The Quoted Price That Was Wrong
A family arranged a funeral six weeks ago and signed a written quotation totalling £4,250, including a coffin at £850, crematorium fees at £1,100, and the funeral director's professional fees at £1,600. The invoice sent after the funeral is £5,180. The difference arises because the crematorium raised its fee by £120, and the coffin supplier increased prices by £210, both after the quotation was signed but before the funeral. The remaining £600 is a 'weekend surcharge' that appeared on the invoice but was never mentioned in the quotation. The family is upset and has written a formal complaint. Your office manager says 'the small print covers us'. The quotation's terms say 'prices may be subject to change'.
1. How should the funeral director assess the complaint and what is the likely outcome?
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Assess each element separately:
- Crematorium fee increase (£120). Disbursements are often quoted as estimates. If the quotation clearly stated that third-party fees may change and would be charged at the rate prevailing at the time of the funeral, passing on the increase is likely to be defensible - provided the family was told.
- Coffin increase (£210). This is a product the funeral director supplies. A general 'prices may be subject to change' clause is weak where the goods were specified and a firm price was given. The family should have been told of the increase when it arose and given the chance to choose an alternative.
- Weekend surcharge (£600). This is the most serious. A charge not disclosed before the contract was formed cannot fairly be added afterwards. Charging it is likely to be unfair and a breach of the requirement for transparent pricing.
Likely outcome: the £600 surcharge should be removed and refunded, and probably the £210 coffin increase as well unless the family was notified and agreed. The £120 disbursement increase may stand if the quotation and terms clearly allowed it. The funeral director should also review why the family was not contacted when prices changed - silence until the invoice is the real failure.
Process: acknowledge the complaint promptly, investigate, respond in writing with a clear breakdown, apologise where wrong, and record the outcome. Consider whether the pricing was misleading under consumer protection law.
2. What should the funeral director change in the firm's quotation and invoicing practice?
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- Separate firm prices from estimates. State clearly which figures are fixed and which are disbursements that may vary, and explain how any variation will be handled.
- Require notification and consent before any increase above a stated threshold is passed on - ideally with a signed variation.
- Remove hidden charges such as weekend or out-of-hours surcharges from the invoice and instead disclose them in the quotation, with a plain explanation of when they apply.
- Make the quotation a single, dated document that the family signs, with a summary page in plain language.
- Train staff on the pricing rules and on what they may and may not say.
- Audit recent invoices against quotations to find similar problems before other families complain.
- Keep the complaint file, learn from it, and report to the manager so the pattern is visible.