause RAPID BLOATING, gases and LIQUEFYING decay. Gas pressure bursts many seals underground and in mausoleums, causing additional damage to your relatives' bodies. Many mausoleums open the seals for safety and to allow normal deterioration/dehydration.

Your local morticians know this from their textbooks and experience. Yet, to obtain greater profit, MOST morticians and plan agents -- claiming to be "reputable, honest, and caring friends" -- intentionally coax you to join with them in harming your own relatives by using these caskets. They pressure families to "show their love" by buying these caskets (some with "safety valves" or nearly-useless warranties of 25-75 years), and hint at harm to bodies if this type of casket isn't bought -- the opposite of the truth.

AVOID sealer caskets or demand that morticians REMOVE THE GASKETS ENTIRELY or at least NOT SEAL them. (The seals should be removed entirely so that oxygen and air can flow as freely as possible into and out of the caskets to allow normal deterioration. For the same reason, people should avoid sealed vaults.)

A noted pathologist has said, "If you seal up a casket so it is more or less airtight, you seal in the anaerobic bacteria, the kind that thrive in an airless atmosphere. These are putrefactive (causing RAPID BLOATING, decay, gas, odor; LIQUEFYING body tissue) and bacteria, and the results of their growth are pretty horrible.... you're better off with no casket at all." (Dr. Carr, quoted in Death to Dust, 1994, p. 471)

Mausoleum builders say: DON'T SEAL caskets to be entombed. A sealed casket can "bottle up" the evaporating fluids, causing tremendous pressure to build up. If the seal gives, the (body) liquids "come out in a BIG GOOSH," says Sam McCleskey, CEO of McCleskey Mausoleum Associates, Atlanta.
"Unfortunately, a lot of people do it the old way...seal 'er up and LET 'ER RIP (burst)," says Bob Gray, sales engineer for Gibralter Mausoleum Corp, Indianapolis. (emphasis added) (Funeral Service Insider newsletter, Feb.22/93)

(Some morticians fear that families who learn of the harm to their relatives' bodies may file lawsuits against them for offering, promoting, selling and sealing the caskets, and for not warning families of the harm -- and that pre-pay plan buyers may demand refunds, interest and penalties.
. . There are lawsuits in courts now by families who paid high prices for "protective sealer" caskets -- which are now LEAKING BODY FLUIDS AND BODY ORGANS of their loved ones which have LIQUEFIED in these caskets.
. . One woman recently received a $40,000 settlement from a major casket manufacturer for a high-priced casket that leaked. She will shortly go to court with a suit against a mortuary, cemetery and mausoleum for selling her the casket and trying to hide the damage.)

(Mausoleum workers tell of being called to work early in the morning to open crypts secretly -- and illegally without families' knowledge and permission -- in order to move leaking caskets and put "disaster kits" (large plastic bags) around the caskets to hide leaking and odor. Mausoleums often have large fans to blow out the odor in the morning, and often use perfumed decorations to disguise the odors during the day.)

. 4 . Be CAUTIOUS about "pre-pay" plans. (Most "lock-in" high prices; and/or are non-refundable, non-cancellable.)

High cost: Many pre-pay ("preneed") plans end up costing several times more than the cost of a fair-priced funeral bought when needed, or funded in another way. Many plans offer only high-priced caskets and services and salespersons often add another $1,000 or more for their commission ("service charge" of 15% to 25% added to the total price); they invest your money and earn interest on it, and they can take out "administrative fees" out of your money each year. Problems: "Non-cancellable" means that you must keep paying even if you can never use the funeral because you move away, etc. "Non-refundable" means that you receive little or no refund and no services -- even if you have paid thousands of dollars -- if you ever stop paying because you need the money for medical or other expenses, an emergency or you move away. Some mortuaries and plans companies have gone bankrupt and plan holders have lost everything.

Consumer groups do not recommend pre-pay plans. They recommend that you select (pre-arrange) the items you want for your funeral, give the information to a mortuary or family members, but not give any money to a mortuary or plan. Rather, put your money (today's cost of the funeral) in a "revocable" funeral savings account, trust account, or "Totten Trust" at a bank, savings institution or credit union, or open a small insurance policy for the cost of the funeral, so that your money is always in your control.

In this way, you earn all the interest (not the mortuary or plan); your money cannot be lost by bankruptcy or cancellation; and the money is always available for your funeral regardless of when or where you need it; "revocable" means that you draw your money out at anytime if you have an emergency or other need. The account can be changed to "non-revocable" status (or originally set up as such) if you need to enter a nursing home and need to "draw down" your assets, but want to preserve the funeral money you've set aside. (If a mortuary only wants to sell you a pre-pay plan, or if a small bank doesn't know about the "Totten Trust" or funeral trust account, go to another one.)

Deceptive tactic: Some salespersons write on the contract the price of the casket you choose, but intentionally write a different model number or description of a cheaper casket or urn. Require that they attach to the contract a color photograph of the casket with the manufacturer's model printed on it, write on the contract that the photograph is part of the contract and describes the casket, and sign the statement. (If you are buying a costly casket, the salesperson can afford to provide a color picture of it, so refuse the sale if they won't provide it.)

Most people who have been ripped off say: "But he was so nice and honest-looking." Even the most crooked salesperson can be nice if he/she is taking several thousand dollars out of your pocket.

Don't sign anything until you have an accountant, attorney or banker examine it closely. Salespersons often make false statements and promises about refundability, etc., which are the opposite of what is in the contract and its "fineprint."

Harmful "consumer advice" -- Many families think they can safely go to a mortuary because they have "consumer advice" from the media -- but they are often seriously harmed and, in fact, set up for "fleecing" by the advice (often obtained by the media from morticians).
Misleading advice includes:

-- "Ask your friends or clergy to recommend a mortuary." -- This is often dangerous, leading you to unfair mortuaries because most friends and clergy know little or nothing about wholesale casket prices, outrageous markups, deceptive sales practices, reasonable price ranges, comparison of mortuary prices in the community -- and many clergy and hospital personnel receive gifts from high-priced morticians to coax them to recommend their firms.

-- "Take a 'stable' friend with you to the mortuary to protect you from deceptive tactics and bad decisions." -- This is dangerous for the same reasons.

MORE INFORMATION about "protective sealer" caskets, mausoleums, body deterioriation, etc.

All bodies begin to deterioriate immediately after death because of bacteria in the body. Refrigeration can slow deterioriation for several days, enabling the body to be viewed without embalming (refrigeration is used by members of several faiths which do not permit embalming). Embalming can also slow deterioration for a short time, and so can enable viewing of the body. (Normally, either refrigeration or embalming is needed within about 24 hours if the body is to be viewed.)

However, very diluted embalming fluid is used on most of the body so that the body and skin will feel flexible and "lifelike" at the viewing -- but this means that deterioration is hindered only slightly for cells affected by diluted fluid. A stronger solution is injected only into the central body cavities. Thus embalming is nowhere near perfect and fluid does not reach most cells of the body. Most cells begin decaying immediately. Books on embalming and forensics provide charts and descriptions of the rate and type of deterioration which takes place day by day.

INFORMATION about DETERIORATION (available in books about death, embalming and forensic medicine)
DECAY is decomposition of protein in an aerobic (oxygen) environment, resulting in compounds with no foul odor.
PUTREFACTION occurs in anaerobic (non-oxygen) conditions and results in foul-smelling compounds. It is accelerated in moist air. It is caused by anaerobic bacteria in the cells and tissues which rapidly produce enormous amounts of foul-smelling gas, causing bloating of cells and tissues.

Books about embalming and forensic medicine help you to understand the problem with "sealer" caskets. Every mortician in the country knows about the deterioration and the effect of "sealer" caskets -- and so knowingly misleads NEARLY EVERY family in order to sell the higher-priced, fraudulent "sealer" caskets. In the presence of circulating, warm, dry air (that many mausoleums use), bodies deterioriate by dehydration and retain more of the shape they had while alive. Seals prevent this from happening.

The chart below shows the normal decay of tissues open to air and not touched by embalming fluid. (Sealed caskets change this -- by activating anaerobic bacteria whose putrefaction produces enormous amounts of gas, rapid bloating and destruction of the body, and bursts some seals, causing additional harm to bodies. Seals cause this damage by keeping out oxygen (oxygen impedes anaerobic bacteria) and dry air (air causes dehydration), and by keeping moisture in (moisture speeds anaerobic destruction). Normal dehydration would allow bodies to retain a more normal shape.)


