questions & answers

Question: My mother recently passed away while on hospice care. I did not have pre-arrangements made. Hospice offered to arrange services with the least expensive local funeral home. Since this is hospice' area of expertise, I agreed. This funeral home charged nearly twice what the other two businesses in the area charge. This company also was not the coroner designated on call mortuary for this particular month? I feel this is a scam, what can I do?

Answer: This is not a truly legal matter but here are some suggestions to deal with this overcharge. 1) Discuss your concern with Hospice, since they were the party working with the funeral home. If they agree with you, perhaps they can negotiate a refund. They would likely have leverage, if the funeral home desires further referrals. 2) If Hospice can't help, and if the funeral home is a member of the Better Business Bureau, contact the BBB to investigate the overcharges. If your claim is valid, the BBB has their own form of “leverage”.