I too, purchased five machines from Antares in 2000. The price was too high for the equipment but they did help place the machines. Also, it is very difficult to find locations that bring in the kind of earnings the company claimed should be made.
However, my complaint is not about a business scam. It is bad enough to get cheated on a business deal, but worse when you get junk.
Since I bought my first five machines from Antares, almost seven years ago, I have purchased other machines and entire routes from other vendors. I have 23 Antares machines. I bought them thinking that they should last at least 10 years. I have Seaga machines that are older than 10 years.
This summer, I have had three machines completely fail.investigation has shown that the cooling coils have rusted out allowing the refrigerant to escape. Inspection of all my machines has resulted in rust found in all of them. It is just a matter of time, I feel, and all of these machines are going to fail. This is not a cheap fix. Thus far, Antares has not offered to sell me replacement shells. Contacting Edina Technical Products, the actual manufacturer, has gotten me nowhere.
Now, I have a lot of vending locations with machines that are starting to fail. Replacement or repair is not going to be easy or cheap. I really cannot afford to replace these machines. Comparable combo machines cost between 2300 and 3000 dollars. I will probably end up going out of business without even getting back my total investment.
My guess is that the cooling coils in these machines were designed for freezers. These machines are made from converted Frigadaire Freezers. Since freezer coils keep the moisture that collects on them frozen, they can get by with painting them. However, since these freezers have been converted to refrigerators, moisture does collect on the cooling coils causing them to rust. If you have noticed, refrigerator coils are galvanized, probably for this reason. This is just plain bad engineering on the part of Edina Technical Products and/or Antares Corporation.
Anybody having similar problems interested in a class action lawsuit?
DavidScott Depot, West Virginia
U.S.A.
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