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Dignity are furloughing where we are. One of the guys has got work as a taxi driver, strangely enough. Dignity have been losing out to the independents big time.
Good job you didn't buy some. Latest news out today is the CMA is proposing a price cap on crematorium fees as a remedy option. As Dignity's crematoria are the most expensive in the country (19 out of 20 of the most expensive crematoria are owned by Dignity) they'll be taking a big hit! Have a look at the latest working papers published today on the CMA Funeral Market Investigation page.
Thank you, Noheartss.
It's good to have my predictions borne out. Dignity's greed seemed relentless, I am jubilant that a halt is being brought to their gallop. The country's bereaved will no longer be ripped off by this shower.
Dignity's profits have dropped as the CMA has uncovered a hornets' nest of their greed and overcharging. How McCollum can still try to claim they charge so much because of their superior quality of service is laughable. Empty words - people are getting wise!
londoner7: Point 1 - The effect of the report publicity-wise will be enormous as no-one likes to hear of the elderly and vulnerable being ripped off. Undertakers aren't generally well-liked people and the image of the Dignity board rubbing their hands greedily as the money rolls in will be a lasting one.
Point 2 - The CMA has already found big holes in Dignity's responses thus far (e.g. they found that there was no evidence to support their claim that higher prices equates with higher quality). All funeral directors do children's funerals for free, it's not just Dignity, so that's an empty grasp at being virtuous.
Point 3 - Most independent funeral directors already surpass current requirements and would be totally unphased by newly introduced expectations. I fail to see what the financial costs would be. Refrigeration? Who wouldn't have this already?! I think you might find that the new regulations cover such areas as transparency of pricing and the most guilty offender in this regard is Dignity!
londoner7 - The effect that the report will have is that it will generate publicity and the public will become better informed about shopping around and avoiding being overcharged. If Dignity wants to be able to compete in this more enlightened market, it will have to lower its prices significantly.
There might be action taken against them with regard to their overcharging in their crematoria - they are currently the most expensive by far and the CMA is looking into how the market can be made healthier.
When it comes to increased regulation, most of the more reasonably priced funeral homes have nothing to fear. There shouldn't be anything that would frighten off new entrants - any decent funeral directors who want to make a success of their new venture would want to meet the standards that regulation demands. It was in fact the Co-op that was highlighted in recent years in the media for some practices that were well below where they should be.
Auson - No, you are wrong, it's far from over. As a result of their initial consulation, the CMA announced in November 2018 that they are consulting on a major funerals probe because of concerns over large price hikes, hitting people at their most vulnerable.
Auson, the CMA haven't finished. They've only just got started. As a result of the overpricing they uncovered in their initial investigation, they have escalated matters to a more in-depth examination which might lead to enforced changes to the big overchargers - namely, Dignity.
If Dignity is divested of some of its crematoria (as the CMA report mentioned as a possible remedy to the sick funeral market) its profits will nosedive.
The best thing that came out of the investigation was the fact that Dignity were called out on their claim that lower charging funeral directors do not provide the same level of service. The CMA found that there was no evidence of this!
It doesn't come much worse than fleecing people who have just lost someone they love. Do those directors have any conscience at all? I mean, how do they actually feel spending the millions they've made on the tears of the bereaved, many of whom have gone into debt to make them super rich?
This is different, though. Never before has the funeral industry been looked at so microscopically and found to be full of rip-off merchants. The CMA has got its teeth into it (quite rightly) and Dignity will never again be able to keep charging £5,000 for a funeral when other outfits can provide EXACTLY the same for £3,000. Their spin of providing quality where others don't has been shown to be tosh, furthermore they won't be able to get away with charging top whack for at their crematoria, they might even find themselves divested of a few where they hold monopolies. This share is only going one way - and that's permanent!
Auson - the CMA has found that:
'The extreme vulnerability of customers has been a major factor in enabling suppliers to charge high prices in the sector for the past 15 years, rather than underlying cost pressures, and it appears to us that Dignity’s pricing policies have acted as the engine of these price rises, with others in the market appearing to follow its lead. This is true in relation to funeral director services, and, to a lesser extent, funeral services.
In addition to large annual price increases, the supply of funeral services is characterised by large price differentials between suppliers, including within local areas. Such wide price differences appear hard to explain on the basis of cost, range, quality and brand differences between suppliers.
The yearly high price rises implemented by the major suppliers have directly boosted their profit margins for a persistent period of time, The EBITDA margins of Dignity have been well above international benchmarks, while those of Co-op and Funeral Partners are at the higher end of them.
When considering these profit margins alongside long-term policies of large price rises unrelated to underlying cost pressures, it seems clear to us that this is a market that is not functioning well, to the detriment of vulnerable consumers'.
Dignity's time is well and truly up.
ahha - they don't own all of the crematoria, they lease some of them. They might be divested of some if a monopoly is proven to be in operation.
To outprice the competition in their funeral homes, they would need to halve their prices. I really can't see the greedy pieces of work doing this.
Auson - as ex-Goldman Sachs employees they would bring their sharp practice along with them.
Auson - you might want to read up on the various Goldman Sachs controversies.
More condemnation in the CMA report: 'Dignity has consistently been among the most expensive funeral directors and Co-op more expensive than a large proportion of independents... These large price differentials cannot be explained by differences in factors such as service quality, branding or operating costs'.
I don't know how the board of directors can sleep at night - their justification for their sky high prices was better quality. They've been officially called out on that by the CMA now.
From the CMA report: 'The divestment of assets or operations is one possible remedy that might be imposed following a market investigation. We cannot rule out the possibility that a small number of divestitures might be necessary where two or more crematoria in a given area are owned by the same operator'.
Time's up for this greedy lot. The day of reckoning has finally come. Part of CMA report: " It seems clear that the extreme vulnerability of customers has been a major factor in enabling suppliers to charge high prices in the sector for the past 15 years, rather than underlying cost pressures, and it appears to us that Dignity’s pricing policies have acted as the engine of these price rises."
Yes, Auson, I am absolutely sure. Try any number of different postcodes in this site and see who consistently the cheapest funeral directors are and always who the dearest are: https://www.yourfuneralchoice.com/ (Look out for Dignity hiding behind the names of the funeral homes they've bought up).
Nohearts - because they put the prices up! People were used to paying the reasonable prices that the independent businesses charged, then Dignity come along and put the prices up hugely, so sensible people go elsewhere.
Auson,
Anyone can set up as a funeral director's, which is probably what mrmaths meant. Also, Dignity don't pay staff more than competitors pay theirs and Dignity have withdrawn certain no absence incentives that they used to offer.
mrmaths,
Agreed - how did the BOD get away with what they did? Unbelievable.