Reports of High Corpse Movement Fees-Your Funeral Guy

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Recent Reports have come in on some overly priced corpse movement fees.  Sometimes when someone dies suddenly the family is forced to find a funeral home(mortuary) within several hours.

If  a bad choice is made it can be quite expensive to move the body of your loved one to another funeral home. Body transport fees can contribute significantly to Funeral Cost.

This does  will no help  ou come in under  the average cost of a funeral.

Mortuaries now try to lock families into using them by adding an exorbitant corpse movement fee (it used to be about $400 a few months ago, now it is frequently over $1000).  Bodies are often taken to mortuaries in a rush because the need to immediately refrigerate them leaves people with 2-3 hours to find a place for them.  If a family discovers their mortuary is grossly overpriced and wants to move the body elsewhere, it may be too late because the unreasonable thousand plus dollar moving fee removes potential savings (trapping the family at that overpriced mortuary). Newly bereaved individuals or families often are short of time and energy and do not take the proper precautions of shopping around for a fairly priced casket, cemetery, and mortuary instead taking the path of least resistance (the predatory sales packages that many heavily marketed mortuaries “generously” offer their customers).

via andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

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

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• About My Job: The Mortician (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)

Funeral Home Bankrupcy is Here |Illinois Threatened-yourfuneralguy

Will Funeral Homes turn to Bankruptcy?

Funeral Home Bankruptcy is here with the Economic Downturn. Funeral home bankruptcy is being reported in the press. According to one Press Report Funeral Home owners in Illinois are fearing this due to the Illinois Funeral Directors Association(IFDA Preneed Trust) Ponzi Scheme /Scandal.

Now Funeral Homes in Fear of Bankrupcy can be a help to the funeral consumer. Funeral homes in this economy are much like, thr car dealerships, newspapers, insurance companies, the banks and the wall street folks who are seeking a bailout.

They want to do  business with you so should  be able to negotiate a lower cost funeral with excellent merchandise and services. One should be able to negotiate below the average cost of a funeral.

Generally, Funeral Home Bankruptcy or closures are kept quiet. When Scandal is the cause of funeral home closure, the scandal  is not reported but not the bankruptcy. Many times a Funeral home that goes out of business is picked up by a competitor so no actual bankruptcy is reported in reference to the funeral home.

Recent reports of Funeral Home bankruptcy are below.

WEST VIRGINIA,”Preston County-Based Funeral Home Chain Files for Bankruptcy”at wboy.com

GEORGIA-”Dent’s Funeral Home Owner Speaks Out-It was another day at a bankruptcy hearing for the owner of Dent’s Funeral Home“-wjbf.com

In Illinois, a recent article reported fear of bankruptcy was  reported in reference to the Illinois  Funeral Directors Association Scandal. Quote on the

“The dispute has led to lawsuits and fears of bankruptcy from funeral directors.“-Springfield, Il State Journal Register, Springfield, Illinois.

Funeral Industry|funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Chicago Cubs Cemetery is for Burned Fans.YourFuneralGuy

This is the inspiration for the Chicago Cub Fan Cemetery, Center Field, Wrigley Field wall 400

Breaking News – The Chicago Cub fan cemetery opens today April 22, 2009 The cemetery will feature a replica of the Chicago Cub hand operated Scoreboard in Stain Glass.

The Chicago Cub Cemetery features a replica of the Wrigley Field Center Field  Wall. The cost of being laid to rest there is $1,295.oo. The REQUIREMENT TO REST IN PEACE is to be a BURNED Cub Fan.

I am not talking about being burned because the Cubs have not won a WORLD SERIES in a 100 years.

In order to store your Ashes in an “ETERNAL SKYBOX” you will have to undergo a cremation. That will be on top of the cost of resting in peace at “Beyond the Vines.” You will have to accept the fact that your body will be burned.

It really is not all that bad because with  a little shopping around  for cremation you can come in under the average cost of a funeral which I have declared to be $8,500.00+ in 2009.

You can view past and current pictures of the replica  cemetery center field brick wall at http://beyondthevines.net/

But there  is only 288 spaces available here hardly enough for the “die hard” Cub Fans in Chicago.

The Beyond the Vines Cemetery will have a Stained Glass replica of the Historic Wrigley Field Scoreboard.

