What’s in a Box

A family perspective on selecting and purchasing a coffin or casket. BY GORDON C. HARRIS

W hen organising a funeral for a loved one or pre-arranging your own, the selection and purchase of a coffin or casket is usually left till last. The decision should be an informed one and it is therefore up to the funeral homes to display and explain their wares in an easily understood manner. Arrangements for a funeral can be discussed at home with the arranger or at the funeral parlour. There are four main aspects to be considered.

The arrangement environment

This will be either your home or the funeral home premises. The home environment offers you a different atmosphere to that of the funeral home, as it is familiar and comfortable. The funeral home should present you with manuals and photographs to assist you in your decision regarding a home arrangement including information regarding permanent memorials (urns). By visiting a funeral home you can see what facilities they can offer you for either an on site affair or a home arrangement. The arranger will provide professional and caring service in any environment and can always direct you to those who can assist you with grief management.

The sequence of the funeral arrangements

You should ask yourself if all aspects of funeral arranging were presented clearly enough for you to make an informed decision. Do you feel comfortable about your choices?

Layout of the premises (if at a funeral home)

Before making any decisions regarding the funeral ask the arranger to show you around the funeral home.

Ask to see:

• The chapel
  
• The area where you can have refreshments after the service (if having it in the chapel)
  
• The viewing area
  
• The coffin and casket selection room
  
• The door that leads to the mortuary where they will dress your loved one for viewing (there is no need for you to go in)

By understanding the layout of the funeral home you will dispel some of the ‘mystery’ around the process and be able to understand the various aspects of the arrangements more easily. Ask to be told the features, advantages and benefits of the different products when they are being presented to you in a manual or the selection room.

The arrangement environment

By going to the funeral home you can see for yourself the facilities and products they are able to offer, allowing you to compare value.

Procedure for casket and coffin selection and purchase

Whether in your family home or the premises of the funeral home, and regardless of whether this is your family’s first exposure to a funeral, the same principles apply. Information must be presented clearly and consistently to families as their concentration and comprehension can be affected, quite understandably, by their grief. An arranger should not sell but rather tell. Before allowing your family to see photographs and prior to taking them into the selection room the arranger should tell you about what they are going to show you, e.g. “I would like to show you various types of caskets and coffins for your loved one”. Also, they should explain the differences between caskets and coffins and the various types of materials they are made from. A vast range of products and prices will be offered as the funeral home has to meet the needs of the wider community they serve. Therefore, they should tell you the entry and exit level of their prices.

There are basically four groups of coffins and caskets to choose from:

• Manmade timbers (particleboard or custom wood), coffins and caskets have wood particles bound together by resins or glues. Some people say they just want a cardboard box but cardboard comes from trees).A particleboard unit uses about the same amount of timber that is needed to make cardboard box that can support the average person’s weight
  
• Solid timber coffins
  
• Solid timber caskets
  
• Carbon steel, copper and bronze caskets (copper and bronze are non rusting and both they and carbon steel resist the entrance of gravesite substances)
  

The arranger should explain how the type of material and manufacture (flat lid versus raised lids) would affect the price. After they have explained the various types of categories tell the arranger if there is one or more categories that you are particularly interested in or if you would like to see the full range. This will make the arrangement time effective for both your family and the arranger.

It is nice to be asked, “are you prepared to see the casket selection room”, especially if this is your family’s first exposure to a funeral. It is important that you are comfortable and not rushed in your decision.

When you are being shown through the manual or the casket selection room the arranger should tell you a second time and then show you the various products and materials used to reinforce the differences. If the bottom or sides of the coffin are made of ply, particleboard or any other manmade composite timber and the rest of the casket is solid timber you should be told. Otherwise, your purchasing decision is neither informed nor value compared.

Coffins and caskets should have clearly marked price tags that include:

• The product name
  
• The material it is made of, particleboard timber etc
  
• The type of material used in the interior i.e. crepe, satin…
  
• Warranty (for metal caskets due to their lasting qualities)
  
• Memorial tree planting program
  
• Price (which must have the GST already included)

Having this basic information will make it possible to understand why different products have different prices even when they look the same. Some coffins made of veneered covered particleboard look like solid timber so to pay a bit more for an actual timber product means it will be more solid than particle or custom board.

Just as you want to know what type of material your clothes are made of, you need to and have a right to know this information. Don’t accept an arranger saying “this is all you need”, that’s selling. This is your choice for someone you valued, so ask to be shown the features, advantages and benefits of each product you are interested in.

You and your family may wish to discuss privately aspects of the purchase you are about to make. The arranger will not be offended if you request they leave the room, whether you are in your home or the funeral home, while you all compare and discuss your choice. Once you and your family have made your decision with good information the arranger should be able to tell you the merits of the choice you have made for your loved one.

Features, advantages and benefits

It is true that many casket or coffin purchases are made based on cost and visual appeal. However, when you are told the differing features, advantages and benefits, while still purchasing what you can afford and what appeals to you, you will generally be purchasing based on better value.

For example, a manmade composite timber has the advantage of coming from a renewable source and the main benefit to a family is that it is cost effective. A carbon steel casket with cathodic protection on the other hand is more durable than both manmade composite timber and solid timber can last up to 5 years (a limited warranty to this effect is given to the family) before beginning to rust even in an earthen gravesite.

Handles are another feature with easily recognisable differences in advantages and benefits. Plastic screw-on coffin handles are mainly for appearance and can often take only minimum weight. There are many comparisons and differences to be drawn between coffins and caskets, the choice is yours.

Manuals and coffin and casket selection room layout

You deserve to view coffins and caskets in an easy to follow environment as you do in every other purchasing environment. When we go to an electrical store to buy a heater you find them together and in their sub groups, i.e. fan heaters, oil column heaters etc. We do not find some with the toasters, some with the fridges and some with the stereos. Yet families (in a time of grief), are often expected to remember caskets and coffins and which was particleboard or manmade composite timber, veneer, solid timber, carbon steel, copper or bronze. These are often displayed in manuals and casket selection rooms that have them jumbled up together.

When funeral homes place products in their groups, it assists families in the decision making process. It makes choosing products easier for you and your family as it allows you to compare the value of product features, advantages and benefits. It simplifies the procedure for the funeral arranger, thereby improving information for you and your family. If a funeral home casket selection manual or room is not set out in an easy to follow, user friendly manner, let them know what you expect – this way you will help them and future families using their services. It is a mistake to think that all coffins are the same, they are not and there are myriad differences that affect the value of your purchase.