Anyone ever hear of American Gold Label?

[TrickyBob]

It's a door to door seafood and steak company.

I just had a man knock on my door and sell me 8 individual sealed italian chicken breasts for $20 (they were nicely frozen). He said they typically sell for a lot more but he needed gas. Then he asked me for the nearest gas station and said he doesn't come out this way but happened to be in the area and just needed a couple bucks. If I had been interested in Seafood, he said he would have sold two packages for the price of one.

He had a shirt on that said "Private label stock seafood and meat" and the box is professional looking with an inspection sticker on it + the name "American Gold Label".

I just have never heard of this company before.

I'm pretty confident he didn't sell me poison chicken or anything.

[EmilieMadison]

He...needed gas? And this didnt seem like a scam to you?

[mamasaurus]

Scam! Scam! Don't eat it!

[mamasaurus]

Oh boy. Their marketing video.

aglfoods.com/marketing.html

[dcannie]

uh, shouldn't he have a company card for gas?

[lemondrop]

italian chicken? really?

[TrickyBob]

Well, from what the website says, it seems like these people are their own individual sales people?

Kind of like those people who sell knives, they have a parent company but then work on their own time.

I said to my Husband "the box looks fine, it has the American Gold Label sticker on it plus all the inspection, when frozen, etc information".

I'm also really bad at knowing about these types of things; I didn't even really ever hear of the Schwan man until I was in my late teens.

ETA: I DID tell him that this would be the only thing we'll be buying and that we aren't interested in calling after Christmas and reordering.

[EmilieMadison]

Nov 20, 2012 13:40:11 GMT -5 dcannie said:

uh, shouldn't he have a company card for gas?

And a company vehicle?
But hey, a cooler full of meat and seafood in the trunk of a car sounds totally legit. 8-D

[Deleted]

Well, at least it wasn't portuguese chicken. THAT would have sounded iffy.

[TrickyBob]

WAIT!!

A few people on FB who live in town said that they normally buy from this dude a few times a year.


So, that makes it a little better, right?

Maybe....

I'm just going to stick to the grocery store.

[EmilieMadison]

Nov 20, 2012 13:42:20 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

Well, from what the website says, it seems like these people are their own individual sales people?

Kind of like those people who sell knives, they have a parent company but then work on their own time.

I said to my Husband "the book looks fine, it has the American Gold Label sticker on it plus all the inspection, when frozen, etc information".

I'm also really bad at knowing about these types of things; I didn't even really ever hear of the Schwan man until I was in my late teens.

But surely you realize that just because someone printed a sticker doesnt make it true.

I could buy some labels, type up something that says "American Gold Label: USDA inspected. Frozen fresh on 11/19/2012" print them off on my home computer and slap the label on my cat.

[TrickyBob]

Nov 20, 2012 13:45:35 GMT -5 EmilieMadison said:

Nov 20, 2012 13:42:20 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

Well, from what the website says, it seems like these people are their own individual sales people?

Kind of like those people who sell knives, they have a parent company but then work on their own time.

I said to my Husband "the book looks fine, it has the American Gold Label sticker on it plus all the inspection, when frozen, etc information".

I'm also really bad at knowing about these types of things; I didn't even really ever hear of the Schwan man until I was in my late teens.

But surely you realize that just because someone printed a sticker doesnt make it true.

I could buy some labels, type up something that says "American Gold Label: USDA inspected. Frozen fresh on 11/19/2012" print them off on my home computer and slap the label on my cat.

I know =(

Ugh. I'm never doing this again, not even from the Schwan man.

I'll just take a small comfort in knowing that some other people buy from this guy and call it a lesson learned.

[EmilieMadison]

Schwann's is a reputable company and they deliver food in special freezer trucks. Schwann's is fine.

[TrickyBob]

Nov 20, 2012 13:49:35 GMT -5 EmilieMadison said:

Schwann's is a reputable company and they deliver food in special freezer trucks. Schwann's is fine.

He did have a whole freezer set up on the back of his pickup. I went out with him because I wanted to see where he was grabbing it from. And not you know, a cooler with an ice pack. lol.

Still; everyone's right..don't buy meat from people you don't know!

I hope I can laugh at myself later about this.

[EmilieMadison]

See? It's funny! And lesson learned, right?
(Also, dont go out to look in the back of stranger's pickup trucks...)

[TrickyBob]

Nov 20, 2012 13:55:46 GMT -5 loonylunalovegood said:

My dad buys meat from them all the time and he's not dead yet.

So how much does this junk normally cost? I thought $20 seemed kind of fair and even if he was scamming me for gas money, it was only $20. Merry Christmas to him in that case.

[kiid]

Yea same thing happened to my mom yesterday he came and said it was an food over stock and thet were giving it away for free but then he said there's a catch he said that he wasn't tryn get us to sign a contract and said that we would have to pay like you said 20$ and I pulled my mom into the kitchen and said don't buy anything. Good thing we didn't I heard that its like they wait a couple days if u use your credit card they take money form your account and use it

[TrickyBob]

This is a really old post.

