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Worst practices at funeral home

David Pescovitz at 10:09 am Mon, Apr 30, 2007

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For years, Co-op Funeralcare funeral home in Dunfermline, Fife, UK has allegedly scattered human ashes outside the parlor to make icy paths less slippery, according to former employees. Whistleblowers are also claiming that coffins used for transporting bodies were occasionally sold as "new" for funerals. Scratches were touched up with a felt tip marker and the inside sprayed with air-freshener. From the Sunday Mail:
It is also claimed staff disposed of ashes which were later to be claimed by a bereaved family by accident.

One worker said that, when the family arrived, their urn was filled with ashes which had lain unclaimed in the office for 50 years...

In 2003 (the Sunday Mail) revealed that the Dunfermline Co-op had buried squaddie Jamie Henderson, 22, in the wrong grave by mistake.

They offered to correct their mistake - for an extra £3000.

The firm also delivered flowers from Jamie's young nephews with the message "from the dogs" instead of "from the boys".
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David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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