Part 1 ACCC - Letter to Australian Competition & Consumer Commission

In 2020, the Funeral Industry was a compliance and enforcement priority for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, (see https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/news/speeches/accc-2020-compliance-and-enforcement-priorities-speech). This is why I sent a letter, hoping to have a voice regarding the “unconscionable conduct” the Chair of the ACCC, Mr. Rod Sims, mentioned in his speech on 25 February 2020 (see above link). My family’s issue of breach of contract, unethical and unconscionable conduct by a funeral business, was timely. The horrific display of hostility and passive aggressive behaviour at the NCAT, by the director of Acropolis Funerals and an equally unprofessional employee, left my family scarred. That display of inhumane behaviour is imprinted in my memory. 

The letter I wrote to the ACCC goes through everything we attempted for a fair resolution. All the while, a bureaucratic “system”, a “process”, kept compounding our trauma, grinding us down, while a bunch of unethical and unconscionable people running funeral businesses, preying on vulnerable consumers, have yet to be held accountable. 

Remember, this issue was happening concurrently with the diabolical adverse action, including the crime of self-insured employer fraud and a publicly funded university violating my family’s privacy, to then send menacing emails in attempt to intimidate them into silence for making a formal complaint of the fact. 

These concurrent incidents of unconscionable conduct, that include indictable offences, were happening, when I wrote the letter to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

Since then, the ACCC has published a report in December 2021 Funeral services sector : Competition and consumer issues and Consumer vulnerability : A business guide to the Australian Consumer Law and a webpage regarding Funeral Services at https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/specific-products-and-activities/funeral-services

The letter is dated 5 August 2020. 

RE: Advice on a complaint against a funeral business in breach of contract and multiple unsuccessful attempts made toward a fair resolution

Dear ACCC,

I am seeking advice and guidance from this authority regarding multiple attempts I and my family have made to reasonably resolve a complaint against a funeral business, for being in breach of contract. In this letter and with the attached records regarding this case, I will explain what happened and what we have tried in order to resolve the dispute.

Mr Rod Sims, Chair of the ACCC, was accurate when he stated, in a speech on compliance and enforcement priorities, on 25 February 2020, that there are “complaints from consumers about misleading and deceptive practices in the [funeral] sector. These include hidden fees, add-on services not included and misrepresentations about what will be covered. Additionally, there are allegations of unfair contract terms...

Most concerning are allegations of unconscionable conduct. There are allegations that some funeral operators ... take advantage of consumers at a vulnerable time.” Indeed, he was also right that “many consumers engage with the funeral sector at a time when they are grieving, vulnerable and thereby at a disadvantage”. (https://www.accc.gov.au/speech/accc-2020-compliance-and-enforcement-priorities)

This is what my family and I experienced. On 02/02/2010 we lost our husband and father to a tragic death by suicide. Given the shock and trauma of that evening, we asked the priest we had contacted to just call a funeral business to get it done. We were not in a good state and thought we would ask for some assistance. Being of Greek Orthodox background, the main business on a priest’s contact list is Acropolis Funerals. I assure you, had we been in a frame of mind to research and prepare the funeral with a business of our choice, we would not have used this business to begin with. Then the following happened:

Acropolis Funerals
Incidences of serious and unconscionable conduct regarding the funeral of my father

a). We asked a priest to just call a funeral service to get it done. He called Acropolis Funeral Services to begin arrangements for the funeral;

b). One request was that we wanted ONLY ONE vehicle, a sedan for three people, for  funeral cortege (this is recorded in the 'Funeral Agreement of Costs');

c). On the morning of the funeral, 09/02/2010, the funeral director announced to us that the night before a relative called him (a priest) and demanded a car for seven people to be included in the funeral procession. The car was given to these people WITHOUT our knowledge, consent, permission and authorisation;

d). In other words, a decision was made between Acropolis Funerals and a string of relatives WITHOUT our approval or knowledge. This was disgusting and unacceptable;

e). On the morning of the funeral our focus was on our husband and father and our grief, not on unacceptable surprises the funeral director decided to spring on us at that difficult time;

Letters of complaint were unsuccessful

f). About four months later, we contacted Acropolis Funerals in writing and asked for a written explanation concerning this matter. A written explanation was never sent to us;

g). One night, the funeral director (at the time Kon Grillis, now a funeral director at Icon Funerals - https://iconfunerals.com.au/) called to tell us that 1) the car was demanded of him; 2) the relative demanding the car was a priest and he felt that he had to obey the wishes of a priest over and above the wishes of the immediate family (our father's brother-in-law is a Greek Orthodox priest); and 3) he (the funeral director) thought that we would just accept this without question. Also, to add insult to injury, he told us that he respected our family by giving the relatives the funeral car free of charge;

h). This is professional misconduct, a serious breach of contract, and is unjust to force us to "just accept";

i). Acropolis Funerals added to the heavy burden of a family already burdened with grief;

j). A second letter was sent on 21 February 2011, repeating our dissatisfaction and the need to now refer it to another authority for a resolution.

Complaint submitted to Fair Trading NSW was unsuccessful

k). We forwarded the matter to Fair Trading NSW. This occurred in February 2015. (Please appreciate the private trauma and grief this family needed to try and process in a structured way. The pain added by this business that ultimately lacked such compassion in even respecting our need to resolve this grievance for closure). Fair Trading NSW investigated, and advised us to escalate the matter by bringing it to the attention of the NCAT, because mediation from Fair Trading NSW did not work. The Fair Trading NSW reference number for this case is 7405028;

Complaint to the FDA NSW was unsuccessful

l). Around the same time in 2015, we also brought the matter to the attention of the Funeral Directors' Association of NSW. They “investigated”, sided with the business, and "on the record", accepted the excuses Acropolis Funerals gave for their actions, and proceeded (in writing) to disrespect and insult us in a way that left us in further shock. However, "off the record" (in a phone conversation) they told us that Acropolis Funerals did, in fact, do the wrong thing by us, and strongly advised us to bring the matter to the attention of the NCAT, where "everyone would be under oath, and everyone would have to tell the truth".

Part 2 is a continuation of the letter, covering the attempt with NCAT and in seeking legal advice on consumer law and breach of contract.