Thank you so much for this wonderful coverage of our company and mission. Our small team works SO hard every day on behalf of our client/families, and helping the public know they have federal rights and options when it comes to funeral planning (whether Titan is the right choice for them or not!). This coverage will help so many families - education is so important. Thank you CBS Sunday Morning!
Indeed. I feel like many times families are so overwhelmed and are taken advantage of. It’s a business, but to get people at one of their most vulnerable times is wrong. Not saying all are bad though.
Yep ever see a funeral directors home? Im all for someone making a living but gouging is something else...especially at a time where some folks wont have the money to do it nicely for their loved one.
Nobody is taking advantage of the grieving families . There is NO LAW that prevents any families from doing their own home burial like they did before funeral homes came around . Anyone can go to the hardware store and buy shovels to dig the grave and buy wood to make a casket . Have the funeral at your own home and bury the body in the back yard . Total cost about $200.oo
Suggest to families to consider organ donation so there is no charge but helping others is the bottom line. When my husband chose this I did the same and received a small urn of his cremains for out celebration of his life the next year.
Not a stressful as the price of an emergency room / operation and hospital stay. It's important to have insurance or save for any life changing events. We will all die one day.
She's right about funerals costing too much in this country. I helped bury a vet from my Legion Post who had no next of kin that was a Sailor during the Korean War. He had paid for his cremation in advance and it cost him about $600 a few years ago. We ordered an urn off of Amazon for like $25.00, and the Post paid a little over $100.00 to transport his remains to the VA cemetery. The vet was buried in an above ground standing crypt called a columbarium for free. His internment, the headstone, memorial service, 21 gun salute, folded flag, and a Presidental memorial certificate, were all provided for free from the feds. We got the sailors entire funeral taken care of for about $800, and about 20-30 people attended the service as well.
@Jennifer Eddleman as far as I know yes. After they played taps the funeral director at the VA cemetery told us that we could even come back in the late afternoon on the same day to see that the sailors remains had been entombed in the columbarium and the headstone was in place.
@@jennifereddleman6656 My understanding is that the stone is free but the setting fee is the responsibility of the family, if buried in a private cemetery. If the veteran is buried in a National Cemetery the VA provides the stone and setting of the monument for free.
Funerals DON’T cost too much. Nobody forces anyone to book an expensive venue, invite tons of guests, spend thousands on a casket and flowers etc. Go get a pine box, have something at home and call it a day.
My Dad’s casket was quoted at $3600. Came back the next day to the funeral home with a quote from Costco for $1600 for the same casket. They honored the price and saved me $2000.
My father told me one morning over my bowl of cereal that he'd paid for his cremation and how he wanted things after he passed. This was in the 90s, fast forward to the early 2010s and when he passed it was all taken care of. Slightly morbid conversation for the breakfast table but afterwards it was a comfort to not be on the spot for making decisions. The topic is scary to think about yes but talk with your relatives, ask questions. Find out what they want, afterwards it will be too late.
Yes, it is the responsible thing to do. Its hard to make decisions when you are grieving especially when there is tension in the family over how much should be spent.
@@cynthianolder3557 I already signed up for cremation, I think I was oversold. But alas, $3,153 and they'll scatter my ashes in a national forest in CO. Job done.
It is just as much a right of passage as birth and we can all talk about in normal conversation. We’re back to guilt if we don’t. I know there are exceptions and differences in finances. There are more aspects to a funeral than material things. This is my experience with my dad. My dad came to me in a vision to show me he was leaving. I wanted to go, follow. He had an escort of warmth and light, I suspect the overhead light he’d been seeing. They crossed through an archway into a place of a song made of human notes, bird notes all playing in a song. It was brighter, warmer, I sensed joy and peace. I went to step through the archway. A layered curtain of cheesecloth fell blocking the archway and a knowing was in my mind, “It’s not your time.” I accepted it. The vision ended and the phone rang. Fifteen years later my mother told me when he passed he sat up, reached out his arm and called out my name. I figure that is how he was able to come to me 800 miles away.
@@cynthianolder3557 I would consider a green burial but too expensive. My kids know I choose cremation. I want my atoms free to go and be something else.
I can tell you that my father had a long and painful death from cancer. A certain bank (might be from any Citi), was calling him every single day with "pay up" from using his credit card to bury his wife (my mother). On a visit, I found out this was going on. We paid of the credit card, then used it to pre-pay for his funeral. I used his ID to open a PO Box a few thousand miles away, and changed his address. My father was a bank employee before he retired, and the bank from any "Citi" was dunning him mercilessly. You guessed it, by the time they figured it out, his estate was settled and they ate the funeral costs because they were idiots. I could have paid it off, but I think they made several of his last months miserable, so f* them.
Im sorry for your loss, it's tough....I lost my dad March 14th after a cancer diagnosis in November '22. He was cremated, he didn't want to be buried because to him it was a waste. I feel like after my expierence that there's definetly a predator/prey relationship between the funeral industry and grieving families for a large portion of the industry.
@@john_in_phoenix oh yeah after 28 years at lowes, he was denied his short term disability (he was dead in 5 months) because he couldn't return to work, lost his job, insurance, and Cancer benefit..... we're getting a lawyer to look into it because he died during what would have been in their coverage date of 1 year....Sorry to do someone like that, but that's a corporation for ya.
@@nicke1903 He should have got a lawyer the first day. I use to work for FedEx and I got hurt on the job, hernia. The pain went away after a few minutes and I did not turn it in, did not even think about it. Two weeks latter I was having a lot of problems and went to the hospital. FedEx was like, well since you did not turn it in your SOL. The lawyer I got had sued FedEx before and won multiple cases. He made three calls and he called me and said everything is good now. He did not even charge me. The firm was Casper and Casper in Hamilton, OH. These places think they can just do anything they want.
ABSOLUTELY! My husband was cremated on a cardboard box (that cost $125). We viewed him once ($400). No service. No marker. No urn (plastic box). Guess how much that cost? $4800. There was really no other option. That was the bare bones.
The US ain't got nothing on Australia!!😮 Down under is really bad. They let the bodies pile up and rot or hold the body hostage unless you pay right away! I believe they have a segment on either 60 minutes Australia or a Current Affair Australia.
I was looking for a royal purple casket for my mother and came across Titan. It was a great purchasing experience, and I saved enough to buy an upgraded vault. People commented that it was a beautiful casket unlike any one they had ever seen. It was perfect for my mother. I highly recommend Titan.
More accurately, it was for your mother's *corpse.* Your mother was dead. There was no extra-credit of approval from her in heaven or whatever you were fooled to believe. You bought a purple box to put your mother's corpse in underground. You felt better about doing that, therefore, as the consumer, you are satisfied with your purchase. The item you probably paid around $1,000 for now contains the liquids, gasses, and other peopleparts that bodies melt in to. You will never see, touch, or use your purchase again, ever. Brilliant.
I bet that purple casket was beautiful! Purple is my favorite color my whole life and if I were to be buried I would also choose a purple casket. I have a pre-paid cremation plan and I choose a purple urn. It's all me! 💜
I, forgot to mention I was a Mortuary Science major, many years ago. Thank you, Titan for all you're doing. Gorgeous workmanship and quality materials, inside and out.💐
FYI - Titan does not manufacture caskets. They are a distributor. All they do is BUY AND SELL. They claim to be in the business of helping families. But in reality, they never meet you in person. They take your order and your money while marketing to your emotions and good nature. Shame on Titan. Your local funeral director is the one who is on-call 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to answer your call and your questions. S/he is ultimately responsible and directly accountable for the services you select. If you are unhappy, you have recourse. But what is Titan's casket does not arrive on time, or is scratched or dented, or the handle is broken? Will Titan make it right within a matter of hours? NO. But your licensed funeral director will go to great lengths to ensure that a new casket arrives within hours and that your services begin on time. Why? Because that is what s/he does everyday, regardless of the weather or the pandemics. We never stop serving families. That's what we signed up to do.
@@johnligda7236 People are always trying to cut corners and get something on the cheap. At the same time, some funeral homes take advantage of the situation and up-sell the family on all types of junk they don't need. That is part of the business too, you can't deny it.
This is amazing, have told my only child in our recent " life discussion" when I turned 65 last year to go for it! As someone who lived in small, close-knit college town, my parents were extremely close personal friends with both funeral home families & I babysat for them. Never saw the list, never offered informed choice, and I was a single parent & my dad was teacher, mom never worked, thru died '03 & '09 with 2nd mortgage & no savings, so Mom lived month to month on SS. I was guilted into spending so much on funerals, took years to pay off. This is fantastic!!!! Telling all my friends!