1-3 days . . .	Putrefactive odor from gas produced by anaerobic bacteria.	 
2-3 days . . .	Green staining of flanks; noticeable bloating of abdomen.
5-6 days . . .	Gaseous swelling and disruption internally.
8-10 days . .	Fatty tissue beneath the skin fills with gas; abdomen bloats.
2 weeks . . .	Abdomen and all organs swelled and disrupted by gas. Marked swelling
		   of body. Face and neck bloated.
14-20 days . .	Blisters on body surface; body greatly swollen, especially loose tissues.
		   Eyes bulge; swelled tongue fills the mouth.
3 weeks . . .	Organs and cavities burst from gas pressure.
4 weeks . . .	General slimy liquifaction of all soft tissues (instead of dehydration).
1-6 months . .	Thoractic and abdominal cavities burst open by pressure of gases.
        (Unchecked PUTREFACTION eventually results in COMPLETE DISINTEGRATION and
        disappearance of all body structures, except the bones. Putrefaction is about
        twice as rapid at 100 degrees F as at 70 degrees.)

(The information in the chart above is from various books. For more information, see Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice, Mayer, 1990; Principles and Practice of Embalming, Strub and Frederick, 1986; and Death to Dust, Dr. Kenneth Iserson, 1994.)

Many mausoleums open seals for safety and normal body deterioriation. Many circulate warm, dry air through the crypts to enable the bodies to deteriorate normally through dehydration, which leaves the bodies with more of the shape they had while alive. Other mausoleums allow the seals to burst. Many mausoleums have pipes from each casket crypt to the roof to vent off gas and odor from the caskets.

Here are comments from a number of mausoleums when asked what they do to prevent damage to bodies from sealed caskets and bursting seals:

• "Don't worry about the body. We open every sealed casket. In fact, we tell funeral directors to open sealer caskets before they arrive here. We have a system which continually circulates warm, dry air through all the crypts so that bodies can dehydrate instead of turning to mush."
  • Thus, daily, morticians STEAL from families by FRAUDULENTLY coaxing them to buy sealer caskets by explaining the "benefits" of sealing; charging exorbitant prices for them; often making a very dramatic sales promotion event by using the hand crank to tightly close the seal in front of the family or the whole congregation -- and then secretly and illegally opening the seal on the way to the cemetery.

• "We open all caskets and prop up the lids with sticks so that our dry air circulation system can dehydrate the bodies. So there isn't much reason for anyone to buy a sealer casket."

• "We don't touch the seals. But one casket blew up and blew the concrete front off the crypt."

• "We don't open the seals; it would be against the law to open a casket without the owner's permission. Our mausoleum is designed to withstand six times the force of an earthquake, so when caskets explode they don't bother anything." (However, the sound might seriously frighten or harm persons who are walking nearby, especially if they have heart trouble.)

• "If prospective customers want mausoleum interment, our pre-pay salespersons are told to try to sell them hardwood caskets (which don't have seals) or non-sealer type metal caskets so that we won't have trouble with seals." (Comment of a representative of a large chain of mortuaries and cemeteries)

  (Reporters should phone local mausoleums and ask: "We're thinking of buying a sealer casket, but we've heard that some seals burst. Should we buy a non-sealer casket instead -- in order to prevent any damage to the body? Or is there something you can do to prevent the seal from bursting?" Reporters will probably receive answers like the ones above from different mausoleums.)

* (See more about different types of caskets under the price chart in Document 3 -- Caskets.)

EMBALMING: Embalming is a process intended to preserve bodies for a few days of viewing and funeral services. It is done with a weak embalming solution so that the skin retains a "soft" feel, but this also means that the body is only slightly preserved. It consists of two processes: 1) arterial embalming, in which diluted embalming fluid is pumped into a major artery to replace much of the body's blood; and 2) cavity embalming, in which fluids are removed from the chest and abdomenal cavities, and then a stronger embalming solution is injected into them. (Embalming got its real start during the Civil War when different chemicals were tried in an attempt to preserve bodies somewhat during shipment from battlefields back to their families.)

Normally, the body is placed on an embalming table which has a gutter around its perimeter to catch body fluids. The embalmer first massages limbs and joints to "break up" the effects of rigor mortis in order to place the arms and legs in desired positions. Plastic eyecaps with tiny knobs or needles on the their surface are inserted under the eyelids to hold the upper and lower lids together. The jawbones are pierced with needle injectors and wires are inserted to draw the jaws together so that the lips meet correctly. A plastic or metal "mouth former" with small needles is often placed under the lips to keep them pinned together.

The embalming fluid is principally water containing formaldehyde in a weak concentration. Phenol is sometimes included to prevent mold, and glycerine to keep bodies moist. Other chemicals may also be included. (In medical schools, where bodies may be used for several months, the embalming process is done much more carefully over a period of several days rather than the two or three hours in mortuaries.)

Arterial embalming is usually done in one of three locations where a major artery and vein are near each other: 1) the carotid artery and the juglar vein in the neck, 2) the axillary artery and the subclavian vein near the armpits, or 3) the femoral artery and the femoral vein near the groin.

The artery and vein are exposed and raised to facilitate insertion of tubes. The embalming fluid will be pumped into the artery; the fluid will push the blood ahead of it and out through the vein. An injection needle is inserted in the artery into which the embalming fluid will be pumped. A drainage forcepts is inserted in the vein to allow the blood to flow from the body into the table gutter, and then into a container or the sewer. The embalming pump forces fluid into the body at between five and ten pounds per square inch. The embalmer usually massages the ears, legs, hands and arms to clear blood discolorations.

Cavity embalming is done with a trocar, a large tube with a sharp end. It is connected to an aspirator to draw out cavity fluids. It is inserted near the navel and pushed in six or eight directions to draw out blood and waste, and then is used to inject strong embalming solution. The body is then washed, dressed and cosmetics applied. The body is then "casketed," placed in a casket.

PUBLIC HEALTH: Morticians often claim they are necessary for public health. The book, Principles and Practice of Embalming, (p.2-3), states: "Actually, embalming ... forms the foundation for the entire funeral service structure (that is, viewing, caskets, mortuary "chapels," etc., and the profits flowing from them--IFIC comment). ... It is also the guardian of public health ... Protection of the public health is at one and the same time the mortician's chief obligation and his most reliable guarantee of privileges ..." Many medical experts disagree, saying that what embalmers do has little or no effect on any danger to the public.

CREMATION: Cremation is the reduction of a body to ashes and bone fragments by intense heat. The first crematories were established in the U.S. at the end of the last century.

"Direct cremation" is the term mortuaries use when there is cremation with no viewing (some permit a private viewing) and no funeral or memorial service with the body present. In this situation a mortuary picks up the body, does necessary paper work and an obituary, delivers the body to a crematory and makes the ashes available to the family afterward. The direct cremation price usually includes the normal "cremation container" (of heavy cardboard and wood), the cremation fee (usually $125-200), and a low "professional services" fee.

Laws often require that a body be held for several days to protect any evidence of foul play. Permission for cremation is usually required from the next of kin, as the spouse or all children. Some mortuaries charge for each day that the body is at the mortuary and for refrigerating the body until cremation.

Prices for direct cremation vary greatly among mortuaries in many communities for these minimal services, for no apparent reason other than the amount of profit desired. (In Phoenix, mortuaries' prices vary from $400 to more than $1,800. In Houston, from $475 to $4,000.) Families should phone mortuaries for their prices for direct cremation, and ask if all of above items are included.

Families using direct cremation may wish to have a religious or memorial service or gathering of friends at a convenient time before the cremation, or do it after the cremation with or without the ashes ("cremains") present. However, families should be wary of a mortuary's offer to help with any arrangements, activities or services. Many mortuaries, if they do anything more than the minimum described above, add a high "professional services" fee of hundreds of dollars, plus a charge for each thing done.

Some families have a funeral service with the body present, perhaps renting a casket (whose cloth interior will be replaced afterward so that the casket can be rented again). Often mortuaries charge a rental fee equal to the wholesale price of the casket. (If a $500 wholesale casket is rented ten times, the profit can be quite substantial.)

After a funeral service (or in the case of direct cremation), the body is normally placed in a "cremation container" made of heavy cardboard and wood for delivery to a crematory. (Although the container costs only $15-30, some mortuaries charge $50 to $200; one mortuary has charged as much as $675. The is no law requiring that a casket be burned with the body in cremation, although many morticians imply that there is a law or that the mortuary or crematory has a requirement that a casket be used.

. Normal "cremation container" of heavy cardboard with wood base.

Many mortuaries have set up specially-designed "Cremation Arrangements" rooms which they have outfitted with a display of high-priced caskets. Any family which indicates an interest in cremation is taken from the regular arrangements office to the special room where the mortuary salespersons hope that they can coax or shame families into buying a casket to burn with the body -- when the money could be better given to a charity instead of to the mortician.

Here is part of a mortuary price list which suggests "Direct Cremation" in which an $11,500 mahogany casket, which will never be seen by anyone, will be burned with the body. (An easy way for a mortuary to make a profit of $8,000 or $9,000 on the casket, and about $600 over the cost of the cremation itself. The wry comment of a consumer is: "A wonderful gift for your deceased mother! Burn an $11,500 casket in her honor.)



