Discount Cremation Services

[Kelemvor]

Assuming this is about as Off Topic as it can get I don't know if anyone will have any information on this but here goes..

I'm investigating Funeral Homes and Cremation services for someone who is short on life. We are looking for a place that will only handle the actual pieces from death through cremation but not host anything like a visitation as that's all being done at a church.

When I call a full service Funeral Home where you would normally have a viewing, visitation, service, etc, they charge around $3,000 just for a cremation and everything that goes along with it (picking up the body, doing any paperwork required, the actual cremation, etc.

However, when I google for Cremation Service, I find tons of places that seem to only do cremations and could cost under $1,000.

I'm wondering if anyone has done any research into these types of places and if there's a reason to pay more to go with an established Funeral Home vs going with a Cremation place itself.

Thanks!

 

[BoomerD]

Neptune Society used to be fairly inexpensive.

 

[Thump553]

Both my parents went this way, and did it prepaid. No issues at all with my mom. The funeral director had a gambling problem and went belly up before my dad passed. (THe state put him in jail and then he coughed up restitution). Each time is cost about a grand but this was a decade plus ago.

Shop around and act dispassionate when dealing with them in person. Best to do it now because those guys play on your emotions, want to sell you fancy urns, caskets to burn them it, etc. My dad had no interest in paying for any of that crap and I like the salesman know that upfront. Supposedly the law requires the body be burnt in something-I ended up paying something like $100 for a cardboard box.

These days I'd start my research with a google search but that wasn't really an option back then.

PS: As I recall there were surcharges if the body had a pacemaker, artificial joints or was over 300 lbs or so.

 

[nakedfrog]

My ex was cremated last month, according to her parents it was close to two grand for everything (we also used their facility for the gathering).

 

[Jimzz]

Yea call around and Costco sells Urns so order that in advance as well.

My grandmother worked at a funeral home and did not do any embalming, viewing, etc... Just plucked her in the coffin and in the ground, that's all.

 

[Kelemvor]

I'm mainly just wondering about going to a place like Smith & Jones Funeral Home vs Cremation Service Inc. When one is $3,000 and one is $995, am I just paying for the name of the funeral home or am I not getting things I need from the cheapie place?

 

[Scarpozzi]

I thought of the scene prior to this one when they settled on using the coffee can, but always think back to this:

 

[Jimzz]

I'm mainly just wondering about going to a place like Smith & Jones Funeral Home vs Cremation Service Inc. When one is $3,000 and one is $995, am I just paying for the name of the funeral home or am I not getting things I need from the cheapie place?

Same thing. Many times 1 will bring the bodies to the other.
Not all places can cremate but they ill take your money and then just bring them to the other place.

 

[gorcorps]

This may be a rather odd question given how our society treats death and we cling to our loved ones forever, but is there an option to cremate and NOT take the ashes? I've never been comfortable or understood the point of keeping the remains, regardless of what gets done with them. Guess it depends on what their wishes were, but for me just burn me up and leave. I don't need to be sprinkled anywhere.

 

[Brainonska511]

I thought of the scene prior to this one when they settled on using the coffee can, but always think back to this:

GOD DAMN IT! Look, just because we're bereaved, that doesn't make us saps!

 

[Ichinisan]

When looking for discount cremation services, think "Tri-State Crematory."

-Ray Brent Marsh

 

[mmntech]

Bart's Crematorium. You kill 'em, we grill 'em.

This may be a rather odd question given how our society treats death and we cling to our loved ones forever, but is there an option to cremate and NOT take the ashes?

Yes, you can inter the cremated remains in niches at most cemeteries. Either in the ground or in a Columbarium. This is what we did with my Granddad. I find the practice of keeping the remains in the house a bit disturbing. Even if it is just inert material.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbarium

 

[Ichinisan]

This may be a rather odd question given how our society treats death and we cling to our loved ones forever, but is there an option to cremate and NOT take the ashes?

Yes.

[edit]

Oh. Shut down

 

[twinrider1]

if there's a reason to pay more to go with an established Funeral Home vs going with a Cremation place itself.

Thanks!

No. You can work directly with the crematory. This was my father's wish. It was prepaid and they handled the paperwork and transportation.

 

[John Connor]

I heard about cremation places that would mix the ashes.

My aunt was cremated and they were more like bone chips since the bones need to be crushed. Bones don't burn in a fire.

Probably doesn't matter, but I'd rather have THIS body in the ground. Worms and shit don't bother me. That was my aunt's issue, hence the cremation. But it all doesn't matter. You've moved on from this rock of shit.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

"How to milk profits and take advantage of people that are going to die"... I wonder how many people have that thought rolling through their heads.

Fucking disgusting, as if it isn't bad enough having to pay someone to put your loved one in an oven to bake them into ashes to put into an urn, you also need to make sure you exploit them for THOUSANDS under the HORRIBLE labor of picking something up and putting it in an oven.

This is why I've always said just do whatever is cheapest when I die. Fuck wasting your money on some dead carcass. Respect me all you want, but worrying about some remaining body piece is just stupid.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I heard about cremation places that would mix the ashes.

My aunt was cremated and they were more like bone chips since the bones need to be crushed. Bones don't burn in a fire.

Probably doesn't matter, but I'd rather have THIS body in the ground. Worms and shit don't bother me. That was my aunt's issue, hence the cremation. But it all doesn't matter. You've moved on from this rock of shit.

BULLSHIT! My father owned a funeral home for 63 years, and I was raised in the business, (lived upstairs). There were some small fragments though, when I swept the vault out, after it cooled.

 

[waffleironhead]

A large dog cremation is ~$60 if you don't mind it being at the same time as others, ~$200 if you want private and the ashes returned.
Save money and get a dog costume?

 

[Thump553]

I'm mainly just wondering about going to a place like Smith & Jones Funeral Home vs Cremation Service Inc. When one is $3,000 and one is $995, am I just paying for the name of the funeral home or am I not getting things I need from the cheapie place?

Ask the more expensive place what else they offer. Here in CT funeral homes and cremation services provide the same two essential services (or subcontract it out) (1) burn the body and (2) take care of essential paperwork, like completing the death certificate and issuing you enough certified copies. IMO everything beyond that is fluff designed to make everyone else feel good.

 

[mmntech]

BULLSHIT! My father owned a funeral home for 63 years, and I was raised in the business, (lived upstairs). There were some small fragments though, when I swept the vault out, after it cooled.

Old friend of mine used to be a funeral director before going back to school to study law. (Went from clients who were stiffs to stiffing clients.) Still don't know how anybody can do that job. I know how bad my oven smells when you put it in self cleaning mode. That's just incinerating a bit of chip grease.

Speaking of cremation, I used to cargo rent vans to this cemetery/crematorium. Guy that would come in was pretty nice. Their van had broken down and was in the shop getting an engine rebuild. So they rented one on an as-needed basis. Not a bad little contract. Never said what it was for. We figured that since it was a cemetery, they were using it for landscaping. Then the van comes back one day with a full set of coffin rollers in the back. They'd been using it as a hearse to pick up bodies from the funeral home to deliver to the crematorium. They were paying us enough so we let it slide. I'm just thankful the rollers were the only thing that got left.

Oh, and the vans had Discount Rentals plastered on the side. So I guess if you need a discount cremation service, I know your guy.