The latest word is that the business owner now has his eye on Yankee Stadium.  From the Bugs and Cranks Blog

“The goal was to try and take away some of the gloominess and depression from a cemetery visit,” Beyond the Vines founder Dennis Mascari said in an interview. I’m not quite sure if he went about it the right way……Mascari unsurprisingly said he’s considering a Yankees-themed cemetery.”

Hope springs eternal for the Chicago Cubs.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog-Your Funeral Guy

Source:Bugs and Cranks Blog

Wrigley Field Center Field Photo from Flickr under the Creative Commons license

jimcchou’s photostream

Funeral Preneed Scam; Honesty,Money|YourFuneralGuy

Trust is a word used by funeral directors. Often you have to keep them honest so there can be trust.

The one thing you need the most in planning your funeral is honesty. Honesty about death,  about your funeral wishes, and  honesty from the funeral director. It takes courage to think about death and your funeral. You also need the courage to find an honest funeral director and strength to keep that person honest.

This is the lesson learned from the Illinois Funeral Directors Association Ponzi Scheme  The IFDA was not honest about the where they were putting the money. They kept funeral directors in the dark as to what was going on with the money. They did not “notify the folks” (policyholders) as to the fact that the  their money invested in insurance policies as is required by law. A  letter to the editor at the State Journal Register sums it up this way:

“Since an increasing number of Americans are pre-arranging their funerals (although not always pre-funding), they deserve to know exactly what will happen to any money they give their funeral director. If the current status of the IFDA fund is just the result of bad judgment, that’s one thing. However, if more is involved, then any corrective measures will certainly be aided by transparency — not translucency as you now have. (Perhaps we do need a bill similar to that proposed by Dan Brady from Bloomington.)”

Even the Six Funeral homes who have filed a lawsuit did not do their due dillegence and keep track of their customers money. If they had done right by their customers the problem may have been resolved years earlier. The Lawsuit led by Calvert Funeral Homes may not have been needed to be filed on  the IFDA Preneed Trust. The very act of filing that lawsuit shows a lack of due dilligence with the folks money.

Honesty and trust are keys to coming in under the average cost of a funeral.

Funeral Cost/Funeral Industry blog by your funeral guy

Revealed Now: A Doctor Spock Casket for You-YourFuneralGuy

Beam on to the other side Scottie in Spock's Coffin. Picture from STAR TREK Convention .

With the advent of a new Star Trek movie a funeral company will be offering you a Dr Spock Casket.  Eternal Image is the one offering the casket and if you prefer cremation there are star trek urns available. A new Star trek movie is several months away. It is also true that these items will not help you lower your funeral costs.

Technically the casket is a “Torpedo Tube“  similar to the one that was used in the end of  a Star Trek Movie.

From Wired Magazine:

“Soon, you can be buried in a full-size recreation of the torpedo tube (above) used to launch Spock’s corpse to the Genesis Planet at the end of Wrath of Khan.”

“trek monuments and burial vaults are also coming. The entire collection doesn’t arrive until later this year, and no prices are listed yet.”

A recent agreement with Wilbert Vault  is making Trek vaults available along with more personal options.

Eternal Image has a line of many unique products including Major League Baseball caskets and urns.

Funeral Industry |Funeral Costs blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Smitty’s Wife’s photostream on flickr is the photosource

Your funeral guy  has no connection with Eternal Image

Forbes:Economy hurting the Funeral Business in USA-yourfuneralguy

Funeral Industry Downturn has folks negotiating Lower Cost Funerals

The economy has brought a downturn in the Funeral Industry across the United States. This is covered in the media almost daily. The average cost of a funeral is has headed  towards a bottom, just like the economy.

This trend is good for the consumer, but not for the funeral director. The Financial Magazine Forbes did an article on this. It is the first I have seen in that publication. The Funeral Industry is not “Recession proof” as was stated by the media when the effects of the recession became acute last fall.

Forbes quoted Funeral Director Peter Mahoney of  Mahoney Funeral Homes in New York:

“Given the economy today and the way people are watching their dollars and cents, people are more

Funeral Consumers watching dollars and cents

price conscious,” says Maloney. “Funeral services are not a luxury service.“

In fact funeral services are a must have service just like groceries. Just like groceries if you shop around you often can find the same item for lower cost. The same is true for Funerals.

The Funeral Industry needs to stand up and take notice of the trend to a lower cost funeral. Consumers are brushing up on their negotiating skills and bringing down the average cost of a funeral.

