Cremation Costs can vary by Thousands of Dollars-Your Funeral Guy

17 Jan

Cremation costs can vary by thousands of dollars. This is is an important factor when considering funeral costs and cremations costs. We have addressed this subject in several places before,-it is important to address this subject again.

You can view a video on this with more info here.

As with funeral cost, and cremation cost- it is very important to shop around.

The remains were brought to the cremation center at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City. Dickson was quoted a price of $2,425 for what is called a “direct cremation.”

“I just told ’em I wanted the bare basic just the ashes in a box no services no nothing,” he says.

At the time he thought it seemed like a lot of money for what he was getting. “I thought of it, but I thought what am I going to do, they’ve got the body here.”

Dickson paid the bill. But a few weeks later, an acquaintance of his wife said he had paid for a cremation around the same time and it only cost $600.

Dickson hit the phone and called about five different crematories in the valley — he received quotes of $400 to $2,400 for the same service.

But according to Arizona law, the Sunland Memorial Park did nothing wrong.

“We cannot control the prices. In other words this is free enterprise. A business is able to charge whatever they may want,” says Rudy Thomas, executive director of the Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.

Thomas has heard the complaints before, but the FTC dictates that funeral homes nationwide don’t limit pricing. A consumer must physically be given a guide to funeral information if they are inquiring about services.

via www.myfoxphoenix.com

It is important to note that Sunland Memorial Park is a corporate facility specifically a Service Corporation International facility( NYSE: SCI)

Although this event is not a Service Corporation International Scandal, it does show the high pricing that can occur at an SCI Facility. This is something that the Funeral Consumer must be continually be made aware of.

Many times it is best inorder to save on Funeral Cost To Avoid a Corporate Funeral Home.

Funeral Industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

It is important to remember that the FTC does not regulate Funeral or Cremation Cost.

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Former Funeral Director charged with Defrauding-YourFuneralGuy

17 Jan
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20:  Funeral director Pete...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

A former Funeral Director in Michigan has been charged with defrauding Customers. In this case The director not only hurt the families that bought preneed or prepaid policies he also hurt the former business owner of the Funeral Home.

This serves as a warning to those who want to exit the funeral industry and the need to check out who and how they dispose of their business.

Mr. Prochnow had purchased the business portion of the Bennett Funeral Home on S. Dixie Hwy. just south of Albain Rd. in 2006 from Darrell Bennett, who retired with his wife to Florida after selling the business.
But Mr. Bennett, now 78 years old, said monthly payments were not paid and he discovered other payments for services were ignored. Over the past several years, he said he personally lost a total of about $325,000 to bad business. When he returned from Florida this summer to take over operations, the company was in shambles.
Mr. Bennett said the building was not properly cared for — there wasn’t hot water — and the vehicles, including the hearse and limousine, were being repossessed though he had paid them off 10 to 15 years ago.
“I can never imagine anything of this magnitude ever happening,” Mr. Bennett said. “It’s put me in the biggest hole I’ve ever been in my lifetime.”
In addition to accusations of stealing money from Mr. Bennett, Mr. Prochnow has been charged with accepting prepaid funeral payments and using the money for his own benefit.

via www.monroenews.com

This shows that just taking a bank note may not be the best strategy, may not be the best strategy in exiting the funeral business- in an age of Funeral industry decline, when profits are down and cremation is on the rise.

Funeral industry| Funeral News | funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy

This article presents one more reason as to why one should not purchase funeral preneed or aprepaid funeral.

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Amazon.com and the Funeral Industry-Your Funeral Guy

15 Jan
Image representing Amazon as depicted in Crunc...
Image via CrunchBase

Amazon.com stepped up it’s selling to the Funeral Industry after October 2009 when it was revealed that WallMart was selling Caskets on line. The Fact that Amazon has a contract with an online casket provider for 67% off the list price of many caskets, points to the fact that the markup on caskets can be  300% or more. Not all funeral homes do this, there are lower cost funeral homes  and online casket providers where the markup is much less.

This supports what I have been saying for several years that many times the markup of caskets in the funeral home can be up to 500%!

What is interesting about amazon.com and other online vendors is that they sell directly to the consumer. This is a trend that will continue and more and more  Funeral vendors will be doing this!

In Fact Last Year the National Funeral Directors Association lobbied on behalf of the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act asking that online vendors like amazon.com be brought in under the Funeral Rule Regulations.

With the election of Republicans to the US House of representatives the passage of the Bereaved Consumers Bill Of Rights Act is unlikely to happen and caskets and other consumer funeral products being sold directly to the consumer for the short term will avoid  funeral regulations.