Guilted is the right word when you are grieving you are not making the best choices talk to them and make decision before they are gone then you know you did not let them down.
My mother donated her body to science through the Maryland State Anatomy Board. A year later, I got her cremated ashes back. A week after her death we had a great memorial service for her. Not having to arrange a funeral, plot etc saved me tons of stress and money.
Yep. my body is going to a medical school. Who said you can't do good things even after you are dead? No cost, no concerns. Not like I will feel anything with whatever they decide to do with me :)
Till you find out what they do with those bodies. I've seen some stories of them using them for bomb testing and removing limbs and head and selling them to various companies to use for testing.
@@BabyJesus66 yea the military industry R&D division are big on getting human subjects for testing weapons and defensive armor. And the relatives dont get to know anything about it. All that is said i s that the body is being used for science. Which is a big dishonest scam in my opinion.
I love Kaitlyn Dougherty. She is a breath of clean air in the miasma that is the funeral industry. I have watched her videos and she insightful, knowledgeable, and conveys empathy about death and dying. Many years ago I had to write a paper in college about the inflated costs in the funeral business. And it was extremely eye opening. I spent many hours looking at trade magazines and comparing costs. I went to numerous funeral companies and inquired about cost. Of course, I didn't tell them I was writing a paper for a class, but wanted some info as one of my parents were dying. What I heard and saw was blatant theft of money, by the industry, during a time of family grief and sorrow. Remember, back in the late 60's, there was no internet or Amazon. Now I mostly do what shopping I need online. Also, now I am 70 yrs old and my children know I am to be cremated, no costly service or viewing, my ashes to do what they wish, after all, I'm already deceased and don't care about my remains. An lastly, throw a party to celebrate my life. I should mention my body is going to a research facility and when they are done, they will cremated my remains and send my ashes back to my family at no cost to them.
Does that mean there will be no fees from the funeral home? Are there fees for the body to be transported to the research facility? I think this is a great idea. I knew a lady who gave her body to science after she died, but I never knew the details of how that worked.
@S Stephens your body will be picked up by the county/city morgue and the company picks you up from there. No funeral home, no fees, no cost for transporting your body and no cost for the cremation and the send your ashes back to your family. But first you have to be registered with the company that picks up your body for the research facility. Some also may want to know your medical and health history as well when you sign up.
@@lindabriggs5118 How do you register for something like this? Also, any awareness on these natural/forest burials? (Where you are allowed to basically decay, back into the earth?) 🌻🌳🍄 I'm not sure if they're only like 10 years recent or if they've always existed.
@@totellthetruth9973 - Caitlin? She most certainly is. She owns and operates her own funeral home. Plus, she uses her TH-cam channel to educate the public on available options.
I used to sub to her channel, but quit. I don't remember what is was now, but because I had lost my husband (not recently), I didn't appreciate some things she'd said and how they were said at the time.
@AnnWith APlan Kari the mortician is another one that I like. She has lots of videos about death and dieing and is not morbid like Caitlin but I watch her too.
My father was a Veteran and the VA only pays for the dirt. I was fortunate enough to have the funds to afford the rest and let me tell you Titan saved me sooo much money. Had it shipped to the funeral home and was very pleased with it. It was beautiful! Sparkly and all... By law the funeral home must accept the outside casket company deliveries.
Part of the issue is the mass consolidation that is happening in the industry. It used to be that you had a local family-run funeral home. Over the past several decades, these large companies have bought these mom-and-pop companies. So you end up with some of these mega-corporations owning hundreds of funeral homes posing as mom-and-pop businesses, but now there is no competition. They can get away with charging the prices they do as they secretly own all the surrounding funeral homes in the region.
I remember watching a special on TV talking about just such a thing going on.. the potential profit from Aging baby boomer population was the prime motivation for the mass buyouts of private funeral homes. Even the cost of cremation has gone up from a few hundred dollars to few thousand dollars.. notwithstanding the price gouging of funeral services caskets vaults and plots..
Great, they bought all the extra houses and apartments on the market so you have nowhere affordable to live, now they want to see you on the way out too.
Corporate America in its race to the bottom folks. Squeeze every penny you can , that is their secret mission statement. Funeral Homes, Trailer Parks , Prisions , the Housing Market, Private Equity on Health Care, pushing barbiturics as pain killers, inadequate and unfair water appropriation towards processed food conglomerates. When enough is enough ? I occasionally watch Chris Hedges and I concur … well there goes another prophet of doom cashing out on his quasi celebrity status selling books. Yet lately , must of what he says makes sense. América in its farewell tour , so says one of his book titles. Meanwhile , almost three quarters of a million Americans chose to live in Mexico ! And it used to be the opposite.
Thank you so much for this information! After managing my parents resting place years ago, I am now preparing for my own. This is really great to know!
I love this!! My Dad died 5 years ago and I could not believe how expensive everything was. It really is disgusting that funeral home take advantage of people will they are at their lowest.
When my mom died in 2016 the cost of her funeral service ended up being about $7000 which i feel is egregious because her service wasn't long enough for that price to be justified. There definitely needs to be a reform with how the funeral industry operates and a financial cap on how expensive the service can actually be
You should see the homes that the owners of these funeral homes live in. They quite literally take the saying of: "There's good money in dead people" to the bank.
@@who_wantsit it's really gross honestly how these people profit off of the grief of devastated families. I'm only in my 20s so this isn't something i have to think about right now but i hope things will be different when i get to be my grandpa's age who is about to turn 85
Since funeral homes have corporatized, they're probably good buddies with politician$. I'd say vote Blue, but they're not entirely pristine, either :-/
There used to be a company called Funeral Depot that sold caskets direct to consumers. It was in business in 2003, but I don't know what happened to them since
If you can get a casket at a lower price, why not. I'm glad Titan is in business. It is about time another company, gives those GREEDY funeral homes a jolt in the pocket book.
This will not affect funeral homes. They are adjusting their pricing model slowly by lowering casket markups to an average of 2-2.5× markup (close to titans or similar online retailers) from 4x. And raising their professional service fees and embalming to make up for the difference. That way, no matter if you buy from them or online, they will still make roughly the same profit, and you would pay close to the same, but with the added effort and risk of purchasing online.
Such a shame to monetize on death (the two main companies selling to only mortuaries). Thank goodness Titan is in the industry, their product and business is truly an act of service.
Most people don't know that there is really only a few casket companies in the country and for the most part they are all made the same. I worked in a cemetery and I learned a lot and I can tell you don't waste your money on an expensive casket. Once you're in the ground no one will ever see it, unless they dig you up for some reason. Also, don't believe the claims that some receiving vaults are waterproof and others are not, that's 100% crap. If you open a vault regardless of the guarantee you will find water in it. It's because the ground temperature is constant and the air temperature is rarely the exact temperature of the ground, so when you close the vault it traps the humidity in the box and as the temperature changes to the ground temperature condensation forms and leaves water in the vault and again unless someone digs you up that guarantee is worthless, because you will never know. Also the final thing I learned is this, preplan your funeral. I know it sounds morbid, but sometimes there is unscrupulous people in the world, who prey of those at their darkest hours. Don't ever tell the funeral home or cemetery how much life insurance you have on the person, because sometimes those unscrupulous people will help you spend every Penney of that money plus more. Make your wishes know to your loved ones and be clear to them that just because you don't spend a lot of money on their funeral, doesn't mean that you didn't love them very much.
@@trevors7905 yes, but today the majority of vaults are reinforced concrete and made basically the same. The law says you legally don't have to have one, but most cemeteries require one to keep the ground from settling after burial.
thats because funerals are for the living, but I think its slightly necessary to an extent. An when I say that I mean just closure for the people affected. Funerals are only expensive if the people want to do something. An it usually boils down to time+people = money.
@@lastgengamers1137 I know. I told my family I don’t want some stuffy service. I’ll be gone so I don’t need anything. Go see a local live band play and scatter my ashes in the Rappahanock Rivah. Brother said he would need closure. Told him I’d haunt him if my wishes were not granted. My FIL was a mortician/funeral director who owned the home passed down for generations. He recently passed and he didn’t even have a funeral. Just visitation and graveside.
@Abs Atwell hey, not gonna knock that. It is important to respect the wishes of the deceased. Only on the rarest of occasions does someone not want to be viewed. Even by family so I get it. I think it's just sad that Corp companies and bad directors have ruined it for those who actually try and care for families. As a result it spurs the "it's a scam" to it as a whole.
