Is this common on NIB Sterns?

[Alky]

Tis why I preach USE A CREDIT CARD when you purchase anything. The credit card company won't fight you - they'll fight the offender on your behalf.

This is crap - completely unnacceptable product and behavior by Stern. If you used a credit card call your company up and let them handle it. If you didn't, call Stern and request to speak with their legal dept. and inform them of the situation. Let them know you are simply asking for a populated pf and if they don't comply you will take them to small claims court.
They lose either way. Too expensive to fight it and if they don't show up you automatically win.

Companies get away with shit like this because people just take the abuse and walk away. NOTHING in this world gets fixed unless you stand up and fight for what's right.

First off you would be screwing whoever you bought it from not Stern. I bet they hate these machines going to collectors <not that I am saying they are right>. The general public never see anything like these errors so Stern probably doesnt ever have to deal with this shit that often. I can tell you in 5 years of delivering these games that we havent ever had a quality issue as far as a pf defect or anything else "minor" not that its minor to a collector. I would agree if you keep at it that they would fix it and they should.


The fucked up part is that nobody is bringing this to the attention of who they bought it from. If someone showed my company the dinged pf we would take care of the problem with Stern to the best of our abilities.

 

[Deadly]

First off you would be screwing whoever you bought it from not Stern. I bet they hate these machines going to collectors <not that I am saying they are right>. The general public never see anything like these errors so Stern probably doesnt ever have to deal with this shit that often. I can tell you in 5 years of delivering these games that we havent ever had a quality issue as far as a pf defect or anything else "minor" not that its minor to a collector. I would agree if you keep at it that they would fix it and they should.


The fucked up part is that nobody is bringing this to the attention of who they bought it from. If someone showed my company the dinged pf we would take care of the problem with Stern to the best of our abilities.

I mean no offense when I say this, but you as a business know and understand that part of doing business is losing money. The reseller is the one that should be fighting this battle not the buyer. How can anyone possibly expect the average joe blow to take it on the chin for something they don't deserve? I know you're not arguing the fact that the OP deserves to be taken care of. Regardless of who gets thrown under the bus, there's no excuse for the way the buyer is being treated.

 

[Alky]

I mean no offense when I say this, but you as a business know and understand that part of doing business is losing money. The reseller is the one that should be fighting this battle not the buyer. How can anyone possibly expect the average joe blow to take it on the chin for something they don't deserve? I know you're not arguing the fact that the OP deserves to be taken care of. Regardless of who gets thrown under the bus, there's no excuse for the way the buyer is being treated.

I agree. This is just a hard battle to fight. Now I personally would try my best but this can be a very long and drawn out situation. If the person that bought from me was the average joe blow and paid full price I would without a doubt do everything I could. If it was someone on here that got a great price I would just hope they would do most of the legwork on their own. I would assume this goes for most places with some even selling machines for only $100-$200 over cost. I always side with the consumer, lets just let that be known. I think I do see some nitpicking sometimes on machines not that the op is because that ding looks terrible. For an example I asked my boss for the keys to his Masserati <not spelled right I know> and when I look at some wierd spots I counted real quick 4 defects. This is on a very expensive car. I can find defects on probably 90% of all product sold in my retail store if I looked hard enough. Once again the op has a problem but sometimes I think people are overreacting.

 

[Robotron Jon]

Given the cost of the pinball machine, I am not sure this would be a small claims case. I think in Illinois a small claims case is $5,000 or less.

Regardless, Stern should make good on this. Very sad and unfortunate to see.

I would post your issue on RGP as well. Maybe someone at Stern will see it there, or it will filter through the chain of command. It couldn't hurt to try.

 

[MES]

In the restaurant business it is drilled into you that a happy customer will tell one person about a good experience, if they have a problem and it is fixed they will tell ten people about the experience and if they have a crappy experience and no one gives a damn they will tell everyone they can not to go there. People want to feel like they matter. What would be better for the company? Take care of the problem and have the person with the issue post that they were very satisfied with the customer service or let everyone know they are taking a crap shoot when buying one of these products? The math is easy. I agree that some get obsessed over small things, but at these prices the small things matter. Stern has said that more and more of their market is going to home buyers. People want things to be right when they buy them. As pinball owners and players we know that isn't always the case, but the company supplying the product needs to realize this and be flexible with this new market.

