According to the FTC Funeral Rule, when is it permissible to require consumers to buy unwanted services to obtain items they do want?

• A. When by not doing so it would be excessively burdensome to provide them
• B. When by not doing so it would be costly to provide them
• C. When by not doing so it would be unusual to provide them
• D. When by not doing so it would be difficult to provide them

Answer: (A)

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, consumers must not be forced to buy unwanted services in order to get the items they want, and prices must be shown clearly in an itemized list. The only time it’s permissible to require a consumer to purchase an unwanted service to obtain desired items is when unbundling the services would be excessively burdensome for the provider to offer the items separately. In other words, if separating the services would place an undue hardship on providing the goods, bundling is allowed. Costs, unusualness, or difficulty alone aren’t the standard; the rule hinges on whether unbundling would be excessively burdensome to supply the items.