@@lastgengamers1137 My entire family has been cremated. I’ve only been to a few “viewings” in my life. I think 4 and I’m 51. That being said, my best friends father (a Catholic) didn’t have a formal viewing or service. He wanted to be cremated and his sister had a really hard time with that. Anyway, the funeral home (corporate) put him in a pine type cremation box and had him in the fridge for about two weeks. They brought him out for anyone that wanted to see him a few times both weeks. They had sharpies available for everyone to write messages to him and folks placed mementos in the box with him. He was not embalmed and looked like him. I’ve seen some horrible makeup jobs, but the 2 men I’ve seen looked great…well, for corpses.
YES, TALK with your Loved Ones ahead of the inevitable! It makes things so much easier. ALSO, have you done a segment on Green Burials? Thanks for this particular piece. ❤
I bought my mother-in-law a beautiful casket online that she got to see and approve as part of her funeral arrangements. It stayed in my storage locker a couple of years until she passed away. It cost only $1000, where the same casket at the funeral home was over $3000. The savings was used to allow for an additional service in her home town where she lived most of her life and had more family and friends. It made perfect sense and we were not at all disappointed.
There is an old saying. When you cry, you buy and the funeral parlors are hoping you cry. Such a waste of money. We are donating our bodies to the University of Buffalo. Hopefully a student doctor to be can learn from our lifeless bodies and go on to safe the living.
I had a friend who did this some years ago. She passed due to a rare stomach cancer and wanted further research to be done. After the school was done, they cremated the remains and gave the ashes to her daughter. I guess she had the option to decline taking the ashes but she couldn't find it in herself not knowing where her mother would end up. So she buried her ashes at the foot of her grandfather. Do u know what will happen to your remains once the University is done? I've been curious since that was my first experience with donating your body to science. TIA
@@udntknomeXX my parents did this also. We arranged to have their remains returned (via UPS) and we buried their ashes. As for mine, I have instructed UB to dispose the ashes. All FREE. I hope someone that doesn't want to or doesn't have the money will consider this. My family that sees me regularly doesn't need to be put through a funeral and the ones I don't see don't matter anyway.
My Mom did that. It was her wish and to have ashes spread in Texas. We had a service and luncheon, but it was all very simple. But looking back I’d skip the service at the funeral home and rent a better, less expensive venue. Do the flowers and everything myself.
Our family love their caskets. We've ordered 5 so far‼️ They made our sorrow easier to handle.👍Job and service well done. We are going to remain loyal customers.🙏🌺
My stepfather didn’t have the $ to buy a casket for my mother outside of the funeral home because they were willing to make a claim against her life insurance policy. I had some $ saved and loaned it to him to buy as much as he could from private co. Saved him thousands in his time of grief. Thanks Titan
On a similar note - I want to know prices of plots at a nearby cemetery but I should'nt have to fill out forms with my personal information on there first before getting those prices
Some places actually base their prices of the person/family financial status, involvement in churches, being a veteran, and etc so it hard to give a quote without the needed information.
Will they drop ship it to the funeral home ? Will the funeral real home accept delivery? I can easily imagine a few unscrupulous funeral homes adding on all sorts of “fees” into their itemized services price list, as a means to recoup the lost casket sales revenue, such as: 1)delivery acceptance fee 2)shipping pack unpacking fee 3)storage fee (until populated) 4)packing fee - populating the coffin w/ it’s resident 5)styling & showcasing fee - making certain all is ready for display 6)exit fee - room breakdown and clean up 7)deposit fee - hearse mileage plus loading/transport and unloading fees Humor intended, but still a reasonable expectation given how things are today….
What's the difference? A casket goes in a vault or in some cases just under ground and the body decays! My father died unexpectedly 37 years ago,he was loved by many,the funeral home had to park cars across the street. My mother spent $10,000 the same it costed for my wedding 5 years earlier! It was ridiculous, and as a family we all decided that cremation was the only way from then on! My beloved sister died last year and it cost $1,000 ,beautiful container and very nice people to work with! No fuss!❤❤❤
My Mother passed in 2010. Picked out a casket online for $1400.including shipping. Got it within 48 hours. No problem with Funeral Home using it. Wife's Grandmother passed in 08. Her casket was also bought online, so they have been available online at least that far back.
Titan caskets is amazing! I bought a beautiful casket for my mother in 2021. A pinkish rose color with embroidery of praying hands and the price was so reasonable. And unfortunately I lost my husband a year later and I used Titan caskets again, and I ordered a gorgeous military (Navy) casket for my husband. The funeral home had theirs vaults painted to match the caskets and then engraved the top of the vault lid. Everything g was gorgeous! I was very happy with the way things turned out. Thank you Titan
I love it. Great idea. I've thought about planning my own service for years! Pick my own casket, have wrapped, pin striped, grandkids names on it. Whatever I want I get to choose. & store it in my garage till its needed!
As a funeral director for over 25 years, I have always done whatever the families have asked of me...as long as it is legal. When caskets became available online, I never gave a family a hard time about doing so. But I will tell them to make sure the company is legitimate and will stand behind their product should something happen and to make sure the caskets are made here in America. If it is made outside of America, it is subpar and not worth the quality. Two weeks ago, a family purchased an 18 ga. Stainless Steel casket from an online store. I told the family that we require someone from the family to be present when it was delivered. The casket was ordered on a Monday and did not show up until the morning of the calling hours, which was three days later. What got delivered was an 18 ga casket but not the one they picked. On top of that, it was filthy. The family had to purchase one from us. I did give them a discount for it because they were so upset. I am not saying every casket store is bad. But if you choose this way of purchasing a casket to save money, do your homework.
@@hp4415 It more due to respect for the decreased, however you also want a good strong casket because it has to be able to hold the weight of the person, the stress of transport, and be able to be carried. Look at the opening of the movie "Mouse Hunt" where the handle to the casket of broke off as an example.
@@brianhaflin9799 me personally I find funeral is just a waste. I would love to save my family $10,000 on funeral cost so they can use that money on vacation or whatever they want. Like donating my body to science. Or if it’s not an available option then I would love if there is cheap service for someone who doesn’t care about funeral ( just put my body in a hole) or a mass grave or whatever that cost $1000 or less.
Buyer beware! As a licensed funeral director, funeral home owner and a educator, I can honestly say that this piece is somewhat misleading. Prior to the 1984 Funeral Rule, line itemization for the purchase of a funeral was not required. Therefore the industry as a whole placed the entire cost of the funeral to the price of the casket mark-up. And while the 1984 Rule enactment was a light switch for the consumer, it was a gradual shift for funeral home owners who gradually shifted the pricing of the funeral from the merchandise into the service side. Today, some 39 yrs later, funeral homes as a whole tend to put very little mark-up on the casket because the wholesale cost is so high to begin with. Therefore for the first time in industry history, owners can legitimately compete with 3rd party retailers. Also, and this is VERY IMPORTANT…. It is legal for a funeral home to offer you a discount on professional services if you select a casket from them. This means that firms can legally markup- the professional services by the average median profit from the sale of a casket and charge you those prices if you elect select services “a la cart.” Example - You walk in the door and select a traditional funeral and the total professional cost is $6,000. However, I offer a Service Package Price for the exact same set of services that is discounted by $1,000 (or $5,000) if you purchase a casket thru our funeral home. This exact practice is completely legal and in fact, encouraged by the FTC which wrote the enacted the Funeral Rule, because it encourages competence pricing and gives YOU the consumer more options. Finally, and I think this is important to me as a consumer and not a funeral director - the person I would hire to handle my parents funerals has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that everything I select is just the way I want. The lights are on, the temperature is comfortable, the coffee is made, the remains are dressed, the register book is ready, and the casket I selected is not scratched or dented and arrived on time. That is not always the case with 3rd sellers. You never meet them. They are not licensed funeral providers. They are not regulated by the 1984 funeral rule (which they failed to tell you in this report). They are not in business to care for your family. They are in business to sell a product. That is it. When you buy a casket from the funeral home, you can hold them responsible if it is not to your liking or if it is dented or doesn’t arrive on time. You have recourse. That isn’t the case with an internet provider. These are things to consider when it comes to caring for your loved one. Who can you trust? The person you meet with at the funeral home, who you can hold accountable, or the person you never meet who had UPS deliver a dented or scratched casket to the funeral home? This is what I tell all my families- peace of mind is powerful. If you feel comfortable buying a casket online, go ahead. We must accept it. But please, beware of the possible consequences resulting from your decision.
Amen!! Before you call ALL fd's greedy, carefully read the above. Corperate owned funeral homes have been known for these ways of doing business but locally owned homes are honest and trying to make a profit under very high operating costs!