What is mentioned above is contributing to Funeral Industry Decline in the USA. The more that funeral goods are available online especially at popular sites like amazon.com the less the local funeral home will be needed and the more the funeral industry will decline.

Amazon.com (AMZN)
> Interesting Fact: Amazon sells a steel embalming table
> # of Employees: 21,700
> Most Recent Quarter Revenue: $7.6 billion
> Most Recent Net Income: $231 million

Amazon.com helped bring the funeral service online.  Like Wal-Mart, the company offers caskets in more than 50 different varieties.  Additionally, it sells a steel embalming table for $1,095 and pet urns for under $200.  Many caskets are sold at 67% off the list price, thanks to a partnership with Bestpricecaskets.com.

via 247wallst.com

Funeral Industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

your funeral guy has no affiliation with best priced Caskets.com http://www.bestpricecaskets.com/

Your Funeral Guy’s book Rest In Peace Insiders Tips to the low cost less Stressed Funeral is available online at amazon.com Presently Your Funeral Guy is not involved with the selling of  any Funeral Goods or products.

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Ten Companies controlling the Funeral Industry-Your Funeral Guy

14 Jan
Amazon.com-Logo
Image via Wikipedia

There has been an article on Ten Companies Controlling the Funeral Industry. What is interesting in the article are the Newcomers Wall Mart and Amazon .com These companies have only entered the funeral industry in the last several  of years. This is an indication of traditional Funeral industry decline and the desire of folks to pay less in funeral cost.

Here is a summary of the funeral business from the Article

The death industry is a tale of two economies. A relatively few large companies, most of them publicly traded, control most of the businesses that sells caskets and granite for memorials. The rest of the death industry is made up of many modest businesses. Most of the 19,500 funeral homes in the country are small operations, often owned by the same families for generations. There are more than 120,000 cemeteries and many of these belong to families, nonprofits, and religious institutions.

via 247wallst.com

Here is al ist of the ten companies in the report.

Hillenbrand Inc-HI

Service Corporation International (SCI)

Walmart

Carriage Services Inc (CSV)

1-800 Flowers.com (FLWS)

Rock of Ages Corp(ROAC)

Stewart Enterprises(STEI)

Matthews International(MATW)

Amazon.com (AMZN)

Stone Mor Partners(Ston Mor)

Funeral Industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

 

 

 

 

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Trappist Monks supply casket for Arizona Shootimg Funeral-Your Funeral Guy

14 Jan
Chapel at New Melleray Abbey, Peosta, Iowa
New Melleray Abbety Image via Wikipedia

Trappist monks supplied a Casket for the Arizona Shooting victim Christina- Taylor Green. This is outside the realm of the traditional Casket Providers like Batesville or York Caskets. The Funeral was a private affair and the company Providing the Casket was Trappist Caskets-The Funeral was private and the media was not involved.

The casket for 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, the youngest of six victims gunned down in the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will be buried in a coffin built by Trappist Caskets of Peosta, Ia., near Dubuque. The Roman Catholic monks of the New Melleray Abbey in northeast Iowa have become renowned for their handmade caskets over the last decade and routinely donate children’s caskets.

Sam Mulgrew, general manager of Trappist Caskets, said that the monks initially were contacted Tuesday by a family representative who was a previous customer.

“He prefers to remain anonymous,” Mulgrew said this afternoon.

Final arrangements were made with the funeral director in Tucson. Trappist Caskets received the first call Tuesday morning, and by the end of the day the casket – engraved with Green’s name as well as her dates of birth (Sept. 11, 2001) and death – was shipped via Fed Ex from the abbey to Tucson. (Caskets of various sizes and in different stages of completion are kept on hand.) Green’s funeral will be held Thursday.

The monks also shipped special keepsake crosses for the late girl’s family, engraved with Green’s name.

via blogs.desmoinesregister.com

Funeral Industry| Funeral News | funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

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Schedule +Link for 8pm Memorial Service-Tuscon Shootings Your Funeral Guy

12 Jan
Official presidential portrait of Barack Obama...
Image via Wikipedia

Here is the Schedule and the Link for the 8pm Memorial Service-

8pm Memorial Service Tuscon shooting- 01/12 2010-Live Video Link

Schedule:

Opening music
A Native American blessing
Welcome by University of Arizona President Robert N. Shelton
The playing of the National Anthem
Remarks by President Shelton
Remarks by a University of Arizona Student
Remarks by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R)
Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
Remarks by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Remarks by President Obama
Moment of silence

funeral industry| funeral News Funeral Blog By Your Funeral Guy

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25 Funeral trends for 2011-Your Funeral Guy

12 Jan
local funeral home
Image via Wikipedia

Here are 25 funeral industry trends, funeral industry and Funeral predictions for 2011.

