WARNING: DO NOT BUY ZITO WHEELS - Scammed by Tony

[917K LM]

call the police, file a report, call BBB....file a report, call bank and file a fraud charge and ask for audit and recoup the wire transfer.
Get banking information, WhatsApp, phone, address, and all info you can and put in both reports, since you have a lawyer have them write a formal letter demanding return of funds for services not rendered, contact AG in the state that they conduct work, contact the vendor that you have the information from and demand information about Zitto from them (from your lawyer) or they will be responsible for the refund (may not get it, but could get you one step closer), post on wheel forums about experience and see if anyone has current info, go to the car show and tell everyone what happened with a sign "do you know about Zitto wheels? Ask me about my experience", I could go on and on, but they have thrown down the gauntlet and this is when they would find out that they should not have mistaken my kindness for weakness.
You own a Porsche Taycan.....money is not the issue, it is the principle of things. Whatever you do, don't get complacent due to it not having a big impact on your life. It may have a big impact on someone else and you have the resources to have a lawyer on retainer and should use it! I would spend whatever it took up to about 4x the cost of the wheels, to simply prove a point. I can let a lot go, but when you betray my trust...that is where I draw the line.
Be relentless! Or, chalk it up to bad judgement, crawl back in your shell and don't worry about posting how mad you are/were if you aren't going to follow through when times get tough
What are you going to do? Go take back what is yours, or slouch and go back home and hope they won't like what mom packed for lunch tomorrow?
Yes, I am trying to get you fired up
If I can help, let me know (don't know how), but as a society we need to get back to some form of ethics and behavior of a functioning society.

Thanks for the support, really appreciate your kind words ?

We are located in Europe, as are other customer too who have had issues with Tony (Anthony Amato) and Zito Wheels. Therefore, it’s quite challenging and not very practical to file a police report here in Europe when Tony (Anthony Amato) and Zito Wheels are based in the US.

When it comes to our attorney, they are working on building a case against Tony (Anthony Amato) and Zito Wheels, but again they are also located in Europe, so it’s not straight forward, but fortunately we have business partners and a network of great people in US who will be assisting us with this case.

As we are fighting for justice and creating awareness of this case on social media in hope of that other customer don’t get caught in similar scam/fraud, it’s important to understand that in these cases it takes time - but we will get there. If not, at least people in the car community will be aware of this fraudulent company and their so-called CEO, Tony (Anthony Amato), who he is scamming and ripping off legit and paying customer.

We have already posted this case online mostly on all car related forums (both international and local forums), and we will continue our work, continue to create awareness so other people can avoid to be scammed by Tony (Anthony Amato) and Zito Wheels.

We have already submitted a complaint with BBB (Better Business Bureau). But Zito Wheels and Tony haven’t responded, and most likely never will respond to BBB. But at least BBB have taken our case seriously with all the documentation and conversation history we have provided. BBB have now established and registered a page in Zito Wheels name. This means even if Tony (Anthony Amato) and Zito Wheels have disabled and deleted the reviews on both their FB-page and goggle reviews, fortunately he can’t manipulate and control BBB review system.

In addition, we have also submitted (yesterday) a complaint with FTC and Attorney General’s Office California Department of Justice, eCrime Unit. So we have to wait and see.

Will keep you updated.

Sponsored

 

[917K LM]

I had a similar story in the UK and managed to get my money back by getting a freeze on their bank account. They changed their back details so I got a friend to contact them as a new customer to whom they eagerly responded with their new back details expecting for him to transfer money. Instead we worked with the small claims bureau to freeze their new account until I received my £850 refund. The amount was small but I was so angry at getting scammed it was worth the weeks of effort to get it back. Not sure how it works in the US but if they are still taking new business you should be able to get your money.

Sorry to hear about your experience. Glad you could recover your money back

 

[917K LM]

@917K LM

I'd agree with you that Zito Wheels is pretty sketch. I tried to contact them yesterday to see how they would react to an order inquiry and this is how it went...

Called the 800.483.0153 phone number on the website. Phone rang and rang, then went to voicemail. I hung up.

