Bretby crem sale a done deal
Exactly why East Staffordshire Borough Council and South Derbyshire District Council, the representatives of the people of Buxton-upon-Trent, who are the owners of Bretby crematorium, should want to sell it on their behalf and without their say so, is a dark and nasty mystery. Bretby crem is profit-making, well run and highly regarded. The sale […]
Saving the people’s crem from the people’s undertaker
Things are at last hotting up in Burton upon Trent, where the local council and the borough council, joint owners of nearby Bretby crematorium, are considering a sell-out to Midlands Co-op for around £8 million. Local undertakers are rubbing their hands with glee. The Co-op is the most gleeful, of course. Other fans of the […]
Ethical schmethical
Here’s a question sent to money-problem solver Margaret Dibben in the Guardian. It exemplifies the utter crapness of funeral plans and the business methods of the People’s Undertaker. Two years ago, after the untimely death of a young friend, I took out a bronze cremation plan with The Co-operative Funeralcare. I discussed it on the […]
Cock-up
As the old year subsides into a snowdrift, readers will have observed that this blog has been doing the same. There’s not much going on. Forgive me, then, for getting out my baseball bat and once more shattering the kneecaps of the Co-op. Yes, it’s boring. But Ebenezer Google and his tribe of scribbling Cratchits […]
Good with grief
The banner on The Co-operative website proclaims that it is “good for everyone.” This accords with the long-held and passionate belief of all who toil at GFG HQ. To us, it’s a resounding statement of the obvious. We thought it was common knowledge. It looks, though, as if Co-op’s marketing creatives have stalled in their […]
Sods’ law
The funeral industry is right to be wary of those who claim to scrutinise it on behalf of consumers. After all, Jessica Mitford did much injury to the American funeral industry with an exposé which held it up to ridicule and focussed on price at the expense of value, and so was actually of very […]
Vile and baseless rumours
Yesterday I reported that rumours are swirling in Funeralland concerning the response of the People’s Undertaker to the release of the IPSOS-Mori funeral price comparison commissioned by the independent funeral directors’ trade association, SAIF — a survey which revealed Co-op charges to be, on average, higher than those in the independent sector despite its enjoyment […]
Anything in it?
Perhaps the most important recent consumer information to reach the public domain was the SAIF IPSOS-Mori price comparison survey (26 Feb 2010) which showed that “Average funeral directors’ charges are highest for Dignity funeral directors and lowest for independents. Co-operative Funeralcare branches fall between the two.” SAIF wouldn’t share these results with the Good Funeral […]
Funeralcare screwupdate, with added overpricing
It is with a heavy-hearted sense of duty that I record this beastly and deplorable allegation against Co-operative Funeralcare. You can find the full version at MoneySavingExpert.com. Don’t use co-operative funeralcare directors they are disgusting …They failed to complete the legal documents correctly they put the wrong funeral date on the documents … We were […]
Co-operative Funeralcare – a case for care in the community?
Listeners to this week’s edition of Radio 4’s hilarious News Quiz hooted from the outset when the programme kicked off with this announcement from the Whitby Gazette: Does your Mum deserve an evening of pampering which will make her feel like a princess? The Whitby Gazette has teamed up with Co-operative Funeralcare to give […]
