Plan Your Funeral: 60 Minutes Features FCA

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Home Membership/Donate BLOG- The Daily Dirge Find a Local FCA Bookstore Forum Conference About Contact Us 60 Minutes Features FCAThursday, 17 May 2012 23:25 E-mail

60 Minutes viewers!—If you caught the recent story on consumer abuses at cemeteries you'll want to learn how to protect yourself:

—FCA's free Consumer's Guide to Cemetery Purchases
Everything you need to know about funeral and burial purchases is in the book the burialbusiness doesn't want you to read: Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death. Bonus—you can download the chapter that covers your state laws and consumer protections for just $5!

—Your local Funeral Consumers Alliance chapter is your best advocate for finding meaningful, dignified, and affordable end-of-life arrangements.

Set your Tivos! 60 Minutes will air a segment on rampant consumer abuses in the cemetery industry this Sunday, May 20, 2012, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The investigation will feature an interview with FCA executive director Josh Slocum talking to Anderson Cooper. FCA has worked with the 60 Minutes team for more than a year to represent the consumer's side of this grim story.

From cbs.com:

(CBS News) Problems at America's cemeteries, including exhuming bodies so plots can be resold, are raising questions about whether this part of the multibillion dollar "death-care" business needs more monitoring. 60 Minutes examines this largely unexamined industry, which in many cases is controlled by large corporations, and which consumer advocates believe may be taking advantage of people at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives. Anderson Cooper reports this story for a special edition of 60 Minutes Sunday, May 20 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.

In one of the most egregious cases, workers at Burr Oak Cemetery near Chicago had been removing headstones and coffins and dumping bodies in mass graves so plots could be resold. Says Sheriff Tom Dart, "This was all about greed and overarching that is the fact that these areas are so horribly unregulated, it allows for that to happen," he says. "There was no record of anything...how many people are supposed to be buried here...and truly, in any cemetery do you know...who is under there?" asks Dart.

"It's sort of the Wild West," says Josh Slocum, executive director of Funeral Consumers Alliance, a non-profit watchdog group. Slocum believes more monitoring of cemeteries is necessary. He says that since 1984 the Federal Trade commission has required funeral homes to provide bereaved consumers with clear price lists and other disclosures. "You can think of that as a consumer bill of rights at the funeral home," Slocum says. "But those rights stop at the cemeteries."

A number of the cemeteries featured in Cooper's report belong to Service Corporation International, or SCI, the largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in North America.

At SCI's Eden Memorial Park Cemetery near Los Angeles, where plots average $8,000, groundskeepers have said they were ordered to cram new graves so close to old ones that existing burial containers were broken and bones were thrown out in the cemetery dump.

60 Minutes also obtained recent video of engraved stones lying submerged in a pond at the edge of SCI's Star of David Memorial Park in North Lauderdale, Florida. The underwater video also reveals what appear to be parts of concrete burial containers that are used to line graves.

SCI declined to give 60 Minutes an interview. Off-camera, company executives said the company acquired Star of David cemetery in 2006 and does not believe any human remains were dumped in the pond. At Eden Memorial, the company says it was only able to identify a handful of potential problems mentioned by its groundskeepers. It says extensive claims of wrongdoing are not justified.

Cooper also speaks to a woman who says she had to pay twice as much as the cemetery salesman led her to believe she would have to pay for a plot at Mt. Olive cemetery in Chicago. To use the plot six years after she prepaid $2,500 for it, she says she was told she would have to pay another $2,550 to actually dig the grave and then bury the deceased.

Paul Elvig, a former cemetery operator, regulator, and leading spokesman for the industry, tells Anderson Cooper, "I think any scenario you want to say probably has happened. I don't think it happens on broad scale, I really don't." Elvig doesn't agree with Slocum that there is lack of oversight in the cemetery industry; he says the problems and occasional scandals that arise need to be put in perspective to volume of burials being performed every day. "When you talk about 6,500 burials and cremations a day in over 45,000 possibly active cemeteries...it is very uncommon."

But consumer advocate Josh Slocum tells Cooper. "I have no problem conceding that most cemeteries aren't digging up bodies, but...there are everyday, ongoing abuses that happen to funeral and cemetery consumers that are not headline-grabbing, and that desperately need attention."

