Date/time:Monday, April 10, at 1 p.m., and Tuesday, April 11, at 10 a.m.
Location:106 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Description:Funerals and burials are among the most universal purchases American consumers make. Most individuals will make funeral and burial arrangements for themselves or someone else at some point in life. The nation's funeral homes and cemeteries handle almost two million funerals and burials a year. These facilities represent a $12 billion industry. The average cost of a funeral, burial and monument is $7,520.
Despite the commonness of the transaction, paying for death-related services can put consumers in a vulnerable financial position, experts say. Grieving consumers often do not shop around for a funeral home or cemetery, as they would with other major purchases. They can be emotional and therefore susceptible to heavy-handed sales pitches. Furthermore, the industries are inconsistently regulated, creating openings for unscrupulous opportunists to prey on consumers.
Given the aging population, the leaders of the Special Committee on Aging, Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman, and Sen. John Breaux, ranking member, decided to investigate consumer issues in the funeral and cemetery industries. They will hold a two-day hearing (1) to educate consumers about the industries (2) to expose bad practices and (3) to explore the extent of consumer satisfaction.
Monday, April 10, 2000, at 1 p.m.
Panel I
Mr. Irwin Karp, Former Pre-need Sales Executive, Convicted Felon, California Department of Corrections, Tehachapi, Calif. (live via video teleconferencing)
Panel II
Consumer, to be announced, who settled a lawsuit for warranty breaches when her grandmother's sealed casket leaked remains in a Pittsburgh, Pa., area cemetery, Leesburg, Va.
