What are my legal rights as a consumer?

The law, better known as the F.T.C (Federal Trade Commission) Funeral Rule, protects consumers by allowing you to purchase funeral items, such as caskets, from a source other than a funeral home, without being penalized in any way.   When you begin the arrangement process, the Funeral Director, by law, must give you a General Price List of the goods and services they provide. With the exception of the non-declinable fee, (the basic fee of the Funeral Director and staff which must be accepted), you can select or omit any item on their General Price List. The Funeral Director cannot change the prices on their list,  charge you a fee, or offer you a different price list, to penalize you if you wish to buy a casket elsewhere.

What does Select Caskets do?

Select Caskets sells caskets directly to consumers at about 1/2 the cost of funeral homes.

Why are our caskets so much less than funeral homes?

We buy our caskets in huge quantities directly from the manufacturer. Funeral Homes buy them one at a time from distributors, middlemen or highly priced sales people.

Will my funeral home accept the casket I purchase from Select Caskets?

Federal law, since 1994, states that funeral homes must accept the casket, without charging you a handling fee or manipulating their prices in any way to penalize you.

What will the Funeral Director's reaction be?

Of course, the funeral home won't be pleased that they are losing the casket sale. They will try to convince you that you are making a mistake buying a casket from a retailer. They will tell you that it might come in damaged, that they can't be responsible, that it may not fit in the grave, etc.. They may try to convince you that their caskets are superior in order to substantiate their significantly higher prices and have you believe that the savings are not worth it.  Meanwhile, the savings are significant. On average, we will save you at least $1,000 and in most cases, closer to $2,000 on the casket. We can also save you a great deal on  flowers and vaults. We can also give you invaluable information prior to you making the funeral arrangements so that you are an informed consumer.