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 June 2012 16:28 ) Comments (17) 1 Sunday, 20 May 2012 21:38 Erica You could have reminded Cooper that there are other corporations that run cemetery's and funeral homes. 2 Sunday, 20 May 2012 22:04 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director I'm sure you know, Erica, that lots of material from interviews stays on the cutting room floor and that the subject has no control over the final piece and what stays in. 3 Monday, 21 May 2012 11:33 Jennifer Kaplan, S.C.I. Employee As an employee of S.C.I./Dignity, I am compelled to say that the unfortunate few events that were featured in this segment, really have more to do with Individuals/management of those locations,NOT S.C.I.! The Funeral homes and Cemeteries I personally represent, I am PROUD to be a part of! S.C.I. The funeral homes and Cemeteries featured were once privately owned, and sold to S.C.I. And sometimes, unfortunately with past problems that came along with it! S.C.I., in no way, shape or form condones any of the precedures that were spoken of! The woman that claimed she purchased plots, and was then "tricked" into paying double by paying for Opening and Closingof the grave, unfortunately did not do her homework! Any cemetery, prmiv 4 Monday, 21 May 2012 11:35 Jennifer Kaplan Any cemetery private, or corporately owned charged for the property(plot) and also an opening and closing. That is common practice. Please, I encourage all to shop around, and I guarantee you will see the difference in the care I stand behind, you will receive with a Dignity provider! 5 Monday, 21 May 2012 11:43 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director Your company uses unethical and predatory sales practices on grieving consumers around the country. The problem is very much with SCI as a company. Hopefully you'll one day find a position with an upstanding firm so you won't feel required to cheerlead for such a shady operation. 6 Monday, 21 May 2012 14:25 N/A Josh-You speak of high pressure sales tactics...however I see that you sell items on your website, meant to protect consumers. Now would it not make sense that you are willing to blast one company for the sensational story and to direct traffic to your website? When any story like this is told, it is best to look at both sides of the story. I have no interest in either side, except that the main problem in our country seems to be money. You stand to gain from what you are doing. More investigation would be nice. I am always hesitant to heed advice when it seems someone is blasting one person or one company in particular. It seems moreso there is a personal vendetta rather than public good in mind. 7 Monday, 21 May 2012 14:33 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director 1. I fail to see how selling a few books on our site could be compared to high-pressure sales tactics at a cemetery. That's really odd. Do you think there's something immoral or illegal about a nonprofit selling modestly priced books to fund its budget? Given that the funeral industry amounts to about $15 billion a year in revenue it seems strange you're alarmed at a shoestring nonprofit with a budget of less than 200K a year.

2. I did not write, direct, or produce the story. 60 Minutes did. I was interviewed. If you dislike their focus your complaint is with them, not me.

3. You can plainly see for yourself on this site the voluminous material we've collected over the years (that's "investigation") on the industry. That we make freely available to consumers, just like you.

4. It's hard to believe that someone with no interest in this issue would come to the conclusion that Funeral Consumers Alliance has a personal vendetta against SCI. I suppose Consumer Reports has a personal vendetta against Ford when they rate one of their cars low? What a very strange conclusion to come to. 8 Monday, 21 May 2012 14:47 N/A Josh-First, thank you for taking the time to respond, as I am sure you are busy with this story, a topic that is very "touchy". Secondly, my concern is simply with anyone (news corporation, nonprofit organization, individual, service corporation, etc.) who, in my humble consumer opinion, seems to make it a point to denounce someone specifically. Again, as a consumer, I found the story very one sided. I have let CBS know my concerns as well as ALL involved. Again, this is coming from a consumer, the very person you are hoping and trying to educate and protect. I find that work very worthwhile and you should be commended. However, putting yourself out there in any way, shape or form, does open you up for criticism, whether negative or positive. Again, I am a consumer: the person you are trying to protect. I apologize if you take offense to anything I say; my comments are simply aimed at and end that I hope encourages people such as yourself to strive for accurate reporting. I just had alarms go off in my head when it seemed the story took aim at one person. Consumer Reports does car reviews on a regular basis, just as I am sure you do. I just found this story...lacking...I suppose.

Again, thank you for your time, as I know you are busy. 9 Monday, 21 May 2012 14:55 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director Well, thank you for taking the time to comment. We've got an open door.

I'm not sure what bothers you so much about naming names. You may be personally averse to conflict but I'm afraid when companies and businesses break the law and abuse consumers they need to be named and shamed. I'm honestly having a heck of a time trying to understand your objection to that.

