Life working at a funeral home………..Appointments People! Appointments!
Make sure that you call ahead of time before going to a funeral home, no matter what you are going there for! Unless the staff tells you that you can just stop up anytime! I know I repeat myself all the time with this, but please…CALL and see if you need to schedule an appointment!
The family that came yesterday, the one I couldn’t wait to see, well….let’s just say it was exactly what I expected! Everyone had something to bitch about. Not about us, but about other family members. Just because someone isn’t helping you pay for the funeral doesn’t mean that “we” the funeral home, are not going to let them in for visitation! It is not up to us to tell someone they are not allowed in! First of all, how am I suppose to know who “these” people are!?! And second, I do not have time to stand guard by the door all day!
We accept insurance assignments. BUT, we are NOT the insurance company. We call the insurance company for the family and get instruction on what to do! Like, do we need a claim form, if we do, will the ins. co. fax one or mail one? Do we need a Certified Death Certificate and an assignment signed by the beneficiary, does the ins. co need a copy of the contract, etc…… The Insurance Company tells US what to do and therefore we pass that info onto the family, we get all the paper work, that the Insurance Company requires, and we have the family sign it and or fill it out. So, I cannot answer certain questions about the policy because I do not know! So, when I tell you that is something that you will have to ask the insurance company yourself, they will not divulge that info to me…..just do what I am telling you! THEN, when you tell me that you do not have the phone number to the insurance company, just because you are too lazy to call yourself…really come on. First of all, I have NO problem giving you that phone number! YOU brought the policy to me, remember! Also, I find it hard to believe that you do not have the number or did not have the number, because when you walked in the other day you were on your phone WITH the insurance company! Please Please Please do not keep asking me to call them with questions that you have for them! I can’t!
Again with appointments. If you see that our parking lot is FULL of cars doesn’t that kinda tell you that something is going on? And, it really isn’t such a big deal if you show up because you need to drop something off or have a question, but when we have a family there and things are going on, we may not be able to get with you right away. So, this is why I say CALL first! Because of course, like I have said one million times before, YOU get an attitude! Not my fault, not my problem. Also, do not show up 5 minutes before closing to go over any detailed items! The family with the insurance decides to show up 5 minutes before closing because they wanted to go over some information on the insurance, they needed to bring ALOT of documentation to us and were told to do so on the day of service. BUT, they decided that they wanted to do it NOW. Well, NOW, is 5 minutes before I am going to lock the doors. I do not answer my door 30 minutes prior to closing unless you call first or have an appt.! period! then when you grab your cell and call from the parking lot and say that you are at the door but no one is answering, I am going to tell you that I had no appt. scheduled and therefore the office closed early. Also, when going to any business for any reason, why would you show up 5 min. prior to closing? I wouldn’t! especially without calling first or asking if someone will be there! And again, if we were open because of visitation with another family, who is to say that we could assist you at the time you showed up? Usually there is no higher up’s available in the evening, so the person working is there solely for the family that is there for viewing! you would be told to come back anyway.
Thefuneralbizz's Weblog 
July 11, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Like to compare planning a funeral to planning a wedding–different emotions of course but I’ll bet nobody calls the wedding planner and just asks “how much $$ for a wedding”??!! or says ”we don’t have a lot of money but want a grand ceremony with all the frills” or haggle over prices. They would show you the DOOR . Funeral business is NO different in that respect and we WILL TRY to help you out if we can—we are NOT heartless but the ONLY thing we OWE you is our undivided attention — so please CALL FIRST!!! and for a FEW of you people, leave the attitude and snippy shit home–trust me, that WON’T help YOU AT ALL.
July 10, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Understand your frustration about walk-ins. Like you, we just want to do our best for any family. People seem to be under the impression all funeral homes are staffed 24/7 as you have stated before. Maybe LONG TIME AGO, but not now (maybe a very few). Our Directors & office staff leave at 5:00 pm like MOST BUSINESSES,or whenever their work is done. TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, our staff has families also–a few days off and vacation just like you !!!! Sometimes they are in arrangements and oh no they might be out on a FUNERAL !!!! PLEASE take wise advice from The Bizz and MAKE AN APPOINTMENT !!!!!! That is for YOUR benefit–get it yet ??????????
July 11, 2010 at 2:29 am
What I don’t get is that you wouldn’t necessarily walk into your doctors office if he didn’t take walk-ins would you? or your dentist? lawyer? etc….so why would you just walk into a funeral home? everyone has a cell phone these days, use it! We have been so busy lately and have had several walk ins during actual visitations and while those visitations were going on, we also had other arrangements going on!! So, when the families that walked in found out that they could not be helped asap, they were a little annoyed. First off, well, because we couldn’t give them our attention right away, second, there was NO PLACE for them to sit!! There were alot of people for the viewing and a lot of kids running around like a pack of wild wolves! So, they became even more irritated. Like I have said before, no on is more important than the next family. But I feel as if when a loved one dies, the family of that person feels as if they are the only people who have ever lost a loved one and you can’t very well say “hey, you ain’t the only one who has ever lost someone, so suck it up!”. But that family in the chapel whose viewing is right now, they have every right to have our fullest attention. That family that made an appt. to make arrangements, they to have the right to our fullest attention! What do you do?!?
April 21, 2010 at 1:32 am
I’m just curious if your firm is family or corporate? We are family owned and we’ll take anybody at anytime, appointments or not. Of course, we’re a small firm. Sounds like your firm is larger, with multiple chapels, so I can see how that would complicate things.
April 21, 2010 at 5:16 pm
we are family owned. and we also have 2 funeral homes like you do. we like to schedule appts but even tho i bitch about walk ins we still take them when they walk in, just irritating is all! usually the bosses are busy and not around, so when we get a family that walks in, it’s hard to get someone to do the arrangement. we do over 200 calls per year at the one funeral home and over, i say, 100-175 at the other, so we keep pretty busy. by the way, i really enjoy reading your blog, i recently made a few comments. keep writing!