1. Traditional Funeral Industry will continue to decline.

2. Funeral Home profits will continue  be less.

3.The Number of “Lower Cost” or discount Funeral Homes will grow.

4. Cremation will continue to rise.

5. Funeral preneed scandals will continue to abound.

6. More bodies will be put in the wrong graves.

7. The number of people  cremated wrongly(mistakes) will grow.

8. More and more Funeral  facilities will be used for other services(like weddings and birthdays)

9 Number of Non Claimed bodies will continue to increase.

10. The use of  temporary Funeral Workers will grow.

11. More Funeral vendors will sell and communicate directly with the consumer.

12 Funeral homes will continue to use social media(facebook-Twitter etc) to communicate with Customers.

13. Video will continue to be important in communicating with the funeral customer

14 Funeral Industry companies will continue to diversify, going outside the Funeral Industry for income sources.

15. Home Funerals will increase.

16. Green Funerals and green burials will rise.

17. Funeral home’s will continue to aggressively market through their websites and blogs..

18. Funeral Homes and Funeral company mergers will be more will be more and more

19. Legacy.com will continue it’s worldwide obituary empire.

20 . The use of Part time funeral directors will continue to grow.

21. Alkaline Hydrolysis as a form of disposition  will continue  to be accepted

22.Alkaline Hydrolysis machines will be in installed in more countries in the World Including the USA.

23.Alliances and financial agreements will continue to grow between funeral companies, vendors and funeral homes.

24. Funeral Cartels will continue to protect themselves from the free market. This has been addressed in several blog posts. The Cartels being companies and associations gaining protection from the courts and the State Legislatures.

25. The Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights  Act will die in The US House of Representatives due to the Elelection of the Republicans



Funeral industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog will continue

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Arizona establishes Funeral Protection Zone-Your Funeral Guy

12 Jan
Westboro Baptist Church members from Topeka, K...
Image via Wikipedia

Arizona has set up a Funeral protection Zone to prevent Picketing by the Westboro Baptist Church at an Arizona Girl’s Funeral who was avictim of the Arizona Shootings. Legisllaturers

Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed an emergency law passed to prevent picketing from the Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of a 9-year-old girl killed Saturday in the Tucson shooting rampage that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded.

According to ABC 15, the Arizona house and senate unanimously passed the law in response to plans from the antigay church based in Topeka, Kan. to protest the funerals of the shooting victims. T bn

via www.advocate.com

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Video Coverage of Arizona Shooting Memorial Service +Obama-YourfFuneral Guy

12 Jan
Official presidential portrait of Barack Obama...
Image via Wikipedia

Video of the memorial Service  Memorial  Service for te Arizona Shooting Victims will begin at 8pm Eastern on CSpan, when National events like this occur it reminds folks of the fragility of life, and that the chances of one dying are 10 out of ten.

This is an important National memorial Service in the United States of America. President Barack Obama and the governor of Arizona are due to speak.

8pm Memorial Service Tuscon shooting- 01/12 2010-Live Video Link

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to Tucson, Arizona today to attend a memorial service for the victims of this past weekend’s shooting. The President,  along with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and others will speak to an audience at the University of Arizona Tucson.

C‑SPAN’s coverage of the evnt will begin at 8pm ET with a simulcast of the KGUN, Tucson newscast.

via www.c-span.org

Funeral Industry| Funeral News| funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

 

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Obama to attend-speak At Tuscon Memorial Service-Your Funeral Guy

11 Jan
President Barack Obama gives his weekly addres...
Image via Wikipedia

President Obama is attending and Speaking at a Tuscon Memorial Service for the Arizona Shooting victims. If he uses the moment to promote his political agenda, or blames his political enemies for the shooting , he is likely to face harsh criticism.

And Yet there are those on the left who will criticize him if he does not use the moment to attack those on the right.

It is my opinion is that politics should be left out of this kind of Memorial Service especially when it is a National tragedy. Expect an admonition for non violence.

President Barack Obama will travel to Tucson, Ariz., on Wednesday to attend a memorial service for the victims of last weekend’s shooting rampage.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said late Monday that the president would speak at the service, and that first lady Michelle Obama would accompany her husband.

The University of Arizona said the service would take place at 6 p.m. local time on the campus and would be free and open to the public.

via www.foxnews.com

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