Wrexham Trading Standards Urge Caution Against Fishy Sales Tactics

Wrexham Trading Standards are asking residents to be aware of fishy trading practices taking place in the local area.

Yesterday afternoon Trading Standards Officers visited an area of Wrexham and spoke to two males in a white van who were cold calling residents to persuade them to purchase fish on their doorstep.

Although the fish were correctly packaged and labelled officers were concerned that high pressure sales tactics may have been used to try and persuade people to buy substantial quantities of fish costing in excess of £140.

The fish is often more expensive than purchasing from your local trader and there is no guarantee as to the quality of the fish you are purchasing.

Wrexham Trading Standards are advising consumers to be extremely cautious about buying anything from doorstep sellers.

High pressure sales techniques are often used, where the final price is only apparent once the fish is inside your home. At that stage you may be pressured into purchasing larger quantities of fish than you need at a substantial cost.

Some doorstep sellers are often very persuasive and start off being friendly, but this can soon change to frighten you into parting with money.

Residents are being urged to be cautious before accepting the fish on offer and to shop around before making a hasty decision. If anyone has concerns about any food they have bought they should contact Trading Standards or Environmental Health at their local council offices.

If you would like further advice on doorstep sellers in general contact Consumer Direct, the national advice service on 08454 04 05 06.

In the meantime trading standards have offered the following advice to residents:

• Do not accept pre-packed fish which isn’t labelled.
• Labels should include information such as the name of the fish, and use-by dates.

Editor’s note: We couldn’t find any decent pictures of frozen fish so settled on a picture of the River Gwenfro, although we’re not sure if you’ll find any aquatic life in there.