I utilized Elijah Bell's Funeral Services in Lauderdale Lakes Florida to assist with the transport of my mother to her final resting place in NC a little over a month ago. An acquaintance of my sister recommended his funeral home. My sisters and I met with Mr. Bell to discuss his services and the cost. After several subsequent discussions via telephone, we agreed upon a price of $4,000 which included the casket, embalming, dressing and air transport. At no point during the initial in-person meeting did he mention any additional costs, nor did he mention them during our telephone conversations. Mr. Bell informed us that he'd have to "Take Assignment" of the small insurance policy ($5,000) and what ever was left over would be refunded to me in full as the beneficiary ($1,000), or so I thought.
Upon my return from NC, I contacted Mr. Bell to ascertain when the refund would be given and for over a week, his assistant gave me the run around about the refund. She claimed that the insurance company was "non-responsive". I contacted the insurance company, First United American, immediately after my mother's death and they were very easy to reach. I called after a few more days and I was told that the refund was ready. When I asked what the amount was, I was told that it was $800. I inquired as to why there was $200 deducted and Mr. Bell's answer was that he utilized a "FUNDING COMPANY" to fund the funeral home prior to the payment of the insurance policy and the cost of financing was 4% of the face value of the policy! At no time did he mention that there was a finance charge. It would have been appropriate to disclose that information when he quoted the cost of his services. He never mentioned it. Had he mentioned it, I would have gladly used another source of funds to advance to Mr. Bell in order to avoid such an exorbitant expense for short-term funding.
I notified Mr. Bell in writing of my disdain with his irresponsible handling of this issue and asked for a partial refund ($100 or 50%) of the fee as a gesture of goodwill. His response was that the "FUNDING COMPANY" concept is a common practice and made no mention about refunding a portion of the fee as I requested.
Mr. Bell's store front establishment, which is less than 2 years old, is located in an economically depressed section of Broward County and his clientele is uninformed and unsophisticated. I can only imagine how often he takes advantage of their ignorance for his own financial gain. What's even worse is most people are in an extreme emotional state and are mourning the loss of their loved ones. It's a blatant disservice to take advantage of their vulnerability during this very difficult time.
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