Funeral home markups and upselling: Hidden camera investigation (CBC Marketplace)
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
- We take hidden cameras into six funeral homes to see what the sales pitch looks like when you're dealing with the death of a loved one.
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Guy tried to sell me a casket with springs for my mother. He said "eternal comfort".
Those exist??
If u would be in that casket forever that is hell
Wow! What a racket.
That’s disgusting. They sell caskets with comfortable soft pillows and blankets so “they will sleep softly” too. They are not sleeping they are dead!
RIP to your mother. but i think i would have laughed.
That made me laugh when they said "you want them to be more comfortable "
How comfortable do you have to be when you're dead in a casket in the ground!!
SUGE WHITE Jacoby 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I am laughing so hard
😂😂😂😂😂
They a preying on the emotional vulnerability of people whom had recently lost a loved one they dearly cared about. Obviously people know that the person is dead, but I guess the idea that they are in “eternal comfort” makes them feel better about the situation than say if they had just the bare casket with no oversized cushions or pillows.
Basically people don’t seem to pay as much attention to how illogical these extra add- ons are, but rather to how they would feel about the situation emotionally in the longer run
🤔😬........Lol ikr😆😆
Ye
I have had to go through this twice, the first time with my sister, we were in the room with the family and her kids found a headstone they liked we were told it would cost $10,000. I was on my phone and found the same stone for $1200 delivered. Then he was pushing us to chose a $12000 casket telling us that we would want her to have the very best. I then spoke up and told him that he obviously did not know my sister because she would have wanted her kids to have that money and would never spend it on something we were going to bury in the ground. For my father's cremation prices varied from over $3000-$700 all for the same thing. To me, this industry is no better than the wedding industry or college's
Scamming people when they are most vulnerable is just wrong.
You got that right , that's why I don't wanna be buried
So sad indeed
Vulnerable? That’s no reason to be gullible.
They are NOT scammed. They know what they are getting, and they get what they ordered.
What funeral home do you own or work for.
Two years ago my brother died of alcoholism at age 62. Instead of a funeral I donated his body as a 'whole body donation' to his state's medical school. $455 for the funeral home to clean up and transport his body. After a two year medical school study the medical students performed the funeral service for all the donor families. He was cremated and buried in the University's donor cemetery all free of charge.
this is what I will do!!!
@@tdeveritt yet the funeral home still charged $455 for a truck to pick up the body.
Cheers mate
@@leanie9660 Covers salary of employees, rental of vehicle, "cleaning up the body" would include things like removing excrement and rotting parts if they aren't being preserved, if they are being preserved then the whole preserving process has to be paid for... there's always going to be costs unless you want to pick up the dead body yourself and put it in the ground.
I set this up for my body with the leading medical school in my state more than ten years ago. Still feel it's one of the best decisions I ever made. Virtually no cost to my family and hopefully helpful to those who will be our future doctors. People just need to know they usually DO have to set it up officially beforehand.
Best practice is to send a family friend to the funeral home. They are not preoccupied by emotion and can rigeously stay stubborn if they try to upsell.
What a wonderful idea
Fabian Feilcke : Best thing is to have one’s funeral signed, sealed and paid and get a copy of the CONTRACT signed by the funeral home and give it to your executor so when the time comes, these greedy bastards cannot pull the wool over your executor’s head!
or people need to do their homework and learn their rights and what laws are real!!! the funeral home businesses lie to make money..
Send your worst enemy, he'll just say "just burn him for all I care"
@@jcrowley1985 Your worst enemy is the person ripping you off.
Wait until you hear about the new caskets with cooling memory foam and a built in USB charger
@juan2049 lmao!
Omg USB charging port ROLLING OVER IN MY CASKET 😂🤪
😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣 add in a battery powered nite light too!
@@megaladonrockband4855 and a fresh water spigot!
In the words of Danny DeVito, "When i'm dead, just throw me in the trash!"
A lot of people don't seem to care about their dead body, but throwing it in the trash or ocean, well I doubt states laws would allow that, I mean you take a load of trash to the dump and there is Danny DeVito's arm sticking up? Creepy. Or a leg washes ashore? That's not great for tourism or swimming not to mention a possible health hazzard. Fishing boats could pull up a net full of fish and a human head? Really? That's your answer? Basically your leaving the problem to someone else and that is selfish. At least have a plan, like cremation. There is a cost to dying as there is to living.
Yah...But there is the risk of bloodborne pathogens...
@@justdave1 Wow. You sound like a fun person to be around. By the way it's a quote from 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' , Dave. I highly doubt people, including Danny DeVito, are going actually leave their body in the trash since it's illegal and all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Narcisa Dogic No one is arguing they didn’t make “true points” Narcisa lol? I myself even reassured them that it is in fact illegal to leave your dead body where ever you please. So thanks for your powerful contribution!
LOL
$1895 starting point, then he sees a casket for $1195.🙄🙄🙄
"Yeah...... If you wanted you could."
The cheaper casket is in the same show room as the other ones, why would she lie which one is the "starting point" and not expect people to question why there is a cheaper one....
Perhaps the less expensive casket is a rental casket for people who are cremated after the funeral.
TBH, I understand why she didn’t consider that to be the starting point: it looks like cardboard.
You can buy a casket on Amazon for $1200.00
Carmen ikr
Embalming for a cremation makes absolutely no sense if it`s primary purpose is to preserve the body.
It's about sales. But it's also common knowledge. It's not the sales person's fault, it truly is up to a consumer to know BASIC FACTS OF LIFE. Like these are really basic things.