I bought a jeep wrangler and when stuff started to break (very often) the reply was "it's a Jeep". Will I be buying a Jeep again probably not. Don't try to save a few dollars and lose many more in the overall scheme of things.

If I bought a car and the paint started to chip off and they sent me a bottle of touch up paint and said good luck I would be pretty pissed and I would tell everyone like I am now.

No manufacturing process is going to be perfect, but it is in how the company responds to these situations that defines a company.

I would like to buy a NIB game one day, but for now I will stick to seeing a used game and knowing the issues it has first hand.

 

[PensFan66]

Yeah, I didnt use a Credit Card, paid cash to Trent (Who also said he will see what he can do from Stern) - I didnt want to add another 3% to the sale, but that thought did cross my mind - if I had used a CC. Ths issue there is, This isnt Trents fault at all - so I wouldnt have used the dispute route.

I havent heard from Patrick since I didnt accept a signed translite (By who? A bunch of engineers that no one knows?) and the Free Advertisement T-Shirt I told him they can have this PF back and put it into another machine if they think this is "acceptable" - overall then, the cost to Stern is little - a replacement playfield and they get the old one back.

Im letting it go for a few more days, then I plan to take more agressive action on the web to warn more people about it. Already have Domain names ready to be registered and a Facebook group ready

 

[THE COUNT]

Thanks to this
http://www.sternpinball-transformers.com/building/ video, I'm pretty sure we now know who was part of your PF's assembly process. It's Jose at 1 min. 50 sec., who is a wiz with a hammer.

Keep preordering them and they'll keep "banging" them out!

 

[PensFan66]

Not from me, I've learned my lesson - Stern has lost a customer... I hate to say that means Trent has likely lost me too - not to do with him, he was awesome to deal with but since I won't buy any new Sterns, he will lose the sales. Trent was going to see what he could do, bug that was last week and I haven't heard anything from him.

This is so depressing ... I really thought Stern would make good on this and now they ignore my emails and I hear nothing. Time to put the call out to anyone who has had similar issues with any Stern game - I'm making a website

 

[THE COUNT]

If they are ignoring your emails I'd start calling them. That is total BS that they are trying to cut off comunications with you. Stick with it and raise hell!

 

[jar155]

Im letting it go for a few more days, then I plan to take more agressive action on the web to warn more people about it. Already have Domain names ready to be registered and a Facebook group ready

Don't do that. It makes you look unreasonable and it will backfire. It honestly doesn't affect play much at all, but I'm not saying you should have to live with it either. They should try to make it right, but honestly, you can touch it up and you'll never notice it.

I'd take the translite and shirt and be ok with it. You could probably sell the translite for way more than the damage is worth.

If the ding was in a more noticeable area, or if it damaged art, I'd raise a bigger fuss. Given that it's a small tool mark in an inconspicuous area, I'd settle with what they've offered. Maybe they'll send you a playfield to swap it with, but that's a huge money loss on Stern's end for a relatively small flaw.

 

[Robotron Jon]

Did you post anything about this on RGP? Might get more notice than here.

That video was interesting. It's amazing that we make anything like this in America these days. I wonder if Stern is a union shop and what the hourly rate is for those workers.

 

[mcplus]

Did you post anything about this on RGP? Might get more notice than here.

Let's not go there....But seriously, I don't blame him, it is BS that you can't enjoy a new $4,000+ pinball machine without stuff like this happening. I was considering buying a Tron next year, but after seeing stuff like this, I sure don't have a lot of faith in Stern or their concern for their customers. You can make any number of arguments about it being "built for abuse" or on route whatever, but in my business, we want ALL of our customers to be happy, and there has to be a way to make this better. This just looks like carelessness and someone should be held accountable, but I wonder if any quality issues ever get reported back to the production line? Either way, good luck and hope this hasn't "killed your buzz" about the game!

 

[PensFan66]

First - MacrossPlus - Great name - Been a big Macross fan for years ...

I admit that the damage is on area that doesnt effect the game play, but it really comes to principle. I bought a new car and the next day (I drove only home from the dealer and parked) - I saw a ding in the passenger door. I took it to the dealer and they had the body shop fix it (Even gave me a rental for the next 2 days) - would have been a $500 repair, but it was covered by them as a customer service. It was low on the door, but it was less than a day old and not caused by me.