Are you watching a different story? Who is this "person" you think the story is aimed at? SCI is a Wall Street company. What am I missing here? And if it were a person, why would you be more upset at a ne'er do well being named for his misdeeds than you are at the *actual misdeeds by the ne'er do well?* Do you see why that set of priorities is. . puzzling? 10 Monday, 21 May 2012 14:57 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director Also, why was the story one-sided? Did you not see the industry spokesman, Paul Elvig, who was given a chance to defend his business?

Did you not see that SCI refused to talk to 60 Minutes? What, pray tell, would you have them do?

Sometimes one side is wrong. Period. If you're used to mainstream journalism and its false "balance", whereby everyone's words are deemed to be equally truthful, then I suppose you might be shocked when a news program actually points out that one party is behaving very badly indeed. 11 Monday, 21 May 2012 15:07 N/A Josh-Again, thanks for responding. You are right that I am averse to conflict. I don't like it, as I don't believe anyone does. I am not trying to be rude at all, yet feel as though I am somehow being "bashed" for stating my opinion. After this statement, I have nothing more to contribute to this conversation. I know that SCI is a corporation, not a person, so I apologize for stating "person" towards the end of my comment. I think you knew what I meant, yet are somehow playing a semantics game at this point. I have my thoughts on this topic, and I can see now, that I am unwelcome here, regardless of your open door policy. I apologize for wasting your time. Thank you again for your time and the work that you do to protect consumers. 12 Monday, 21 May 2012 15:10 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director I'm sorry you're upset, but you have a very thin skin indeed. Conflict is a part of life, and it can be constructive. Be thankful there are people out there willing to do the confrontational things you're not comfortable with. You enjoy consumer protection laws because of those people who do the work you want to believe doesn't help.

No one is bashing you, and no one is playing semantic games. 13 Tuesday, 22 May 2012 00:18 Jaime King The Media has a SERIOUS leftwing bias. The producers at 60 minutes and some of the reporters have all had trouble with accurately telling the truth. Lying, fibbing, twisting, shining light on a small speck, presenting things in a totally slanted manner is how they get paid for ratings. The story is based on incidents that are isolated, sensational, and in states where there is very little oversight, and during times of private ownership. Every GOOD industry has it's bad dark side. I wish there was more objective reporting, which states have proper oversight, statitics of the frequency on the incidents being reported against the total volume of transactions. Also, a producer will pick up interviewees that will support their BIASED angle. You Josh are that person. It's good work you are doing, there are a-moral people in the funeral business, but they are NOT the majority. Why weren't the families who seriously benefited from the cost savings and who avoided grief decision making (by doing Pre-NEED), instead of getting hammered during a time of need...why weren't they interviewed, to balance out the BIASED strong angle. I wish FOXNEWS would get ahold of this, and show the BALANCED version of this report and how off kilter alot of Anderson Cooper's reporting really is, I mean this guy comes from CNN and they are known to fabricate for ratings and not come full circle when they have made mistakes reporting falsehoods. 14 Tuesday, 22 May 2012 00:24 Josh Slocum, FCA Exec. Director Your concern is noted, Jaime. 15 Thursday, 31 May 2012 12:48 Victim I don't know about the one sideness of this issue, but know that it goes on everyday even to the point of me having to deal with it today. I have proof and am seeking counsel. 16 Friday, 15 June 2012 14:41 Family Sold Funeral Home to SCI- BAD MOVE WISHED WE NEVER DID As a family member that sold its funeral homes in the east to SCI I can honestly say it was the biggest mistake that our family ever did. I wish we did not seel our name because it is completly trashed with what this company has done to our business.

I get call all the time from friends. CI demands funds up front, Familys wait hours for their loved ones to be picked up when they pass. The funeral homes we trated like a church are now run down, dirty and just disgusting. I cring when I walk into my familys old funeral homes.

The people working there are all "company men/woman" until they are of no more use and thrown to the side. Some are arrogant and just plain lousy people to deal with.

I cant express my disgust more. STAY away folks there are so many mom and pop shops that will actually treat you as you should through a bad time this company WILL NOT and they will charge you through the NOSE. 17 Thursday, 21 June 2012 12:58 abel hurtado, mexic city I'm the embalsamador mas grande del mundo
the best! yea ! my mail: hurtado.abel@hotmail.com

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