Here in Illinois for an open viewing it's the law to have the decedant embalmed. All the really have to do is keep em in the freezer overnight.
then we wonder why people rob stores to pay for wake and funeral cost's
@@blah7130 ...I've never heard of anyone at all wondering why people rob stores to pay for wakes and funerals costs.
@@kevinjredmond1129 I was with a guy from Vermont, when his grandmother passed we went up there for the funeral , there was no viewing or wake or anything like that . She passed in the afternoon ,the next morning, everyone showed up at the cemetery, before my morning coffee had a bchance to kick in , it was done and over.. 10 minutes tops
His grandfather and his Dad was all done the same way. Here in Louisiana, it's a lot different.
There are always a few rotten apples. My family has been in the funeral business for 175 years. Their reputation for fairness and quality is what keeps them at the top. My father did not charge for the cost of funerals for the indigent. All of their funerals are the most memorable and poignant....I am grateful for them.
I cried buckets listening to the woman talk about having to ID her sister. The mortuary that handled my mom's after care in February used the ID room/process as a loophole to avoid charging us, polar opposite to what happened with this family. My mom was set up nicely in what was essentially a viewing room, they covered her with a blanket, minus her head and shoulders, they made her look nice and allowed us however much time we needed. There were boxes of tissues and bottles of water set out for us, they were very good to us. We found a beautiful urn online and the funeral director had no problem with transferring my moms ashes into the urn, we weren't forced into buying anything and we were told that if later on we wanted little keepsake urns he would gladly transfer those as well. Including the urn, we paid $1,800 and we never felt overwhelmed or taken advantage of. My mom passed at 65 and she was sick for several years prior, the financial aspect took a toll on my dad, as it would with anyone, the last thing a person needs is to be taken advantage of when they're already vulnerable is just wrong.
It's too bad that in the worse time in someone's life "business " is the top consideration for the funeral "INDUSTRY" . . 💸💸💸! . . I'm so glad that you found , what sounds like an honest business ! . . 👍 . . Bad enough for your family to lose your mom , no one needs to feel taken advantage of , or for them to make you feel that your not giving your loved one the best you can afford . Not what they want you to spend ! . .🤷 . . Big difference ! . . 😔 . . My condolences to you your family and most especially your dad . . . 🌹
It's too bad that in the worse time in someone's life "business " is the top consideration for the funeral "INDUSTRY" . . 💸💸💸! . . I'm so glad that you found , what sounds like an honest business ! . . 👍 . . Bad enough for your family to lose your mom , no one needs to feel taken advantage of , or for them to make you feel that your not giving your loved one the best you can afford . Not what they want you to spend ! . .🤷 . . Big difference ! . . 😔 . . My condolences to you your family and most especially your dad . . . 🌹
Can you explain the loophole..
When our mom died she was with the younger sister picking out the necessary things from the funaeral home. When it came to the vault, the funeral guy said that one will probably leak. My sister was forced to say well we are not worrying about her drowning are we.
I'd like to know why they're selling a vault they know is going to leak anyway.
It doesn't matter one Whit to the funeral home or the cemetery whether or not the Vault leaks, the purpose for a vault over a casket or coffin is to keep the ground level above the body! Because if you were to inter a body without a vault over it, the ground would sink in and make it very unmanageable and unsightly for the cemetery to handle. Funerary vaults are not there to benefit to the family or the body in repose!
Rachel Hall There’s a standard vault, and an airtight vault you can choose from, the standard vault is simply for the groundwork in the grave. The airtight one is obviously more expensive. We were told the bugs would get in the standard vault and eat away at my father (in only slightly nicer words).
Going through this currently, we lost my MIL Monday, they tried to charge my husband and his brother and Sister $5,000 for a simple funeral with viewing when she's ultimately being cremated, thankfully my family's prefer funeral home gave us a quote for half the Price and got the one they insisted on using to drop $1,800!
Absolute gold, Your sister had those parasites nailed.
Bury me in an amazon prime box with a return label.
Mark Batarina oh my damn 🤣🥴
Mark Batarina 😂😂😂😂😂👌👌👌👌👌
And sent it to jeff. B
Mark Batarina 🤣🤣🤣
hahahaha good one
"We dont condone practices that make our customers feel pressured!" But also has their sales employees make commission
Ronnie Loredo yeah its like a car salesman got a job at a funeral home. yikes
Ronnie Loredo 🙃🤯🤪
Or a politician.
I really hate seeing this video in the way that it exposes funeral home Crooks . Arber should be Shut down .My mother went to a funeral home for my father's funeral arrangements for my father . And it was only $900.00 for the whole thing including flowers and embalming and casket plus three days of viewing at the funeral home and a private service at a local church plus transportation cost to Wisconsin and then another private service at the cemetery .Only $900.00 for everything .
Maybe its not really happening, everybody is just freaking out..
These coffins look more comfortable than my bed
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
They probably cost more than a bed! But you want to be comfy when your dead🤣🤣🤣
Just bury me in the backyard! I won't care - I'll be dead!
How about: Man Dissolved in Acidic Water After Trying to Soak in Yellowstone National Park Hot Pool.
Same!
I just tell my wife to cremate me then flush me down the toilet. Saves the cost of the urn or the cost of transportation to a scattering site.
... and pushing up daisies.
It's legal in some states.
Actually I do recall a fellow home inspector in Georgia told me a story of a man that came across a skeleton in a crawl space in Atlanta while performing a home inspection. He immediately left hahaha probably the fastest crawl possible.. alerted the police who found out the family buried grandma in the crawl space because a funeral was too expensive.
I never found out if that was truly real .. however it does make for a great story.
To fraud a grieving family is a disgrace to humanity. Thank you for this video
I definitely agree. These people will go straight to hell.
