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Funeral Services, like most other services, are not immune to bad practices. However, given the sombre nature of funeral services, they are often downplayed and not widely known.
This article would guide you through important ways in which consumers have been subjected to unfair practices, causing great financial and emotional distress, and advise on how you can simply safeguard yourself against these practices by sending a text message to funeral directors before confirming their service.
The CCCS' report on the funeral services industry in Singapore will be heavily used as a resource here.
1. Higher Final Price than Initial Price
The most concerning issue is that consumers have complained that they paid a higher price than they were initially thought to believe. 53% of consumers responded that they were not aware that the final price might be different from the initially quoted price, as the funeral director did not make this clear.
It is important to understand both perspectives here – funerals are highly customisable events, and funeral directors have to cater to changing needs of the mourning family.
However, certain funeral directors do not make it clear when they are discussing items which are not in the funeral package and require additional costs.
An example that the report gives is where a funeral director asks the consumer if he would like to have more monks to carry out a religious ritual without telling him it costs more money. It was added to the final price of the funeral.
2. Claiming they are a “one-stop service”
Funeral directors and parlours are specialised event managers, hired to coordinate the needs of your funeral. This means that most funeral directors do not directly provide all services you would receive. Instead, they engage different service providers and coordinate their services to facilitate the funeral – catering, florists, transport companies and tentage specialists are such examples.
Some consumers complained that certain funeral parlours said they were a “one-stop service” but were confused when different parties arrived to provide services or facilities. For example, for my dad’s funeral, we received about 10 different invoices from different companies. This is, for the most part, industry standard, and ought to be clarified with the funeral director when first contacting them.
A more serious complain is when, after saying they were a “one-stop service”, a consumer complained that the funeral director charged them higher prices, since certain things were not included in the package. This is a serious issue and will be addressed further in the following point.
3. Charging for services not agreed upon by a main decision maker
Since final prices are made known to the decision maker after the funeral has concluded, there have been cases where products which the decision makers did not agree were charged.
Once again, to understand the perspective of funeral directors, they have to make efficient decisions when the grieving family might not be emotionally available to make them. Hence, they might look to other members of the family, who are not familiar with the decision-making process and funeral costs, for some decisions on additional facilities and services.
This is not always the case – some funeral directors may intentionally ask non-decision makers for they might be more inclined to add facilities and services. An example a consumer gave was that a funeral staff asked a relative whether they wanted a coffee machine without mentioning that it has to be charged, to which they agreed. The coffee machine was then added to the final price.
To avoid this, one has to identify the decision-makers and make it known to the funeral director that you would only accept costs which are approved by those decision makers. Also, one has to insist that anything that requires additional cost has to be clearly stated as having additional costs, if not it would not be accepted.
To prevent this and to safeguard yourself against these bad practices, there are a few simple clarifications with the funeral director before agreeing to the funeral package that can be easily performed.
1) Confirm that all mandatory costs are included in the funeral package
Mandatory costs, according to the CCCS checklist, are items that have to be purchased for the funeral to proceed. Mandatory costs include but are not limited to: cremation or burial costs, pallbearers, transportation, hearses, tentage, chairs and tables, embalming,caskets, decorations.
2) Clarify if they are a “one-stop service”
Confirm that you will not need to pay any additional costs to third-party vendors.
This mainly sets your expectation - you would know what services are and are not provided by the funeral parlour, and that different parties will be arriving to provide their services.
3) Identify key-decision makers
Make it clear that no additional costs will be accepted unless they are approved by these decision makers.
4) Any item requiring additional cost must be clearly represented to the key decision makers
Make it clear that if anything that requires additional cost is not clearly stated to the identified decision makers that they will have such additional cost, it will not be accepted in the final price and will not be paid for.
5) Have all of this in writing
The most straightforward way to protect yourself and clarify this is by sending the funeral director a text message, ensuring that they reply before services are confirmed with them. Remember to take a screenshot of the text after it is sent and confirmed.
A sample text message is as such (remember to add the names of the key decision makers):
“Dear Funeral Director,
I would need written confirmation, through replying to this message, of the following:
1) Price of the funeral package, which would be the final price unless any additional costs are approved by the identified decision-makers (identified below at (C))
2) Number of days of the funeral
3) Location of the funeral
4) That all mandatory costs, as defined below at (A), are included in the price, and if not, are identified and made known to me
(A) Mandatory costs include cremation or burial costs, pallbearers, transportation, hearses, tentage, chairs and tables, embalming, the casket, decorations, parlour rental (if applicable), religious rituals and ceremonies (if applicable). Please confirm that these costs are included in the package, and clearly identify if any of them are not included.
(B) Additionally, I would like to clarify if you are a “one-stop service” where your company directly provides all the services, or if you contract vendors. If you contract vendors, I would need confirmation that I will not need to pay the vendors directly, nor pay additional cost for vendors to provide any service in the package.
(C) I would also like to identify [person 1, person 2, person 3…] as the only decision maker(s) for all matters relating to the funeral and its costs. Please consult only these/this decision maker(s) for the addition of any service or items that require additional cost – any additional costs not approved by these/this decision maker(s) is not approved, and consequently will not be paid for. Any item or service that requires additional cost must be communicated clearly to these/this decision maker(s) as requiring additional costs. Any additional cost not clarified as such will not be approved, and consequently will not be paid for.
I would greatly appreciate confirmation of this at the soonest, after which, I will review and confirm approval of the funeral service.”
Note that this is not legal or financial advice, so use with the knowledge that it might not fully protect you.