At the crematory the body is placed in a cremation chamber or "retort." The special furnace is usually fueled by natural or bottled gas, although oil or electricity are sometimes used. The entire process usually takes two to three hours. An hour or two is needed between cremations. The intense heat can reduce the average-size adult to about five to seven pounds of ashes and bone fragments in about an hour and a half, although some retorts can do it in half an hour. Efficient cremation without smoke requires an initial temperature of about 1200 degrees farenheit. The temperature can rise to over 1700 degrees, and to as high as 2500 degrees in some chambers which were used for a cremation shortly before.

In the process, the cardboard or wooden container quickly catches fire and collapses, exposing the body to the flames. The skin and hair scorch and burn. The muscles contract and the abdomen and various parts of the body often burst in the process. After the process, the bone fragments are usually put through a crusher to reduce them to very small particles similar to sand.

(Click to return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 3

Caskets:

Sample STEEL CASKETS, 20-gauge metal (normal). Many styles and colors. Wholesale: $225-$500.


REASONABLE RETAIL: $375-$500 for $250 wholesale caskets (1.5 to 2x markup).
(Reasonable markup: 1.5 to 2 times wholesale . Profit: $125-$250 on a $250 wholesale casket)
However, most mortuaries charge $625-$1250. Markup 2.5 to 5x. Profit: $375-$1000 .
Some charge up to 7.5x: $1875 . Profit: $1625 on a $250 wholesale casket.

CASKETS --- WHOLESALE / RETAIL PRICES, EXTORTIONATE MARKUPS, PROFITS . . The FIRST TIME wholesale casket prices have ever been revealed to media and churches.

Mid-1995 prices.
To see 1997 and 1998 prices, click to go to Document 3 -- Casket Wholesale Prices.)

For the FIRST TIME in U.S. history this document and price chart provide to the nation's media the casket wholesale prices and markups which the funeral industry for decades has kept "TOP SECRET" (words used by the FTC's nationwide investigation).

Keeping wholesale prices ABSOLUTELY SECRET FROM THE MEDIA is the ONLY way mortuaries can continue unhindered to ripoff nearly every U.S. family with extortionate 300 to 900 percent markups.

The entire industry, casket manufacturers and its 22,000 mortuaries and pre-pay plans have worked together throughout this century to keep these prices secret from the media -- and prevent the public from learning of the injustice and its extent, and revolting against it.
. (Media reporters can test this secrecy for themselves by trying to obtain wholesale prices from any mortuary, casket manufacturer or industry organization.)

With these figures in hand media reporters can now visit morticians and ask them to explain on camera about their tremendous markups and profits on caskets -- in addition to their high, non-declinable "professional" fees and high funeral service charges -- the three charges which add up to the tremendous, harmful ripoffs of most families.

Interesting and informative for consumers is for a reporter to go to nearly any mortuary and look for a few caskets which are on the list below. Then:
. . 1. . Ask the mortician on camera how much his/her wholesale prices and markups are. Morticians usually answer that wholesale prices are high and that they make "only a few dollars" profit on a casket.
. . 2. . Then the reporter can point to a particular casket for which he has found the wholesale price and say: "You're charging $3,000 for that casket. Its wholesale cost is only $500. That's a profit of $2,500. That's more than 'a few dollars' profit. How do you explain that?" If the mortician has a good explanation, he should be happy to provide it. If not, the camera may record a facial expression which helps viewers understand differently about the claimed "good reputation" and honesty of the mortuary and the industry.
. . 3. . Such an interview and a creative chart showing the cost, markup, retail price and profit on a few sample caskets is enough for a short report on local ripoffs.

Families' rights -- Caskets: Most families don't know that the FTC gives them the right to use a casket they construct themselves or obtain from another mortuary or casket retail store. The FTC now prohibits mortuaries from charging "handling fees" when families have a casket delivered to the mortuary. (In the past, some mortuaries charged a "handling fee" of up to $1,000 or more to discourage families from obtaining caskets elsewhere.)

Decorations: Media need to explain to families that do not have to pay high prices in order to have a "fancy" casket. Families have the right to buy the least-expensive casket and then change the hardware or decorations on a casket to make it more personal. Mortuaries can easily obtain a variety of hardware for the outside corners, etc., and different decorative panels to place inside casket lids. Or families may use art, embroidery or photographs which they make or obtain from an art store or elsewhere. Cooperative mortuaries keep a variety of hardware on hand so that families can choose an inexpensive casket and decorate it as they wish at little or no extra cost.

Markups and profits: Most media and families have no idea of the extortionate markups and prices charged by most mortuaries, markups higher than in any other industry. Media need to provide the public with actual samples of the low wholesale prices and the high markups, prices and profits charged. Some media have used creative charts and caskets to illustrate the shocking figures. See the note below about notations used in the chart regarding markup calculations (dollars, percentages, etc.). (If any mortician wishes to dispute the figures, he/she should be willing to show reporters and families his wholesale price lists as proof of his claim.)




OTHER SOURCES OF CASKETS -- at prices much lower than at most mortuaries.

-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
|                                                                                 |
| Families can order a casket from one of these retail dealers. They will ship    |
|   the casket to the family or to the mortuary chosen, or will have it delivered |
|   within a few hours from a casket distributor near the family.                 |
| The C.A. Howard Funeral Home has a home page on which it shows color photos of  |
|   a number of caskets. Their metal caskets have wholesale prices beginning at   |
|   $240, retail prices beginning at $440.                                        |
| Their caskets photos give an idea of the caskets offered by the other sources   |
|   below, or you can phone the others for photos of other caskets they offer.    |
|            (These sources are also listed in Part 5 -- Mortuaries.)             |
|                                                                                 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                 |
| EDUARDO'S CASKETS; Phoenix, AZ; (602) 966-9676.                                 |
|   Sells caskets 10-PERCENT OVER WHOLESALE ($275 for lowest-priced metal casket) |
|   *                                                                             |
|   Sells to families in Arizona and surrounding states, casket sent to mortuary. |
|                                                                                 |
| CUNNINGHAM'S AFFORDABLE Funeral Services; Livermore, CA; (510) 447-1000.        |
|   Sells caskets $200 OVER WHOLESALE ($460 for lowest-priced metal casket)       |
|   *                                                                             |
|   Sells to families in the San Francisco Bay Area/Central Valley.               |
|                                                                                 |
| C.A. HOWARD Funeral Home; Norfolk, VA; (804) 627-7914.                          |
|   Sells caskets $200 OVER WHOLESALE ($440 for lowest-priced metal casket)       |
|   *                                                                             |
|   Sells to families IN ANY STATE, casket DELIVERED WITHIN A FEW HOURS to the    |
|   mortuary the family chooses (delivered from a warehouse near the family).     |
|                                                                                 |
| FAMILY HERITAGE CASKETS; Hamilton, Indiana; (219) 488-2121.                     |
|   Sells caskets $200 OVER WHOLESALE ($388 for lowest-priced metal casket)       |
|     Carries wood caskets (mahogany, cherry, etc.) handmade by the Amish.        |
|   *                                                                             |
|   Delivers personally in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan for the price above.        |
|   Delivers to other states for $200 over wholesale plus shipping charge.        | 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CASKETS -- Wholesale / Retail Prices, Markups, Profits. (Mid-1995 prices)
To see 1997 and 1998 prices, click to go to Document 3 -- Casket Wholesale Prices.)
(The wholesale prices listed are correct within a few percentage points throughout the country.)

CONFIDENTIAL WHOLESALE PRICES -- The first time ever available to the media.

   "PC" ("Perfection Cut") indicates OVAL-TOP.  "N"=Non-seal; "S"=neoprene seal.
###################################################################################
|hc,n3,2d                     |      |   .      |        |         |       |      |
|                             |      |REASONABLE| LOWEST |  MOST   |HIGHEST|      |
|          CASKETS            |WHOLE-|  RETAIL  | RETAIL | COMMON  |RETAIL |PROFIT|
|                             | SALE |  PRICE   | PRICE  | RETAIL  | PRICE |  on  |
|       Manufacturer          | COST |  50-100% | in the | PRICE   | found | each |
| model number, popular name, |  in  |  markup  |  U.S.  | in the  |in the |casket|
|      material, colors       | most |over whse.|        |   U.S.  |  U.S. |      |
|    (NS=Non-seal; S=seal)    | U.S. |          |  1.5x  |         |       |      |
|                             |areas | (equals  |  whse  | 150-500%|       |      |
|                             |      | 1.5 to 2 |or $200 |over whse|       |      |
|                             |      |  times   |  over  |         |       |      |
|                             |      |wholesale)|  whse. |2.5x & up|       |      |
|#################################################################################|
|##### CONTAINERS/VAULTS #####| WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|#################################################################################|
|                             |      |          |        |         |       |up to:|
| CREMATION CONTAINER, DELUXE |      |(1.5x)(2x)|        |(2.5)(5x)|  (9x) |      |
|   cardboard/wood            | $ 35 | $ 52-70  | $  52  |$ 75-150 | $ 315 = $280 |
| (One mortuary charged $675)>|      |          |        |         (19x)675=  640 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| AIR TRAY (to ship casket)   |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|   wood/cardboard            |   50 |   75-100 |    75  | 125-250 |   300 =  250 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| COMBINATION K/D AIR TRAY    |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (8x) |      |
|   (to ship body or casket)  |   75 |  113-150 |   113  | 188-375 |   600 =  525 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| DOME VAULT (grave liner)    |      |          |        |     (4x)|  (5x) |Profit|
|   concrete     -without base|- 170 |  255-340 |   255  | 425-680 |   850 =  680 |
|                -with a base |- 225 |  338-450 |   338  | 563-900 |  1125 =  900 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| "NOVA" VAULT (grave liner)  |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|   fiberglass                |  250 |  375-500 |   375  | 625-1250|  1500 = 1250 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| "MONTICELLO" VAULT          |      |          |        |   (4.5x)|  (6x) |      |
|   concrete                  |  300 |  450-600 |   450  | 750-1350|  1800 = 1500 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| EMBALMING FLUID-16oz.bottle |      |          |        |         |       |      |
|  (One bottle for each       | $2.50| ($7.50 for 150-lb. body.)   |   100 |   92 |
|   50 lbs. of body weight)(Morticians have charged $100, enough for 2,000# body.)|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|






