the Cost of Funeral Homes

It was part of a package deal including embalming, casket, cremation, an urn, and a burial plot arranged in Michigan. It didn't include air fare from Phoenix to Detroit, and the cost of the church viewing and services at $1500 was refunded. The price stated above is the cost after the refund was issued.

My mother died almost two years ago, and we went about . The whole thing was rather stupid and seemed designed to beat up on emotionally fragile people to guilt them into giving up more money. It made me angry, but it appears to be illegal to bury a dead body without going through a state-licensed burial service.

In any case, the pastor presiding over the church ceremony was annoying, using the service to pander for new parishioners, and was self-important and condescending when told his behavior was substandard. We had to browbeat the funeral home into refunding the cost of the church. Even so considering the process involves boxing a body up and setting it on fire, then boxing up the ashes and putting them in the ground, it's still an extraordinarily expensive proposition, but that is typical for the industry.

Even ignoring the whole death of a family member, it was an unpleasant experience.

Get someone with an objective perspective, someone who wasn't close to the deceased, to go with you if you're the "bereaved" and are looking for burial services because the objective friend will be less likely to fall for the "doesn't your dead friend deserve heavily-marked-up flowers, over-priced funeral services, or the super-deluxe casket with extra-springy springs?" nonsense.