Impressive Casket, Inc.

Gurnee, IL.

847-662-4664

Laura Wend

Affordable Casket, Inc.

Southgate, MI.

734-281-7450

Rob Karlin

California Casket Co.

Los Angeles, CA.

310-390-9969

Melanie Kirkland

Casket Room

St. Cloud, FL.

407-891-7788

Robert Schlitzberger

American Budget Casket

Houston, TX.

713-926-6060

Barbara Forbes

Casket Store

Dallas, TX.

The newly elected board vows the National Casket Retailers Association will become larger and much louder in 1999. The new board of directors got right down to business with the announcement of a $5,000 reward offering, to anyone with information that leads to the conviction of a member of the Funeral Industry including Funeral Trade Associations, for violations of Antitrust Law. Names have already started to come in from informants.

By now all casket stores have received the flyer "What Trade Associations Should Teach" and have distributed them to area Funeral Directors. The flyer is in response to the National Funeral Directors Association distribution of "Price Guidelines" and an Illinois Funeral Directors Association seminar in Bloomington, IL. On September 30^th with an announced agenda of Funeral Service Pricing & Packaging, Addressing Third Party Casket Sellers & Competition.

The National Casket Retailers Association continues to cast doubt on the National Funeral Directors Association pricing techniques. A number of Funeral Directors who were penalizing consumers with the "phony discount scheme" have stopped and many never wanted any part of it. Was the Seminar in Illinois an attempt to reassure and get Funeral Directors to continue the scheme?

One Funeral Home Lloyd Mandel Funeral Service (SCI), Skokie, IL. dropped the phony discount and returned to the usual price. Another Cuneo Columbian Funeral Home, Franklin Park, IL. only discontinued the pricing practice until he received a third party casket, then he went right back. And Gurnee (Salata) Funeral Home, Gurnee, IL. reduced his discount/penalty From $1800 down to $500 and needless to say he has since, received a third party casket.

The "phony pricing scheme" teaches Funeral Directors how to eliminate savings. It does not teach Funeral Directors to offer real savings or a true discount. The evidence proves it is a sham. In many cases we have obtained the before competition (Usual) GPL, After competition (Inflated) GPL, and After National Casket Retailers Association casts doubt (Back to Usual) GPL.