|#################################################################################|
|###### BABIES/CHILDREN ######| WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|#################################################################################|
|                             | See MARKUP INFORMATION (1.5x, 6x, etc.) at bottom.|
| PBF BABY 1'6"FLAT-TOP CASKET|                                            |      |
|  wood,cloth-covered, 3colors|  $35 | $52 - 70 |   $52  | $75-150 |  $315 = $280 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| PBF Co. BABY 2' OVAL-TOP  NS|      |(1.5x)(2x)|        |(2.5)(5x)|  (9x) |Profit|
|  wood, PLUSH cloth-covered  |   70 |  105-140 |   105  | 175-350 |   630 =  560 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| PBF Co. CHILD 3' OVAL-TOP NS|      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|  wood-particle/cloth,3colors|   85 |  128-170 |   128  | 213-425 |   510 =  440 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| PBF CHILD 3'6" OVAL-TOP   NS|      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|  wood, embossed cloth, 3cols|   90 |  135-180 |   135  | 225-450 |   540 =  450 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| CHILD 3'6" WOOD-PARTICLE    |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |Profit|
|  oval,PLUSH cloth-covered NS|  120 |  180-240 |   180  | 300-600 |   720 =  600 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| CHILD 3'6" METAL CASKET     |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|   white with gold trim    NS|  310 |  465-620 |   465  | 775-1550|  1860 = 1550 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| CHILD 5'6" WOOD-PARTICLE    |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|  oval-top, plush cloth    NS|  180 |  270-360 |   270  | 450-900 |  1080 =  900 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| CHILD 5'6" METAL CASKET     |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (6x) |      |
|   white with gold trim    NS|  350 |  525-700 |   525  | 875-1750|  2100 = 1750 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|






|#################################################################################|
|##### CLOTH-COVERED WOOD ####| WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|#################################################################################|
|                             |      |          |        |         |       |up to:|
| C32 FLAT-TOP, CLOTH-COVERED |      |(1.5x)(2x)|        |(2.5x)4x)|  (9x) |      |
|  particle wood, 3 colors  NS| $100 | $150-200 |  $150  |$250-400 |  $900 = $800 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| PBF C50"FLARED SQUARE"-PC NS|      |          |        |     (5x)|  (9x) |      |
|  wood/cloth-covered, 6colors|  170 |  255-340 |   255  | 425-850 |  1530 = 1360 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| PBF C60 "SQUARE STATE"-PC NS|      |          |        |     (5x)|  (7x) |Profit|
|  wood,brocade cloth, 6colors|  210 |  315-420 |   315  | 525-1050|  1470 = 1260 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| PBF C72 "MAJESTIC STATE" PC |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (7x) |      |
|  wood/blue tabor cloth    NS|  265 |  398-530 |   398  | 663-1325|  1855 = 1590 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|






|#################################################################################|
|###### HARDWOOD CASKETS #####| WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|#################################################################################|
|                             |      |          |        |         |       |up to:|
| Palo Verde "SEDONA" PINE  NS|      |(1.5x)(2x)|        |(2.5)(5x)|  (7x) |      |
|  walnut finish, wood handles| $245 | $368-490 |  $368  |$613-1225| $1715 =$1470 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| York "KNOTTY PINE" PC       |      |(+$200)   |        |     (4x)|  (7x) |      |
|  hardwood pine            NS|  420 |  620-840 |   620  |1050-1680|  2940 = 2320 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Batesville 4C1 "BRUNSWICK"  |      |          |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|  hardwood                 NS|  540 | 740-1080 |   740  |1350-1890|  3510 = 2970 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| York 343 "ZION" (Jewish)    |      |          |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|  poplar wood              NS|  700 | 900-1400 |   900  |1750-2433|  4550 = 3850 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates-4NP "FAIRFIELD"       |      |          |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|Profit|
|  poplar wood              NS|  840 |1040-1680 |  1040  |2100-2940|  5460 = 4620 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- 5AR "AUTUMN OAK"     |      |          |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|  solid oak                NS|  880 |1080-1760 |  1080  |2200-3080|  5720 = 4840 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| "NORWOOD" (rented & reused) |      |          |        |     (3x)|  (5x) |      |
|  solid oak                NS|  950 |1150-1900 |  1150  |2375-2850|  4750 = 3800 |
| INSERT(new insert each time)|  140 |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|






|#################################################################################|
|####### METAL CASKETS #######| WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|#################################################################################|
|    (NS=Non-Seal; S=Seal)    |      |          |        |         |       |up to:|
|                             |      |(1.5x)(2x)|        |(2.5)(5x)|  (7x) |      |
| Palo Verde Co."ECONO PC"  NS| $222 | $333-444 |  $333  |$555-1110| $1554 =$1334 |
|  20g. hammertex gray,cop   S|  242 |  363-484 |   363  | 605-1210|  1694 = 1452 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| York Casket Co."TRINDEX"  NS|      |          |        |         |  (7x) |      |
|  20g. hammertex gray,copper |  240 |  360-480 |   360  | 600-1200|  1680 = 1440 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| York "VANTAGE" gray, bronze |      |          |        |     (5x)|  (7x) |      |
|      "DOUGLAS" white, blue, |  340 |  510-680 |   510  | 850-1700|  2380 = 2040 |
|  20g.steel        orchid   S|      |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Batesville L48 "ANTIQUE-    |      |(1.5x)    |        |   (4.5x)|  (7x) |Profit|
|   SILVER", "MANDARIN BRONZE"|  380 |  570-760 |   570  | 950-1710|  2660 = 2280 |
|  20g. silver,bronze colors S|      |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Palo Verde "PARISIENNE"     |      |(+$200)   |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|   18g. blue,copper,gold    S|  540 | 740-1080 |   740  |1350-1890|  3510 = 2970 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- G90 "CRYSTAL BLUE"   |      |          |        |         |       |      |
| "PRIMROSE","FRANKLIN SILVER"|  610 | 810-1220 |   810  |1525-2135|  3965 = 3355 |
|   20g, blue,rose,silver    S|      |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|


. Batesville S48 "Vintage Bronze," 20-gauge steel, seal .
Wholesale: $435 . Reasonable retail: $635 to $870 .
(However, some charge up to $2200 or more. For a PROFIT of up to $1765 or more on a $435 item.)

. Batesville G90 "Crystal Blue," 18-gauge steel, seal .

Wholesale $610 . Reasonable retail: $810 to $1220.
(However, some charge up to $3900 or more. For a PROFIT of up to $3300 or more on a $610 item.)




