T. Scott Gilligan (National Funeral Directors Association General Council) has
responded to the "Sham Discount Package" with a five page letter addressed to
David Cook (owner of the Casket Outlet in S.L.C. Utah and National Casket Retailers
Association member who has the most Complaints on file with the Federal Trade Commission
and A.G.) "The complaints raised by your organization have, for the most part,
already been addressed and resolved by the
Federal Trade Commission and the courts" Citing PFDA v Federal Trade Commission
again. Gilligan goes on to say "The National Casket Retailers Association is taking
on a pricing Practice that is used by Retailers across the United States. For example, An
automobile manufacturer may assemble a Package of optional items and offer them at a
Discount to
encourage consumers to purchase them. If that package contains a CD player, all
independent companies that install CD players in automobiles will be at a competitive
disadvantage. Consumers, who may have purchased the CD player from the independent company
rather than purchasing the more expensive CD player from the automobile manufacturer may
elect to purchase the discount package that includes the CD player. The automobile
manufacturer by using its advantage of being able to offer all goods in a package, has
been able to effectively compete against the independent CD player installer."
Maynard Cheris (National Casket Retailers Association Executive Director) Asks
"Do you pay more for the car If you don't buy the CD player from the dealer? Do you
pay more for a TV if you don't buy the Stand? Why do grieving consumers with tight time
constraints pay more for a Funeral when they do not buy the casket from the Funeral Home?
Gilligan and his group make no distinction between a legitimate discount and a phony
discount. When you increase prices and then discount back to the usual price there is no
savings to the consumer and no legitimate discount. The sham discount package is a devious
method of eliminating competition by forcing the consumer to buy a casket from the funeral
home."
Laurie Meehan (a staff attorney with the Federal Trade Commission in Washington
D.C.) was quoted in the Feb, 5 1998 issue of the Death Care Advisor as saying "Am I
surprised? (About the large volume of National Casket Retailers
Association members complaints) Not really because the issues they're addressing
concern the ability of casket stores to exist and compete. They are raising issues with
violations of the funeral rule and unfair trade practices, and that is within our
jurisdiction."
Robert Harden (National Funeral Directors Association Executive Director) Was also
quoted in the Feb 5, 1998 issue of Death Care Advisor as saying, "Frankly I don't
Consider them a threat. I think they're finding out that they just don't like competition
from some funeral homes. All we are doing is competitively pricing our
merchandise"
Maynard Cheris Says "Hardens use of the word "we" Kind of
confirms the conspiracy theory"
Robert Ninker (Illinois Funeral Directors Association Executive Director) Boasted
Feb 12, 1998 in a Chicago newspaper article "Casket retailers like Cheris (Impressive
Casket) usually fail in about two years"
Maynard Cheris asks "I wonder if the Sham Discount Package is Ninkers silver
bullet."
If Ninker, Gilligan and Harden are wrong... who pays!