Immediately I received a SMS message "Sorry we missed your call. We will get back to you as soon as we can. You can also email us [email protected] or text / WhatsApp us directly (310) 633-0845!"

I called the (310) 633-0845 number and immediately got a SMS message that they were on the phone and they would call back later.

Received a call approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes later where I had asked a couple of questions about getting a custom set of wheels made. Tony proceeded to send some pictures of one of the styles that he was recommending and said that he had in stock. I asked him about how long it would take and he said that there was a business call coming in and he would call me right back.

I never received a call back yesterday, and this morning I did get another SMS message apologizing for not getting back to me. I responded to that message that I chose to go with a different vendor and deleted the conversation off of my phone.

I got another reply a few hours later asking if it was because of the design and I replied that I was on the internet and read you are slow to reply and deliver goods paid for. I said I was able to complete a transaction with another vendor and would have given him the benefit of the doubt but he did not earn it.

He then proceeded to call and I did not pick up. I got another SMS message that he called me in error.

/end of story.

I'll cross my fingers for you that you product is delivered. Hopefully it will be soon.

Appreciate your effort to check out this dishonest person and company

I assume it easier when somebody with a US-number call him, if we had tried (which we have several of times without any response....), he would definitely avoid us. Interestingly Tony is still carrying on, after he removed his company from google etc. Hopefully people in the car community will be aware of not proceeding and dealing with Tony and Zito Wheels.

 

[TycanNewHampshire]

I would hire a lawyer in the state he operates as well as file a police report in the town he operates as well....it should not matter if you are in Europe. If that doesn't work, not sure if Interpol does theft? I just would not give up and would be relentless.

 

[917K LM]

I would hire a lawyer in the state he operates as well as file a police report in the town he operates as well....it should not matter if you are in Europe. If that doesn't work, not sure if Interpol does theft? I just would not give up and would be relentless.

We will stay on course as long as possible

 

[F16HTON]

There is no need for a lawyer to get involved whatsoever. Contact the Downey, CA Police Department notify them you think you are the victim of grand theft and they may investigate this.

Downey is a relatively small city by CA standards and may be willing to contact Zito Wheels to initiate and investigation.

I have pursued this route many times when customers filed unsubstantiated chargebacks and have been successful every time. Many have led to either arrests and/or immediate restitution in lieu of charges being filed.

 

[917K LM]

There is no need for a lawyer to get involved whatsoever. Contact the Downey, CA Police Department notify them you think you are the victim of grand theft and they may investigate this.

Downey is a relatively small city by CA standards and may be willing to contact Zito Wheels to initiate and investigation.

I have pursued this route many times when customers filed unsubstantiated chargebacks and have been successful every time. Many have led to either arrests and/or immediate restitution in lieu of charges being filed.

Thanks, appreciate you suggestion ? We will definitely be contacting them next week. We
have also submitted a complaint with FTC and Attorney General’s Office
California Department of Justice, eCrime Unit.

 

[F16HTON]

Thanks, appreciate you suggestion ? We will definitely be contacting them next week. We
have also submitted a complaint with FTC and Attorney General’s Office
California Department of Justice, eCrime Unit.

I also saw that you spammed this same message to pretty much every single Internet forum in existence. Are these wheels for a Taycan? Does this apply to the Taycan forum?

It's a simple phone call to the Downey police and should not have taken more than 30 minutes of your time. Work smarter, not harder. It is not how loud you yell that wins the argument, it is how effective you are with your words.

 

[TycanNewHampshire]

I also saw that you spammed this same message to pretty much every single Internet forum in existence. Are these wheels for a Taycan? Does this apply to the Taycan forum?

It's a simple phone call to the Downey police and should not have taken more than 30 minutes of your time. Work smarter, not harder. It is not how loud you yell that wins the argument, it is how effective you are with your words.

that may be for his personal situation, but it does nothing for preventing others from being in the same situation as he is in. Personally, I don't consider it spamming and view it more of a PSA to prevent others from happening to them.
I am appreciative of the post so my friends who had these wheels on their short-list do not go through with purchasing them.....that's pretty smart work.

