FTC Staff Issues Report on Undercover Funeral Rule Phone Sweep – Report provides key findings about consumers’ ability to obtain price information from funeral providers by phone
The staff of the Federal Trade Commission have issued a report detailing key findings from the agency’s first-ever undercover Funeral Rule phone sweep, which found several funeral providers failed to provide pricing information required by law.
The FTC’s Funeral Rule requires providers to give information about their offerings and pricing over the phone, when asked.
As detailed in the report, FTC staff reviewed calls placed to 278 randomly selected funeral providers to contact from the largest, middle, and smallest metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the country from February 2023 through December 2023. For each of the randomly selected funeral providers, staff made up to three attempts to reach the provider by phone during business hours (9am-5pm), and up to three attempts outside of business hours. On the calls, staff asked for pricing information, typically for direct cremation, cremation and a memorial service, and cremation and a viewing.
FTC-PR-241120-2 (11-20-24)