@@PraveenSriram If it was real!
@@kevinhead5795 it is, but I agree India has a better plan with creamation...
True. It's a money making business. I've mentioned to my siblings to purchase the casket from the manufacturer. It's a much cheaper price. When the funeral home makes the purchase then it charges five times the wholesale price. That's just the casket. For their services guess ?
You have no idea. Africa can be considered backwards in someway but you won't sell most Africans an ivory casket laced with satin worth more than most people own. Shame on these morons. Lord!
Lost my brother recently. The funeral home in my small town was amazing and treated us like family. Something that I will remember is what I was told. Spending a lot of money on a fancy casket or fancy urn will not bring him back. All that does is burden those that still have to go through life. It sounds rough but it isn't. Don't take the markups, spend what you think is worth it, nothing more. Remember, spending a lot on a gold trimmed casket isn't going to matter to anyone and doesn't make anything better.
I suddenly lost the use of my legs in 10/2017 and have weeks I cannot remember... (It took 2 years and a lot of PT but I’m walking again!)... I was 35 at the time... I cannot express how important it is to have a plan, regardless of your age... you never know
Hope your doing well. Your totally right about that. Bless your soul.
Good point about letting people know what your final wishes are. I don't have much materially to leave my daughter but what little bit I have should go to her and not to the bill collectors.
Did u figure out the reason why u lost the use of ur legs, just out of curiosity?
I’m so happy to hear that you’re walking again, I know it was hard but I pray health and blessings onto you!
I used to be a funeral sales person. I made 10k a month working maybe 20hours a week with a high closing rate. This industry is disgusting and I regret the time spent in it in my younger years when all I saw were dollar figures. I'm so happy to see that this was finally brought to light.
Functional Stoner good for you.
I stopped at “...10,000$ a month...”. I can throw every moral I have in the garbage for 10,000$ a month.
M. T. Ikr?
@@m.t.7093 🤣🤣🤣
High closing rate!! Haha I bet
One Funeral Home in Nashville Tennessee that I used to work for would rather lose money than to cheat a customer and grieving family. And he helps so many Hispanic families returned their remains to their family and home country I still don't understand how he's in business. And I do hope and pray that his children will follow in his footsteps.
Depends on who is opening a business..If an empathetic kind person or a toxic narcissist.
Good people like that r hard to find nowadays. Cheers
When my father passed away several years ago he wanted to be cremated. My Mother wanted to show him during visitation. We had him embalmed for the visitation before cremation. The funeral home charged us $800.00 to "rent" a casket for the 2 days of visitation. I told the gentleman who was assisting us with all the arrangements he should be embarrassed to make such a charge. Needless to say that will stay with me until my time comes and they can bury me upside down so they can kiss my a$$.
This is why I love Ask A Mortician. She calls out *all* these predatory practices.
trust no one who is trying to sell you something
It's not about trusting the sales person. You SHOULD already know it's their job to up sell. It's the consumers job to educate themselves too. If they are just ignorant and have no common sense then sure, they will be "sold" it's not the sales person ripping any body off...if the consumer is ignorant then he will likely pay more simply because he couldn't think for himself or just assumed he needed all the fancy add ons because he wasn't educated enough to decide for himself. Some people are fine with the bare bones basics but there are upgrades and add ons for the flashy individual...or the gullible fools.
I agree! Salespeople must make sales otherwise they don't get paid. If a salesperson was to be honest and tell the customer that they're selling a load of crap then they would not be in business very long.
Sales isnt a bad word. You do it everyday in some way.
Well said
Why would you embalm or buy a casket if you're going to cremate? What a waste.
macruick. Unfortunately the point is to get more money out of people. When they ask about how to lower the cost the reps make them feel bad for wanting to spend less money. They'll say that you never really loved them if you don't spend this money. My family experienced this after my grandmother died. Just ask questions and don't let yourself be ripped off. It's an emotional time and these people prey on that.
As for embalming, even if you were to bury the person you really don't need embalming. They claim that it will keep the body clean and free of disease. As a microbiologist I'm telling you not to believe that. Truth is that if you keep the body refrigerated before burial you'll be fine. And for cremation embalming is certainly not needed. If you are doing an open casket the body already has to clean, keep them refrigerated which they have to have while the body is waiting to be embalmed, and dress them. Embalming is just preserving the body and unless this person is going to be on display for months on end you don't have to embalm.
not all people are cremated. That is really against Christian laws. But many do anyway. Some believe in resurrection like Christ, than body can not be cremated.
which Christian laws??
Billy McAuliffe exactly, for public viewing.
macruick My Brother passed His wife could not afford the cost. She reached for help. I suggested a Grave Side Service She had Him Embalmed for a small funeral home service. She did not factor in the burial and she could not afford. The Funeral Home and her decided to Cremate Him.. SMH He was cremated and He remains at that Funeral Home along with that cost unpaid in a Tin Cookie Can still today 4 yrs later. A Dann Shame and Scam Con.
Amazon is going to put them out of business, also. You can buy caskets on Amazon now.
Probably cant use them in a funeral home. But it you watch ask a Mortician you can have the funeral at home legally. I wonder if we can dig the hole. I have a truck for the casket.
For real 📦🙂😭😅😂
Fantastic
Costco sells them as well!
Absolutely no disrespect intended, but where would a person store a casket?
They did this to me and my wife when our daughter died ! It was so pleasant the way we were up sold . It was sickening
I'm so sorry for your loss, and for that horrible experience afterwards...