 

[917K LM]

I also saw that you spammed this same message to pretty much every single Internet forum in existence. Are these wheels for a Taycan? Does this apply to the Taycan forum?

It's a simple phone call to the Downey police and should not have taken more than 30 minutes of your time. Work smarter, not harder. It is not how loud you yell that wins the argument, it is how effective you are with your words.

Sorry that you feel that way. Our intention is not to spam, but only to create awareness of the case and the experience we are going through. It is important to remember that we actually first and foremost have a desire to solve the problem, get our prepaid wheels/or refund - and move on. It may take a few minutes to report to the police and take legal action and perhaps it’s what we end up doing, but normally the goal is to avoid that as the last resort. In our opinion no one should underestimate the power of social media and online awareness.

Secondly if you had read the first (and last) screenshot between us and Tony/Zito Wheels, one can clearly read that the prepaid wheels are specified for a Taycan, which is our case.
But then again we have been in touch with other Zito Wheels customer (both US and Europe), who never went this far and to this extent (because of limited time and resources). So, our point is that this repeated issue/scam/pattern is not limited to only one car-brand/model. There is customer based in the US who could just take similar action as you suggest, which we support, but then again not everybody has it in them to go to this extent. Historically we are one of the few to challenge this company regarding their fraudulent ways.

Thirdly why would a ¨legit and honest¨ CEO indirectly pressure us not to post these threads, hide the truth from the car community and the entire world, give us false promises and statements that the prepaid wheels would be shipped upon deleting this information online, why would we accept that? Zito Wheels and Tony lately deleted and disabled all form of review systems in connection to their business - What are they hiding? Answers to these questions and information of other customer testimony will be going public in part-2 so the car community can see for themselves.

Never let anybody tell you what to do, never let anyone step on you. So, if fighting for consumer rights and justice, creating awareness with these threads, challenging dishonest and scamming people/companies, as they unrightfully steal other customers money and savings – if this is wrong and ineffective, so be it.

We have received positive feedback all over the place (local and international) from either potential customer who were going to or considering doing business with Tony and Zito Wheels – which they have avoided because of our small but important contribution. We will continue this process and create awareness so other customer can avoid getting in similar situation in the future. It goes without saying, even if we never receive our prepaid wheels or a refund, which most likely is the case, at least other people in the car community can have a learning experience form this very case.

 

[917K LM]

Update: As you guys remember from previous post (see screenshot/conversation history on page-1, Tony (Anthony Amato - CEO of Zito Wheels USA) and Zito Wheels USA, stated on July 16, 2021 that our prepaid wheels would be departing to us no later than 30 days. It has now been past 30 days (past 40 days to be precise), and we still haven’t received our wheels or any form of tracking information. We have now been patiently waiting for our prepaid wheels for approximately 5 months.

We have now understood and accepted that the CEO of Zito Wheels USA, Tony, have no intention whatsoever to send our prepaid ($3000) wheels to us as agreed in writing.

On a side note: it amazes us that the CEO of Zito Wheels, Tony, would scarify and jeopardize the “good” name, reputation and publicity of Zito Wheels just to scam legit and paying customer for $3000 - this will forever be a mystery for us. But then again people have personal/financial issues, but to exploit, lie, mislead and scam legit paying customer is defiantly the next level for Tony and Zito Wheels.

We have no other option, as to the nature of this very case, to declare and confirm this case as scam/fraud.

- Tony and Zito Wheels has now stopped responding to our messages – as expected.

- Tony and Zito Wheels has in fact disabled and deleted both Facebook and Google reviews, to avoid the truth getting out and avoid to get exposed.

- Tony and Zito Wheels has in fact removed their Google maps location. Info sill available on their website, for now.

- Tony and Zito Wheels are still operating as before on WhatsApp, Instagram, and phone (yes, we have checked through our network). Still trying to take orders and payments through bank-wiring and Zelle.


On August 20, 2021 we got the confirmation that Zito wheels failed to respond to the submitted complain with BBB. At least they got their own page and rating.

Secondly, on August 12, 2021 we also submitted a complaint with FTC with all the info on Tony and description of the case.