If IKEA was smart they would come out with a bookcase that could be converted into a casket. In Florida we have or used to have the funeral consumer alliance that helps members obtain low-cost funeral services in their area. I think they have this in many parts of the country. Do a Google search for funeral consumers alliance. If you die your love ones can contact the alliance and be advised of the cheapest cremations, etc. in your area.
Excellent, its about time a company is about compassion as well as money. God bless Titan Caskets for their philosophy and their prices. Btw: thank you for interviewing Catlin D. as well. Love her TH-cam channel. She has helped many people understand death and the death industry.
I love this! Did not even know it was available. I can buy WHAT I WANT and keep it here at the house until it is needed. One less expense and decision for my estate to make.
@@Seekthetruth3000 Wonder where that is? When I asked around, I was told $2,000 for cremation. My parent did not want that. They wanted to donate their bodies to science which was through a teaching hospital. They had heard about this via their senior citizens' group.
I've never understood the point of an elaborate padded coffin, I'll be a CORPSE, I don't give a crap how comfortable or nice it looks I'm pretty busy being DEAD. Just dig a hole and throw me in, the Earth gets the nutrients it gave me back and there's no chemical filled casket to pollute the soil. At least Titan is helping reduce the financial grief of the family not just the emotional so I'm all for that
Glad this story came out. I’ve known about the Amazon and Costco casket/urn sales for awhile now and can’t help but shake my head when friends spend 10s of thousands of dollars on a funeral for their mom/dad. Some people might feel guilty when they find deals like this or at places like Costco because in their mind they might be thinking they’re being disrespectful for “cheaping out” on mom/dad’s funeral but I highly doubt that they would want you to go thousands of dollars into debt on their behalf. Same thing goes with head stones. That’s another funeral industry that needs to be turned on it’s head.
I didn't know this and I just buried my dad in July, and I had to plan everything cuz mom was sick and was in the hospital. I would of saved 4,000 bucks easy if I would of known.
As I was watching this, I was thinking to myself, that would have been so cool if they interviewed Caitlin... and then there she was! I'm so glad she's getting credit and recognition for all the great work she's doing educating the masses about death, dying, and the funeral business while positively disrupting the industry. She's incredible.
People are usually so distraught when planning a funeral, they may not have the presence of mind to search for bargains. They may pay a higher price at a funeral home, because it's more convenient. This lower price service is much needed.
Your right about that but what irk`s me a little is that many of us have had to deal with multiple funerals over the years and this hidden fact is just coming to light , I`m sure not going to keep it a secret.
3:08 I understand this to be demonstrating sturdiness of the shipping box, when a casket is in transport. How much weight can the actual casket withstand once buried? Does Titan make/offer vaults?
Imagine buying something for $2000 and then burying it. What a waste of money. You can buy caskets that are more eco-friendly such as wicker coffins, plywood coffins, and cardboard coffins.
I agree. Before my dad passed from cancer I found out then he had no life insurance coverage. Had it at one time but let it end without telling me. Because of this I know it would be coming out of pocket and due to doing the cost alone, decided to use the funeral home for some parts but do most on my own. Ordered, the casket myself, used copy center to create my own obituary, rented small venue for dinner afterwards and did the food myself. The funeral home wanted around 8k total. My way was around 4k which fit the amount I had in my savings.❤ It would have been less stress allowing funeral home do all, but because it was my dad, gave me strength to plan and execute everything on a budget but still send him off with a lovely service. So I understand this woman well!!!
My grandfather paid for his resting place in a building in a cemetery before he died. He was cremated and so was my grandmother and both of their urns were put into this casket place in a building on the cemetery. There are hardly any spaces left in cemeteries and they are very expensive. I believe that is why many people are now being cremated. It would be wonderful if people had a place to visit their loved one, But it's not affordable anymore. It takes a special permit to be buried on your own land, I don't think many people do that nowadays but it was very common before the suburb When people had family homesteads.
All depends on zoning laws and your location. In my part of the country, the cemeteries have plenty of space and I plan to be buried on property I own-no permit needed.
This company is doing an absolute service. Good on them. As someone who spent a brief amount of time in the funeral industry, it is an absolute racket. Funeral directors are nothing more than salespeople who know how to embalm. Even the people who run cemeteries are viewed as sales people and numbers are expected from them by cemetery boards to keep their jobs.
Thank you so much for this wonderful coverage of our company and mission. Our small team works SO hard every day on behalf of our client/families, and helping the public know they have federal rights and options when it comes to funeral planning (whether Titan is the right choice for them or not!). This coverage will help so many families - education is so important. Thank you CBS Sunday Morning!
yes its good! ..i'll most likely be buying one for me from you! :D
Indeed. I feel like many times families are so overwhelmed and are taken advantage of. It’s a business, but to get people at one of their most vulnerable times is wrong. Not saying all are bad though.
Way to go friends!
You guys are killing it in the casket industry whoop whoop
im looking at a casket for my elderly cat. i really like the selection and prices. keep up the good work!
Sometimes an industry needs to be disrupted. Especially one that takes advantage of grieving families.
The eyeglass industry needs this.
Yep ever see a funeral directors home? Im all for someone making a living but gouging is something else...especially at a time where some folks wont have the money to do it nicely for their loved one.
@@justbecause9645 What are you talking about? Just do a Google search for eyeglasses. Have you not heard of Zenni?
@Just Because the hearing aid industry too!
Nobody is taking advantage of the grieving families . There is NO LAW that prevents any families from doing their own home burial like they did before funeral homes came around . Anyone can go to the hardware store and buy shovels to dig the grave and buy wood to make a casket . Have the funeral at your own home and bury the body in the back yard . Total cost about $200.oo
As a Hospice RN, I have witnessed the distress families face with the traditional funeral home experience. TITAN, thank you for offering a choice.
Suggest to families to consider organ donation so there is no charge but helping others is the bottom line. When my husband chose this I did the same and received a small urn of his cremains for out celebration of his life the next year.
I completely agree and everything in our present is money. We live in a commodified society...
Not a stressful as the price of an emergency room / operation and hospital stay. It's important to have insurance or save for any life changing events. We will all die one day.
got mine with the Evangelion decal about 6 months back
Composting is the future. Why waste materials to build coffins.
She's right about funerals costing too much in this country. I helped bury a vet from my Legion Post who had no next of kin that was a Sailor during the Korean War. He had paid for his cremation in advance and it cost him about $600 a few years ago. We ordered an urn off of Amazon for like $25.00, and the Post paid a little over $100.00 to transport his remains to the VA cemetery. The vet was buried in an above ground standing crypt called a columbarium for free. His internment, the headstone, memorial service, 21 gun salute, folded flag, and a Presidental memorial certificate, were all provided for free from the feds. We got the sailors entire funeral taken care of for about $800, and about 20-30 people attended the service as well.
Did someone set the headstone for free? I know the stone or marker itself is free but normally you have to find a monument company to set it for you.
@Jennifer Eddleman as far as I know yes. After they played taps the funeral director at the VA cemetery told us that we could even come back in the late afternoon on the same day to see that the sailors remains had been entombed in the columbarium and the headstone was in place.
@@jennifereddleman6656 My understanding is that the stone is free but the setting fee is the responsibility of the family, if buried in a private cemetery.
If the veteran is buried in a National Cemetery the VA provides the stone and setting of the monument for free.
Funerals DON’T cost too much. Nobody forces anyone to book an expensive venue, invite tons of guests, spend thousands on a casket and flowers etc. Go get a pine box, have something at home and call it a day.
@@StillJustD Or a painted cardboard box.
My Dad’s casket was quoted at $3600. Came back the next day to the funeral home with a quote from Costco for $1600 for the same casket. They honored the price and saved me $2000.
awesome!
They knew how much the casket was. Their in death business not charity lol.
I’d get a casket from Costco too or from this Titan company
I thought that was just a joke on Modern Family. Costco really sells coffins?
Mum, that's, Wonderful! 😃
My father told me one morning over my bowl of cereal that he'd paid for his cremation and how he wanted things after he passed. This was in the 90s, fast forward to the early 2010s and when he passed it was all taken care of. Slightly morbid conversation for the breakfast table but afterwards it was a comfort to not be on the spot for making decisions. The topic is scary to think about yes but talk with your relatives, ask questions. Find out what they want, afterwards it will be too late.
Yes, it is the responsible thing to do. Its hard to make decisions when you are grieving especially when there is tension in the family over how much should be spent.
Want cremation also Never daydreamed about some fancy casket
@@cynthianolder3557
I already signed up for cremation, I think I was oversold.
But alas, $3,153 and they'll scatter my ashes in a national forest in CO.
Job done.
It is just as much a right of passage as birth and we can all talk about in normal conversation. We’re back to guilt if we don’t.
