Example : Mr. Morton has chosen casket A. You should allow him to read the written warranty that the manufacturer offers, but you must not adopt as your own any statement about preservation or protection that you know to be in violation of the Rule. You may want to inform Mr. Morton that the manufacturer has made certain statements about the product, but that you do not have personal knowledge of the protective value of the merchandise. 6. Cash advance items. If you mark up the charge on cash advance items or receive a commission, discount, or rebate that is not passed on to the consumer, you cannot state that the price charged for the cash advance item is the same as your cost. If there is an added charge, or if you receive and What consumers cannot be required to purchase You cannot require consumers to buy unwanted or unneeded goods and services to get the items that they do want. Consumers must be able to choose only the goods and services that they want, with certain limited exceptions noted below. Accordingly, you cannot condition the furnishing of any funeral good or service to a consumer on the purchase of any other funeral good or service except for your basic services fee and any items required by law. You also cannot refuse to serve a family because they do not purchase one particular item (e.g., a casket or embalming) or a combination of items or services from you. In addition, you cannot include the charge for an optional item of service (such as embalming) in a non-declinable basic services fee. This would have the effect of making the optional item a required purchase for every customer. The Rule expressly prohibits you from charging any fee, as a condition of furnishing any funeral goods or services, other than the fees for: ● The basic services of funeral director and staff (the one non-declinable fee allowed by the Rule); ● The funeral goods and services selected by the consumer; and ● The funeral goods and services required to be purchased by law (or by the cemetery or crematory), as identified and explained on the itemized Statement. This means that you cannot charge an additional fee or surcharge to consumers who purchase a casket elsewhere. Such a fee would not fall within the three categories of allowable charges listed above. This extra “casket handling” fee is simply a hidden penalty for those consumers who exercise the right to purchase a casket from another seller. Prior approval for embalming You can charge a fee for embalming, only in one of the following three circumstances : 1. State or local law requires embalming under the particular circumstances regardless of any wishes the family might have. If this is the case, you must note on the itemized Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected that embalming was performed because of a legal requirement and briefly explain that requirement. Note : Federal law does not require embalming under any circumstances. 2. You have obtained prior approval for embalming from a family member or other authorized person. (The Rule does not address the issue of who is an “authorized person” to give such approval. That is a matter of state or local law.) You must get express permission to embalm; it cannot be implied.
keep a rebate, commission, or trade or volume discount, you must tell the consumer that the price is not the same as your cost. You do this by including the mandatory disclosure on your Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected. The Rule does not prevent you from adding a service charge, nor does it require you to disclose the amount of that charge. However, some states may have laws or regulations that prohibit any mark-up on cash advance items. 7. Other misrepresentations. Other kinds of misrepresentations, though not specifically prohibited by the Funeral Rule, are also illegal. The FTC Act prohibits deceptive acts or practices. Likewise, the consumer protection laws of most states prohibit deceptive practices. Moreover, you cannot alter your prices based upon the particular selections of each customer. Such a practice also would defeat the purpose of the Rule to give people accurate, itemized price information that affords them the opportunity to select the arrangements they want. Exceptions : The three exceptions to the consumer’s general right to choose only the goods and services wanted are: ● The one non-declinable basic services fee; ● Items required by law (or by the cemetery or crematory); and ● Impossible, impractical or excessively burdensome requests. You do not have to comply with such requests. However, you cannot refuse a request simply because you don’t like it or don’t approve of it. Example : During July, a family requests that a funeral occur five days after death but does not want embalming. You don’t have refrigeration facilities. Your state law does not require embalming under any circumstances. However, in this situation, you can refuse to provide these arrangements, unless the family buys embalming. You can consider such a request impractical or excessively burdensome. Note : If a customer requests an item that you do not normally offer, you do not have to comply with the request. However, you are free to do so. “Free” Items : You cannot list any of the 16 items required to be separately itemized on the GPL as “free” or “no charge.” Because you recover the cost of the free item in your other prices on the GPL, the customer may not have the choice of rejecting the charge. However, you can offer items not required to be separately itemized on the General Price List (such as acknowledgment cards) at “no charge,” as long as your state or local laws do not prohibit this practice. Example : A family states that they want a viewing before burial and asks you to “prepare” the deceased. You must specifically ask the family for permission to embalm and must receive their permission before you embalm the body. In order to obtain the family’s express consent to embalm, you must: (1) specifically ask for and obtain their permission, and (2) not misrepresent when embalming is required. Example : While making funeral arrangements, you tell a family that they will be charged for embalming, no matter what type of funeral arrangements they choose. If they agree to the funeral arrangements in general, this does not constitute express consent to embalm. In addition, if you charge a family for embalming here, you would be charging a second non-declinable fee that violates the Rule.
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Book Code: FMA0825
EliteLearning.com/Funeral
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