|#################################################################################|
|    METAL CASKETS (contd.)   | WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|=================================================================================|
| Batesville N05 "CLOUD BLUE" |      |          |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|   18g.  blue               S| $625 |$825-1250 |  $825  |1563-2188| $4063 =$3438 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- O06"CARNATION"(youth)|      |          |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|   18g.  pink               S|  650 | 850-1300 |   850  |1625-2275|  4225 = 3575 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- A40 "PRIMROSE"       |      |     (2x) |        |   (3.5x)| (6.5x)|      |
|   18g.  pink               S|  790 | 990-1580 |   990  |1975-2765|  5135 = 4345 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| York "MANSFIELD" stainless  |      |    (1.8x)|        |     (3x)| (5.5x)|Profit|
|   stainless steel          S|  990 | 1190-1782|  1190  |2475-2970|  5445 = 4455 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Aurora "IMPERIAL" stainless |      |          |        |     (3x)|  (5x) |      |
|   stainless steel, topaz   S| 1195 | 1395-2151|  1395  |2988-3585|  5975 = 4780 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- F63 "SAPPHIRE"       |                 |        |         |  (5x) |      |
|           "INDIA STAR"     S| 1220 | 1420-2196|  1420  |3050-3660|  6100 = 4880 |
|   16g.  blue, silver        |      |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Aurora 3532"LT.BRUSH COPPER"|      |          |        |     (3x)|  (4x) |      |
|   32oz/18g.copper          S| 1510 | 1710-2718|  1710  |3775-4530|  6040 = 4530 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|






|#################################################################################|
|    METAL CASKETS (contd.)   | WHSE.|REASONABLE| LOWEST | Common  |Highest|PROFIT|
|=================================================================================|
| Batesville Y33 "IMPERIAL"   |      |          |        |         |       |      |
|   "JEFFERSON","SILVER ROSE" |      |          |        |     (3x)|  (4x) |      |
|   "PRIMROSE","CRYSTAL BLUE" |$1510 |$1710-2718| $1710  |3775-4530| $6040 =$4530 |
|  32oz/18g.copper  "FINCH"  S|      |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- Z61 "ALAMEDA BRONZE" |      |    (1.8x)|        |     (3x)|  (4x) |      |
|   48oz/16g.copper          S| 1620 |1820-2916 |  1820  |4050-4860|  6480 = 4860 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Aurora "STARLITE BRONZE"    |      |          |        |     (3x)|  (4x) |      |
|   32oz/18-gauge bronze     S| 1770 |1970-3186 |  1970  |4425-5310|  7080 = 5310 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| Bates- Z64"CLASSIC GOLD"brnz|      |    (1.7x)|        |     (3x)| (3.8x)|Profit|
|   48oz/16g.bronze          S| 3590.| 3790-6103|  3790  |8975-10770) 13642= 10052|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| York "CITADEL" bronze       |      |    (1.5x)|        |     (3x)| (3.3x)|      |
|  48oz/16g.bronze           S| 6550 | 6750-9825|  6750 (16375-19650) 21615= 15065|
|                             |      |          |        |         |       |      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|





|#################################################################################|
|###### SNAP-IN PANELS #######| (These snap into the lids of most firms' caskets.)|

|#################################################################################|
|                             |      |          |        |         |       |      |
| York EMBROIDERED PANELS:    |  $45 | $50 - 90 |   $50  |         |       |      |
|  "Ash Leaf", "In God's Care"|                                            |      |
|  "Mallard Duck", "Pheasant", "John Deere Tractor", "Golf Scene 18th Hole"|      |
|                             |                                            |      |
| SILK-SCREENED PANELS:       |   25 |   30- 50 |    30  |         |       |      |
|  "Church Scene","Farm Scene", etc. |          |        |         |       |      |
|                             |      |          |        |         |       |      |
| Batesville PANELS:          |   30 |   35- 55 |    35  |         |       |      |
|  "Masonic," "K of C," "Cross," "Star of David," "Praying Hands," "Going Home,"  |
|  "Saddle Scene," "Our Lady of Guadalupe," "Wildlife Scene," "Ocean Scene,"      |
|  "End of the Trail," "Mormon Church," "Irish Prayer," etc.                      |
|                                                                                 |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                 |
| PERSONALIZING CASKETS: Families may wish to choose an inexpensive basic casket  |
|  and then beautify or personalize it themselves. They can put inside it or in   |

|  the lid decorations, or use art panels obtained from the mortuary or from an   |
|  art or religious store. Or a painting, religious picture, photographs or other |
|  art which they or their children create.                                       |

|                                                                                 |
|    The casket belongs to the family so they DON'T HAVE TO ASK PERMISSION from   |
|  anyone to modify it in any way they wish.                                      |
|    (NOTE: Some "funeral DIRECTORS" think that the "director" name they have     |
|  decided to call themselves gives them authority to control families, funeral   |
|  services, decorations, choice of caskets, etc. -- so families need to realize  |
|  that families are in charge of funerals, not the morticians. The morticians'   |
|  job is to do whatever families want them to do, not vice-versa.)               |
|                                                                                 |
|    Cooperative mortuaries have or will be happy to obtain various types of      |
|  decorative hardware for casket corners and sides to substitute for those which |
|  come with the casket, and will install it for little or no extra charge. When  |
|  calling mortuaries for prices, families should ask if they have decorative     |
|  panels and hardware for families to choose from.                               |
|                                                                                 |
| PERSONALIZING THE FUNERAL: Families who look on funerals as celebrating the     |
|  beginning of a new life with God sometimes decorate the church and casket with |
|  colored crepe paper streamers and balloons (which are no more out-of-place     |

|  than colored flowers and ribbons, and are less expensive) and provide banners, |
|  cake and ice cream before and/or after the funeral service or Mass. Some       |
|  create projected slide programs about the deceased and the family to be shown  |

|  during services. Many make display easels or panels of photos and art.         |
|  NOTE: Morticians sometimes offer to make displays and then charge high prices  |
|  for their work, so families should do it themselves (which gives more of the   |
|  family members and children an active part in the preparations).               |
|                                                                                 |
|#################################################################################|
|#                                                                               #|
|#  MARKUPS on $500 wholesale casket (common phrases):     NOTE: (5x) indicates  #|
|# -----------------------------------------------------     5 TIMES WHOLESALE   #|
|# "WHOLESALE + 10%" =($500 + 10% =$ 550) =  $ 50 profit     cost -- giving a    #|
|# "WHOLESALE +$200" =( 500 +$200 =  700) =   200 profit     PROFIT of $2000     #|
|# "WHOLESALE x 2.5" =( 500 x 2.5 = 1250)     750 profit     on a casket that    #|
|# "4.5x WHOLESALE"  =( 500 x 4.5 = 2250) = $1750 profit     the mortician pays  #|
|#                                                           only $500 for.      #|
|#                                                                               #|
|# Morticians often say that 2.5x wholesale is the MOST that anyone markups up   #|
|# caskets. Actually, 2.5x is the LEAST most charge; most regularly use 3x to 7x.#|
|#                    ====        #####                                 ######## #|

###################################################################################

NOTE: Notice the great profit obtainable from each casket -- in addition to high profits on funeral services and the high, non-declinable "professional" fees morticians add to the price of the each funeral and casket.
Chains and large-volume mortuaries make even more profit because they can obtain caskets for discounts of up to 25% less than the wholesale costs shown here.

NOTES: "NS" indicates a non-sealer casket, without a neoprene gasket around the lid.
"S" indicates a neoprene seal -- and a HIGHER PRICE, because morticians claim it is "protective" even though it provides little protection. Instead, all sealed caskets HARM BODIES because they aid anaerobic bacteria in bodies to cause rapid bloating, decay and gases.
(See more complete explanation about the problems with sealer caskets in the previous section, under Point 3 of the consumer advice.)

Casket materials: Caskets are available in METAL (steel, stainless steel, copper, bronze); WOOD (hardwood, particle board); and FIBERGLASS/PLASTIC.
- Steel caskets in 20-gauge thickness are the most common casket; this thickness is entirely sufficient for normal burial; and these come in many attractive styles and colors.
Cooperative mortuaries will change the exterior hardware and decorative panels.


However, mortuaries try to steer families away from the low-priced caskets (by displaying only ugly colors; by using "scary" stories that 20-gauge caskets aren't thick enough; by putting scratches on caskets; etc.). Mortuary employees are expected or required to coax families to buy costly, thicker 18-gauge and 16-gauge steel caskets with the nearly-useless, harmful "protective" seals. All steel caskets will rust and leak as time goes on.

. Batesville G90 "Crystal Blue," 18-gauge steel, seal .

Decorations: The same exterior hardware and decorative panels (flowers, as in the caskets above; Praying Hands; Lord's Supper, etc.) seen inside the lids of high-priced caskets can easily be installed on the lowest-priced caskets (just as many people install in their cars the same type of radios that come in very expensive cars). Fair-priced mortuaries will do this for little or no extra charge.

(One casket manufacturer has said "There are TOO MANY LOW-PRICED CASKETS that LOOK TOO GOOD (of other companies). We call them 'PROFIT ROBBERS'.")

HIGH PROFITS: Subtract the wholesale costs from the mortuary prices in the last two columns above ("common" and "highest" prices) to see the tremendous casket profits being made by most mortuaries -- in addition to their high profits from funeral services and usually outrageous "professional" fees . Chains and high-volume firms can get discounts of up to 25% off these wholesale prices, making their profits even greater. (Wholesale prices around the country are within a few percent of those listed.)

(Click to return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 4

MORTUARY PRICE COMPARISON (Prices of early '95) .
(Samples of low and high-priced mortuaries in various states)

(ALL MEDIA SHOULD CONDUCT PRICE SURVEYS IN THEIR AREAS EVERY YEAR.)
(Media and other groups can contact IFIC for specially-designed survey sheets to ensure accuracy.)
Mortuaries are listed in order of. * LOWEST TOTAL PRICE for casket and services.

