West Virginia has put a door-to-door frozen meat company on ice. Attorney General Darrell McGraw says his office has reached a settlement with Mr. Meats and the company's owner, Bill Parsons.
The company has agreed to pay $15,000 in civil penalties and restitution for consumers, as well as hand over the vehicles they used in their unlawful business practices. Mr. Meats is also permanently banned from engaging in door-to-door sales of any kind in the state of West Virginia.
Mr. Meats, located in Nitro, West Virginia, was selling frozen meat and seafood door-to-door in neighborhoods throughout Kanawha County. Consumers complained that when they opened the packages to cook the meat, it was of poor quality or completely inedible.
In some instances sellers misrepresented the kinds of meat being sold, and delivered a product of much lower value than what consumers had been led to believe they were buying. All of the sales were illegal, because neither the company nor any of its employees had a food handling permit issued by the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, McGraw said.
The company also failed to notify consumers of their three-day right to cancel home solicitation sales and refused to refund any money to consumers who complained or tried to cancel the sale. Finally, Mr. Meats would always threaten to charge consumers an unlawful $50 returned-check fee.
McGraw said his office had received 28 complaints against Mr. Meats.
One elderly consumer complained that after he purchased Mr. Meats products, the salesperson returned to his home claiming his check had bounced. However, after writing a second check for over $400.00, he learned that both checks had been cashed in a ploy to double the salespersons commission. When the consumer tried to obtain a refund, his request was denied.
Attorney General McGraw stated, "The sale of unsafe food products will not go unnoticed. Consumers should be very careful of businesses selling perishable food products door-to-door."
