Never heard of the company, but my mother and Grandmother preplanned Grandma's funeral at the local funeral home and she RENTED the casket, but bought the liner. Sure saved some big bucks.
Kathy G in MI

Is there more that one funeral home? Here they seem to very considerate of the income of seniors. We have made some arrangements and paid a certain amount and can add to that at any time. Why does the funeral home not want to use that company? Would they charge extra to have it shiped to the home? There are all sorts of prices for the casket, but there are other charges also. The place here gave us a complete breakdown, a book to fill out, for futher reference, right down to the songs we want. Are you in a position where you can go and actually talk to them? Does your mother belong to a church? Could you talk to the pastor?
Good luck and hope things work out.

Try another funeral home. An alarming number of facilities in the US are owned by one corporate entity, despite their friendly family-owned-sounding names. And corporate entities have no interest in you saving money.

I deal with funerals and funeral homes all the time being a hospice social worker. I was told by one of the funeral directors that it's okay with them if you order a casket online, but they can't guarantee the quality of it. He went on to add that they fear the bottom falling out of the thing while it's being carried and how traumatic that would be for everyone. He said you can't tell what the quality is like online. Also, if you order one online now for your Mom, you will have to store it someplace and they don't have room at the funeral home for that.

Good luck!
Sue

My late DH went to the funeral home that his family used, and arranged his own funeral.
When he died, I have to admit "upgrading" a bit...but I knew I was basically following his wishes. After all, it was his money that paid for it.

Kathy G in MI, Excuse me for asking, but how do you rent a casket? Assuming the casket goes back to the funeral home, what is the deceased buried in?

I'm asking this seriously, not to make light of it.

Sue

Sue...caskets are often rented when the family has a visitation followed by cremation.

Sue VA, It was done thru the funeral home and Grandma was buried in the liner (it lifts out) and then placed into the vault (cement box) in the liner for burial. She was not cremated.
Kathy G in MI

Excuse my going a bit OT, but...has anyone made arrangements to donate a body to medical science? My late mother did that. There were no expenses, just the gift of her body to aid medical students leaning anatomy. We held a memorial service later.

If I don't do that, I'd like to be buried in one of the new forest cemeteries -- no caskets or vaults -- no markers. Your body just returns to the earth.

Sorry that I don't know how to make this site clickable, but it describes a person's rights when it comes to funeral arrangements. Funeral homes HAVE to allow you to buy your own casket, but I'm sure they'll try their darndest to dissuade you from doing so. The last I saw, (I was so surprised!) Costco sells them too. I'm pretty sure a casket bottom would never fall out--shame on that funeral home for trying to scare people.

http://www.planningafuneral.com/FTC-Funeral-Rule.aspx

Hope this helps....

Here is a link that might be useful: Funeral Rules

I have not used that company, but I did learn something about pre paid when my husband died. What you are buying is just an insurance policy and you can use it at any funeral home. The funeral home I used cremated my husband for $800 which included the urn and death certificates. The funeral director I used told me that when our Mom dies we can use the pre paid insurance at their home for what we need and we will be refunded the left over money. He also told me in his schooling they were trained to take advantage of loved one's vulnerability during the loss of a loved one, he said this company will not allow that. I know that to be true because when I said I wanted a stone he did not take me to the expensive ones, but to the cheaper ones that most people bought. People have told me that a place that is that inexpensive can't be good, but it is. There are 2 other funeral homes that charges the same low rates, so lots of competition in our city.

Before I learned that, my Sis bought a pre paid and when she used it she found out it did not cover the funeral service only the burial. She did not have a funeral, but his children wanted a memorial service and just to use the room it cost $1,800.

Kathy G in MI, thanks for explaining that. I knew caskets could be rented for cremation, but for burial, that was all new to me.

I have prepaid for myself, but I know my DD and DS have made no arrangements. I'm going to tell them about this.

Thanks.

Sue

I learned about renting caskets when my mother died. I thought it was a great idea, though my father decided against it.