     (Note: "4c" means CHOICE of FOUR exterior casket-colors at price listed.)
   (See explanation of "Traditional" and "Direct Cremation" at bottom of chart.)
###################################################################################
|hm,o25,2d           |         |         |        |          |         |          |
|                    |    1    |    2    |+   3   |=   *     |         |          |
|                    | Lowest- | Lowest- |COMPLETE|  TOTAL   |  Direct |Forwarding|
|      MORTUARY      |  price  |  price  | FUNERAL|   for    |CREMATION|/Receiving|
|      (initials     |  METAL  |  METAL  |SERVICES| Casket & |  (all   |  of body |
|      of chain,     | CASKETS |Choice of|        | Services |mortuary,|  to/from |
|      if owned      |         |3 or more|"Tradi- |          |crematory|  another |
|       by one)      |Wholesale| colors. | tional"| Total of | charges)|   area.  |
|                    |  $245   |Wholesale|services|cols.2 + 3|         |          |
|                    |         |  $275   |        |     -----|         |          |
|#################################################################################|
| REASONABLE PRICES->| 1-Color |3 colors+|Services|= *TOTAL  |Cremation|F:$400-650|
|1.5 to 2-TIMES whse.| 368-490 | 413-550 |800-1200| 1550-2200| 395-550 |R: 300-500|
|#################################################################################|
|                    |         |         |        |          |         |          |
| EDUARDO'S CASKETS  |         |        (Sells caskets 10-PERCENT OVER WHOLESALE) |
|   Phoenix, AZ      | 2-colors| 6-colors|(to any U.S. family, sent to mortuary.) |
|   (602) 966-9676   |  $ 266  |  $ 300  |        |          |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| CRYSTAL ROSE Mort. | 2-colors| 4-colors|        |          |         |          |
|   Phoenix, AZ      |  $ 425  |  $ 450  |+ $1120 |= $1570   |  $ 680  |$600/ 450 |
|   (602) 936-3637   |         |    ---  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| BOTIMER Mortuary   |  4-cols |     4c  |        |          |         |          |
|   Phoenix, AZ      |    300  |    300  |+  1295 |=  1595   |    400  | 775/ 725 |
|   (602) 243-3961   |         |    ---  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| BUCKEYE Mortuary   |         |         |        |          |         |          |
|  Buckeye,AZ (rural)|    895  |    995  |+   895 |=  1850   |    695  | 785/ 690 |
|   (602) 386-4812   |         |    ---  |    --- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| CHAPEL CHIMES (SCI)|         |         |        |          |         |          |
|   Phoenix, AZ      |   1359  |   2095  |+  2535 |=  4630   |   1533  |1330/ 885 |
|   (602) 937-9297   |         |   ----  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|                    |                                                            |
|#################################################################################|
|#CASKETS/MORTUARIES#| 1-color | 3-colors|Services|-> TOTAL  |Cremation|F:$400-650|
|## VARIOUS STATES ##| 368-490 | 413-550 |800-1200| 1550-2200| 395-550 |R:$300-500|
|#################################################################################|
|                    |         |         |        |          |         |          |
| CUNNINGHAM'S       |     (Sells caskets $200 OVER WHOLESALE to any families in )|
|  AFFORDABLE F.Serv.|     (Bay Area/Central Valley, sent to mortuary that family)|
|   Livermore, CA    |       (chooses. As: Charges $700 for $500-wholesale casket)|
|   (510) 447-1000   |       (while other mortuaries charge up to $3000 or more.) |
|                    |     2c  |     4c  |        |          |         |          |
| (Scatters cremains |  $ 460  |  $ 460  |+ $1100 |= $1560   |  $ 545  |$695/ 545 |
|   at sea for $40.) |         |    ---  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| AFFORDABLE F.Serv. |     4c  |     4c  |        |          |         |          |
|   Vienna, VA       |    550  |    550  |+  1250 |=  1800   |    665  |1035/ 900 |
|   (800) 839-6199   |         |    ---  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                    |     (Sells caskets $200 OVER WHOLESALE to ANY U.S. FAMILY,)|
| C.A. HOWARD F.Home |       (sent to mortuary family chooses.)  ###############  |
|   Norfolk, VA      |     4c  |     4c  |        |          |         |          |
|   (804) 627-7914   |    440  |    440  |+  1435 |=  1875   |    450  |1030/ 725 |
|                    |         |    ---  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| KRIEGHAUSER F.Serv.|     2c  |     4c  |        |          |         |          |
|   St. Louis, MO    |    630  |    874  |+  1480 |=  2354   |    650  |1235/1040 |
|   (314) 962-0601   |         |    ---  |   ---- |   ####   |         |          |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  More mortuaries   |         |         |        |          |         |          |
|    to be added.    |         |         |        |          |         |          |
###################################################################################

"TRADITIONAL" funeral services included in the "Traditional" funeral calculated above: Removal of body to mortuary from place of death; preparation and delivery of all needed documents; all needed preparation of the body and hearse for needed transportation; obituary sent to local newspaper; visitation on one day and funeral service the next, at church or mortuary; gravesite service. Not included are items not needed by many families (as: family car, limousine, guest book and folders, motorcycle escorts).
DIRECT CREMATION (no memorial services) includes all mortuary and crematory charges (including pickup of body, cremation body container, all transportation, cremation fee, all documents).
NOTES: Notice the great difference in the prices charged by mortuaries for the same caskets and services. There is no excuse for the high prices charged by most mortuaries. Low-volume mortuaries (some with fewer than one funeral a week) unfairly charge high prices in order to stay in business despite having few customers. High-volume mortuaries (with five to ten bodies a week). which could charge one-third as much as the others, charge the same or higher prices to make tremendous profit for the owners (employees often receive low pay).

(To return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 5

THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY'S PROFIT SYSTEM
and HOW IT AFFECTS YOU

For decades, consumer organizations (Consumers Union, AARP and others) have complained about the high prices of the funeral industry. (See Part 5 for quotes from investigations in past years.)

. . The two main reasons for the high prices are that there are FIVE TO TEN TIMES TOO MANY MORTUARIES in most communities, and a desire for HIGH PROFITS (some say "greed"). (There are about two million deaths per year in the U.S., and about 22,000 mortuaries, so an average of about 91 bodies per mortuary. However, some mortuaries have as many as 1,000 bodies (cases) per year, leaving others with as few as 25 bodies per year.)

. . Many low-volume mortuaries (with only one or two funerals a week) charge outrageously high prices in order to unfairly stay in business. (In any other industry, such firms would have to merge or go out of business, but the funeral industry has adjusted itself to enable them to continue.) . . Most high-volume mortuaries (five to 15 funerals a week) could charge one-half or one-third as much as low-volume firms, but charge the SAME high prices or HIGHER to make tremendous profits. The high prices SERIOUSLY HARM modest- and low-income families and senior citizens.

High-priced mortuaries have been able to continue this unfair system for decades by:
. . 1) . ABSOLUTE secrecy throughout the industry to keep media, churches, agencies and families ignorant of low wholesale casket costs, exorbitant markups and deceptive sales tactics,
. . 2) . misleading the media and public via ads, interviews and deceptive literature (as Funeral Costs) by the National Funeral Directors Association itself,
. . 3) . charging outrageous prices, "professional" fees, service and casket prices (caskets regularly marked up 300% to 700%, often a markup/profit of $1,000 to $4,000 on a single casket -- the reason why they do not advertise prices),
. . 4) . promoting costly, harmful "protective sealer" caskets,
. . 5) . high-pressure and deceptive sales methods and plan contracts,
. . 6) . harassing low-priced firms to try to force them to raise their prices,
. . 7) . providing gifts to many clergy to coax them not to warn families about unjust prices and sales tactics, but to recommend the high-priced mortuaries and distribute their literature and advertising calendars,
. . 8) . getting regulations to assist profit-making made by state funeral boards/legislatures, and creating "consumer" booklets to mislead the public.
. . . (See Funerals: Consumers' Last Rights, Consumers Union.)

THE SOLUTION: CONSUMERS UNION says: "IT IS UP TO INFORMED CONSUMERS TO IMPROVE (FUNERAL) INDUSTRY PRACTICES."

. . Individuals, churches and media can end the abuse by becoming informed and then taking TWO STEPS recommended by consumer groups:
. . 1. SHAME unfair mortuaries by widely-exposing their low wholesale costs, outrageous markups and prices, and widespread deceptive practices.
. . 2. urge families to AVOID unfair mortuaries.
. . Only the shame of price exposure and loss of business will cause them to use fair prices and practices.
. . To inform consumers, IFIC and Memorial Societies publish information about industry methods, casket wholesale prices, markups, and mortuary prices.

MEANWHILE, the consumer's ONLY WAY TO PREVENT RIPOFF, as AARP and many consumer organizations state, is for families to

. FIND A MORTUARY WITH REASONABLE PRICES anywhere and use their own church for services to avoid unfairly-priced mortuaries nearby.

. . All churches and organizations should MAKE COPIES of this price comparison list and provide them to all families, and urge families to avoid unfairly-priced firms. (This will benefit families -- and cause unfair mortuaries to end their continuing and growing abuse.)

