A funeral director wears many hats, but perhaps the biggest one involves presenting OPTIONS to the families who call upon him or her for service. There is a big difference between PRICE and VALUE. The funeral service profession is like any other; regardless of the amount of money spent; consumers expect to receive value in return.
Consider these two scenarios:
1. Guy A arranges for a direct cremation for his mother. Pays the funeral home, say, $1,500. Even though he was presented with options across the board, ranging from traditional funeral followed by either cremation or earth burial, to direct cremation with a memorial service, he opted for what he perceived as the "most simple and economical" service: direct cremation with no ceremony.
Well, after all the initial "pomp and circumstance" of mother's death was over, Guy A realized that by selecting the type of service he did, there was something lacking in the way of closure and grieving. He spoke with others who had opted for viewing of their loved one (or some type of ceremony) who reaffirmed that this helped greatly ease the burdon of losing a loved one. They were able to properly say goodbye and, by having a ceremony, allowed friends and family to make expressions of sympathy and support (and allowed for their own need for grieving and closure.)
In the end, Guy A realized that, sure, he saved some money, but did not get true value for what he did spend.
2. In this scenario, Guy B arranges for a traditional service for his father. Open-casket visitation, church service, procession to the cemetery...all of the aspects of a funeral that one would consider "traditional." Guy B selects a nice casket and burial vault for dad and wants to personalize the service with special music and military honors at the cemetery since dad was a Veteran of the military.
Well, the funeral director was nice enough to work with, the funeral home was a beautiful and comfortable facility, the cars were late-model and clean, and the merchandise (casket, vault, register book, memorial folders, etc.) were all fine. However...
Details seemed lacking. When Guy B first viewed his dad, he had some concerns about dad's appearance; a little too much cosmetic was used, he felt, and when he approached the funeral director about this, he was met with a blunt "Fine. We'll try to fix it." Later that evening, there was a young person whom they called a "night attendant" overseeing the visitation. This person seemed to care more about sitting in the office, playing on the computer, than noticing that the wastebasket by the water cooler was overflowing or that the supply of memorial folders was running low. The next day, at the funeral, nobody bothered to speak to the pallbearers, briefing them before the service. Instead, the funeral directors seeemd to "wing it", instructing the bearers as they went. Nobody had attempted to play the CD of special music before the service, so there was commotion in getting the specific tracks to play correctly. At the cemetery, there was a miscommunication about the Honor Squad, who were only instructed to do a flag presentation, not perform Full Military Honors.
In the end, Guy B started to wonder why he had spent (let's say $10,000) for that funeral, thinking that maybe a direct cremation would have been better. Guy B spent more money and tried to memorialize his dad the best way he knew how, but did not receive value for his money.
The point is, when examining funeral service costs, it is important to look beyond the actual prices and physical objects. You're not necessarily paying $10,000 because the firm happens to have a new 2011 hearse or needs money to update their chapel. Like many other SERVICE-ORIENTED professions, it is important to consider the time-investment that is made by the funeral director and staff, making sure that you, the consumer, is presented with information by which you can use to make educated decisions that result in value. Then following-up by providing the service that reaffirms those decisions.