I know there are exceptions and differences in finances.
There are more aspects to a funeral than material things. This is my experience with my dad.
My dad came to me in a vision to show me he was leaving. I wanted to go, follow. He had an escort of warmth and light, I suspect the overhead light he’d been seeing. They crossed through an archway into a place of a song made of human notes, bird notes all playing in a song. It was brighter, warmer, I sensed joy and peace. I went to step through the archway. A layered curtain of cheesecloth fell blocking the archway and a knowing was in my mind, “It’s not your time.” I accepted it.
The vision ended and the phone rang. Fifteen years later my mother told me when he passed he sat up, reached out his arm and called out my name. I figure that is how he was able to come to me 800 miles away.
@@cynthianolder3557 I would consider a green burial but too expensive. My kids know I choose cremation. I want my atoms free to go and be something else.
I can tell you that my father had a long and painful death from cancer. A certain bank (might be from any Citi), was calling him every single day with "pay up" from using his credit card to bury his wife (my mother). On a visit, I found out this was going on. We paid of the credit card, then used it to pre-pay for his funeral. I used his ID to open a PO Box a few thousand miles away, and changed his address. My father was a bank employee before he retired, and the bank from any "Citi" was dunning him mercilessly. You guessed it, by the time they figured it out, his estate was settled and they ate the funeral costs because they were idiots. I could have paid it off, but I think they made several of his last months miserable, so f* them.
They can come after the trustee! The estate is not settled yet!
@@STEVE-lk2ft Actually the estate was settled before the bank figured out that my father was dead.
Im sorry for your loss, it's tough....I lost my dad March 14th after a cancer diagnosis in November '22. He was cremated, he didn't want to be buried because to him it was a waste. I feel like after my expierence that there's definetly a predator/prey relationship between the funeral industry and grieving families for a large portion of the industry.
@@john_in_phoenix oh yeah after 28 years at lowes, he was denied his short term disability (he was dead in 5 months) because he couldn't return to work, lost his job, insurance, and Cancer benefit..... we're getting a lawyer to look into it because he died during what would have been in their coverage date of 1 year....Sorry to do someone like that, but that's a corporation for ya.
@@nicke1903 He should have got a lawyer the first day. I use to work for FedEx and I got hurt on the job, hernia. The pain went away after a few minutes and I did not turn it in, did not even think about it. Two weeks latter I was having a lot of problems and went to the hospital. FedEx was like, well since you did not turn it in your SOL. The lawyer I got had sued FedEx before and won multiple cases. He made three calls and he called me and said everything is good now. He did not even charge me. The firm was Casper and Casper in Hamilton, OH. These places think they can just do anything they want.
Love this! The funeral industry in the US is such a complete scam…
In other countries as well!
ABSOLUTELY! My husband was cremated on a cardboard box (that cost $125). We viewed him once ($400). No service. No marker. No urn (plastic box). Guess how much that cost? $4800. There was really no other option. That was the bare bones.
Tell me one thing in this country that is not a scam…Healthcare= SCAM Education=SCAM Housing=SCAM….. I could go on for days..
The US ain't got nothing on Australia!!😮
Down under is really bad.
They let the bodies pile up and rot or hold the body hostage unless you pay right away!
I believe they have a segment on either 60 minutes Australia or a Current Affair Australia.
@@GreySkyLady I’m a little confused by the your comment if you add 125+400=that comes to 525.00.
I was looking for a royal purple casket for my mother and came across Titan. It was a great purchasing experience, and I saved enough to buy an upgraded vault. People commented that it was a beautiful casket unlike any one they had ever seen. It was perfect for my mother. I highly recommend Titan.
Thank you for this wonderful story. We're so honored to have served you and your family.
More accurately, it was for your mother's *corpse.*
Your mother was dead. There was no extra-credit of approval from her in heaven or whatever you were fooled to believe.
You bought a purple box to put your mother's corpse in underground. You felt better about doing that, therefore, as the consumer, you are satisfied with your purchase.
The item you probably paid around $1,000 for now contains the liquids, gasses, and other peopleparts that bodies melt in to. You will never see, touch, or use your purchase again, ever.
Brilliant.
Is do the titan up by Archie Bell and the Drells?
@@Dfk429S9fo3 Agreed. We don't charge for the gasket, and only offer it because that's what funeral homes tell customers they should get.
I bet that purple casket was beautiful!
Purple is my favorite color my whole life and if I were to be buried I would also choose a purple casket.
I have a pre-paid cremation plan and I choose a purple urn. It's all me! 💜
I, forgot to mention I was a Mortuary Science major, many years ago. Thank you, Titan for all you're doing. Gorgeous workmanship and quality materials, inside and out.💐
Will Costco embalm you
FYI - Titan does not manufacture caskets. They are a distributor. All they do is BUY AND SELL. They claim to be in the business of helping families. But in reality, they never meet you in person. They take your order and your money while marketing to your emotions and good nature. Shame on Titan. Your local funeral director is the one who is on-call 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to answer your call and your questions. S/he is ultimately responsible and directly accountable for the services you select. If you are unhappy, you have recourse. But what is Titan's casket does not arrive on time, or is scratched or dented, or the handle is broken? Will Titan make it right within a matter of hours? NO. But your licensed funeral director will go to great lengths to ensure that a new casket arrives within hours and that your services begin on time. Why? Because that is what s/he does everyday, regardless of the weather or the pandemics. We never stop serving families. That's what we signed up to do.
@@johnligda7236 People are always trying to cut corners and get something on the cheap. At the same time, some funeral homes take advantage of the situation and up-sell the family on all types of junk they don't need. That is part of the business too, you can't deny it.
This is amazing, have told my only child in our recent " life discussion" when I turned 65 last year to go for it! As someone who lived in small, close-knit college town, my parents were extremely close personal friends with both funeral home families & I babysat for them. Never saw the list, never offered informed choice, and I was a single parent & my dad was teacher, mom never worked, thru died '03 & '09 with 2nd mortgage & no savings, so Mom lived month to month on SS. I was guilted into spending so much on funerals, took years to pay off. This is fantastic!!!! Telling all my friends!
Guilted is the right word when you are grieving you are not making the best choices talk to them and make decision before they are gone then you know you did not let them down.
The funeral industry is a Cash Cow... HUGELY profitable!!! Thanks for shaking it up, I appreciate this video, the knowledge of alternatives.
My mother donated her body to science through the Maryland State Anatomy Board. A year later, I got her cremated ashes back. A week after her death we had a great memorial service for her. Not having to arrange a funeral, plot etc saved me tons of stress and money.
Yep. my body is going to a medical school. Who said you can't do good things even after you are dead? No cost, no concerns. Not like I will feel anything with whatever they decide to do with me :)
Till you find out what they do with those bodies. I've seen some stories of them using them for bomb testing and removing limbs and head and selling them to various companies to use for testing.
@@BabyJesus66 yea the military industry R&D division are big on getting human subjects for testing weapons and defensive armor. And the relatives dont get to know anything about it. All that is said i s that the body is being used for science.
Which is a big dishonest scam in my opinion.
Who cares. I won’t be needing it anymore.
@@lisalarouge6309 Necrophilia is a real thing out there. Most don't get caught because the victim can't speak
I love Kaitlyn Dougherty. She is a breath of clean air in the miasma that is the funeral industry. I have watched her videos and she insightful, knowledgeable, and conveys empathy about death and dying. Many years ago I had to write a paper in college about the inflated costs in the funeral business. And it was extremely eye opening. I spent many hours looking at trade magazines and comparing costs. I went to numerous funeral companies and inquired about cost. Of course, I didn't tell them I was writing a paper for a class, but wanted some info as one of my parents were dying. What I heard and saw was blatant theft of money, by the industry, during a time of family grief and sorrow.
Remember, back in the late 60's, there was no internet or Amazon. Now I mostly do what shopping I need online. Also, now I am 70 yrs old and my children know I am to be cremated, no costly service or viewing, my ashes to do what they wish, after all, I'm already deceased and don't care about my remains. An lastly, throw a party to celebrate my life. I should mention my body is going to a research facility and when they are done, they will cremated my remains and send my ashes back to my family at no cost to them.
Does that mean there will be no fees from the funeral home? Are there fees for the body to be transported to the research facility? I think this is a great idea. I knew a lady who gave her body to science after she died, but I never knew the details of how that worked.
@S Stephens your body will be picked up by the county/city morgue and the company picks you up from there. No funeral home, no fees, no cost for transporting your body and no cost for the cremation and the send your ashes back to your family. But first you have to be registered with the company that picks up your body for the research facility. Some also may want to know your medical and health history as well when you sign up.