My father passed away about 3 years ago and we too had the privilege of dealing with a sleazy, commission-hungry woman from Greenlawn Cemetery. She came to our home to and tried to suggest all these additional phrases to engrave on my father's tombstone, all of which my mother rejected one after the other. To add insult to injury, the woman mentioned 2 plots nearby that could be purchased for my brother and I and indicated that she really wanted us to have them. My mother said no because she didn't know what our wishes would be, but the woman insisted that if we didn't end up wanting the plots for ourselves we could sell them. Still refusing, she called back at a later time to mention there was interest in the other two plots ... as if we'd believe that she feels some kind of loyalty to our family in particular and wants to make sure that we'll all be interred close together! My brother and I don't even have homes of our own ... why would we spend money to have cemetery plots of our own when we have so much life left to live? I found that so inappropriate.
.....sorry , I found it hilarious
I work in a catering company that caters to a few funeral homes. One of the funeral homes accidentally sent their invoice to the family to us via email. The funeral home charges the families nearly 50% more then what we charge at retail. The families are better off ordering with us directly
]
wtf?? this is really good to know!!
The sales lady with short hair and glasses was rude af 🙄 7:15
"You get better closure doing it THIS way".... um, its not upto you how people get better closure... not to mention responding with attitude when asked about the funeral coach for the same site.
17:20 "Thats not a VISITATION casket", umm why not? Is there a law that says its not? Does it suddenly become invisible when its used for visitation? So ridiculous.
She was clearly selling, if you can sell a cell phone and plan the. You can do this gig
I was once offered an interview for a job selling funeral services. I turned it down because my relevant experience was selling furniture and appliances. That felt wrong.
My husband died in 2018. We had previously agreed that we did not want to spend a lot on anything that went into the ground. I got a casket online for $1100 plus shipping, a bottom of the line vault, and no embalming. We already owned the plots. We buried him the day before a service at the church. The VA paid for his marker. I paid $5600. How's that.
I co own and manage a funeral home in Kentucky. I'm proud and honored to serve each family that calls upon me.
My fee for direct cremation complete is $795- that's it.
Families don't realize there is a lot of cost running a 24/7 business but there is reasonable and then their is large company groups that hire non trained commission salesperson and we call them slimy!
We give options and the family is not sold anything but they select what they want. I'm not a salesman and I have to sleep at night. Our funeral home serves 400 families a year and I apologize to families that get treated like this by these cons.
do you offer "dump me in the ocean when I expire" package ? or does it come only in self service ?
Henry Herz Were no way near the ocean being in Kentucky so we don't run in to that question so we could do the cremation and the family could scatter the cremains wherever they wish.
but animals cant eat ashes, waste of meet and missed spot in eternal cycle of life
Good for you for speaking out on this. But as you can see, many in your industry are painted with a tainted brush, and are only out for the almighty buck. Your apology is accepted but it is not helping to end the problems.
Good to see an honest business & person.Keep up the good caring work.
this show needs to do an investigation in the United States
I think it is the same problem as that story and even worse when taking advantage of a woman in grief!
cassie D on funerals? Every business is the same, you don't need a video to know that...fun fact: doctors try to keep the patient alive as long as possible for more money.
cbc stands for canadian broadcasting channel. Why would they do USA
cassie D they mark up by ×3 cost just confront them they will lower price but will be angry they are worse than pawn shops
Sina why not?
Just throw my body to ocean, its cheap , easy, and fast. Fish happy everybody happy
The police (forensic investigators) won't be happy when they need to figure out where various bits and pieces of someone came from. At least, that was the logic behind denying my last wishes of being left in the forest behind my dad's house.
Reminds me of the song "when water comes to live" by Cliyd Cult
Cloud Cult
Fish happy
Everybody happy
*LOL*
Ha ha I just commented that earlier. Dunk me in the ocean and have a yacht party with an open bar for my guests. Everyone wear bright colors. Everything is covered by my insurance policy and my will. Also military benefits. I'm not leaving my family a penny of debt.
Those people must be making a fortune from a covid-19 pandemic at the funeral home 😞
U know it
This is the exact reason I don't believe in funeral homes. A year ago my 24 year old son committed suicide in Ontario. They wouldn't let me view him anyways so he went to the coroner then straight to the facility where they do the cremations $1200(up to that point) and he was overnighted to Illinois for $55 and we had a celebration of life for him and another facility that my grandmother got for free to rent. I bought an urn from Amazon and several small ones (for close family) total about $80. I keep my sons urn in my living room along with other mementos all in a corner where I can talk to him and be with him whenever I want. No need for a burial. I also bought an orange tree and put some ashes in the ground. We are already grieving the loss of our beloved family members. Why go broke over it too. I feel I did the right thing to honor my son and no regrets.
Kelly Brown and
I think it was a wonderful idea.
Kelly Brown - I'm sorry for the loss of your son. I think he would have been right by your side through all that you did for him with him smiling & saying "Way to GO Mom!". He wouldn't want you to go into debt & I think having him there with you is nice. Can I assume you plan on being interned together some day? Make sure you tell at least 2 or 3 people & put it in writing. That way, your experience will be taught to others. You've made me think about things too. I'm 57 y/o but, I've made quite a few things known & arranged already. If my family wants to spend a little more money, I'd rather they spent money on a better champagne to be served & savored! I want every woman I know to have a damn good excuse to wear a little black dress or any color she wants. When my Daddy died, he asked that Mom, my sister & me would wear anything BUT black for him. We didn't even discuss what we'd wear except, no black. We all ended up wearing the color of our birthstones! When you talk to your son tonight Kelly, please tell him that a woman neither of you knows is proud of you. You showed strength & grace at a difficult time with your family's support. And please give your dear Gma a hug from me too. I have a feeling you're a lot like her!