Thirdly, on August 17, 2021 we contacted Downey Police department with all the available information and documentation. This has now been forwarded to General’s Office California Department of Justice, eCrime Unit. The Downey Police department told us that we now must wait to get an investigator assigned to our case. These cases take time but hopefully we will get there, if not, at least people in the car community will be aware of Tony and this fraudulent company, Zito Wheels.

We will continue and focus on creating awareness online and on social media (with collaboration on other platforms),
even if we never receive our prepaid wheels or a refund, which most likely is the case now, at least other customer and people in the car community can avoid these type of scams.


Stay tuned, tomorrow we will be releasing customer testimony/conversation history from other customer who have been scammed and threatened by Tony and Zito Wheels.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Honestly, you don't need to go on or continue. Anyone who's been on an automotive forum in the last 10 years knows this story. I'm actually shocked that this Zito Wheels guy hasn't created a username on here coming to "defend his name" and tell you what a good guy he is and how this is all a misunderstanding. Rinse, repeat.

Sorry you got ripped off, but there are literally dozens of "wheel vendors" that troll the forums and try to sell wheels, and this is what happens 9/10 times. It's a shame that people keep falling for it in good faith. Not their fault. People are shady AF these days.

Moral of the story is don't buy wheels in this manner. Buy from a reputable source / seller. If you're buying from a boutique seller, contact buyers from forums or instagram and speak to them personally. Get a sense of their legitimacy by asking for pictures, and checking their post profile. The well known guys cost more but are much more well known and trustworthy.

 

[917K LM]

Honestly, you don't need to go on or continue. Anyone who's been on an automotive forum in the last 10 years knows this story. I'm actually shocked that this Zito Wheels guy hasn't created a username on here coming to "defend his name" and tell you what a good guy he is and how this is all a misunderstanding. Rinse, repeat.

Sorry you got ripped off, but there are literally dozens of "wheel vendors" that troll the forums and try to sell wheels, and this is what happens 9/10 times. It's a shame that people keep falling for it in good faith. Not their fault. People are shady AF these days.

Moral of the story is don't buy wheels in this manner. Buy from a reputable source / seller. If you're buying from a boutique seller, contact buyers from forums or instagram and speak to them personally. Get a sense of their legitimacy by asking for pictures, and checking their post profile. The well known guys cost more but are much more well known and trustworthy.

Thanks for understanding ? Totally agree with your statement.

We won’t go on forever, at one point the authority has to their job. We are at the end point of this case, as we now have confirmed this as scam/fraud. When it comes to Tony, he is a crooked and a dishonest man, and the more we looked into Tony’s fraudulent ways and similar scam cases with other customer, the more it seems like legit case of ripping off people who have trusted Tony and Zito wheels with their money.

The only reason we ever considered Zito Wheels is because we liked the wheel design and had it on one of our previous cars. But had we known that Tony is scamming people, we would never had got in touch with this guy. The worst part is that they are quite known in the wheel industry, at least they used to be. But obviously when Tony and Zito Wheels are suppressing and deleting any known information and reviews for the public and online readers, then this is how it goes, next time around another customer will in good faith trust Tony and get scammed. Hopefully by now the car community is getting aware of Tony and Zito Wheels. Just look at their Instagram page, no wonder why people fall for it and trust Tony and Zito Wheels.

 

[917K LM]

The conclusive update:

Before we go into the last segment and publish the complete conversation between us and Tony (Anthony Amato) from July 10, 2021 – July 14, 2021,
we have a surprise comeback, the silence is broken after a few days. How convenient and what coincidence that suddenly Tony/Zito Wheels has now responded to our message, just as we updated the case online.
We believe Tony/Zito Wheels are following the forum threads and responding accordingly.

You guys can read for yourself, but in short terms: more lies, more excuses, accusation without any basis and buying himself more time – the same pattern as the last 5 months.
Secondly, we didn’t know Tony was representing and making statement behalf of other wheel companies. Let’s just get the facts straight.
We have already been in touch with premium wheel companies in the last few weeks, and why are they calming wait time is 5-6 weeks for custom wheels, offset, bolt-pattern, custom finish etc.
So, last time we checked there is difference between 6 and 30 weeks. So, either these legit and reputable wheel companies are completely off or Tony/Zito Wheels is giving us fake information (again).
What will be next statement from Tony: it’s normal to have a wait time of 12+ months?

