Document 7B

15 CATEGORIES OF RIPOFFS, Part B

List of CATEGORIES of commonly-used tactics.

Below this list, in each category, many of the specific tactics will be listed and explained.

Part A (Categories 1-6 in Document 7A)

1. . The PRINCIPAL ripoff method is EXORBITANT HIGH PRICES and MARKUPS
The method which is the most harmful 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

Part B (Categories 7-15 here in Document 7B)

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
(See Document 11B-Refunds, Lawsuits -- to obtain a solution to mistreatment in any category above.)

RIPOFF METHODS, Part B (7-15 listed and explained):
(Many tactics will be listed and explained under each category title.)

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);
  
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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);
  
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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:

• (Click here to see Document 3 -- Caskets.)
  
• - (Many items will be listed here.)
  
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12 . Fraudulent "protective sealer" casket tactics:

• (Click here to see Document 2 -- Planning.)
  

• (Much of the following is taken from Document 2 -- Planning a funeral without being ripped off.)

  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 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 and the liquefying body organs, 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. (Funeral Service Insider newsletter, Feb.22/93)

  (A "sealer" casket might be needed only if it is being shipped a long distance and there might be danger of bad odor. In that case, you can ask that the seal be removed at the destination just before burial or placement in a crypt.)

  (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.)

  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. Many have drains for the leaking fluids.

• 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; then charging exorbitant prices for them; often making a very dramatic sales promotion event of using the hand crank to tightly close the casket 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)

• Lawsuits: 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.

  A woman recently received a $40,000 settlement from a major casket manufacturer for a high-priced sealer casket that leaked her mother's liquefied body organs, which flowed out the front of the mausoleum crypt. 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.

• "Class action" suits: As families hear about other people filing and winning suits for funeral fraud, attorneys say that tens of thousands of families may decide to join in "class action" suits (against casket companies, mortuaries, cemeteries and mausoleums) for fraudulently explaining and coaxing them to buy sealer caskets, for not warning of possible harm to relatives' bodies, for damage to bodies and leaking caskets, for illegally opening caskets without families' permission, etc.

  A few years ago, thousands of California families sued for millions of dollars in suits against more than 100 mortuaries for allowing thousands of bodies to be cremated in piles of up to 30 bodies at a time, and other abuse. Such suits can partially repay families for worry about what happened to their relatives' bodies, and can cause mortuaries and others to stop their abuse.

  A member of the California Cemetery Board said in 1992: "There are so many horrible things happening in the industry here that I can't honestly tell consumers where they can go to get a funeral in California done properly."

• Families who are concerned that they may have been misled by morticians regarding sealer caskets should write down what they remember being told and talk to a lawyer. Families with mausoleum crypts should check to see if the crypts have leaked or appear to have been opened.

• 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 in Document 3 -- Caskets.)

• (More items will be added shortly.)

13 . Pre-pay plan sales tactics and contracts:

• The following headlines are from a series of articles on the funeral industry in Florida. (Explanation will be provided shortly.)

  

  

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• This section is from Document 2 -- Planning.

  . 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 in a different model number or description of a cheaper casket or urn. So, 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 thecasket, 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."

  See an actual contract of a plan, bad "fine print," and an explanation of contract problems in Documents 11A & 11B -- Pre-pay Plan Contracts and Problems.

(More information will be provided here.)

14 . Cremation sales tactics:

• Coaxing people to cremate using expensive caskets instead of the usual cremation container made of heavy cardboard and wood. Here is part of one mortuary's price list suggesting Direct Cremation (no viewing or services) in which an $11,500 mahogany casket which will never be seen by anyone will be burned with the body.

  

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15 . Cemetery sales and pre-pay tactics:

• (Click to see Document 11A -- Pre-pay Contracts.)

• An extreme example of the abuse in the cemetery and mausoleum industry.
  

• (Many items will be added here.)

FREQUENCY of use of deceptive practices and unfair tactics

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

"In Florida, the MOST OUTRAGEOUS 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) (emphasis added)

Despite the "Funeral Rule" regulations of the Federal Trade Commission and state funeral boards (controlled by morticians in all states except Oregon), the abuse continues unabated.

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