@@lindabriggs5118 How do you register for something like this? Also, any awareness on these natural/forest burials? (Where you are allowed to basically decay, back into the earth?) 🌻🌳🍄 I'm not sure if they're only like 10 years recent or if they've always existed.
I loved seeing Caitlin in this story! She's such an* amazing advocate. 🖤⚰️
That women isn't even a licensed Funeral Director.
@@totellthetruth9973 - Caitlin? She most certainly is. She owns and operates her own funeral home. Plus, she uses her TH-cam channel to educate the public on available options.
I came to comments to look for a post about her. I would love for her to do a video about this.
@@totellthetruth9973 Caitlin Doughty is most certainly a licensed funeral director. Stop disgracing yourself in public with such bald lying.
Me too!!❤
Thank you for helping millions of grieving families with a casket that's affordable.
Well done on including Caitlin Doughty in the discussion. She has established herself as an advocate for the families of the deceased.
I used to sub to her channel, but quit. I don't remember what is was now, but because I had lost my husband (not recently), I didn't appreciate some things she'd said and how they were said at the time.
@AnnWith APlan Kari the mortician is another one that I like. She has lots of videos about death and dieing and is not morbid like Caitlin but I watch her too.
She’s trying to save her job. We should all be cremated.
My father was a Veteran and the VA only pays for the dirt. I was fortunate enough to have the funds to afford the rest and let me tell you
Titan saved me sooo much money. Had it shipped to the funeral home and was very pleased with it.
It was beautiful!
Sparkly and all...
By law the funeral home must accept the outside casket company deliveries.
Caitlin's TH-cam channel is *Ask a Mortician.* She's as much a Historian as Mortician. Fascinating videos!
I love her. She's very good at presenting a hard subject & she's fascinating to listen too.
Part of the issue is the mass consolidation that is happening in the industry. It used to be that you had a local family-run funeral home. Over the past several decades, these large companies have bought these mom-and-pop companies. So you end up with some of these mega-corporations owning hundreds of funeral homes posing as mom-and-pop businesses, but now there is no competition. They can get away with charging the prices they do as they secretly own all the surrounding funeral homes in the region.
bingo
I remember watching a special on TV talking about just such a thing going on.. the potential profit from Aging baby boomer population was the prime motivation for the mass buyouts of private funeral homes. Even the cost of cremation has gone up from a few hundred dollars to few thousand dollars.. notwithstanding the price gouging of funeral services caskets vaults and plots..
In my area, Dignity Memorial runs most of the casket, funeral, and land plot businesses
Great, they bought all the extra houses and apartments on the market so you have nowhere affordable to live, now they want to see you on the way out too.
Corporate America in its race to the bottom folks.
Squeeze every penny you can , that is their secret mission statement.
Funeral Homes, Trailer Parks , Prisions , the Housing Market, Private Equity on Health Care, pushing barbiturics as pain killers, inadequate and unfair water appropriation towards processed food conglomerates. When enough is enough ?
I occasionally watch Chris Hedges and I concur … well there goes another prophet of doom cashing out on his quasi celebrity status selling books. Yet lately , must of what he says makes sense. América in its farewell tour , so says one of his book titles.
Meanwhile , almost three quarters of a million Americans chose to live in Mexico ! And it used to be the opposite.
This is long overdue.
Thank you, and Congratulations to the Titan
Thanks Titan for helping out all the grieving families without putting a hole in the wallets.
Thank you so much for this information! After managing my parents resting place years ago, I am now preparing for my own. This is really great to know!
I love this!! My Dad died 5 years ago and I could not believe how expensive everything was. It really is disgusting that funeral home take advantage of people will they are at their lowest.
I salesman called me up, trying to sell me a casket. I told him “sir, that’s the last thing I need.”
🤣🤣🤣
Badoom Tiss.
😂
🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
When my mom died in 2016 the cost of her funeral service ended up being about $7000 which i feel is egregious because her service wasn't long enough for that price to be justified. There definitely needs to be a reform with how the funeral industry operates and a financial cap on how expensive the service can actually be
You should see the homes that the owners of these funeral homes live in. They quite literally take the saying of: "There's good money in dead people" to the bank.
@@who_wantsit it's really gross honestly how these people profit off of the grief of devastated families. I'm only in my 20s so this isn't something i have to think about right now but i hope things will be different when i get to be my grandpa's age who is about to turn 85
@@adamgranger5653 I hope so too.
Since funeral homes have corporatized, they're probably good buddies with politician$. I'd say vote Blue, but they're not entirely pristine, either :-/
Privately owned funeral homes are so few and far between now, unfortunately
There used to be a company called Funeral Depot that sold caskets direct to consumers. It was in business in 2003, but I don't know what happened to them since
We're not the first!
If you can get a casket at a lower price, why not. I'm glad Titan is in business. It is about time another company, gives those GREEDY funeral homes a jolt in the pocket book.
This will not affect funeral homes. They are adjusting their pricing model slowly by lowering casket markups to an average of 2-2.5× markup (close to titans or similar online retailers) from 4x. And raising their professional service fees and embalming to make up for the difference. That way, no matter if you buy from them or online, they will still make roughly the same profit, and you would pay close to the same, but with the added effort and risk of purchasing online.
I love Caitlin Doughty!!!
Ask a Mortician is a wonderful channel 🧡
Such a shame to monetize on death (the two main companies selling to only mortuaries). Thank goodness Titan is in the industry, their product and business is truly an act of service.
It's the perfect time to monetize. That dead person can't take the money with them
@@PSCA1988 some people have long illnesses & are broke by the time they die. The burden then falls on the family.
But you can monetize 1000x on healthcare, foh.
Amazing people and an important mission being accomplished with style and grace. Thank you, Josh Liz and Scott.
I recommend Titan to everyone. I've been a funeral director for over 10 years!
I think this is fantastic, thank you so much for making things easier for people at such a hard time in dealing with loosing a loved one
Most people don't know that there is really only a few casket companies in the country and for the most part they are all made the same. I worked in a cemetery and I learned a lot and I can tell you don't waste your money on an expensive casket. Once you're in the ground no one will ever see it, unless they dig you up for some reason. Also, don't believe the claims that some receiving vaults are waterproof and others are not, that's 100% crap. If you open a vault regardless of the guarantee you will find water in it. It's because the ground temperature is constant and the air temperature is rarely the exact temperature of the ground, so when you close the vault it traps the humidity in the box and as the temperature changes to the ground temperature condensation forms and leaves water in the vault and again unless someone digs you up that guarantee is worthless, because you will never know. Also the final thing I learned is this, preplan your funeral. I know it sounds morbid, but sometimes there is unscrupulous people in the world, who prey of those at their darkest hours. Don't ever tell the funeral home or cemetery how much life insurance you have on the person, because sometimes those unscrupulous people will help you spend every Penney of that money plus more. Make your wishes know to your loved ones and be clear to them that just because you don't spend a lot of money on their funeral, doesn't mean that you didn't love them very much.
If I remember correctly the vault is important for keeping the casket from caving in which causes the dirt over the gave to sink.
@@trevors7905 yes, but today the majority of vaults are reinforced concrete and made basically the same. The law says you legally don't have to have one, but most cemeteries require one to keep the ground from settling after burial.
I have to agree with your whole comment been there seen it.
The man who built it couldn't use it.
The man who bought it didn't want it.
The man who used it didn't know it.
that's an excellent riddle.
Why couldn't the man who built it use it?
@@OuterHavenMedia Because he was alive .
Funerals are ridiculously expensive and really unnecessary, but to each their own. I love Caitlin!
thats because funerals are for the living, but I think its slightly necessary to an extent. An when I say that I mean just closure for the people affected. Funerals are only expensive if the people want to do something. An it usually boils down to time+people = money.
@@lastgengamers1137 I know. I told my family I don’t want some stuffy service. I’ll be gone so I don’t need anything. Go see a local live band play and scatter my ashes in the Rappahanock Rivah. Brother said he would need closure. Told him I’d haunt him if my wishes were not granted.
My FIL was a mortician/funeral director who owned the home passed down for generations. He recently passed and he didn’t even have a funeral. Just visitation and graveside.
@Abs Atwell hey, not gonna knock that. It is important to respect the wishes of the deceased. Only on the rarest of occasions does someone not want to be viewed. Even by family so I get it.
I think it's just sad that Corp companies and bad directors have ruined it for those who actually try and care for families. As a result it spurs the "it's a scam" to it as a whole.
