My Granny passed away in 1991--a month and 1/2 before my daughter was born.
She was taken to the Mortuary. She wanted to be cremated.
First-- the guy said she never paid for the service and I was unable to find any receipt in her papers. It was supposed to be like $215.00. I know this because Granny talked about it years before she passed.
The new price was closer to $750.00 without the receipt. No problem really--but the guy was lying.
Second--at that time the mortuary had a stand-by for all the deceased and their cremations.
They were doing something EPA-ish by shutting down the cremoratories for maintenance or some such.
Third--when the cremoratory was back in service--they were "backed up with the deceased".
Fourth--to save money they put multiple bodies in at the same time.
They co-mingled the remains.
Big time--multi-million dollar lawsuits were filed after an employee blew the whistle.
Class Action lawsuits were all over the state. We --the four granddaughters were given over four times the cost of the original cost of the cremation.
The attorneys made out and the suit was paid mainly by insurance. I don't believe any of the suits went to court. They all settled.
We as humanity--as a people--care deeply for our loved ones when they pass on.
We give them respect and this process helps us as a people.
All through history really...