YOU DID THE ABSOLUTE CORRECT THING MADAM....THERE IS ANOTHER VIDEO ON CZcams FROM A WHISTLE BLOWER WHO USE TO WORK FOR A FUNERAL HOME. HE EXPLAINED HOW THE CASKETS ARE A WASTE OF MONEY, BECAUSE AFTER YOU BURY YOUR LOVED ONE, AS SOON AS IT RAINS, IT FLOODS THE CASKET AND THEIR BODIES JUST FLOAT IN ALL OF THAT MUDDY WATER. HE SAID THAT HE USED TO LIE TO GRIEVERS AND TELL THEM THAT THE CASKETS WERE WATER PROOF OR SEALED TIGHT WHERE WATER CANNOT GET INTO THEM, WHICH WAS FALSE. HE TELLS ALL. I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE SHOULD GO WATCH IT. BUT YEAH, I WOULD DO THE SAME DO. I TOLD MY PEOPLE TO CREMATE ME...I TOLD THEM THAT I WON'T KNOW ANYWAY! DON'T SPEND ALL THAT MONEY JUST TO PUT ON FOR OTHER PEOPLE KNOWING THAT WE DON'T HAVE IT LIKE THAT. DRESS, JEWELRY, HAIR, MAKE UP (THAT I DON'T WEAR), CASKET, FLOWERS, PREACHER, FUNERAL COACH AND DRIVERS, LIMOS, ECT....NO! JUST A BIG WASTE!
Sade' Watson If you happen to run across or thin of/remember that video you wrote about, please let me know!
MY HEART GOES OUT TO THIS WOMAN !
My dad just passed, and we, thankfully, found a funeral home that did everything they could to help. EVERYTHING we had to do/get/wanted (going with the wishes of my dad who wanted cremated) was a fraction of the cost of the crap on here.
And they didn't force us into ANYTHING.
The world needs more people like SHANE! I am sure many viewers have nothing but high praises and applause for the honest and decent man.
Jesus even dying is a hassle. From the moment of birth to the second you take your last breath it’s ALL about currency. Not saying it’s right or wrong, it’s just crazy to think about.
@ Sebastian XOXOXOX----yes, they "scalp" you from cradle to grave !!
that's the matrix, we're just feeding the system.
@WISEGUYS R US TM Money truly is the root of all evil...
Cricut R. No, the love of money is the root of evil.
Oh, it is wrong.
Also! I noticed you changed your name and just wanna say that good on you for being open and not that it means much since I'm a stranger, but you have my full support!!
You asked for cremation.
Why were they showing you caskets?
Here in germany you need to buy a casket in order to cremated.. Its just a waste of money
MiaLia The same as the Uk.
Viewing purposes. But a good crematory will let you use one for free.
Caskets are a must in the UK even with cremation. It’s needed for display in the church/chapel etc
@@soulsecrets7930 What if you don't want to bother with the whole display and church thing? All for spending money on someone who is alive and sick, but spending money on the dead is throwing money away.
"Upselling" is a business practice most everyone is taught to do....want fries with that order?
Funeral homes have a lot to answer for. Take advantage of many, with phenomenal expenses for their loved one's, to be put to rest. Shame on them all, overcharging vulnerable people, grieving.
It's sad that they take advantage of somebody's grief like that.
It is shameful for the taking advantage of all of us at the time of grieving. But what is more shameful is the fact they are allowed to defraud and steal because there is no accountability to prevent this. Here in Toronto, Ontario the scams have become so elaborate where the industry and the courts are staging scams to seize the estate and remove the executor and beneficiary to reward the lawyers and the judges.
The Veterinary Business and the Funeral Business have that in common. They play on your emotions to suck you out of TONS of cash
I never understood the need for embalming to preserve the body... they're going into the ground, not a glass display case in someone's living room.
The only reason a body would need to be embalmed is if you are not planning to bury or cremate it right away and want to still look at it. As long as it is refrigerated (you can do this with ice also) and then disposed of it is fine. The part where the one sales gal said that embalming prevents the spread of disease is a LIE... a dead body will NOT GET YOU SICK unless the person died of a deadly disease like Ebola or something similar.
My understanding about embalming is that it preserves the body in the event that family members who were coming to the funeral, are traveling from a long ways off. It takes time to arrange for transportation, hotel and Food. When my uncle died in Los Angeles California, it was very expensive for some of the family members to travel there from Illinois.
It all depends on the situation but when my dad passed away, they kept him embalmed and on ice long enough until we were able to have his funeral funds situated and everything and his funeral ended up being a month after he passed so I’m honestly glad they did since my sister refused to go for cremation. It was just to delay the decomposing process so he wasn’t decomposing before the funeral though I could tell it was almost in the process of doing that with as long as he’s been gone but it was supposed to delay it long enough for us to see him.
Smith A if you are viewing a body they need to be embalmed.