I have to wonder where it stops then? For $4500 I would hope I could expect a "mint" machine. I have no plans to sell Tron but when I do, can anyone honestly say that the damage wouldnt have an effect on the price I will get, or who would even buy it with that PF damage?

It may cost Stern some money, but then they need their employees to take more care on the top of the playfields. Whoever did this oops could see that damage and just let it go down the line.

Wear and tear is one thing - I get that ... Maybe Im overreacting, but its alot of money for a collector toy to come with factory damage.

 

[PensFan66]

Ouch ... To answer the RGP question - yep posted there and had some, well, not so nice replies. I know the NGs can have a tough crowd, but 1/2 were just "Youre nitpicking", etc... Doubt much will happen, so I thank this Forum for the support and input on this - Guess Ill see if Stern replies by next week and if not they can send me the Translite (I will request no Autographs, since Im not sure I know any of the designers) and T-Shirt ...

 

[mcplus]

Ouch ... To answer the RGP question - yep posted there and had some, well, not so nice replies. I know the NGs can have a tough crowd, but 1/2 were just "Youre nitpicking", etc... Doubt much will happen, so I thank this Forum for the support and input on this - Guess Ill see if Stern replies by next week and if not they can send me the Translite (I will request no Autographs, since Im not sure I know any of the designers) and T-Shirt ...

Yeah, I have been following this ordeal on both forums, and I was surprised by some of the replies on RGP. I am sure if it was THEIR game/money, that the attitude would be different..Like I said, hope this doesn't ruin your enjoyment of the game, and you can get past all of this regardless of the end result..Thanks for the props on the name, most people don't recognize it, as anime was just a "fad", and while I don't like much of the newer stuff, I still enjoy the "classics"..

 

[Robotron Jon]

All it takes is a few people to think twice about not buying a new pinball from Stern to make it worth their while to give you another playfield.

 

[PensFan66]

Im with you on the classics - Still great stuff to watch...

Yeah, RGP is usually very good to deal with, but this one question in 24 hours has completely changed my view - I have to say, I have never in my life been insulted so much, and I simply asked for opinions.

Im just going to drop this with Stern since it appears I have very little support to back it up - If they do read RGP, then thats the nail in my support coffin. They will be thrilled to see that the community at large is willing to accept pre-damaged machines from Stern.

 

[Alky]

If you bought it from my local store we would have swapped you out machines and just put that one on our showroom floor and sold it as is. The sad thing is it would sell for over $5500 off our floor still.

 

[jar155]

I think RGP has reacted so negatively because of the lengths at which you're willing to take your complaint. Registering domains, starting up Facebook groups, and posting on all the enthusiast forums is a bit far. A lot of these guys have been collecting for 30 years, and they knew that it was common for games to come off the line out of the Bally/Williams factories with little dings and scrapes too. They don't like having flaws in their games, but they're not as uncommon as you'd think.

Yes, Stern should do their best to make it right, but I'm not 100% sure that the scuff warrants a new playfield. It would be great if they conceded and gave you one, and I hope they do, but it's tough to expect them to.

 

[PensFan66]

Well the domain was to warn people of what could happen to a person purchasing - I had no idea that Stern would accept damage caused by an employee who assembled the machine as standard. (Not a scuff, the hex head bit into the PF - a scuff would be much easier to fix) I am guilty of over estimating what I was going to get and because of that I wanted to tell others what to expect. I never said I planned to make a "Boycott Stern Pinball Page" or anything like that.

Overall, I was more upset that the QC team came back with nothing more than, quote - "This is acceptable damage". I find the words acceptable damage with NIB - well, odd....

So the website idea came to me since thats part of what I do for a living - Just wanted to warn people and show what they might get. I love the machine, the play, music, speed ... I would never take away the design and play elements - Its a beautiful design, maybe thats why this bugged me so much....

I really do appreciate the people who have offered input - By far, this forum handled it 1000x better than the crowd in RGP. Ive read other posts that hammer Stern Quality and Gameplay that recieved less remarks than my post.

So I've accepted my fate - I'll get the shirt and translite and leave it be ... I will buy future Sterns but Im just not sure NIB - or as others have said, Ill check the machine out more. This is the most Ive spent on a Pin, by almost $1,800 - sure my other pins have some outhole wear, but I always said I accept wear and tear - it happens. (all but my TZ, Mint outholes / etc ... and $1600 Canadian 3 years after it came out)