(Click to return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 6

ABUSE IS NATIONWIDE -- BY MOST MORTUARIES

Excerpts from FTC documents and newspaper investigations point out the extent of the nationwide abuse:
• Morticians often claim that abuses have ceased -- because "We are NOW HIGHLY-REGULATED by the FTC and state funeral boards."
  However, despite the FTC's 1984 "Funeral Rule" and state boards (comprised totally or mostly of morticians), abuses continue unabated nationwide.
  As one newspaper states: "The funeral industry is woefully under-regulated in California. ..." ("Mayhems of the heart: Dying with dignity is difficult if mortuaries abuse the trade," Editorial, Pasadena Star-News, May 11, 1988)

  Other reports say:

  • "... (price gouging and deceptive practices) ... practices which are widely used and even condoned by a large percentage of the nation's 20,000-plus funeral homes." (Federal Trade Commission, report of its nationwide investigation, 1975)

  • "It would be better if funeral directors would conduct themselves as honest workmen performing a needed service in a fair manner. There is no significant movement from within the business ... to reform what has become a ghoulish, profit-above-all, final ripoff." ("Final Ripoff Can't Last Forever," Editorial, Miami Herald, June 20, 1978)

  • Headline: "The Death Merchants:: Sun-Times probe uncovers vast funeral fraud."
    Text: "The reporters discovered a consumer's nightmare ... the OVERALL view from within the $6.4 billion-a-year funeral industry was a shocking revelation of deception and fraud." (Chicago Sun-Times, May 10-19, 1981. Nine-day series reporting findings of a six-month investigation of Chicago's mortuaries, cemeteries and pre-pay sales by 20 reporters. See a list of the series' articles -- in Part 8 below.)

  • "What is the greediest, most rapacious industry in America? ... Mortuaries ...
    ... Many pad costs in an unconscionable manner, inflating the wholesale price of caskets by up to 900 percent, charging exorbitant fees for minimal services ..." (Editorial columnist, Arizona Republic, December 29, 1985)

  • "------"

(Click to return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 7

RIPOFF METHODS

List of CATEGORIES of commonly-used tactics.
Below this list, in each category, many of the specific tactics will be listed and explained.

1. . The PRINCIPAL ripoff method is EXORBITANT HIGH PRICES and MARKUPS
It is the MOST HARMFUL tactic to families.

2. . Misleading and "using" the media
3. . Influencing and "using" the clergy and churches
4. . Legislative and community influence
5. . False and misleading information to justify the high prices and markups
6. . Misleading information and advertising
7. . Telephone price disclosure tactics
8. . Itemized price list tactics
9. . "Professional" services fee
10. . Mortuary sales tactics
11. . Casket sales tactics
12. . Fraudulent "protective sealer" casket tactics
13. . Pre-pay plan sales tactics and contracts
14. . Cremation sales tactics
15. . Cemetery sales and pre-pay tactics




RIPOFF METHODS (listed and explained):
(Many tactics will be listed and explained under each category title.)

(To see more-detailed lists, click to go to Documents 7A & 7B -- 15 Categories of Ripoffs.)




• 1 . The PRINCIPAL ripoff method is EXORBITANT HIGH PRICES and MARKUPS -- used by nearly every U.S. mortuary:
  • (See Part 3 -- Caskets, for a chart of low wholesale casket prices, high markups, retail prices and profits.)

  • (Also see Part 4 -- Mortuary Prices, for a chart showing the great difference in prices charged for the SAME caskets and services by sample mortuaries.)

  • - (Many tactics and examples will be listed here shortly.)
    
  • -

• 2 . Misleading and "using" the media:
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
  • -
    
  • -

  
  

• 3 . Influencing and "using" the clergy and churches:
  (The clergy are THE GREATEST HELP TO MORTICIANS' RIPOFF of their congregations by cooperating with morticians and not warning their people of the ripoff.

  
  However, the clergy have THE GREATEST POTENTIAL to STOP THE RIPOFF by:
  . 1) . warning their people about the extortionate markups and deceptive practices, and
  . 2) . urging their people to AVOID HIGH PRICED MORTUARIES, thus forcing the mortuaries to lower their prices to decent levels.
  . Churches can change their local funeral industry in a short time by these and other methods, especially if they join with neighboring churches and other groups in this effort.)

  Mortuaries' tactics include:
  • giving misleading information to clergy and churches to pass on to their congregations, and encouraging them to recommend the particular mortuary -- leading congregations to believe that the clergy know about the mortuary and approve of its unfair prices and practices;

  • giving gifts and bribes to clergy and churches to coax them to:
    • distribute the mortuary's advertising calendars and other materials to their people;
    • not warn their people about unfair prices and practices;
    • not urge their people to avoid particular mortuaries which use unfair prices and deceptive sales tactics;
    • not survey local mortuaries' prices and provide their people with price comparisons;

    . This editorial cartoon, 6.3" x 11.5", one of the largest seen in a major newspaper, appeared on the front page of a section of the Arizona Republic newspaper, accompanying a group of articles about mortuary/clergy relations which were uncovered. It depicts a mortician secretly handing a kickback or bribe to a clergyman.

  • (More items will be listed here.)
    
  • -

    Comments:

    • Churches should help stop the ripoff: A national Catholic newspaper says:"The church could help (stop the ripoff). More dioceses could start low-cost mortuaries (and keep them low-cost). Apart from that, how do the U.S. bishops square the funeral-industry rip-off with their economic pastoral (official statement)? The church has not had much to say about this particular injustice. We wonder why?" (possibly the gifts from the industry?) (Editorial, National Catholic Reporter national newspaper, October 30. 1987)
      . . (Note: Although Catholic dioceses and parishes operate many cemeteries, only the Archdiocese of Denver operates a mortuary. The archdiocese began it as a low-cost [fair-priced] mortuary because there were no fair-priced mortuaries in the Denver area. However, it later raised its prices to about the same level as the mid- and high-priced mortuaries of the area.)

    • The funeral industry is continually worried that churches might decide to act against industry abuse. An editorial in Casket and Sunnyside, a funeral industry publication, stated that if one or more of the large denominations ever decided to put funerals under their control or establish their own funeral facilities "the fat would really be in the fire." (The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford, 1963)

    • Here is a headline from a group of newspaper articles about mortuary/clergy relations and bribery. (Gifts reported have included; free air trips to Las Vegas, memberships at golf courses, financial gifts to pastors of as much as $5,000, cases of scotch, etc.) The diocese said that "only recently has information been available to Catholic clergy regarding costs of mortuary services, the actual wholesale price of coffins and the varying rates in Valley mortuaries." However, the article went on to point out that six months earlier a seminar on the subject had been held for clergy; the previous year the issue had been brought to the priests senate; and three years before a priest sent several letters to all parishes about the issue.

      One pastor provided his parishioners with warnings about the prices, problems with pre-pay plans, mortuaries taking entire insurance policies when the funeral price did not require it, etc. The diocese responded that it was taking a "common sense" approach -- which seemed to mean taking no action to warn people about high prices or try to force prices down to fair levels.

      A Presbyterian minister said that "accepting gratuities is as much a danger to Protestant as Catholic clergy. ... Ministers have been naive about the incredibly high markup in the mortuary industry. Most of the ministers I deal with are coming to feel the costs are staggering, but they are unsure what to do about it. ... I think people have expected more from their ministers, and now they need to give some real guidance." Arizona Republic, July 7, 1984)

    • MEDIA SHOULD REGULARLY QUESTION NATIONAL AND LOCAL DENOMINATIONAL OFFICIALS AND LOCAL CLERGY about:
      • why their churches distribute high-priced mortuaries' calendars and other advertising materials,
      • what gifts they accept from morticians, and
      • what steps they are taking, or should be taking, to warn their people about the high prices -- and to join with other churches to stop the fleecing of their people.

    • On the other hand, morticians may report that some clergy "want a piece of the action", demanding that morticians provide them with gifts or obtain high "clergy donations" from families.

    • (More items will be listed here.)
      

• 4. Legislative and community influence:
  • pressuring the Federal Trade Commission and congress to keep hands off the funeral industry by preventing meaningful legislation and weakening enforcement (as will be explained);

  • - (More items will be listed here.)
    
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• 5 . False and misleading information to justify the high prices and markups:
  Why no "guilty conscience"? Some people ask how morticians can ripoff families without a "guilty conscience."
  An industry publication helps morticians to feel good about ripping off families and coaxing families to "sacrifice" money to the mortuary -- explaining that helping families to give more money to the mortuary helps them "atone" for their failings. In fact, apparently the MORE MONEY a mortician helps people to waste and "sacrifice," the more he should feel satisfaction, not guilt.
  "It is highly probable that the most satisfactory funeral service for the average family is one in which the cost has necessitated some degree of sacrifice. This permits the survivors to atone for any real or fancied neglect of the deceased prior to his death." (National Funeral Service Journal, August 1961)

  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 6 . Misleading information and advertising:
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 7 . Telephone price disclosure tactics:
  • "bait and switch" tactics -- as giving lower prices to callers over the phone than the mortuary actually charges (instead of reading the correct prices from the price list, as required by the FTC);
    
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 8 . Itemized price list tactics:
  • having several price lists with greatly differing prices on each, and selecting one to use with a family after finding out the income level and assets of the family -- meanwhile, having someone change the price tags on all the caskets to match the prices on the list chosen (some mortuaries have had as many as five different lists);
    
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 9 . "Professional" services fee:
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 10. Mortuary sales tactics:
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 11. Casket sales tactics:
  • - (See Part 3 -- Caskets, above)
    
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 12 . Fraudulent "protective sealer" casket tactics:
  • (See Part 2 -- Planning, above, for an explanation of this.)
    
