This is an issue that most of us don't particularly want to deal with, but it's a reality and we had better be informed.......
Grieving daughter critical of funeral costs
October 19, 2012 - 4:02am By BRETT BUNDALE
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Thousands of dollars worth of unwanted, unnecessary 'services' hidden within home’s package deal, woman says By Brett Bundale, Business Reporter
TRAGEDY STRUCK JENNIE MORROW’s family twice this year. After her sister died of lung cancer in the spring, her mother succumbed to a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease in the summer.
But the two funerals couldn’t have been more different.
While she says her sister’s funeral was fairly priced, she says her mother’s funeral was a costly affair punctuated by forced package deals, misleading funeral directors and disingenuous contracts.
In a province with the most expensive traditional funerals in the country, Morrow’s experience sheds light on a potentially troubling underside of the funeral industry.
It was a warm July morning just before dawn when her 89-year-old mother passed away quietly in her sleep.
Heeding the octogenarian’s wishes for a funeral mass and burial at the Catholic church near her childhood home, Morrow’s family called a funeral home in Digby.
Jayne’s Funeral Home sent a hearse to collect the body and Morrow went to meet with the funeral home.
She was dumbfounded by what she was told.
“When my mother died and we called to make the arrangements, they didn’t say anything about having to buy a package,” Morrow said in an interview. “But when I sat down with the funeral director, I was told they don’t sell funerals, they sell packages.”
The funeral director of Jayne’s Funeral Home, a division of Service Corporation International, based in Houston, refused to offer a price list and instead insisted on a package deal, she said.
The packages started at $9,099 but didn’t include taxes or the cost of the church mass or reception, Morrow said.
After she expressed concern with the cost and asked where her mother’s body was being held, the funeral home did not offer her a price list but instead knocked $1,100 off the price, she said.
“It was almost time for the funeral and they already had her body. It’s like they’re holding you hostage.”
Jayne’s Funeral Home referred calls to its parent company, which owns funeral homes across the United States and Canada, including nine in Nova Scotia.
Jessica McDunn, a spokeswoman for the international provider of funeral goods and services, declined to comment on personal matters.
“We’re very sorry for the family’s loss,” she said. “We take very seriously our commitment to our families, and that includes guarding their privacy.”
However, McDunn said the firm does not have a policy that requires funeral homes to sell packages rather than select services.
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Grieving daughter critical of funeral costs
October 19, 2012 - 4:02am By BRETT BUNDALE
Article Link
Thousands of dollars worth of unwanted, unnecessary 'services' hidden within home’s package deal, woman says By Brett Bundale, Business Reporter
TRAGEDY STRUCK JENNIE MORROW’s family twice this year. After her sister died of lung cancer in the spring, her mother succumbed to a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease in the summer.
But the two funerals couldn’t have been more different.
While she says her sister’s funeral was fairly priced, she says her mother’s funeral was a costly affair punctuated by forced package deals, misleading funeral directors and disingenuous contracts.
In a province with the most expensive traditional funerals in the country, Morrow’s experience sheds light on a potentially troubling underside of the funeral industry.
It was a warm July morning just before dawn when her 89-year-old mother passed away quietly in her sleep.
Heeding the octogenarian’s wishes for a funeral mass and burial at the Catholic church near her childhood home, Morrow’s family called a funeral home in Digby.
Jayne’s Funeral Home sent a hearse to collect the body and Morrow went to meet with the funeral home.
She was dumbfounded by what she was told.
“When my mother died and we called to make the arrangements, they didn’t say anything about having to buy a package,” Morrow said in an interview. “But when I sat down with the funeral director, I was told they don’t sell funerals, they sell packages.”
The funeral director of Jayne’s Funeral Home, a division of Service Corporation International, based in Houston, refused to offer a price list and instead insisted on a package deal, she said.
The packages started at $9,099 but didn’t include taxes or the cost of the church mass or reception, Morrow said.
After she expressed concern with the cost and asked where her mother’s body was being held, the funeral home did not offer her a price list but instead knocked $1,100 off the price, she said.
“It was almost time for the funeral and they already had her body. It’s like they’re holding you hostage.”
Jayne’s Funeral Home referred calls to its parent company, which owns funeral homes across the United States and Canada, including nine in Nova Scotia.
Jessica McDunn, a spokeswoman for the international provider of funeral goods and services, declined to comment on personal matters.
“We’re very sorry for the family’s loss,” she said. “We take very seriously our commitment to our families, and that includes guarding their privacy.”
However, McDunn said the firm does not have a policy that requires funeral homes to sell packages rather than select services.
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