Funerals and Flowers - Practical Funeral Planning Information

Funeral Assistance

If you need funeral assistance for help with funeral problems, first try to resolve it with the funeral planning service that you have chosen. If, after discussing the matter with the funeral director, you continue to be dissatisfied with the outcome, your next step may be to contact the Funeral Consumer's Alliance or one of the other larger funeral industry organizations. Some of these organizations are designed to advise you on how best to resolve the issue. In addition to these organizations, you can also contact your state or local consumer protection agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The primary role of the FTC is to protect the consumer and prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace. It provides information to consumers in order to help them spot, stop, and avoid such practices. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. If you need to file a formal complaint, you can contact them through the following channels:

*By Phone:*	1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357) TDD: 1-866-653-4261
*By Mail:*	Consumer Response Center Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20580
*On the Net:*	*Complete an online complaint form with the FTC*

Note: Although the Commission cannot resolve individual problems for consumers, it will take action against a company if there is sufficient evidence (a pattern of possible violations of the law) that warrants such action.