Metron-Installation Pro
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This article will tell you all about the Brothers...
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URL: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/business/article/0,1406,KNS_376_4135375,00.html
Metron creditors left high and dry
CEO of shuttered electronics distributor says 'there's no funds available' to pay debts
By LARISA BRASS AND REBECCA FERRAR, brass@knews.com; ferrarr@knews.com
October 6, 2005
Metron North America's creditors won't see payment of their bills, and the company has no plans to declare bankruptcy, according to the chief executive of the shuttered consumer electronics distribution company.
"Well, the company has no funds," CEO Bob Crabtree said Wednesday. The Knoxville business abruptly closed Sept. 16, leaving about 200 employees without jobs and companies across the country with outstanding invoices.
"All funds that the company had available have been taken over by the bank," he said. "We're just basically letting (creditors) know that we're basically out of business and there's no funds available."
Crabtree said the company's bank, SunTrust, was selling off equipment, furniture and other Metron assets to satisfy debts held by the bank.
Metron's building at the west end of the Cumberland Avenue Strip is for sale, he said.
Metron was having trouble keeping up with its obligations months before its closure, according to companies that say Metron owes them thousands of dollars.
Metron lost a contract with its biggest customer, DirecTV, in the first quarter, nine months before the contract was to expire.
Dan Gunderson, owner of Express Personnel Services in Reno, Nev., said he is owed $21,000 for supplying temporary workers to Metron's Reno distribution center.
He said Crabtree told him not to hold his breath hoping to get paid.
"Mr. Crabtree told me I really didn't have a chance of getting my money," Gunderson said. "They had always paid very timely. A couple of months ago, they started getting out of line a little bit. They said they had just signed with Dish Network and everything was going to be fine."
After the company closed, Gunderson got Crabtree on the line.
"He told me they were not going to file for bankruptcy, they were going to cease operations, that I wasn't going to get my money," Gunderson said.
Express Personnel Services has a Knoxville franchise, which did get paid during the company's final days, Gunderson said.
Metron provided distribution, sales, marketing, e-commerce and customer care services, mostly in the consumer electronics industry. When the company acquired a contract with Dish Network, employees thought business was picking up.
Then the closure was announced at day's end on a Friday, and workers were given final paychecks.
"The way they did people was wrong," Gunderson said. "They left a lot of people hurt by it. I don't know what I'm going to do."
Gunderson said he already had paid the workers he supplied to Metron. He said he is filing a complaint with the state attorney general's office and is trying to find an attorney in Knoxville to help him collect the $21,000.
Jordyn Hollander, vice president of AWI, a Plainview, N.Y., retailer of satellite dish equipment, said his company used Metron for the distribution of its equipment and as a marketing center.
"We were doing our installations through them," Hollander said. "They were handling the distribution for all our equipment. As far as I can tell, they just closed the doors. We had to get our equipment out of there."
In addition, he said Metron stopped answering marketing calls for AWI.
"Any marketing directed toward that call center went unanswered, Hollander said. "Overnight they went out of business and left us with no one to answer the phone. We had to switch over to another contact center."
In Los Angeles, Dick Fischer, owner of Fischer Satellite Co., said he installed satellite dishes for Metron and is left holding a bad check for $1,490.
He said he installed satellites for Dish Network and also installed TiVo and big-screen televisions.
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URL: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/business/article/0,1406,KNS_376_4135375,00.html
Metron creditors left high and dry
CEO of shuttered electronics distributor says 'there's no funds available' to pay debts
By LARISA BRASS AND REBECCA FERRAR, brass@knews.com; ferrarr@knews.com
October 6, 2005
Metron North America's creditors won't see payment of their bills, and the company has no plans to declare bankruptcy, according to the chief executive of the shuttered consumer electronics distribution company.
"Well, the company has no funds," CEO Bob Crabtree said Wednesday. The Knoxville business abruptly closed Sept. 16, leaving about 200 employees without jobs and companies across the country with outstanding invoices.
"All funds that the company had available have been taken over by the bank," he said. "We're just basically letting (creditors) know that we're basically out of business and there's no funds available."
Crabtree said the company's bank, SunTrust, was selling off equipment, furniture and other Metron assets to satisfy debts held by the bank.
Metron's building at the west end of the Cumberland Avenue Strip is for sale, he said.
Metron was having trouble keeping up with its obligations months before its closure, according to companies that say Metron owes them thousands of dollars.
Metron lost a contract with its biggest customer, DirecTV, in the first quarter, nine months before the contract was to expire.
Dan Gunderson, owner of Express Personnel Services in Reno, Nev., said he is owed $21,000 for supplying temporary workers to Metron's Reno distribution center.
He said Crabtree told him not to hold his breath hoping to get paid.
"Mr. Crabtree told me I really didn't have a chance of getting my money," Gunderson said. "They had always paid very timely. A couple of months ago, they started getting out of line a little bit. They said they had just signed with Dish Network and everything was going to be fine."
After the company closed, Gunderson got Crabtree on the line.
"He told me they were not going to file for bankruptcy, they were going to cease operations, that I wasn't going to get my money," Gunderson said.
Express Personnel Services has a Knoxville franchise, which did get paid during the company's final days, Gunderson said.
Metron provided distribution, sales, marketing, e-commerce and customer care services, mostly in the consumer electronics industry. When the company acquired a contract with Dish Network, employees thought business was picking up.
Then the closure was announced at day's end on a Friday, and workers were given final paychecks.
"The way they did people was wrong," Gunderson said. "They left a lot of people hurt by it. I don't know what I'm going to do."
Gunderson said he already had paid the workers he supplied to Metron. He said he is filing a complaint with the state attorney general's office and is trying to find an attorney in Knoxville to help him collect the $21,000.
Jordyn Hollander, vice president of AWI, a Plainview, N.Y., retailer of satellite dish equipment, said his company used Metron for the distribution of its equipment and as a marketing center.
"We were doing our installations through them," Hollander said. "They were handling the distribution for all our equipment. As far as I can tell, they just closed the doors. We had to get our equipment out of there."
In addition, he said Metron stopped answering marketing calls for AWI.
"Any marketing directed toward that call center went unanswered, Hollander said. "Overnight they went out of business and left us with no one to answer the phone. We had to switch over to another contact center."
In Los Angeles, Dick Fischer, owner of Fischer Satellite Co., said he installed satellite dishes for Metron and is left holding a bad check for $1,490.
He said he installed satellites for Dish Network and also installed TiVo and big-screen televisions.
Honestly this guy stinks real bad for how he is handling his business like he's a spoiled child throwing a tantrum at not getting his way.
There is a pattern in the Satellite Industry, that follows this example however...
It will be fun, watching what the Feds do with all of these "Business Failures"... LOL
It will be fun, watching what the Feds do with all of these "Business Failures"... LOL
Hey Dick,
If you haven't already done so, get copies of those checks to the folks at SatelliteExpo...
If you haven't already done so, get copies of those checks to the folks at SatelliteExpo...
LOLSimilar threads