Lastly why are Zito Wheels any different from any other companies/organizations, why are Tony/Zito Wheels not obliged by the State rules and regulations when it comes to refund policy?
As any other company that fail to deliver a product in time as agreed, then they are obligated to provide full refund.
But in this case, Tony/Zito Wheels, are playing by their own rules: no refund and no wheels – simply just ripping off customer.

When it comes to removing correct and legit reviews and forum threads, I wonder what is there left to remove when
Tony and Zito Wheels have already systematically removed all negative reviews from Facebook and Google, as they don't want to get exposed.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, every single person in the car community can now see straight through Tony’s statements.

Now on to the main point:

Below is the conversation between us and Tony/Zito Wheels from July 10, 2021 – July 14, 2021.
Again, you are free to read for yourself, but in short terms: The CEO of Zito Wheels, Tony, is indirectly/directly asking and pressuring us to delete our Google review and forum threads about him and Zito Wheels scamming us as a legit and paying customer.
Who in their right mind would delete the negative review before receiving the prepaid wheels? Why are Tony and Zito Wheels trying to restrict our voice to express our experiences online when he is clearly scamming us?
The reason why we would not yield to Tony’s demands is simply because other customer has unfortunately been through the same game and got scammed. See the attached conversations later in the post.

NOTE: July 14, 2021 - Tony started responding to us on iMessage.

In this day and age, you can’t even call out scammers with solid evidence as they will
misuse and hide behind the term defamation – but fortunately people have the ability to read and understand that Tony/Zito Wheels is just putting on an act.

NOTE: As we mentioned one of Tony's previous customer by his name and stating that we had obtained customer testimony from other customer who have been scammed and threatened,
then Tony went in panic mode or something similar of that nature. He started calling us repeatedly. We were not able to attend to his calls as we were busy in a meeting.
Then to our big surprise, Tony tried to call our number again, not once but ten times. It was late/nighttime here, so we didn’t respond to his calls.

At this point we were not interested in talking on the phone as we got impressions from previous customer we have communicated with (see attachment later in the post),
that Tony is very aggressive and threatening on the phone.

NEXT: When Tony and Zito Wheel started deleting customer reviews on Facebook and Google,
we fortunately got in touch with few of the customer who have dealt with and scammed by Tony.
We really appreciate the contribution from these customer, as they shared their experiences with us regarding this fraudulent company (Zito Wheels).
Top tip: Even if everything seems lost, never delete the conversation history, as they can be used to document the case and of course warn others.

In short: This customer was also scammed by Tony and Zito Wheels: He writes a negative review about the wheel quality (peeling/paint problems),
Customer reaches out for help regarding the problem with his wheels, in exchange for deleting the review Tony will ''sort'' out everything.
Customer have to spend $600+ to repaint at local shop. When it comes to keeping his word and paying up, Tony simply stop responding and disappear.
He rather start accusing the customer for talking advantage of him - there is no logic whatsoever. Great customer service from Tony and Zito Wheels - scamming legit and paying customer (again).

 

[917K LM]

Next: Another customer who unfortunately have dealt with Tony and Zito Wheels.
Again, Tony trying to scam and threaten this customer but fortunately this ended well - which is rare.
This customer also got deleted his review from the page but fortunately we got in touch.

Finally, it's safe to say that the car community can now really see for themselves how Tony and Zito Wheels are operating.
Above are some of the few customer including us, who have been scammed, threatened and treated unfairly.

Perhaps what we all are wondering and thinking of now:
How many more are out there who have been scammed by Tony?
Its safe to say there are probably more people/customer who have never raised their voice and just accepted their fate.
Now it’s up the authority. We will continue our work and create awareness about this case and the fraudulent business Tony and Zito Wheels is running,
in addition we will shortly begin our collaboration work on other platforms - so more people out there can avoid this scam/fraud.

Sponsored