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ICFA Responds to Kansas City Star Article on Funeral Pricing
On November 7, 2001, the ICFA sent the following letter to the editor of The Kansas City Star in response to an article on funeral pricing.
Via Fax and E-Mail
Letters to the Editor
Kansas City Star
1729 Grand Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64108
Re: 11/4 Article on Funeral Prices
Dear Editor:
The article in the November 4th edition entitled, "Funeral Prices Are Rising, But There Are Ways to Trim Costs," offered some good advice to consumers on ways to make informed purchasing decisions. In particular, the need to review the many available options and to comparison shop long before a family death becomes imminent is crucial. However, by focusing almost entirely on prices, the article wrongly assumes that the components of a funeral and burial are generic and somehow interchangeable, i.e., caskets are all the same.
The fact is that funeral plans come in a variety of prices because of the many different components to be considered, not only for caskets and services, but for cemetery lots, mausoleum crypts, cremation niches, and the wide variety of memorials available. There is no question that personal preferences influence consumers' decision-making and people are guided by religious beliefs, ethnic customs, and family traditions, among other factors. So telling your readers that they can purchase a funeral plan for $988 is like telling them that they can buy a new car for $10,000. Both statements may be true but consumers want to understand the value they receive for their money.
Unfortunately, many consumer activists such as the individuals quoted in the article tend to be "numbers-crunchers" rather than appraisers of the services, merchandise, and property offered. They mistakenly assume that consumers merely want the most inexpensive "generic" funeral possible and disregard the compelling emotional and spiritual considerations involved in the selections they make. In addition, the article correctly notes that new forms of competition are exerting a downward effect on prices, and new products and services are being introduced. In particular, the Internet is providing consumers with a wealth of information, including prices, and no salesman will call.
Our Association promotes competition, consumer choices, and prearrangement in the funeral, interment, and memorial industries. We are concerned by the efforts of what might be called "the old guard" in funeral service to promote legislation that discourages new forms of competition. For example, the article notes that the National Funeral Directors Association is attempting "to carve out a monopoly for their licensed industry." Please be advised that such efforts are opposed by the ICFA and by many professionals within the allied industries. We believe that such attempts to enact protectionist legislation to insulate existing firms from competition are counter-productive, anti-competitive, and, frankly, anti-consumer.
Finally, we invite your readers to visit our website at www.icfa.org and to review the "Consumer Resources" section that answers many frequently asked questions on funerals, burials, memorialization, cremation, grief counseling, and related areas. Consumers may also contact the ICFA at 1-800-645-7700 to obtain more information or for help if they are experiencing a problem with an industry member.
Very truly yours,
Robert M. Fells
External Chief Operating Officer
and General Counsel
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