State Sears Bogus-Meat Peddlers Door-To-Door Team Employed High Pressure Sales Tactics

Two door-to-door meat salesmen accused of selling chicken labeled as seafood and hamburger labeled as steak have been ordered to pay more than $58,000 in fines and restitution, the state attorney general’s office said Friday.

Matthew Homer Smith and Raul Arce of High Chaparral Steaks and Seafood of Lynnwood misrepresented their meat products, used high pressure sales tactics and failed to inform consumers of their three-day right to cancel, the attorney general’s office said.

The phony sales were conducted from the summer of 1993 to May 1994, according to Dave Horn of the AG’s Consumer Protection Division. The company has stopped doing business and the state doesn’t know where the men are, Horn said.

A King County Superior Court judge has ordered the men to pay $26,371 in restitution to 142 consumers in King and Snohomish counties, as well as more than $31,000 in fees and penalties.

“I’m pleased we were able to shut down this unlawful business, but consumers need to be very cautious about buying boxes of meat from strangers who show up on their doorstep,” said Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

Consumers complained that Smith and Arce claimed to have a truckload of meat that had been ordered by a restaurant, then rejected.

The men offered “restaurantquality” steak, chicken and seafood to consumers at “bargain” prices. But consumers complained that the meat was often mislabeled, tough and inedible.

Smith and Arce also refused to refund money to dissatisfied customers, despite promising a money-back guarantee, and described the meat as complying with federal grading standards that do not exist, Gregoire said.

The Seattle-King County and the Snohomish County Departments of Health assisted in the investigation, while the state Department of Agriculture joined in the lawsuit, alleging violations of the weights and measures law.