FUNERALS DON'T HAVE TO COST SO MUCH!
Funeral Consumers Alliance is a non-profit advocating your right to choose simple, meaningful, affordable

after-death arrangements. 

"First Call Pickup" Caution

When calling funeral homes you are considering to hire DO NOT give them the name of the deceased and/or be too specific about the location of a body UNTIL you have decided to hire them. (How to Shop for a Funeral Business to Hire) 

 

Why? In March 2023 we heard from a family whose father was basically stolen by a mortuary which assumed it had permission to pick up the body (on a Sunday, the day BEFORE the family was scheduled to meet with them for "an arrangement conference"). The Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT record showed that the family had "not yet decided" which mortuary to use. Despite that, the hospital released the body to the mortuary anyway.

Their Outcome: The family threatened to file a complaint with the Utah Department of Licensure, so the mortuary wisely negotiated resolution with the family instead.

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The Problem:

-There is nothing in Utah Funeral Licensure Rules about proper protocol for Funeral Directors to perform first call pickup.

-Hospitals DO have protocols for release of a body, but they DON'T openly share that protocol, and the ones we've seen exclude a process for anyone other than funeral directors or medical examiners picking up a body, which means you are dealing with uninformed, untrained staff.

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Be on the Offense when Calling a Mortuary
Use our mortuary price comparison surveys to compare prices at a glance.

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You can still Change your Mind and switch funeral homes if you don't like the final "Statement of Goods & Services Selected", even if a funeral home has the body already. Of course you have to pay for any services already rendered, but you can go get the body (after you acquire a burial transit permit), or a new funeral home can go get the body.

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Scam Warning from the FTC (occurring AFTER you have made arrangements with a funeral home but BEFORE the funeral service):
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2023/06/scammers-impersonate-funeral-home-staff-prey-mourning-families-can-it-get-any-lower

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