Miller
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced a settlement on Monday with a door-to-door meat seller that allegedly made misleading or false statements to prospective customers.
The West Des Moines-based Iowa Steak Company LLC was the subject of multiple complaints from Iowa consumers. Miller's Consumer Protection Division alleged that the Iowa Steak Company violated the state Consumer Fraud Act and the Door-to-Door Sales Act by failing to give consumers a three day right to cancel.
Under the terms of the assurance of voluntary compliance, Iowa Steak Company must stop using misleading or false sales tactics and must comply with the Door-to-Door Sales Act. The agreement provides that any future violations by the company will be Consumer Fraud Act violations and will require court imposed civil penalties of as much as $5,000 per day for each day of violations.
Miller's office has obtained refunds for Iowa consumers throughout the case.
Under the terms of the agreement, Iowa Steak Company does not admit liability or wrongdoing.
"Be wary of door-to-door sales of meat or seafood," Miller said. "Scams have been around for years.
"The classic misrepresentation is that the meat is available at cut-rate prices because it is left over from another delivery, or because the sales person was unable to complete an expected sale to a nearby restaurant or retailer. In reality, the price usually turns out to be very high, although consumers can't tell that at first because there is no itemized list of cuts and the price per pound. Finally, consumers have a very hard time canceling and getting a refund."