LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1850

Selected Independent Funeral Homes
Member by Invitation

There is no question that the cost of a funeral is of concern to most people.  In the 1950s and 1960s, many people profited from criticizing funerals, funeral directors and everything else associated with what they call the "American Way of Death."   Cost - not value - seemed to be their only concern.  Even today, this publicity has many people thinking funerals are much more expensive than they really are.  

At Halsted N. Gray - Carew & English, we hold fast to one rule about funeral expenses:  your personal needs and wishes determine the cost. 

We invite inquiries about the cost of our merchandise and services. It is important that, before selecting a funeral home, you obtain sufficient information to make informed decisions. This includes finding out what local firms in your vicinity are charging for their services and merchandise. The range of costs among funeral homes within any given area can be considerable. On request,  we are happy to provide our complete general pricelist and casket pricelist in order to help you compare costs before deciding which mortuary to use..

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Firstly, be aware that large corporations are acquiring  funeral homes in large numbers.  If you wish to know if a funeral home is owned by a large corporation, you must ask because they will normally not volunteer this information.  Why should this matter to you? 

The answer is simply ---"Because there can be a vast difference in the pricing policies, business practices and levels of service among the different types of funeral service providers."  

"Selected Independent Funeral Homes," a "membership-by-invitation organization to which Halsted N. Gray - Carew & English belongs, has produced a pamphlet which outlines some of the differences between the independent, locally-owned funeral homes and  corporately-owned firms  They have given us permission to offer it online for you:  

"How to Choose A Funeral Home." 

As an additional reference, you may want to visit  the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs website.  www.dca.ca.gov/cemetery/funeral.htm  They are the state regulatory agency for the cemetery and funeral industry.  You will find on their site, a pamphlet entitled "A Consumer Guide to  Funeral and Cemetery Purchases,"  along with other valuable information.  This pamphlet is also available upon request at the funeral home.   

The General Pricelist:

The Federal Trade Commission dictates the format for the funeral home pricelist and makes it mandatory for every funeral home to immediately give a copy of this pricelist to each  person who is inquiring at a funeral home, about it's services. Moreover, a funeral home is also required by the Federal Trade Commission, as well as most state regulatory agencies, to furnish price information over the telephone, to anyone inquiring about funeral services.

The general pricelist lists all items of service, facilities and transportation provided by the funeral home, thus allowing families to select only those items they desire. Certain items are non-declinable, such as the funeral home’s minimum professional service fee. This is a fee every funeral home charges to every customer who uses their services and basically helps cover a portion of that firm’s annual cost of operating. The General Pricelist, by law, must also list the price range for their merchandise, ie.: caskets, clothing, cremation urns, etc. Lastly, the General Pricelist provides information about the current costs of other items, such as the local health department filing fee, suggested minister honorarium, newspaper notice charges, flowers, etc.

The Casket Pricelist:

A casket or other container for the deceased can be a significant part of the cost of a funeral...or a very small part.  We carry an extensive selection of highest-quality caskets for your consideration.  There is never any pressure to select one casket over another.  No matter how expensive or inexpensive the casket you choose, you can be assured the quality of our service and commitment to you is unvarying. 

Your funeral home representative is required by law to show the client a copy of the casket pricelist before going into the room where caskets are displayed. The information on the casket pricelist must include, at a minimum, a description of the casket, of what material it is constructed, the type of exterior material and finish, color, the type and color of interior and the retail price of the casket.

At Halsted N. Gray - Carew and English, we go a bit further than that by providing the name of the casket manufacturer and the name and manufacturer's model number for every casket offered for sale at our funeral home.  The reason we do this is so that perspective client families may compare costs of the same items at other funeral homes.  If another funeral home does not provide this same information on their casket pricelist, you may want to ask them who makes the casket, the name of the casket and the model number of the casket so that you can make an adequate price comparison among other funeral homes.    This is extremely important information because there can be a grossly significant difference in the cost of a specific casket among funeral homes in the same city. 

Service package pricing: 

Many funeral firms offer various service pricing packages to their clientele, depending on what their desires are, i.e., Full Funeral Service, Graveside Service, Memorial Service, Direct Cremation, Direct Burial, and so on.. The  package fee should include all service items relative to a particular type of service. For instance, a package service fee for the complete traditional funeral should include the funeral home’s minimum professional service fee, and all other associated items that would normally go together to make up the complete traditional funeral service; such as:  embalming, additional preparation of the remains, transportation from local place of death, hearse, floral vehicle, use of facilities for visitation and funeral service or funeral service conducted at a church, etc.  At Halsted N. Gray - Carew & English, for instance, the traditional funeral service package fee includes all of the above, items which, if itemized, would cost the consumer much more. The cost of the casket selected at the funeral home is added to the service fee to arrive at a total funeral cost.

When inquiring about funeral service "package" pricing, it is very important that ask what is and is not included in the package. Surprisingly enough,  some firms will advertise a "total" fee for handling a direct cremation with no services, for example, but  will not include any transportation fees in that advertised total. The transportation fees when added, can increase the total cost up to a third more than the advertised cost.  Or, a firm may  advertise a complete service fee package, but then add weekend and/or evening and/or overtime charges on facilities, vehicles and other service items, thus increasing the total fee by several hundreds of dollars.

At Halsted N. Gray - Carew & English, we take special care to present our prices in a clear and  straightforward manner.  Our pricelists are always available on request.    Comparison of funeral prices is welcomed and encouraged.  When considering the complete cost: - casket and services, you will find our pricing compares very favorably with other funeral directors. Most of all, we feel very strongly that you should have all questions answered to your absolute satisfaction before entering into any kind of agreement with any funeral home.