When searching for a good funeral home, why isn't it good to mention other funeral home prices? Let me explain?

Question

Hi. I asked a question earlier about how much a funeral home/casket/burial could run me, and I received a really good answer, but in his answer he mentioned that when you go and shop around for a funeral home, it's never good to mention that another funeral home is going for a cheaper price, because it makes things harder.

Why would it make things harder? You would think that if I called (for example) Smith's Funeral Services, and they quote me $5000, and then I call Jose's Funeral Services, and they quote me $6000, the natural reaction would be to tell them "Hey, Smith just quoted me $5000"

Ok, maybe not even mention "Smith's" quote, but at least tell him, "Hey buddy, I called some other places and they're quoting me a lot cheaper than you guys"

Why would this not be considered good "funeral home etiquette"? Your answer would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Your question is a valid one. Funeral homes are in the business of making money, just as is any other business. I think if any business person who is trying to strike up a deal is not aware/open to discussing their own competition, then you would not want to do business with them!



Sidebar note: It is not mandatory to use a funeral home. Check the laws in your state and county.



My sister had my brother's body moved to the next county for cremation at a lower price. The county coroner had to be involved (which caused a delay we did not anticipate.) because we transported the deceased across county lines (his body was transported by an ambulance company.)



I watched a very interesting documentary that may inerest you as well. It's on the topic of Home Funerals. Here's a link to a trailer.



I hope this helps!



hth

Answer 2

I never thought about funeral homes much because our family has always done business with the same one...as do most of our friends.



I went, recently, to a funeral and discovered that there is a BIG difference in funeral homes. For one thing, the dead person looked worse than they had when they were laying in the hospital dying. I kid you not.



For another, the body looked like it was "squinched up" in the casket...like the casket was too small for it.



These are details that seem insignificant until they go "wrong"....and every funeral home has their own people who do this stuff, some do a better job than others.



Caskets are caskets.. All you need is a casket..not anything fancy.



Ask about what the price includes.



Funeral home practices vary widely. Check with better business bureau. Also cemetery office employees are usually pretty helpful at recommending good funeral homes. Florists are also good choices to ask for a funeral home choice. They deal with them every day...and know the funeral homes that have policies that turn into disasters.



I think it is perfectly OK to say....I am so unfamiliar with all of this....we have to be very careful about the money we are spending right now....this is what so and so said would be included in the package. Can you tell me what the difference is going to be from your package?

Answer 3

Shopping around for funerals by telephone is basically a waste of your time and energy.



Go to the funeral home, get their quote in writing, and the length of time that this quote is valid.



Take that quote to the next place you go, if their's is higher, ask what the difference with between this $5000 quote and their $6000. Then when they give you a $4500 quote for something similar, take that to another or back to the first one and ask them if they can beat the price if you are willing to leave a deposit now.



Most people making funeral arrangements are doing it under pressure. If you can do it ahead, you can save thousands.



I've helped make more funeral arrangements than I care to remember.



PS, also remember there are casket brokers in the US now, you don't have to pay full price at a mortuary. You can buy your own and have it delivered. I haven't done that, but hear you can save a lot.



Edit: As for the one that said you'd "piss off" the funeral director, HA!!, I'd like for him to show that type of attitude in front of the OWNER. He'd be fired. The mortuary business is hurting BAD in the USA. People are going for direct cremations, cutting costs, and only a few doing the high end caskets. It is a competitive market.



Oh, and never pay for that "special seal gasket" which is supposed to last 50 years....my line after that is, "and then what??" That shuts them up. Unless you are trying to preserve a body forever, most of us expect it to decompose eventually, so what is 50 years in the course of the world?

Answer 4

Funeral directors are in business to take care of things for you during hard times. On the flip side, they are running a business. And you're buying a service. If you were looking for a lawn mowing service, you would ask prices and you might mention a lower quote that you got to see if there's something that can be removed from the package to bring the price down. For one service to tell you not to tell other services about their price quote is tacky and they're doing it for a reason, probably because they know that they'll lose on the price issue. And it does make things harder -- for them. Plus they all are aware that most people won't shop around because when you're in grief, you just want to get the funeral home decision done and you won't shop around. Did you know that you can buy a casket from a casket company, have it shipped to the funeral home to save quite a bit of money? Of course not, because people don't ask and the funeral home makes money on the casket.

Answer 5

hello again. I'll give you an example of why it would not be a good a idea not to mention other funeral homes. When someone calls our funeral home and says that they've already called some other place, well then you just pissed off our funeral director, and he's mad because you think that our business is second best to our competition. So now he isn't going to be as...nice, and forgiving as if you called us first. Your going to have to pay 50% of the cost up front and have a certain monthly payment due.



But let's say you did call us first, well we're going to cut you a little slack, seeing as how your grieving and all. So now there is going to be a smaller payment due up front and a lower monthly bill, not to mention we're going to go all out to make sure that you have a nice funeral service.



This is just what I've seen happen and have heard about in the Funeral Home business. hope it helped