Why do Funeral Consumers Alliances exist?
The “American way of death” is the most elaborate and costly in the world. Competition in the usual sense is absent in the funeral business. Yet, paradoxically, there are too many mortuaries; half of them receive only one or two cases a week. Their prices must be high to stay in business, while those with more cases reap great profit at the consumer’s expense. Recently, as small, family-run funeral homes have been purchased by large corporations, there has been pressure to increase profits for the benefit of shareholders. In the process, consumers have sometimes suffered. Most funeral homes use ethical practices, but a few do not. The Federal Trade Commission conducted a nation-wide survey and found that “the emotional trauma of bereavement, the lack of information plus time pressures, place the consumer at an enormous disadvantage in making funeral arrangements.” Based on its findings, the Commission created a set of rules in 1984 to regulate the funeral industry.
