In the age of the internet, consumers have gotten used to being able to look up the price of everything be it a washer or a high end sports car. However, one thing you cannot find on the internet, at least with any regularity or reliability, is the price of funeral services. This is due in no small part because the rules the Federal Trade Commission has had in effect for decades only requires funeral homes provide fee schedules to those come in person or call over the phone. Thanks to the huge disparity in cost between funeral homes, even in the same city, this is a great disservice to consumers who might not have the ability to fully compare prices when burdened with the death of a loved one. Hopefully the FTC will take to heart the increasing number of voices calling for mandatory price posting on the internet. Those that are having to plan a funeral should not have to devote a huge amount of time to discover prices, especially when there is little money, in this era of easy information.
See Michelle Singletary, Finding prices for funeral homes shouldn’t be this difficult, Washington Post, November 3, 2015.
Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
