Wednesday 26 March 2014

Doing Our Bit To Change The Funeral Industry

Recently we received an order for a Traditional shaped Seagrass coffin. The Seagrass coffin is one of our most popular products, and personally, I think it is one of the most attractive coffins we offer.

As is usually the case, the coffin was being dispatched to a funeral directors and so we rang to arrange the delivery. We could just dispatch the order, but we always like to double check the address, and to discuss when is the best time for them for delivery. It's a courtesy thing as much as anything, and we have built excellent relationships with companies all over the country.

However this funeral director who answered the phone seemed particularly blunt. I explained who Caring Coffins are, and that we had an order to be delivered. It was then he started questioning what we do as a company:


'So you supply the public, but that means we're not making as much money'


I explained that we sell green coffins, and therefore we our customers a greater range than traditional funeral directors. We are often cheaper than funeral directors, but we price our coffins at a level that we think is fair and not exploitative and profiteering. Apparently this particular funeral director thought that this was unfair of us. 


'Why do you think you can do this, this isn't how the industry works'


I explained that we are only offering an alternative. If we were too expensive people wouldn't use us. 

However since we launched, we have grown and grown. To me that says we are offering an alternative that people want. The day funeral directors start charging fair prices is the day people will stop using Caring Coffins. And honestly, we wouldn't mind too much. We started our company to change how Britain pays for death, and we would have achieved this. Until then, we will still be here, as an option for people to use.

This particular funeral director promised:


'You won't here the last of this, we won't stand for this'.


And that's fine. We are here to change things.



Alex Wilcox
Alex Wilcox is Founder of Caring Coffins
www.caringcoffins.com