Has anybody done the funeral home shops? Please share your experiences. Thank you.

I went to the location and talked about pre-need. I was asked questions about the potentially-deceased, and what type of funeral was desired. I was shown caskets and asked questions about how I wanted things arranged, then was reminded that if the funeral home went out of business before the death occurred then there was a chance I would lose my money.

I did one on the phone once. I really did not like doing it. The person I spoke to was very kind and serious and consoling. I really felt bad that I was wasting this man's time.

I also found it difficult because I was given a scenario as funeral for a Jewish relative and I am Catholic so it was hard to pretend I even knew what I was talking about.

I would find it seriously depressing and wonder if "Karma" would get me for pretending someone died.

Now, if it were for pre-planning, I suppose we all need to do that.

december baby Wrote:
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> I did one on the phone once. I really did not like
> doing it. The person I spoke to was very kind and
> serious and consoling. I really felt bad that I
> was wasting this man's time.
>
> I also found it difficult because I was given a
> scenario as funeral for a Jewish relative and I am
> Catholic so it was hard to pretend I even knew
> what I was talking about.

If allowed this is a good time to mention you are in a mixed marriage and the one who you are calling about is jewish but you are not. When we arranged my mom's funeral we did not use a jewish home for our jewish ceremony. The man there knew more about how to proceed than I did. My family is jewish but we are not at all religious. There are many out there who only follow religious beliefs when it comes to a death.

There are times that I pass on making a dollar because some things are just morbid. I've had to legitimately plan funerals; no way would I want to go through that again.

I scheduled a few of these, and it was the first and hopefully only time I flake on an assignment. I mixed up my scenario/recording phone number when I attempted the first assignment, and lost my will to continue and attempt to get it right and complete the other two assignments. I too felt it was too morbid and I also felt bad taking up their time with (essentially) my lies. Every time that email has landed in my inbox I promptly delete it.

I have done these in the past when they were at $5 & did no mind them at all. Both my parents have passed away as well as uncles, aunts, cousins, etc, so it is not hard to use them. My biggest issue was giving my phone number when I switched phones & could not get that phone to take my google calls. I have not done any for a few months now due to work schedule but was considering picking some up and try setting up my newest phone (thank God for Wal-Mart protection plan) with google voice. As I finally made the decision to take it on I check my emails and find they are down to $4. We are no longer required to give an email address & valid phone number which I am not sure how to weigh that in. I guess it will be another couple of months before I decide if I will take these on.

I also received an email today telling me that we no longer have to give an email or phone number. I don't that it warrants dropping the fee to $4.00. The few I have done have never asked me for that information anyway. They should keep the fee at $5.00.

Used to do a lot of these (at $5.00) and found the scheduler and company easy to work with and the pay was within a reasonable timeframe. I counted on about $50/month from these.

I never minded the scenario (though I consistently used a relative the entire family agrees is someone we should avoid and some of us even have a had to speak with the police regarding...more than once, so not much guilt there; my sisters even found it amusing). Most of the calls lasted around 10 minutes only and there's no narrative at all. You don't have to worry about harassing follow up calls as this is usually a pretty urgent need so no one's going to bother you again a week later, even with having your email and phone.

I'd make up a relative, if you don't happen to have a convenient one you're willing to "kill off" again and again (or you can borrow mine!). Just be sure to follow the scenario completely.

I found myself most convincing when I used my dog as the family member at need/near need. She was my most recent loss and I could vividly pull up the devastation I felt about losing her. It was easier for me to think of her during the phone call, than the mother I never knew (she died when I was two) or the father who died when I was fifteen. One set of grandparents, I never knew at all, they died before I was born, the other set live in another country and I don't know them either.

So I used my German Shepherd, who lived to be sixteen years old and whose health failed in that last year, and it was painful to watch. In my phone calls, she was my Grandma Mina.

I did a couple of these and will probably do more this month if they have removed the phone number requirements.

I found the company very easy to deal with.

I just completed my first one of these calls. I thought it was creepy at first, but afterwards I felt fine. The standard pay for mine was higher than the others discussed so mine might be a different msc.

I did 5 of these shops, was not paid for one. I contacted the company, very rude. I followed the same guidelines as the rest of the shops and recived high ratings for all. Still not sure why I was gipped. Will never shop for this company again. Be very WEARY. Next time I will file a complaint with state labor board.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2014 05:55PM by jovonneb.

jovonneb - I reached out to you on your other post (same post in different thread). Please feel free to contact me or if you prefer we can talk here in the open.



Update - I feel I need to add the above poster (jovonneb) is the same shopper who posted a negative yelp review about this situation back in March. We reached out to her at that point (several times both calling and emailing) and she never responded. Please know, she completed 5 shops. Four of her shops were paid. The 5th was excluded without pay. I will not going into the reasons behind it here in the open but it was justified.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2014 07:03PM by ShoppersViewShane.

I have done these and don't feel a bit guilty about taking up the salesperson's time. They are learning how better convey compassion, but also to get new business by convincing people to come in for appointments. They are going to provide better service to the bereaved as a result of shops like these.

Very unlikely that I would ever do these. They are recorded from what I understand and are the lowest paying telephone shop out of any I've ever seen. It is no surprise I have received messages every week for a year now for these shops. I hope SV comes up with something better for Canadian shoppers or I'll have to deactivate. It's been only funeral shops for two years now over here.

Anyway, MAYBE I would do one but there would have to be atleast $15 USD on the line for me to act bereaved. *hint hint*

Hmmm, I've seen phone shops out there for less than $5....like $2.

I just can't bring myself to make these calls - they are offered at $4 in my area. The subject matter plus the pay doesn't appeal to me. I get e-mails to do them in Spanish, too - and I don't even speak Spanish!

I thought that these were only done via telephone call? Cettie mentioned that they went in person to observe the casket, etc? Wow! Braver than me.

I have performed many of these in the last month - probably 20 or so. Most are paying $4 per shop. I have the opportunity to perform them without leaving my primary workplace (using my personal breaks and lunch time, of course!) and am allowed to complete 5 per day... That's a relatively easy $20 per day. They are sometimes "near need" meaning the person is expected to pass in 2-3 days, and others are "at need" meaning the person passed within the last few hours. Other specified variations include funeral home vs cemetery, religious vs non-religious, and Jewish vs non-Jewish. I have not received a Jewish one yet, but will definitely remember sandyf's comment above about saying we're a "mixed family".

Positives - no travel or purchase involved; are sometimes available as same-day shops meaning little pre-planning; reviews have all been specific, detailed, and positive; Patty and Joel are VERY friendly schedulers.

Negatives - Priority is given to people physically located within 300 miles; MSC tried out a new recording system a few weeks ago that was very confusing (luckily, they seem to have scrapped it!); callers have to use different names every on every call which requires me to keep a running list of past name combos I've used for myself and the "deceased".

Full disclosure: I am a relatively newer shopper (less than 100), and gravitate towards telephone shops because of competing full time employer time commitments.