[shoeless]

I'm kinda disturbed that someone with dug this up and made it their first post in a 2 month old post....

[TrickyBob]

Jan 31, 2014 20:05:18 GMT -5 shoeless said:

I'm kinda disturbed that someone with dug this up and made it their first post in a 2 month old post....

This is from 2012.

Weirdo post digger is weird. Lol

[lagom]

So, did you eat the meat, Tricky?

You aren't dead.

Zombie posts always freak me out, but I feel like there are unanswered questions here.

[TrickyBob]

Jan 31, 2014 20:12:53 GMT -5 lagom said:

So, did you eat the meat, Tricky?

You aren't dead.

Zombie posts always freak me out, but I feel like there are unanswered questions here.

Perhaps I am a zombie posting in a zombie thread?

I mentioned in the post the other day about this story and said we had tried the chicken but the seasoning/flavor wasn't good and I eventually tossed it.

Haven't ever seen him since.

[shoeless]

Jan 31, 2014 20:39:49 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Jan 31, 2014 20:05:18 GMT -5 shoeless said:

I'm kinda disturbed that someone with dug this up and made it their first post in a 2 month old post....

Why is this weird and disturbing? This is a public forum; this person probably did a Google search on the name of the company to find info since this just happened to his/her mom.

A Haiku: Part 2

Italian chicken
Yet another meat truck scam?
Can't trust the label

sewpinkgal

You are wise KA

[polka]

Wait a minute.  Is that the same frozen chicken you sent to me at Christmas, Robert???

[TrickyBob]

Jan 31, 2014 20:51:20 GMT -5 polka said:

Wait a minute.  Is that the same frozen chicken you sent to me at Christmas, Robert???

Maybe....

[Deleted]

I was reading this thread and saw a response under my name and TOTALLY FREAKED for a second that I got hacked by the lamest hacker ever.

Then I saw the date.

[polka]

Jan 31, 2014 20:52:26 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

Jan 31, 2014 20:51:20 GMT -5 polka said:

Wait a minute.  Is that the same frozen chicken you sent to me at Christmas, Robert???

Maybe....

[TrickyBob]

Jan 31, 2014 20:55:32 GMT -5 polka said:

Jan 31, 2014 20:52:26 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

Maybe....

[sewpinkgal]

kevin arnold I quickly saw this earlier and was like What? Two random pickup truck meat sales in two days?! LOL

[polonium]

Hello -- I am new here, I signed up because I found this thread by searching American Gold Label.

Bottom Line: I would advise against buying anything from them or any independent meat truck sales organization. They use predatory sales tactics and will not offer refunds or stand behind their products. I do not think their reps have door-to-door permits. They use their own pick up trucks with freezers in the back. There are no signs on the truck like Swans. They prey on the elderly with fast talking promises and deals yet ultimately do not stand behind their product.

If you care to read further, here is my experience: (Warning -- Long)
American Gold Label is a provider to meat truck independent sales reps. When you come to their website the first thing is a solicitation to become a distributor, which is a MLM (multi-level marketing) red flag. Anyway one of these distributors, going by the name Choice Meats Inc. out of Phoenix AZ, sold 8 cases to my 81 year old mother yesterday for over $1800. They actually sold it as 3 cases "retailing for $589 plus tax" plus 5 cases free. Which means each case, around 25 lbs, with a mix of meats from steaks to ground beef, is going for over $24 per pound; if you average it to include the free cases it's $9 per pound, still high considering they are not all steaks. The USDA label says "Choice" but I have no idea! The fact that this meat packer -- American Gold Label -- is in Miami, makes me wonder if these are South American imports. Or old dairy cows. I tried to search the USDA inspection code but failed to come up with any proof that this is legitimate. I'm not saying it isn't, but I don't trust the way these companies do business.

Anyway, this feels like a scam and they certainly preyed on my mother. When I found out a few hours later what she had purchased, I asked her to cancel the check but they had immediately driven 45 miles away to cash it, so it was too late. The next day I called the cell number they left "if you want to exchange anything" and I got more fast talk and that I would have to talk to his boss several days later. The check was not made out to any company, it was made out to a someone else, not the same person I talked to on the phone. They said their sales company was in Phoenix AZ -- Choice Meats Inc. But there was no address, and when I searched Choice Meats in Phoenix I found a meat company that closed in 2009. The phone number connected with this company was a Phoenix cell number not a land line. We are in California, not Arizona. There are so many red flags here but my mother is elderly, bargain loving, and also relatively wealthy, so she was an easy mark. I doubt there is any recourse, but I thought I would post this story here so that others would not be taken in by meat truck scams. The person who purchased $20 worth of chicken is lucky. Let's please protect our elders in the community and not let them be taken.