We also attended two presentations from competitive companies. Going into this, we felt it was something we wanted to do, but did not know anything about it. I have to admit, that we are the kind of people who tend to over-analyze everything. This was our experience:
After the luncheon with the first company, we felt very pressured by the presenter to set up a follow-up discussion in our home (to the point we felt uncomfortable). We thought that once she was in our house she would put even more pressure on us and it would be hard for us to get her to leave without a signed contract, so we declined. We later contacted their storefront office in The Villages, asked to speak to the manager, explained the situation, and requested to talk to that person (instead of the pushy-presenter) in their office instead of our house. We were accommodated and the manager was very nice, not pushy at all, and answered all our questions. We wanted to do some comparative shopping, so we did not sign a contract.
We thought the presentation at the luncheon of the second company was more informative and less emotional, which we appreciated. Maybe because we had already been educated in the office of the first company, we found this presentation much better and no pressure whatsoever to do anything. Again, we were hesitant to invite a sales person into our house, but we asked for a private session at their office in The Villages. The private session was excellent and mostly what we talked about was the differences between the two companies. We also contacted the first company for them to confirm and explain any differences. We learned a lot.
We also contacted a funeral home who has been in business for many, many years in this area. We met with them...no luncheon...no pressure....pure information. Also excellent. Several difference were noted and discussed.
We put together a comparison chart on these three options. There were differences between all of them. I don't like to give out the names because none of the differences were bad, mainly personal preferences. We took a lot of time to make up our minds, and we made several follow-up calls/emails to all three. We ignored all of the BS "sign now because prices will be increasing" threats, and in the end, so did they. All knew we were doing serious research, and they gave us our space.
We chose the second company. We called the other two and thanked them for their time and explained that the option we chose worked best for our particular circumstance.
Because everyone's personal and family situation is different, I would suggest that you not take anyone's recommendation or opinion. Just do your own due diligence. First decide if preplanning a cremation (or burial) is the route you want to take, and if so, move forward as you would with any major purchase. Include your family in your decision so that everyone knows what to do at the time of your death (regardless if you pre-pay or not).
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