  • - (More items will be listed here.)
    
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• 13 . Pre-pay plan sales tactics and contracts:
  • - (See Part 2 -- Planning, above.)
    
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 14 . Cremation sales tactics:
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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• 15 . Cemetery sales and pre-pay tactics:
  • - (Many items will be listed here.)
    
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FREQUENCY of use of deceptive practices and unfair tactics

Concerning the extent of various unfair tactics, one major newspaper editorialized:

"In Florida, the MOST OURTAGEOUS misrepresentation, intimidation, and harassment of bereaved survivors are a matter of FREQUENT record. ... There is NO SIGNIFICANT MOVEMENT from within the business, however, even from the ethical practitioner, TO REFORM what has become a ghoulish, PROFIT-ABOVE-ALL, final ripoff. ... (the unfair practices are) not isolated occurrences confined to the unethical few." ("Final Ripoff Can't Last Forever," Editorial, Miami Herald, June 20, 1978)

(Click to return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 8

ADVICE TO MEDIA REPORTERS/INVESTIGATORS, AGENCIES, CHURCHES.

USEFUL INFORMATION about the funeral industry, chains, suits, other events, etc.:
. . Service Corporation International (SCI), headquartered in Houston, in early 1995, had 1,494 funeral homes, 275 cemeteries and 102 crematoriums. The company was worth $1.2 billion. ("Fraud in the Funeral Industry," Consumers Digest, October 1995)

. . The Loewen Group Inc. chain, headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, reports having 791 funeral homes and 180 cemeteries, and 10,000 employees. (They have bought several mortuaries in the Phoenix area.) (Memorandum to All Employee Partners in "Sharing the Vision," Nov. 28, 1995.)
. . The memorandum was written to calm fears of employees regarding a $500 million jury award against the corporation in Mississippi in November. The value of their shares in the stock market fell steeply, more than 20 points, after the award.
. . The Loewen Group reported settling the suit for cash and stock valued at $175 million in January. The group said the settlement would cost the company $85 million (U.S.) after taxes. However, in Philadelphia, the Provident American Corporation is seeking $59 million in damages from Loewen. Company executives said that Chapter 11 bankruptcy was a real possibility. (New York Times, Jan. 30, 1996)

(To return to this document's List of Contents.)

Part 9

SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES

These reports, and the material in Parts 5 and 7 above, provide the findings and comments of reporters who had time to look carefully into the industry -- and may well indicate what reporters will find happening unnoticed in most communities. These reports give information about many subjects that should be looked into in every community.
• "The American Way of Death," Jessica Mitford, 1963 (famous expose book about the funeral industry)

• "The High Cost of Dying," Ruth Harmer, 1963 (similar expose book about the funeral industry)

• "Funerals: Consumers' Last Rights," Consumers Union, 1977

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Investigative articles: (Reverse chronological order)

(To see the most recent reports, click to go to Opening Home Page#contents.)

• "Fraud In The Funeral Industry," Consumers Digest, October 1995. (See Introduction of this document for a list of report's topics.)
  

• "Funeral prospects," Forbes, September 11, 1995. "Can Service Corp. International's Robert Waltrip export the American way of death?" (to England, France, etc.)

• "Life's last buy requires plan and patience: Funeral costs vary widely," "Growth of chains has led to rise in funeral prices," Boston Globe (two-day series), August 27-28, 1995. (See Introduction of this document for a list of the series' topics.)

• "Survey shows high funeral prices," Phoenix [AZ] Gazette, February 16, 1995. (IFIC publishes 1995 Mortuary Price Comparison List and consumer advice.)

• "Undertaking Profits," Houston Press, February 17, 1994. "The 'death care' industry booms and consolidates -- led by Houston-based giant Service Corporation International"

• "Fight against funeral ripoffs goes national," National Catholic Reporter, October 30, 1987. (Extensive article about national and local situations; IFIC; National Coalition for Fair Funeral Prices)

• "Mortician agrees to alter wording of advertisements," Phoenix Gazette (AZ), November 24, 1986. (Fraudulent ads designed to scare senior citizens)

  . (Fraudulent ads designed to scare the elderly - by the mortuary which won the national "Pursuit of Excellence" award of the 15,000-member National Funeral Directors Association during the same years, and First Place in 1988 - an indication of the decadence of the industry. The ads stated FALSELY: "Senior Citizens: Social Security benefits are DIMINISHING. These affect you. We have a plan that can help you PRESERVE these benefits before they DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY." Perhaps ads like these and their abuse of consumers and the elderly, and the deceptive literature published by the association, such as its "Funeral Costs" booklet, indicate what NFDA directors and/or its members consider "excellence.")

• "Angling for funeral referrals challenged," Arizona Republic, July 7, 1984. (Mortuary/ clergy bribery)
  

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Two extensive community investigations: (Reverse year order)
• "Profits of Doom," Sun-Sentinel (Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale, FL), November 5-7, 1989. Three-day series reports on six-month investigation
  • Nov. 5: "Consumers fall casualty to funeral competition,"
    "Casket markups" chart,
    "Prepaid growth" chart,
    "Prepaid vs. investment" chart,
    "Trust fund violators" chart,
    "U.S. concedes its rules are ignored,"
    "Funeral Rule" chart,
    "State examines 293 complaints,"
    "Loved one's final resting place can bury the living in expenses,"
    "Widows unified by grief,"
  • Nov. 6: "Parlors wage war for clients"
    ("Prepaid funerals focus on big sell," "Before the undertaker, sellers come knocking"),
    "Creative business people find niche in face of death."
  • Nov. 7: "Racial bias lingers in S. Florida funeral industry,"
    "Black boycott produces casket-maker's pledge."
    

• "The Death Merchants: Sun-Times probe uncovers vast funeral fraud," Chicago Sun-Times, May 10-19, 1981 (This nine-day series reports the findings of a six-month investigation of the Chicago area funeral industry by 20 reporters. "Vast funeral fraud" was the description of the community's industry after the reporters' extensive look inside.)

  Includes these articles and charts:

  • May 10: "Fraud, lies a shortcut to big profits"
  • May 11: "Embalming ripoffs -- road to easy money,"
    "Body protection: fact vs. fiction"
  • May 12: "Funeral homes 'hold bodies for ransom'"
  • May 13: "Cremation?: Grisly tales discourage it,"
    "Several states bar deception about caskets; Illinois doesn't"
  • May 14: "Funeral lobby buries tougher rules,"
    "Newest FTC regulations -- compromise with morticians"
  • May 15: "Burial profits: one funeral, two fees,"
    "Burial insurance: 'pay 'til you die'"
  • May 17: "Selling burial lot, a 'game of wits',"
    "Offer of 'free' cemetery lot has one major catch"
  • May 18: "Honest funerals: true peace of mind"
  • May 19: "Funeral alternatives: low-cost dignity"
    Editorial: "Stopping the ghouls"

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TV investigative reports and series: (Reverse order)
(To see the most recent reports, click to go to Opening Home Page#contents.)
• BBC-TV, England, Feb.27/96. Expose of the English funeral business and the tactics families may expect from the Houston-based SCI (Service Corporation International) funeral chain which has moved into England.

• Channel 2 (KPRC), Evening News, Houston, Feb.3/96. Expose of the funeral industry in Houston. (Offered to viewers a "Mortuary Price Comparison List" of the Houston metro area's 120 mortuaries -- prices varying from $1,495 to $9,900 for the lowest-priced metal casket and minimum "traditional" funeral services, and from $450 to $3,795 for the same Direct Cremation). (Color photos/information from this program are now in separate Document 9B -- TV Reports.)

• ABC-TV News "20/20", November 3, 1995. (Color photos/information from this program are now in separate Document 9B -- TV Reports.)

• KNXV-TV (Ch.15, ABC), Phoenix, Evening News, November 3, 1995. (Offered IFIC's printed MORTUARY PRICE COMPARISON LIST and ADVICE to viewers for SASE)

• CBS-TV "This Morning," October 1995 (Regarding "Affordable Funeral Services" mortuary [See Part 5 -- Mortuary Prices, above])

• CNN-TV "Headline News," January 14-15, 1995 (Regarding "Affordable Funeral Services" mortuary)

• WJBK-TV (Ch.2, CBS), Detroit, Evening News (five nights), November 1993.

• KARE-TV (NBC),