Funeral Costs

martinsheridan

Anyone have a poor experience with funeral directors/undertakers?

Have you been told costs up front? Or has the bill come as a surprise later on?

thanks,

gerard65

martinsheridan wrote: »

Anyone have a poor experience with funeral directors/undertakers?

Have you been told costs up front? Or has the bill come as a surprise later on?

thanks,

Twice I've had to organise a funeral and both times I was given a estimate which was close to the final bill. They are expensive so be careful with the extra's. The coffin price can vary so ask yourself do you want a top of the range? Most people go for the middle range. Cremation or burial? Cremation usually works on cheaper, no buying a plot (which is very expensive in urban areas) or the cost of openning an existing grave. Do you really need mourning cars for the removal, most people will drive or get a lift. Mourning cars on the day? Is one enough for immedate family? Usually it is, again lifts can be arranged. The afters - is a big meal needed or will sambo's in the local be enough?
It can be a very emotional time and its easy to get carried away and find yourself with a bigger bill than it needed to be so its a good idea to ask someone who's not immedate to the deceased family to help in the arrangments.

rubadub

I was only thinking of starting a bargain request thread the other day on this. I reckon many are making huge margins preying on peoples emotions or whatever you would call it. It would be sort of a taboo trying to bargain people down on a coffin etc, nobody really wants to go shopping around for funeral expenses.

I would not post up your email address like that, you could put up xyzx----at

---

gmail---- which prevents automatic searching tools which scan the web for email addresses.

Sizzler

They discussed this the other day on the last word as it happens. Like most businesses there will be ruthless operators but most people will be very up front about the costs and let people know the costs without pushing them in a certain direction.

Most places are very reasonable and give the family plenty of time to pay. Most people would go for the local funeral director for convenience of historic reasons Id imagine but nothing to stop people from asking for costs, Im sure they would be used to it by now in the current climate, Irish people (finally) become more savvy.

dudara

How exactly is this a Consumer Issue?

Did you receive a quotation for a funeral, only to find that the final price differed significantly?

dudara

jpb1974

How exactly is this a Consumer Issue?

Is the term 'issue' only treated as a matter of dispute on this site?

Can it not also be treated as a matter of discussion or debate as per some dictionary definitions? I don't see anything in the charter suggesting otherwise.

Thanks

jpb1974

Have you been told costs up front? Or has the bill come as a surprise later on?

You should discuss all requirements and associated costs with the funeral director upfront and agree a final price. That way there should be no surprises when you receive the final bill.

ghosttown

Also check payment terms. I've been unfortunate enough to have been involved in 2 recently, but most funeral directors will send the bill to the 'estate' for settlement. This certainly helps.

martinsheridan

dudara wrote: »

How exactly is this a Consumer Issue?

Did you receive a quotation for a funeral, only to find that the final price differed significantly?

dudara

Surely we should be acting like consumers when it comes to most if not all services. Just found out that you have to pay to look at the examiner death notices online. I've been reading about this recently and it seems still to be a taboo subject in this country i.e. nobody wants to complain. Then again maybe everybody's satisfied.

dudara

I try to ensure that each thread is in the correct forum to get the correct advice. Sometimes I ask questions in order to gather more information. This helps posters give more targeted advice.

This is a heavily frequented forum and I try to make sure that the genuine issues are to the fore.

If you have comments or feedback then please post in the Feedback forum (Help > Feedback). Please do not clutter up the threads with off-topic comments.

dudara

Head The Wall

martinsheridan wrote: »

Surely we should be acting like consumers when it comes to most if not all services. Just found out that you have to pay to look at the examiner death notices online. I've been reading about this recently and it seems still to be a taboo subject in this country i.e. nobody wants to complain. Then again maybe everybody's satisfied.

Death notices online for free

http://www.rip.ie/index.asp

Little A

Be aware that the biggest cost is generally the cemetary. The fees for opening a grave can be outragous (up towards €700 & usually about 50% extra for staurdays). I know of a family who held off til Monday as there was a premium of €400 to open the grave. That assuming you own the grave already.

The undertaker I dealt with was very helpful & gave me a realistic idea of what the price would be. Don't be afraid to ask what the costs will be & don't deal with one who actively tries to upsell you on things like coffins or cars (we used our own). They should repect you are grieving & be aware of what you can afford.