The local funeral home, with an outstanding reputation, sold a church member a pre-arranged funeral plan for his mother in a nursing home. No ceremony was to be conducted locally. It was a ship out to another state to another funeral home. The local funeral home set the contract so the initial work would be done locally at retail prices, including the purchase of the casket locally. A church deacon referred the family to Ken Lambert. Upon review of the contract proposal, Ken recommended other actions, with no changes in ceremonies or merchandise. But he saved the family over $4600. The local funeral home had manipulated events so they would get most of the profit and the family would spend over $4,600 more for the identical services and merchandise.

Another family decided to purchase their casket from a casket store. The same local funeral home stated that they could not match the price. Then the family was informed that services which were normally complimentary would now be charged (increased the price of the funeral service my $1800) so the savings would not be realized. The family was informed that his was a blatant violation of the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule. But the family gave in to the funeral provider for fear that they would not get a nice funeral if they bought the merchandise elsewhere. In reality, the family would have received a nicer funeral because the funeral home would be aware that the family knew their rights as consumers. But fear, cost the family another $2000 unnecessarily.

Another  funeral provider in Houston sold a family a burial vault even though the veteran’s cemetery furnished a concrete grave liner at no charge. The sale was closed because the salesman informed the family that it was a legal requirement for them to have a vault in the State of Texas even though the grave liner was furnished at no charge by the VA. Ken Lambert noticed the additional charges during an invoice review. When the family was asked, they stated what the salesman had told them. They did not think it was right but they went along with it. The funeral home owner was contacted but would not cooperate until Ken stated that the family was prepared to sign affidavits to the Funeral Service Commission. and the Federal Trade Commission stating that the salesman sold them the vault as a "legal requirement", which was a specific violation of the law. The owner then refunded the $995 for the vault even though the veteran was buried with the merchandise.

Veterans and their families are routinely talked out of their benefits by unscrupulous funeral providers. Often, the providers simply do not volunteer the veteran’s benefits. Thankfully, many veterans volunteered when we needed them. Taking advantage of veterans’ families is simply outrageous, but it is done daily throughout the United States.

Another family was manipulated into a full funeral when what they really wanted was a direct cremation with a memorial service.  Since all family members did not agree, three funeral homes refused to cremate.  It was not until the family called Ken Lambert and a cooperative family discussion ensued which solved the family's dilemma. The family got what they wanted initially.  The price of the arrangements went from over $12,000 to less than $1500.  The family got a wonderful funeral.  Had they not contacted Ken Lambert,  this family would have probably done a full burial and been in debt for years.    

There are dozens of stories of similar manipulation.  During seminars and speaking engagements, families routinely share their stories with Ken.

Often, families are accompanied by members of the church staff to the funeral home. I doubt if anyone on the church staff ever intends to be a party to manipulation.  But often they do not realize what is happening to members of their congregation. In the first two examples, the church staff still highly recommends the local funeral provider even though the provider is one of the most manipulative in Harris County.  Unfortunately, often the blind will simply refuse to see and their congregation suffers for it.

If you have a story concerning your experiences with the funeral industry, send Ken Lambert an email at www.lambertkc@charter.net or simply call him at 281-357-0195 or 1-888-669-4947.

©Kenneth C. Lambert, 2003

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