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Keyword: Allstates.com
| Léelo en: Español
Allstates.com
Tire Information World : your friendly
independent source of tire help
 Allstates.com ... a company to avoid if you wish
to avoid problems
This article is primarily of interest to people in the
tire or auto service business and who may be contemplating
purchasing equipment from a company called Allstate's of
America, Inc. (that's right they have an apostophe in
their name), or on the internet allstates.com.
 Rather than embellish the story and vent my indignation
over the treatment I received from the company's owner,
Robert (Bob) Metzler. I'll do what the old-time dectective
Joe Friday used to ask for and give you "Just the Facts!"
Just the Facts, Mamm!
I first contacted Allstates in March 2008 after seeing
some automotive equipment on his website that we were
interested in purchasing. First I sent an email, and
had several phone conversations, prior to reaching an
agreement about making a purchase.
Parts from my first email and his reply are reproduced below (Highlighting has been added.):
The Reply, on the same date:
And a further confirmation on April 1st
In the course of the negotiations we spoke on the
telephone several times, to clarify what equipment was
available, prices, shipping arrangements, and payment
arrangements. The following formal quote was provided:
We finally settled on the purchase of 4 machines and
placed an order around the 1st of July, with my
understanding that everything would be shipped
within 3 to
4 days.
This is when the fun began. I had asked Mr. Metzler
to send me an email to confirm that payment had been
received and confirm when everything would be shipped.
When I still had received nothing I phoned him on July 7th
and he told me that payment had been received but that
there would be a few days delay in shipping.
Until he had our money in his account, he was most
responsive, and seemed eager to please in every way.
As soon as he had our deposit even sending an email seemed
to be a chore for him, it became difficult to reach him by
telephone, and on one occasion when I had called to ask
about delays in shipping he put me on hold and just forgot
about me.
I phoned several times during the month asking about
shipping and was always provided with a lame excuse without
any specific shipping date. "3 to 4 days" stretched into
over a month and finally the machines were
shipped on the
12th of August!
The end of September!
Well after a long delay and some
problems we experienced in the processing of the import
documents and the shipment of the goods from the seaport,
they arrived almost at the end of September!
I personally supervised the unpacking of the
equipment and saw no evidence that anything had been
removed during transit and one occasion of minor damage
which I decided not to report, but which was noted on the
driver's receipt.
Problems and deficiencies
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We discovered that the Alignment
System had no Spanish software,
-
would not operate on 220 volts, and
 -
was not updated to the year 2007.
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The sensors were
uncalibrated and required calibration.
-
The Chilean representative of the Hunter Company tells us
that this model cannot operate in Spanish without a special
adaptor which is no longer available.
-
The balancer blew
out when it was attached to 220 volts, and
-
may have a damaged
spindle (we are awaiting the revision of a
technician.)
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The lift system was
missing 165 parts,
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the oil reservoir was
rusted and had a
leak which we repaired, and
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we had some
replacement parts fabricated locally to make the
lift operative.
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No manuals were with the shipment.
No solutions provided
When Mr. Metzler was informed of the first of the
discoveries we made, he only asked for details of the
missing parts and asked what happened when we plugged in
the balancer. He replied by email that we would have
to get a local technician to repair the balancer and that
he would help "in any way he could".
When I asked him to be more specific in the way he was
prepared to help, he
never responded and has
not communicated with us since.
We have made attempts to reach a mediated solution through
the South Florida Better Business Bureau, who rate
this company with their lowest possible rating of "F"
Also we have been unsuccessful in attempts to
reach a mediated solution through the State of Florida's
Consumer Services section of the Department of
Agrigulture and the Dade County's department of Consumer
Mediation and other agencies.
There are other reports of problems of this
company on various internet locations, where you'll see
things like:
This is one of the kinder reports, I've seen.
Other's have been much more agressive in their descriptions
of their dissatisfaction of their dealings with Allstate's
and Mr. Metzler.
Conclusion and Warning
It's your choice. Some people thrive on
problems and difficulties. If this is the kind of adventure
you enjoy, I'd think that you might find a challenge to
test your mettle in dealing here. If you're looking
for good service and excellent value you're likely to do
better spending your time looking elsewhere.
If you've had some dealings with this company
and wish to share your experience with us please feel
welcome to Contact Us.
If you have a different experience and you'd
like a place to rant about it please feel welcome to use
our Tire Experiences
Rants which has been set up especially for this
purpose.
Return to
Tire Information World's
home page from Allstates.com.
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