Arctic Lust & Storm Runner yes its to preserve it. Some religions are against it but most of the time it is required for viewing
As a licensed funeral director in PA. I totally agree with your expert. I feel I should charge for my services and not worry about making money on items sold. I always tried to help the individual/individuals with a more economical way. I worked for a funeral home and was arranging a cremation for a family. The family wanted an Angel urn. I explained that if I had to order it through the funeral home the owners would at the very least double the price from what they paid. I steered them to the internet to purchase their urn for under $100. They was so happy. I have seen funeral directors push to sell items that only jacked up the price. A lot of the reason why they do here in PA is they don't have their pricing correct. They should be selling their services not merchandise!!! As for a rental casket we only used ours 3 times then it is replaced. I have sold cloth covered caskets to individuals who wanted cremation after a viewing to keep cost down. There is nothing wrong with a cloth covered casket. They are not an oak casket by any means but if there family cannot or does not want to spend the money. I don't want someone to need to go into a financial burden so bad they feel as if they was taken advantage of
Its so sad that people in the funeral business take advantage of people's loss
In Minnesota we have the option of a green burial. No embalming or any other needless frills. You set aside a small piece of land, have a 6foot hole dug and you're wrapped in a cloth sheet and returned to the earth. Only cost is a $1000.00 survey.
that's what muslims do.
where is the green cementary I want to do that, but there is no place up here in flroida to do this
muslim already doing it in 1400 years.
same here in Ga
I plan to have a natural funeral
People do not realize the environmental impact of traditional funerals, not to mention the cost. Millions of gallons of embalming fluid leech into the ground poisoning the soil. Thousands of hardwood trees are cut down to make caskets that either rot in the ground or are burned during cremation. Trees provide oxygen to our atmosphere, hold the soil and provide homes for wildlife. Don't even get me going on the cost. Green burial is best. No embalming, no expensive casket and the "cemetery" is actually a beautiful meadow with wildflowers and wildlife. A relative, who is a retired funeral home employee, told me that many spend way too much on a funeral for one reason...they don't want to look cheap in front of family.
Rob Tro I would love for my last moment to be in a huge lush meadow
Rob Tro if my mum dies I only live with her I am going to wrap her in a beautiful cloth and bury her
hold my beer.
islam already doing this "green burial" for 1400 years.
"Green burial", did you mean be dying like Hulk?
The old Viking way is better. Just build a big bonfire and put the body on top. The End.
You all right would definitely save a lot of money. No Grave marker, no casket, no expensive mortician, no worrying about where the funeral is going to take place.
@Vixxxen Fox Trudeau would charge you a carbon tax fee
A burning man party sounds good .
YES!!!!! This is what my husband wants!
Sounds great..
I feel like majority of people watching these don’t even live in Canada.
US here.
We did a cremation for my brother in Oklahoma for $3,000 two years ago. The owners had to bury their own child so they had sympathy I think. Great people!
I recently lost my mother. Even during my grief it still pays to shop around. I live in Calgary and came across similar funeral homes that charged outrageous amounts.
We found a small funeral home franchise named Elegant Tributes.
Our package included creamation, urn, on-line announcement. Total cost was $1 400. 1/4 the price of some others.
We chose to directly deal with the Cemetary for interrment. It only cost $700 as my mother already had a plot.
Roughly, one shouldn't spend more than $2 000 for all the services.
If she was cremated, why interment or a plot?
Rose C you can bury ashes...
wow i never have been this early.... i live in the U.S. and this show is really addicting and done really well to inform others, i wish they had something similar here, i hope to see more amazing ones in the future
BossManiacGames I have said the same thing. Our media here in the states is in the business of bullshitting us and protectimg their corporate buddies.
This CBC investigative show is on every week, covering a range of consumer rip-off topics. Car dealerships, health care, farmer's markets, drug prices, etc etc. they have covered many such crooked goings-on. One of the biggest mandates of the CBC, versus USA TV media, is to inform, educate and enlighten. NOT just to mindlessly entertain. The Canadian taxpayer supports the CBC. I'll bet not ONE taxpayer in the US is taxed for CNN, FOX, MSNBC etc. Public TV and NPR come close but they only get corporate or private donations, no govt support.
Why don't you make a US version of Marketplace yourself?
You can make good money out of it.
I want to do the same for my country. Ppl have too many noise in their life, it would be a good deal to inform them abt stuff they normally don't have time for or simply don't think about.
i actually had an reverse things happen when my dad passed. welfair here will pay for a basic one but if you want a fancy one you pay more.
they gave us a good one but took off a chunk making it seem like we got the cheep one. think it was $500 insted of $750
they treated us with such so much respect and even helped us with paper work
Well, you can't expect the tax payers to foot the bill for a fancy, unnecessary, funeral.
My question is why don't cemeteries ever fill up? Makes you wonder doesn't it?
Two people are secretly buried in the same grave. That's why you see tombstones that say "here lies a lawyer and an honest man".
They do.
"it's an identification casket" lol this is why I tell my kids it doesn't MATTER what people call things, a box is a box, a hat is a hat, socks are socks. As long as you want it and it fits, it doesn't matter what people CALL IT.
My sister died in a hospital and we needed to have her moved from there to the funeral home they charged $500. The hospital is ACROSS THE STREET!!! Literally ACROSS THE STREET!!!
mrsgarzacamacho yeah they charge for transferring of the body I think you have to files fees not sure but I think that's associated with the transfer of body cost.
Im sure there is more to it than just moving her if she just passed. Some prep and decency in the transfer. Plus, paper work and filing.
Years ago, I think it was in Czechoslovakia, an uncle died. The cost of transporting the body across country in a train as cargo was cost prohibitive. What did the next of kin do? They bought him a regular passenger ticket (which was less costly), poured alcohol all over him and told the conductor that he was drunk. If I find the link, I'll edit.
@@danburch9989 There is a Yugoslav movie "mrtav hladan" with that scenario. It's a dark comedy.
I would have to put my sister in a wheelchair and roll her across the street.
The company that took care of my dad were amazing. The first thing they told me is to stay within my budget and don’t get myself into debt over a funeral my dad would not want that.
I am so grateful that when my mom passed, the funeral home didn't try to upsell a bunch of crap. My mom wanted to be cremated and have a very simple graveside ceremony.