Funeral Industry|Funeral cost blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Pics from Istock photo

Source  Forbes article at forbes.com titled:

“Recession-Friendly Rites by
Lauren Streib, posted 03.24.09, 06:55 PM EDT,
The economy takes its toll on the funeral business”

Funeral Industry Struggling in USA, Washington State-Your Funeral Guy.

Choose cremation if you need to Lower Funeral Costs.

The Funeral Industry is having a tough time around the country, because  of the difficult economy. Every day there is more evidence for the downward spiral of the average cost of a  traditional funeral.

I have declared the average cost of a  traditional funeral to be $8,500+dollars in 2009. For the first quarter of 2009 that number is trending significantly downward.

This number has been recently confirmed by numbers in Washington State. More and more folks are requesting cremation there and in the the rest of the country. According to KXLY.COM in  Spokane,Washington-Heritage Funeral Home President Dennis Murphy said:

“An individual cremation, you’re looking at less than $1,000, and with the average full body burial with cemetery property you’re looking at $8,000 to $9,000

The bad economy equals more cremations this year.

“I’d say they’re up 25 percent,” Murphy said.

In Washington 75 percent of all funeral business is cremation, and Murphy says that number could reach 85 percent before the year is out.”

A similar article has been posted at the Seattle Times and carried in Parade Magazine, and the Boston Herald. It shared similar information to what has been presented here.

A Rise in Cremation has been documented across the United States of America.

Funeral Industry Funeral Cost Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Service Corp Inc sales drop, Average Cost of a Funeral Down-yourfuneralguy

According to SCI (Service Corporation International) It’s Cemetery operation Sales were down 59% in the Fourth Quarter. This means the Average Cost of a Funeral is going down. Service Corporation International is the largest funeral corporation in the world.

Quoting from the Press Release:

“Cemetery operations were more susceptible to economic and financial market conditions, with comparable gross profit decreasing $28.4 million or 59%, driven by lower preneed sales, lower trust fund income recognized and less cemetery property construction revenue.”

They stated that there was a  a reduction in preneed cemetery sales. Translation-folks just are not buying burial property.

This statement coupled with the continued rise in cremation as reported in media sources means the average cost of a funeral is going down!

In Cremation Vs Burial the lower cost cremation option appears to be the winner in the bad economy.

I have declared the average cost of a funeral to be 8,500 USD in 2009.

Funeral Cost/Funeral Industry Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Source finance.yahoo.com
average cost of a funeral
preneed

Below the Average Cost of a Funeral:Free Cremation-Your Funeral Guy

If you want to come in under the average cost of a funeral,you can do a free cremation. This generally is done through an anatomical gift organization  or medical school.

Be aware that in most of these situations there is no timely return of the cremated remains of your loved one. If the return of the remains does not bother you please call your local medical school  or anatomical gift organization.

Remember however please do a memorial service at a local church, community center or VFW hall. This way you will be sure to come in under the average cost of a funeral.

Blog by your funeral guy.

Source: The funeral experience of your funeral guy.
funeral cost

Burris Lied to US Senate on ILLINOIS FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION.-yourfuneralguy.

Senator Roland Burris lied to the US Senate in a “lie of omission” on the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. Burris failed to mention that he was a lobbyist for this questionable  organization. This happened in questioning in his hearings in the US Senate.

The  Illinois Funeral Directors Association along with their Trust Fund was first reported questionable in a State Journal Register article in February 2008.

The Questionable Illinois Funeral Directors Association  was reported on January 16 2009  along with Burris Involvement in World Net Daily. Burris was also noted as the Government Co-Founder of The Illinois Funeral Directors Association’s IFDA Preneed Trust. As Comptroller in Illinois he issued the license for the fund.

In early February 2009  the IFDA lobbyist Burris Connect was reported in Newspapers across the State of Illinois. It is an established fact.

On February 15th 2008 Burris went to the microphone to defend himself on the Blagovetich connection. It did not go all that good and he may have perjured himself in the Blago Scandal. Did he commit perjury in his statements on the Illinois Funeral Directors Association? Time will tell in each case.

Any time a Questionable Politician that  has ties to to a funeral industry scandal (i.e. IFDA) the industry suffers, the image of funeral directors is blackened and there is conflict on funeral cost, the average cost of a funeral,etc.

Blog By Your Funeral guy