Funeral Home Whistleblower Exposes Industry Scams That Pillage Vulnerable Families
JGVibes
An anonymous funeral director and embalmer speaks out about how funeral homes take advantage of families and rip them off during some of their most difficult and vulnerable times.
The funeral industry is one of the most well hidden rackets in the country, conning billions of people out of their hard earned money, while also creating health and environmental risks.
Recently, an anonymous funeral home worker has posted an in depth, graphic and highly accurate depiction of the funeral industry’s dark side. He blows the whistle on how loved ones bodies are mutilated, how human fluids, organs and toxic embalming fluid flushed directly into the sewer system. He also discusses the psychological manipulation that many funeral directors engage in, forcing people to pay for things they don’t need and cant afford.
I can say with complete confidence that this persons words are true, because I myself was also in this industry as an apprentice funeral director for 7 years, and i quit for the very same reasons that this person has discussed.
The post started by saying that:
I’m a funeral director. Our entire industry is basically a pyramid scheme. It blows my mind how blindly people accept that certain things “have to” be done to the body of their loved one. Think about that for a second: this is the last tangible remnant of someone you loved and you are now going to pay stranger thousands (oftentimes HUNDERDS of thousands) of dollars to (warning: graphic from here on out) systematically mutilate that body.
Part of the Reddit post talks about how medical waste and toxic chemicals are flushed into the sewers:
The process creates an enormous environmental problem; using toxic chemicals which are flushed into our sewers along with those pureed livers, hearts, spleens, pancreas’ which then also flow into our sewers. Oh, what’s that? I told you embalming is a legal requirement for public sanitation? That’s utter bullshit. If anything, it creates a sanitation problem if the cemetery you use is anywhere near a municipal water line, which most “commercial” cemeteries are.
Notice that the funeral director said that he lies to families about embalming being a legal requirement, this is a common tactic that all of the funeral homes I have worked at used on a daily basis. In the office behind closed doors funeral directors would laugh and brag about how they would con families into services or products that were totally unnecessary, just by telling the family that it was a legal requirement.
The author continues:
In fact, in most states, the law only requires embalming if you are transporting a body across state lines or are not planning to inter for more than 72 hours and/or having a public viewing. It has not a single thing to do with public health. It’s a cash cow, plain and simple. It is barbaric, costly, and does not keep the body from deteriorating. But we’ll tell you just about anything you need to hear to get you to agree to it.
What I’m doing here is incredibly illegal and I know it, but on the slim-to-none-chance that you’re a sharp-minded consumer in the midst of your grief and call my state’s licensing board about it, all I have to do simply tell them you were mistaken. I’ve seen funeral directors force-feed families absolute horseshit – saying anything – to get them to sign a contract. Here’s a hint: don’t sign any pre-printed “form” contracts. Most of the contracts we use are super vague, so we can charge you for just about anything and justify it by pointing to your signature on the dotted line. It is in your best interest to only agree to specific itemized charges – i.e., have the hearse but no limousines. Or have hair/makeup done without any embalming. The law is very specific and on your side, but we count on your ignorance and vulnerability.
The following passage I found to be extremely alarming, not because I was surprised, but because my former employer used the same disgusting tactic time and time again.
Another well-worn sales tactic is to try to shame you into going along with the exorbitant cost, implying you didn’t really love grandma enough if you spend less than five figures with me. You should know, by the way, that everything you buy from me – a guestbook, prayer cards, even the damn obituary notices – is marked up at least 200%. See the picture I’m painting here, kids? Smoke and mirrors. It hasn’t always been like this, but with the corporatization of the death care industry, the almighty dollar is the only consideration anymore.
Everything in the funeral industry is a big show, with a very dark background. While it is true that caring for the deceased is an important and delicate task, the way it is currently being done is truly barbaric and manipulative as this whistleblower has laid out in his very detailed report.
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J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter-culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance, a staff writer, reporter for Intellihub.com and Executive Producer of the Bob Tuskin Radio Show. You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com