I see a trend where more and more people are having no funeral or service of any kind AND they by-pass a funeral home, using a Direct Cremation firm instead. I recently attended a Celebration of Life gathering a few days after a friend passed away. It was wonderful. People chatted, laughed about events in the loved one's life, viewed videos and photos, etc. Nice.
just imagine there is an app on your phone where you can choose your services by swiping through the selection and pay easy by credit card or paypal........ no salesperson no direct funeral home
I and my husband have had to bury and cremate family. It is very stressful and emotional. So I have made and paid for most all our end of life arrangements so that our children and family will not have to be in this position. I also check with the company every so many years to confirm what we have! It is very important and comforting to know this is done.
100% true, and you better believe it! When my son unexpectedly passed away, all I had was school insurance that amounted to $10,000. My sons funeral amounted to almost the very cent. I didn't question it, he was my son. Then my mom passed away and she was a resident at a Nursing Home. The funeral home wanted/needed to see an updated bank statement of her account. She was being cremated, and only had a little over $8,000. in her account. By the way it was the same funeral home. It literally shocked me to find the fees amounted to the amount in her account. Again, it was my mother, so it passed. It wasn't until I was well into the grief that the coincidence hit me. I looked at the previous paperwork and fees, and it was as underhanded for sure. They put in their own numbers to add up to whatever the amounts available to spend were. Be careful during times of grief.
What is the reason for preserving somebody. They are dead.
jamiebellwolf yea I know that, but they advertise preserving your body after you’re buried
Society has to make a big deal out of everything. The ancient Egyptians made mummies out of their significant dead people.
4 money
If you have a public viewing, it can make sense (depending on when the funeral takes place/length of the viewing, etc). This one child died of an overdose and the parents opted for no preservation for the viewing. He was blue and his skin was rigid. It was quite shocking for all his friends who had come to say goodbye. His parents stood next to the body the whole time. Maybe that was their point, their PSA.
The practice started in Early America when President Lincoln was sent on a viewing tour around the country. The only way to keep his body from decaying while on the tour was embalming. Before this people rarely embalmed loved ones.
In Maine when my wife died she had pre-bought her funeral cost with an funeral company.
The funeral was well done and about a month later I received a surprise check of $1.900 from the funeral company explaining that the funeral, a fine one, had cost less than anticipated. Fine and honest people.
My mother has arranged some cardboard coffin for herself to be buried in some woodland. Hopefully she'll give us all the details as it all sounds a wee bit sketchy...😬
Taking advantage of a family during a difficult time is wrong in every way, shame on the people who do this to a grieving family.
Before my grandfather passed away he left us a rather hilarious letter (he was a joker/prankster) outlining what he wanted. He basically said funerals are a giant scam and he wasn't having any of it. He went on at length about these shysters. He set the tone for the rest of our family. My father didn't have any kind of service and I won't either.
Take what you need and throw the rest on the fire. People's obsession with pickling their relatives so they look good one more time is gross...
Exactly. The whole thing is gruesome. "Let's put Sally's rotting corpse in this pretty dress and put makeup on her to cover up her sickly gray complexion, and then display her like a stuffed bird. Oh, and don't forget to manipulate her mouth into a smile." Sick.
Build you own wooden box.
There are some workshops for elderly where you build your own.
Oooooh I would love for my husband to build me a coffin! That would be so freaking cool!!!!
Great idea! I love DIY too. This definitely makes sense for me.
My Father passed recently. We used Simple Choice Cremation in Windsor. They were great, and the total cost including picking up my father at the family home after passing was $2500.00 which I think isn't too bad. It's still a LOT of money...but spending $10,000 plus dollars on an empty body is insane.
My uncle included me in the funeral process when my Grandpa died and they were 100% there for us, never once suggested something we didn’t want or lead us in a direction. We were probably making them work pretty hard for their money. I couldn’t have asked for a better kinder experience. Thank You Wheatland Funeral Home!
Why should a funeral be so expensive?
Marie Morgan greed I guess
that's why some day I'll start an honest and cheep funeral home called [ BELL FUNERAL HOME ]
{ THE MOST HONEST AND CHEEPEST }
Sounds like they are equivalent to used car sales people. Not a whole lot of difference.
DARK COFFIN *cheap* make sure not to spell that wrong on your sign
its all about making money don't care aobut your feelings
I worked 34 years in the funeral industry. The state I worked in doesn’t allow funeral packages. That’s the first thing that needs to go
My Great Grandfather to the wood off his own farm, had a his own casket built out of the Maple wood he grew. He didn't pay, nor buy into the casket sellers. He left to more of his own soul given to a more in meaningful. God bless this wise man.
When I lost my son over 25 years ago I was quite shocked at all the costs and the requirements I was told I had to pay.
When I'm dead just throw me in the trash!
Why would you want to be alongside Arbor....in the trash?
Take my body out to the local dump, let the rats and crows eat me put You Tube and charge a cover charge at my bar wake and make a $200 .
That is illegal wherever you live in the developed and civilized world. And if you're trying to be funny, it ain't working.
Why not getting the crocodiles fed??Will be making good use of ur dead body!!!🍗
DrX_1030 me 2
Told my wife , no funeral and no expensive coffins. Have them microwave me . I'll go to Ikea pick out a crate style one . Lol. 🤣
So thankful that my Dad took care of this beforehand; it was a great burden lifted not even the money just having to make a bunch of decision. Unlike these scumbags we also had a great funeral home, they actually reviewed the whole package he bought, we went through a few questions and a few weeks later we actually got a refund check for a few hundred dollars...and the whole thing, cremation, plot at cemetery and marker was only about $2000 to begin with.
That's it, I'm never dying!
🤣🤣🤣
LOL
I'm with you on this one😆
😂😂😂
Luv, LOL!
What happens when you need a casket in Canada? You're ABOOT to find OOT!