@@lastgengamers1137 My entire family has been cremated. I’ve only been to a few “viewings” in my life. I think 4 and I’m 51. That being said, my best friends father (a Catholic) didn’t have a formal viewing or service. He wanted to be cremated and his sister had a really hard time with that. Anyway, the funeral home (corporate) put him in a pine type cremation box and had him in the fridge for about two weeks. They brought him out for anyone that wanted to see him a few times both weeks. They had sharpies available for everyone to write messages to him and folks placed mementos in the box with him. He was not embalmed and looked like him. I’ve seen some horrible makeup jobs, but the 2 men I’ve seen looked great…well, for corpses.
I really appreciate her ability to speak out & educate people in such a compassionate way.
Amazon does sell any thing from A to Z.
YES, TALK with your Loved Ones ahead of the inevitable! It makes things so much easier. ALSO, have you done a segment on Green Burials? Thanks for this particular piece. ❤
Yes, I am seriously considering a green burial with no funeral services.
I bought my mother-in-law a beautiful casket online that she got to see and approve as part of her funeral arrangements. It stayed in my storage locker a couple of years until she passed away. It cost only $1000, where the same casket at the funeral home was over $3000. The savings was used to allow for an additional service in her home town where she lived most of her life and had more family and friends. It made perfect sense and we were not at all disappointed.
There is an old saying. When you cry, you buy and the funeral parlors are hoping you cry. Such a waste of money. We are donating our bodies to the University of Buffalo. Hopefully a student doctor to be can learn from our lifeless bodies and go on to safe the living.
I had a friend who did this some years ago. She passed due to a rare stomach cancer and wanted further research to be done. After the school was done, they cremated the remains and gave the ashes to her daughter. I guess she had the option to decline taking the ashes but she couldn't find it in herself not knowing where her mother would end up. So she buried her ashes at the foot of her grandfather.
Do u know what will happen to your remains once the University is done? I've been curious since that was my first experience with donating your body to science. TIA
@@udntknomeXX my parents did this also. We arranged to have their remains returned (via UPS) and we buried their ashes. As for mine, I have instructed UB to dispose the ashes. All FREE. I hope someone that doesn't want to or doesn't have the money will consider this. My family that sees me regularly doesn't need to be put through a funeral and the ones I don't see don't matter anyway.
My Mom did that. It was her wish and to have ashes spread in Texas. We had a service and luncheon, but it was all very simple. But looking back I’d skip the service at the funeral home and rent a better, less expensive venue. Do the flowers and everything myself.
Our family love their caskets. We've ordered 5 so far‼️ They made our sorrow easier to handle.👍Job and service well done. We are going to remain loyal customers.🙏🌺
My stepfather didn’t have the $ to buy a casket for my mother outside of the funeral home because they were willing to make a claim against her life insurance policy. I had some $ saved and loaned it to him to buy as much as he could from private co. Saved him thousands in his time of grief. Thanks Titan
On a similar note - I want to know prices of plots at a nearby cemetery but I should'nt have to fill out forms with my personal information on there first before getting those prices
That wasn't the case for spouse and me 25 years ago. Now that they're corporations...
BLESS THE CORPORATE UN-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! Freedumb!
Some places actually base their prices of the person/family financial status, involvement in churches, being a veteran, and etc so it hard to give a quote without the needed information.
Will they drop ship it to the funeral home ?
Will the funeral real home accept delivery?
I can easily imagine a few unscrupulous funeral homes adding on all sorts of “fees” into their itemized services price list, as a means to recoup the lost casket sales revenue, such as:
1)delivery acceptance fee
2)shipping pack unpacking fee
3)storage fee (until populated)
4)packing fee - populating the coffin w/ it’s resident
5)styling & showcasing fee - making certain all is ready for display
6)exit fee - room breakdown and clean up
7)deposit fee - hearse mileage plus loading/transport and unloading fees
Humor intended, but still a reasonable expectation given how things are today….
What's the difference? A casket goes in a vault or in some cases just under ground and the body decays! My father died unexpectedly 37 years ago,he was loved by many,the funeral home had to park cars across the street. My mother spent $10,000 the same it costed for my wedding 5 years earlier! It was ridiculous, and as a family we all decided that cremation was the only way from then on! My beloved sister died last year and it cost $1,000 ,beautiful container and very nice people to work with! No fuss!❤❤❤
My Mother passed in 2010. Picked out a casket online for $1400.including shipping. Got it within 48 hours. No problem with Funeral Home using it. Wife's Grandmother passed in 08. Her casket was also bought online, so they have been available online at least that far back.
My husband purchased a headstone for his mothers gravesite. It was a fraction of the price but the next place looking to rip him off was the cemetery.
And the cost of putting the headstone in place was?
@@DavidEVogel Some times that is included with the cost of the stone.
That`s where I see gouging is on the bronze no maintenance placards that many grave yards will only allow.
Titan caskets is amazing! I bought a beautiful casket for my mother in 2021. A pinkish rose color with embroidery of praying hands and the price was so reasonable. And unfortunately I lost my husband a year later and I used Titan caskets again, and I ordered a gorgeous military (Navy) casket for my husband. The funeral home had theirs vaults painted to match the caskets and then engraved the top of the vault lid. Everything g was gorgeous! I was very happy with the way things turned out. Thank you Titan
This is a good story!! It’s about time funeral homes feel some emotional pain!
Emotional AND financial
YESSS! “Ask a mortician “ is one of favorite channels on TH-cam!!!
Anything that exposes the absolute scam of the funeral industry is needed!
In Costco in Miami, you can buy Casket, and they will even put it in your pick up truck so you can take it home.
Yeah Death Mother! I love her channel! She deserves to be on the news!!!
I love it. Great idea. I've thought about planning my own service for years! Pick my own casket, have wrapped, pin striped, grandkids names on it. Whatever I want I get to choose. & store it in my garage till its needed!
As a funeral director for over 25 years, I have always done whatever the families have asked of me...as long as it is legal. When caskets became available online, I never gave a family a hard time about doing so. But I will tell them to make sure the company is legitimate and will stand behind their product should something happen and to make sure the caskets are made here in America. If it is made outside of America, it is subpar and not worth the quality. Two weeks ago, a family purchased an 18 ga. Stainless Steel casket from an online store. I told the family that we require someone from the family to be present when it was delivered. The casket was ordered on a Monday and did not show up until the morning of the calling hours, which was three days later. What got delivered was an 18 ga casket but not the one they picked. On top of that, it was filthy. The family had to purchase one from us. I did give them a discount for it because they were so upset. I am not saying every casket store is bad. But if you choose this way of purchasing a casket to save money, do your homework.
Good thing we are legitimate 😂. Our product and service is excellent. Please call us if we can ever help you or your community.
@@titancasket I definitely will. The caskets you sell look better than some we offer.
@@introfiant30 I could careless about the quality, it will be 6 ft underground anyway.
@@hp4415 It more due to respect for the decreased, however you also want a good strong casket because it has to be able to hold the weight of the person, the stress of transport, and be able to be carried. Look at the opening of the movie "Mouse Hunt" where the handle to the casket of broke off as an example.
@@brianhaflin9799 me personally I find funeral is just a waste. I would love to save my family $10,000 on funeral cost so they can use that money on vacation or whatever they want. Like donating my body to science. Or if it’s not an available option then I would love if there is cheap service for someone who doesn’t care about funeral ( just put my body in a hole) or a mass grave or whatever that cost $1000 or less.
Buyer beware! As a licensed funeral director, funeral home owner and a educator, I can honestly say that this piece is somewhat misleading. Prior to the 1984 Funeral Rule, line itemization for the purchase of a funeral was not required. Therefore the industry as a whole placed the entire cost of the funeral to the price of the casket mark-up. And while the 1984 Rule enactment was a light switch for the consumer, it was a gradual shift for funeral home owners who gradually shifted the pricing of the funeral from the merchandise into the service side. Today, some 39 yrs later, funeral homes as a whole tend to put very little mark-up on the casket because the wholesale cost is so high to begin with. Therefore for the first time in industry history, owners can legitimately compete with 3rd party retailers. Also, and this is VERY IMPORTANT…. It is legal for a funeral home to offer you a discount on professional services if you select a casket from them. This means that firms can legally markup- the professional services by the average median profit from the sale of a casket and charge you those prices if you elect select services “a la cart.” Example - You walk in the door and select a traditional funeral and the total professional cost is $6,000. However, I offer a Service Package Price for the exact same set of services that is discounted by $1,000 (or $5,000) if you purchase a casket thru our funeral home. This exact practice is completely legal and in fact, encouraged by the FTC which wrote the enacted the Funeral Rule, because it encourages competence pricing and gives YOU the consumer more options. Finally, and I think this is important to me as a consumer and not a funeral director - the person I would hire to handle my parents funerals has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that everything I select is just the way I want. The lights are on, the temperature is comfortable, the coffee is made, the remains are dressed, the register book is ready, and the casket I selected is not scratched or dented and arrived on time. That is not always the case with 3rd sellers. You never meet them. They are not licensed funeral providers. They are not regulated by the 1984 funeral rule (which they failed to tell you in this report). They are not in business to care for your family. They are in business to sell a product. That is it. When you buy a casket from the funeral home, you can hold them responsible if it is not to your liking or if it is dented or doesn’t arrive on time. You have recourse. That isn’t the case with an internet provider.
