Kevin Playle, (of Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer funeral home) is the rudest, most unethical, and…read moredishonest person I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. My cousin, Michael, died unexpectedly on July 2nd, 2016, and due to him picking Coder Funeral Home in LaBelle, MO (probably due to it's closeness to the LaBelle Nursing home he was admitted to), he ended up at Davis Playle Hudson Rimer Funeral Home in Kirksville some 40 miles away. A friend of his, Desaere, first made contact with the Coder funeral home, speaking with Alan Rimer. She is neither family, executor nor authorized to make any decisions about the disposition of Michael's body. She states that she told them that. She also told me they quoted her $3800 for cremation and memorial service. In a subsequent conversation, they told her $2500 but no lower for cremation only. I am the executor for my cousin and told Desaere that was a ridiculous price and I pursued getting pricing at other funeral homes. I found several where the cost, (including cremation, transportation and addition fees for excess weight), was under $1600. We decided to transfer Michael's body. Alan Rimer, the initial contact at Hudson-Rimer (aka Coder), had told Desaere on July 5th, that the fees were $250 to release the body, and that included both transportation and refrigeration.( Michael died on July 2nd.) I called the Davis Playle Hudson Rimer funeral home on July 6th and had a horrible verbal exchange with Kevin Playle. He told me it would now be $1000 to release Michael's body. I asked why the increase? And he said there was an additional $750 in "staffing fees." I said you've done nothing. Michael's been in a refrigerator for the last 4 days. I argued with him that no one had ever authorized any services to be done on or for Michael. He was both rude and insulting since he knew we planned on transferring Michael's body to another funeral home. He seemed hell bent on making sure that didn't happen. Karen from the Cremation Society of MO, whom I had talked with, also called DPHR on July 6th and was also insulted by Kevin Playle. She said no one had ever talked to her so rudely. He even called her "stupid." She tried to get him to charge a reasonable rate for the transportation and refrigeration but was told the same $1000 fee by Kevin. Karen and I went ahead and did the paperwork to pick up Michael's body the next day, July 7th. Karen called DPHR and informed them they were coming for his body. It's a 2 1/2 hr. drive and they had to hire a transportation company at a significant cost. According to MO Statute 333.330, the funeral home MUST release the body and cannot hold it for monies. When the CSM transport team arrived, Davis Playle Hudson Rimer funeral home would NOT release his body! In addition, they now said it would cost $2,100 to release his body now! So the price went from $250 to $1,000 to $2,100 over the course of 2 days! The police were called since they were in violation of that MO statute. The police (it's a small town) said they would need a court order to FORCE DPHR to release the body. So CSM returned without Michael's body. To this day, July 13th, they are STILL holding Michael's body for "ransom". We have NEVER signed any contract for their services. And they are in violation of both State and Federal Law. This is the horror story you always hear about funeral homes. While Cremation Society of MO was absolutely wonderful and helpful, Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer was quite the opposite. Kevin Playle and his funeral home are rude, price gougers, law breakers, and liars.
