Regardless of whatever issues people have had with Avanta in the past, Don (Donald) Klingbeil has made a Facebook post, in which he says Will Murillo and possibly himself will be in NYC taking orders for Avanta boots on 12/27/17:
If you have trouble contacting Avanta, you might try contacting Don, through his facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/donald.klingbeilThe quote is at
https://www.facebook.com/donald.klingbeil.5?hc_ref=ARQ8Ol3CaG_8szbM7r3qkGIWTR7xIbs0kQHPIUQ-IVIF_6YF7M18Ci8MjyS13PGIHxE&fref=nfIt says
Hi everyone .
Its that time again to send out a post about the wonderful Avanta Skating Boots. Will Murillo has been going out by popular demand to take measurements and castings again..I am very proud of how far Avanta has come.As you probably know I feel that the Avanta boots are the finest boots on the market.They have also improved their customer servie and has adopted Klingbeils way of treating customers.So Will will be in New York-Long Island taking orders for boots on Dec. 27. and I believe I will be ther also. I would be happy to see enjoy the company of skaters again and answer questions.Please call Avanta Skating Labs and speak to Sue , Allie , or Will at 510 990 2138 from 12pm to 8pm.I really hope to see you soon!!!!! Thanks So Much , Donald Klingbeil.
The phone number in that message is the same as is on Avanta's web page and Avanta's Facebook page. However, the hours (which I presume are Pacific Standard Time; Add 3 hours to get Eastern Standard Time) are somewhat unexpected. (When I have tried to call Avanta in the morning, it did not work, not surprising since they are only open in the Pacific Time afternoon and evening.)
I have dealt with and completely trust Don
, from back when he ran and was the master bootmaker for Klingbeil boots, and if he comes to NYC, I would be completely confident that his fit measurements would be nearly perfect, though of course Avanta has to actually make and ship the boots.
I haven't dealt with Will, but he is quite experienced, and was trained to make make and fit skates by the Klingbeils starting in 1994. He is listed as the Avanta boot designer, and I guess he is in charge there:
http://grantland.com/features/the-last-skate-atelier (out of date - the Klingbeil company no longer exists, but has interesting historical info of Don, the Klingbeil copmany, and Will)
https://www.afallastudios.com/blog/avant-skating-boots (Says that Avanta is slow to make boots. Slow enough (over 12 weeks) that if you are a child, you might outgrow the boots before they come, if you have a growth spurt.
Slow enough that if your current boots are broken down, or non-existent, you may not choose to wait.)
Getting the right fitter for skates extremely important. If you were to order from Avanta, these are probably the right people to do the fit. Avanta might also be most likely to accept returns for bad fit, if the fit was done by one of them.
This is not an endorsement of Avanta - just information. I have no experience with Avanta, and do not personally know anyone who has Avanta boots, nor have I seen their boots in person.