We don’t talk like that wtf
That was the lamest attempt at a joke I've ever heard.
We don't talk like that, eh!!!
Now where's my maple syrup.........?!?!
2:07
I love Canadians!
In my area at home we use the same funeral home for the family since many years, they are sympathetic and kind and caring.
I worked for a national funeral company in South Australia. They were only interested in profit!
Embalming for "health reasons" was pushed, but totally unnecessary in 90% of cases. If basic embalming did take place it would cost about $10 for chemicals.
The local funeral director's association was just there to ensure ongoing profits and maintaining the mystique for the old boys' network of established businesses.
State legislation and regulation just supports the dodgy funeral directors and there are obviously a lot of 'long lunches' for government regulators.
A "no service cremation" of your aged aunt should cost $2,000 and no more! Funeral directors will still make $1,000 on this!
The guy from the government regulator in your story was clearly looking after his mates in the industry !
I'm an elderly (73) Canadian male who has lived in Morocco for nearly eight years. I cannot subject my family back home to the kind of expense revealed in this video. I will look into the options available to me here.
trip to the middle of ocean in inflatable boat when time feel right
I didnt know dying was so expensive!
You think this is bad...nursing homes charge from 5K to 15k PER MONTH!!!!! If you don't show up with a house you can sign over...forget it.
yes, and that's was my father put the house in my name before he came down ill and past away just weeks ago now. and i was able to have the cremation done for only $1470.
It shouldn't, but it is
only if u let it be expensive...
It’s abominable that funerals cost so much. I’ve already told my husband, ‘I’ll be fine with cremation in a cardboard box & nothing else’.
Canada seems like a neat place.
This is why I don't do open body casket funerals. It doesn't close anything, having a memorial and REMEMBERING THEM without LOOKING at them is better than a funeral..
Very true. My mom passed away in March... and I knew it was coming so I asked for quotes before she passed away which I was given from several places. After she passed away, I contacted the cheapest funeral home I found and asked them for another quote and it was SOOOO much higher. Luckily I did this all by email so I can had a copy of the previous quotes and showed them the price they initially quoted me and they said "Oh oh yeah we did say that" and then they honored the cheaper price.
My older sister died suddenly late last year. She too, wanted something simple, cremation with no frills. I called a funeral home in the town where my family use to live and used telling them what I wanted. I then called the funeral home close to the hospital where my sister died, and they also quoted me a similar price which was just about spot on to the former funeral man Shane Newfeld's had said it should cost. I feel so lucky and grieve for the families that have experienced such awful tactics.
We've had a family funeral home since the 90s so i never knew this is what people go through to bury a loved one. Also wouldn't dare let these people care for any of my loved ones
Anytime I have ever dealt with a funeral I make them aware from the get go that I do not believe in what they do for a living. I also make them aware that I negotiate contracts for a living. I have had little issues.
I had one director tell me about the wonderful warranty on the casket. I immediately got out my phone and picked out a date consistent with that warranty and looked at him and said “so does xxxx date work for you?” He looked at me with a shocked look! For what I was asked? For you to dig up the casket and verify that it has lived up to it’s warranty! If not I will want the casket replaced at the company’s expense! I have never seen a person stutter or stammer so much! He admitted no one had ever questioned that before. They just found it reassuring! Not me, I found it irritating!
jamiebellwolf
Cremation works!
What do you mean you don't believe in what they do for a living??
That's alittle extreme but hey if you want to spend thousands of dollars to exhume a body knock yourself out
You rock
@@ryantoler9719 the swindling people out of money and preying on grief for financial return
I'd prefer to be butchered and fed to wolves but in the slight chance that isn't possible I'll be laid in the ground nurturing a pecan tree. I'll be credited for making delicious pecan pies.
im take those pecans and use them in my favorite pastry dish, Kringle, its a flaky pastry dish with filling
I agree too
I personally would like either a Russian olive or a Rowan tree.
😂👍👍👍👍
Can I play basketball with your head?
Awesome information!
Buy your casket direct from Empire Caskets in NY. I know they deliver to Maryland.
@Nevin Reid I'm pretty sure they have to accept outside caskets, and they can't charge for keep them either. Check the laws where you live.
Claudette Gerety I’m from NY, thanks for that information.
cbc marketplace, again, thank you!
This breaks my heart the tactics some firms use. I'm a funeral director in a small town we do about 350 services a year. But I have never worked on commission, and I have always tried to be up front with my families. Even when I worked for another guy I would shut my door and tell the families, I will not charge you for this because even tho it's on gpl (general price list), this is a charge that shouldn't be on your services. Although I got in trouble a few times, I have to sleep with myself at night. And believe when it is my turn to go I will answer for each family I served thru my lifetime, and the big bosses above opinions of me means more than an employer. Such as a cap panel the insert above the deceased head in the casket that says "going home, or loving father" the cost is $195 at my present funeral home, I always offer just to loan it to a family no charge and just take it out when I close casket to go to cemetery. It is a business and how we make our living, but taking advantage of ppl during a time of grief is no way to make a living.
I HEARD THE DEAD WILL EAT FUNERAL DIRECTORS. I SAW THAT MOVIE. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
I worked within the funeral industry throughout my late 20's, (NZL) it took over a decade to recover from my guilt.
@robert proctor If I'm being 100% honest, I still deeply regret the commercial aspect of my duties 20 years later.
I saw caskets available online & delivered in 2 days. They would probably say they can’t use just any casket at their funeral home.
What a bunch of vultures. It's just as bad if not worse here in the states. This has given me the impetus to go ahead and make my plans, in writing, and communicated to family and friends exactly what I want.