These are things to consider when it comes to caring for your loved one. Who can you trust? The person you meet with at the funeral home, who you can hold accountable, or the person you never meet who had UPS deliver a dented or scratched casket to the funeral home?
This is what I tell all my families- peace of mind is powerful. If you feel comfortable buying a casket online, go ahead. We must accept it. But please, beware of the possible consequences resulting from your decision.
Amen!! Before you call ALL fd's greedy, carefully read the above. Corperate owned funeral homes have been known for these ways of doing business but locally owned homes are honest and trying to make a profit under very high operating costs!
That was a good informative piece.
Good for them. Love seeing a small business stick it to large companies and help people at the same time
Even in death, companies will squeeze every cent out of you or your family.
This was incredibly informative and eye opening. Thank you for showing this.🙏🏻
If IKEA was smart they would come out with a bookcase that could be converted into a casket. In Florida we have or used to have the funeral consumer alliance that helps members obtain low-cost funeral services in their area. I think they have this in many parts of the country. Do a Google search for funeral consumers alliance. If you die your love ones can contact the alliance and be advised of the cheapest cremations, etc. in your area.
Excellent, its about time a company is about compassion as well as money. God bless Titan Caskets for their philosophy and their prices. Btw: thank you for interviewing Catlin D. as well. Love her TH-cam channel. She has helped many people understand death and the death industry.
i want to see this with other industries as well.. for example..internet companies.
I love this! Did not even know it was available. I can buy WHAT I WANT and keep it here at the house until it is needed. One less expense and decision for my estate to make.
Hopefully you'll keep it out of sight in the garage or it may cause some raised eyebrows😉
we have a pre-planning service. happy to hold onto it for you! :)
@@lizabetx483 Have an enclosure built for it so it can be used as a credenza or coffee table. Only you will know!
WELL DONE , the Funeral industry has made it to expensive to die !!!!
Cremation costs about $600.
@@Seekthetruth3000 Wonder where that is? When I asked around, I was told $2,000 for cremation. My parent did not want that. They wanted to donate their bodies to science which was through a teaching hospital. They had heard about this via their senior citizens' group.
@@nancymuller3291 Because of inflation, the cost has gone up. Donating their bodies to medical school is a good option.
@@Seekthetruth3000 Where are you looking? The services of funeral home staff, even for a cremation can run $1500...
@@amyjwebb7937 You are correct. After Biden took over, due to inflation, the price of everything has gone up.
Guess it's time for funeral homes to lower their prices if they want to atay in business. $2000 for a casket is outrageous
I've never understood the point of an elaborate padded coffin, I'll be a CORPSE, I don't give a crap how comfortable or nice it looks I'm pretty busy being DEAD. Just dig a hole and throw me in, the Earth gets the nutrients it gave me back and there's no chemical filled casket to pollute the soil. At least Titan is helping reduce the financial grief of the family not just the emotional so I'm all for that
Glad this story came out. I’ve known about the Amazon and Costco casket/urn sales for awhile now and can’t help but shake my head when friends spend 10s of thousands of dollars on a funeral for their mom/dad. Some people might feel guilty when they find deals like this or at places like Costco because in their mind they might be thinking they’re being disrespectful for “cheaping out” on mom/dad’s funeral but I highly doubt that they would want you to go thousands of dollars into debt on their behalf. Same thing goes with head stones. That’s another funeral industry that needs to be turned on it’s head.
Yeah, & people may not know how easy it is to make headstones
I didn't know this and I just buried my dad in July, and I had to plan everything cuz mom was sick and was in the hospital. I would of saved 4,000 bucks easy if I would of known.
I have been following Caitlin for years...Ask a Mortician.
I love her straightforward way of demystifying death and dying. She's taken all the creepiness out of it for me.
Caitlin = voice of reason
Beautiful ❤️ and Thank You for your services
*Funeral home caskets* and *furniture* are the most highly marked-up items you will ever purchase. 💸 💰 💸
Thank you Titan for helping people who need help in a tough situation
Those damn things looking more relaxing all the time...
Beautiful Story! Thank You.
How much is the box the casket comes in? You can bury me in that.
I NEVER KNEW THIS! Thank you for sharing!
As I was watching this, I was thinking to myself, that would have been so cool if they interviewed Caitlin... and then there she was! I'm so glad she's getting credit and recognition for all the great work she's doing educating the masses about death, dying, and the funeral business while positively disrupting the industry. She's incredible.
What about the shipping costs, and speedy and timely delivery?
People are usually so distraught when planning a funeral, they may not have the presence of mind to search for bargains. They may pay a higher price at a funeral home, because it's more convenient. This lower price service is much needed.
Your right about that but what irk`s me a little is that many of us have had to deal with multiple funerals over the years and this hidden fact is just coming to light , I`m sure not going to keep it a secret.
I did this 22 years ago, as did my mother. Only one manufacturer offered by mail then. Saved a bunch.
Thank you for providing this kind of services...
Funeral Homes, are just a big rip-off 😮
3:08 I understand this to be demonstrating sturdiness of the shipping box, when a casket is in transport. How much weight can the actual casket withstand once buried? Does Titan make/offer vaults?
The vaults are often in the grave yard quote. You have no choice on them as they are required in most places.
Imagine buying something for $2000 and then burying it. What a waste of money. You can buy caskets that are more eco-friendly such as wicker coffins, plywood coffins, and cardboard coffins.
AHHH!!! CAITLIN!! I LOVE!! How dare you not link her channel, CBS.
I am not going to have my parents cremated. Like they're being tossed into the burn pile and discarded like rubbish.
Thank you for the information, God bless amen.
Costco sells caskets
What?? I'm so far behind the times...
Love Costco!
In NYC the caskets START at 3800$ + 8.875% tax
The logical conclusion: "How much for the cardboard box?"
I came away with that too!
Cheers.
ayyyy its one of my fav youtubers! ask a mortician !!
With rudimentary carpentry skills you could build a simple pine coffin. Or be cremated with no need of one.
I agree. Before my dad passed from cancer I found out then he had no life insurance coverage. Had it at one time but let it end without telling me. Because of this I know it would be coming out of pocket and due to doing the cost alone, decided to use the funeral home for some parts but do most on my own. Ordered, the casket myself, used copy center to create my own obituary, rented small venue for dinner afterwards and did the food myself. The funeral home wanted around 8k total. My way was around 4k which fit the amount I had in my savings.❤ It would have been less stress allowing funeral home do all, but because it was my dad, gave me strength to plan and execute everything on a budget but still send him off with a lovely service. So I understand this woman well!!!
I want my casket custom designed to look like a drum set or a guitar! Lol
My grandfather paid for his resting place in a building in a cemetery before he died. He was cremated and so was my grandmother and both of their urns were put into this casket place in a building on the cemetery. There are hardly any spaces left in cemeteries and they are very expensive. I believe that is why many people are now being cremated. It would be wonderful if people had a place to visit their loved one, But it's not affordable anymore. It takes a special permit to be buried on your own land, I don't think many people do that nowadays but it was very common before the suburb When people had family homesteads.
All depends on zoning laws and your location. In my part of the country, the cemeteries have plenty of space and I plan to be buried on property I own-no permit needed.
This company is doing an absolute service. Good on them. As someone who spent a brief amount of time in the funeral industry, it is an absolute racket. Funeral directors are nothing more than salespeople who know how to embalm. Even the people who run cemeteries are viewed as sales people and numbers are expected from them by cemetery boards to keep their jobs.
Yay! I'm so glad Caitlyn was on here! Shes amazing. And I'm glad I've learned about Titian.
Something better ....Human. Compost .... Help the Earth 🌎.....😊.... just my opinion
Death is for everyone
The living should
Take this to heart
Repent while breathing
What most important
Memories to leave behind
😇😇😇😇😇😇😇
NO
I love these people for not trying to take advantage of people going through hard times.. life isn't all about money. much love to you guys..
Costco also sells wood caskets for $1k, pick up at the store. I have bought 3 so far and it's great!