I recently decided to attend a couple of the seminars on cremation that we see in our mailboxes or in the Daily Sun. I wanted to understand what each company offered, as I am one of those types who likes to have their ducks in a row...
First, I would recommend attending one of the seminars (the free lunches offered as an incentive are good) to learn for yourself and ask questions pertinent to your situation. The "seminar" portion lasts about 20-30 minutes (depends upon the number of attendees and questions), so it is not really tying up a lot of your time. One of the two presenters was a bit more forward in wanting to set up a follow-up meeting, so you do need to be willing (and it is ok) to tell the presenter that you want to review the information before committing to a follow-up meeting.
Full disclosure: I only attended two of these seminars, as I was impressed enough with the presentation of one of the two representatives, and the follow-up web work I did with that company, that I will be moving into signing 3 contracts with that company.
The first presentation I attended was good, but going in I knew that I would not sign a contract with that company right away, as I was there to learn about the process and hear their sales pitch (that is what these seminars really are so understand that going in). I would suggest that you should attend more than one seminar and do NOT sign anything until you do so.
So, company "A's" information sharing (re: sales pitch) met my learning goal. In fact, I was under the impression, based upon this ONE seminar, that they offered security on my investment (the concern that a company could go out of business and losing my money) and also would arrange transport of remains from anywhere in the world back to Florida at no additional cost that other pre-planning businesses did not offer. Admittingly, I was tempted to sign up with Company "A", but as with anything, don't let emotion or lack of sufficient data make your decision for you. What I subsequently learned was that the presenter of company "A" did not lie, but definitely led me to believe that only their company would be the one to go with for being able to handle these concerns. As the pitch wound down, the presenter did provide a range of cost (about $400 difference depending upon some options you chose-those options were NOT identified at the pitch). The presenter then indicated that they would be coming around to each of us to set up a private appointment so that we could review the contract, even though we would not be under any obligation to sign the contract and buy their pre-planning package. Don't be afraid to politely decline! Note that there were several couples who signed up for the follow-up meeting. I would suggest if you can't politely decline a meeting at the pitch (unless you have already decided that this was the company for you), it will be harder to say no in a "one on one" in your home.
Company "B's" presentation was very good, and I was extremely thankful that I attended it. Giving credit where credit is due, Company "B" actually publishes their fee structure online so I knew approximately what the costs would be before going to their pitch. I could not find fee structures for company "A" or one of the other companies online. In all fairness, it should be noted that Company B does offer a package that was not online (it includes the insurance discussed below), but the cost structure was in line with the published costs (so no bait and switch). The representative was very good and talked about transparency, which is supported by their willingness to publish their fees online. Company "B's" representative informed me that my pre-planning payment would be placed in a Preneed Funeral Contract Consumer Protection Trust Fund (here is a link to the Florida regulations for your convenience:
link see 497.456(4)) and I would receive a 100% refund if I decide to cancel my policy or if the licensee (in this case, Company "B") went out of business. Additionally, company "B" offered an addendum to the pre-planning contract which consists of basically "travel insurance" so that your remains would be returned to Florida from anywhere in the world at no additional cost to your survivors. This addendum does come with an additional cost (which is actually included in the package presented) and it would be the only money that is non-refundable and which is at risk should the company go out of business before their services were needed. If you don't travel and KNOW that you will be within 75 miles at the time their service is needed, you don't need the insurance. It is a risk based decision. I don't know how Company "A" manages their no additional cost transfer of remains as I decided to not pursue doing business with that company so the answer would be moot for me. The representative for company "B" indicated that she would contact me in about a week to see if I had additional questions or if I had yet made any decisions.
Company "A" gave us 3 days to sign a contract to receive a discount, whereas company "B" provided a 2 week window. Both representatives did point out that price increases would also be coming (this is not unexpected for ANY business), most likely around March 1st.
I suppose that if you truly wanted to do "due diligence", you should meet with more than 2 companies, but for me, it was not clear that the other potential "lunch seminar" companies would better than, in my case, company "B".
Good luck and I hope this post was helpful.