Not sure if this is the right place to seek advise on my situation but I am sure many others fell the same way I do and can use help.
I was pressured into signing a funeral contract in the excess of $10,000+ right after visiting my mother in the funeral home. Despite asking for an economical alternative to keep it to bare minimum I was offered a contract with all kinds of exorbitant charges for services that were not needed and some were not received.
My problem is that I feel ripped off in my weakest time when I was still dealing with the loss of my mother and they had her body in their possession. I felt I had no options and whatever they charged was the amount that I had to pay if I wanted a funeral even at the barest minimum.
On top of this they have messed up the death certificate of my mother with several spelling typos in her name, which I had corrected for them during our meeting. Now I have to produce all kinds of original documents to get it corrected and it is creating hassles with reporting her death and executing her will and accounts.
In this situation is there any recourse I have such as asking for a reasonable cost reduction by funeral home or take advise from a lawyer to seek help to reduce the large bill that now I will have to bear.
Any help in this matter will be appreciated.
Regards,
Mozelle.
Jennifer Lane
I am so sorry for the loss of your mother and what you went though with the funeral. Did the funeral director give you a price list before the discussion of what services you wanted for her?
Funeral Homes are required by law (the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule) to provide pricing information before you start selecting services and merchandise. While funerals costs are much higher than most people expect, you should have been able to select only the items or services you needed/wanted, and you should not have been forced to pay for items you did not want or need. The one exception is the charge usually seen on the funeral contract as “Basic Services of Funeral Director & Staff”. That is the only charge you cannot decline per the Federal Trade Commission.
As for the death certificate, they should have had you confirm the spelling of her name before it was filed. Mistakes do happen, but most funeral homes double-check the death certificate because, as you well know, it causes problems when it gets filed with incorrect information.
I would suggest that you start by requesting to speak to the Funeral Home Manager to discuss of all your complaints. I’m very sorry for all that you have been through, and I do hope you can find a resolution that will bring you peace so that you can grieve the loss of your mother.