Funeral home markups and upselling: Hidden camera investigation (CBC Marketplace)

Guy tried to sell me a casket with springs for my mother. He said "eternal comfort".

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.

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

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

$1895 starting point, then he sees a casket for $1195.🙄🙄🙄

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.

In the words of Danny DeVito, "When i'm dead, just throw me in the trash!"

"We dont condone practices that make our customers feel pressured!" But also has their sales employees make commission

Embalming for a cremation makes absolutely no sense if it`s primary purpose is to preserve the body.

Just bury me in the backyard! I won't care - I'll be dead!

Wait until you hear about the new caskets with cooling memory foam and a built in USB charger

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

this show needs to do an investigation in the United States

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.

Scamming people when they are most vulnerable is just wrong.

This is why I love Ask A Mortician. She calls out all these predatory practices.