Need help with moral delima about a game I sold

TonyH

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I sold my defender for (350.00) which was in my personal collection for several years. Never had any trouble the monitor was gone thru again not a quick flip or anything shady. I'm out of town with the family for the weekend. I get a call from the buyer he states it now has a ram error. I told him it was probably just a chip or socket said there very easy to reseat. He begins to over talk me which makes me crazy but what ever then begins to say it's on location and has only been on for 70 or so hours since this past wed. Then says how it would really suck to have to spend a bunch of money on this game this soon after buying it and asserted that it was faulty even though he brought a very well known and respected pinball tech which was a friend of his to help check it out. This was a craigslist buy with no return offered. I don't know the buyer but I do sell several games a month locally. So my question do I offer to refund and pick up my game which I don't want back or repair the board by means of third party so it doesn't get personal or just forget the thing and say sorry it's a 30 yr old game.
Thanks for the honest input.
 
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If you want to be nice then see if you can get it back up and running.

If the guy is being an ass I would not even bother. It's not like you had this for sale thru a business and offer a warranty.
 
I think there is no middle ground. You either offer a full refund and pick up the game or tell him he is on his own. If you fix it, then you will be "married" to this guy forever. In the future make sure you state that any purchase is AS IS, ESPECIALLY if they are operating it. Do you OWE him anything, I say no. That doesn't mean you can't offer a full refund but make him bring it to you. If you pick it up at his location he could accuse you of stealing it.
 
+1. Definitely make him bring it to you if you give a refund, if it was shipped, make him pay return shipping. The guy should realize that 30 year old electronics are unreliable at best and should be half way decent about it. I don't understand why a lot of people expect something that old to work like the day it was made. Ran it for 70 hours on location.....there's your problem. Unless a game that old has been really gone through and bulletproofed, it probably should not be run on location.
 
When I sold some games on Ebay years ago, I plainly stated that they were sold as-is, due to the nature of vintage electronics. Don't you have some sort of buyer beware/as-is statement?
 
man it's a tough one. I don't know if any of my games have 70 hours on them since I've owned them. I mean a couple hours a night. yeah I guess they do, but certainly never at 15 hours a day.

while I do think it's admirable that you are considering taking it back, you sold him a working game, his tech checked it out, and he effectively "abused" the game by running it so hard without properly upgrading/bullet proofing it for constant play. His tech should have known that it would need a fan, a power supply upgrade, etc.


I would never be in the business of screwing someone, but you delivered exactly what he was expecting.
 
I usually offer my standard "Tail light warranty" with every game I sell. When you see my taillights disappear or I see yours disappear that is when the warranty expires.

You are in a tough spot with now real good solution. I have been there also. You could try to fix it on site and if you can't get it to work recommend someone to him for repairs.
 
This is a tough one. Honestly,unless you told him that if he ever had any problems with it let you know and you'll try to fix it,then he's on his own.

However,if the buyer is not being douchey about the situation,then you might consider helping him out by troubleshooting it once to see if you can get it working. And if you do get it working,then clearly tell him that you are on your own after that.
 
personally it's not a hard one for me. I'd tell the guy that he should find a good source to repair the game. If he wanted a game with a warranty he should have bought retail and paid around 1,500 for that game. Not sure if you had a clue if he planned to operate the game or not but it really makes no difference. I usually assume most games I sell are going to collectors or a home. Even my most used games that make it to CAX every year probably get less than 70 hours turned on over the course of two years. Buyer clearly has expectations but if he wanted a guaranteed working game with a warranty then he shouldn't have been looking for deals.
 
I sold my defender ...in my personal collection for several years. Never had any trouble the monitor was gone thru... the buyer he states it now has a ram error. I told him it was probably just a chip or socket... He begins to over talk me...it's on location and has only been on for 70 or so hours since this past wed. ...he brought a very well known and respected pinball tech ...to help check it out. This was a craigslist buy with no return offered. I don't know the buyer...

honestly, its 30 years old, you did everything you could possibly do to give the guy a fair deal. you have no obligation to do anything at this point, other than give the guy the contact info for a reputable repair person if you know one. its like selling a used car, if its your personal car and you havent had a problem with it, and the guy buying it has his own mechanic to look at it and decides to buy it as is, if it breaks down later he is shit out of luck. you have no way of knowing how he could have screwed it up after it was out of your possession, you are simply not responsible for it, at all.
 
I wouldn't do a refund.

You said he brought a very well known and respected pinball tech which was a friend of his to help check it out. So that means it was working and was to his, and his tech's, satisfaction when he bought it from you.

He said he had it on location for about 70 hrs. For all you know a customer could have got pissed at the game after playing it and banged on it and caused the problem. Or maybe he could have switched out boards and is trying to stick you with a damaged one.

Bottom line is you don't know how the game was handled after it left your posession and anything could have happened while it was on location for 70 hrs (power surge, etc.).

If he can return it to you in the same working condition it was sold, then MAYBE consider a refund.
 
Reminds me of a computer I sold to Fibertron. I still remember How they screwed up a computer I sold them. The Video card, Network card and Hard drive card were not the same ones I sold them nor were they in the right slot in the motherboard. I took a picture of it and told them. Their warranty was voided. Their new computer guy threated to take me to court. I said sure lets go to court. Let tell them you took out parts and switched and put in your crap parts in and tried to swindle me out of my time, money and labor.
They thought just becuase I was a nice guy they could take advantage of me.
 
I would not refund the money. It's a craigslist deal..I think everybody know that all deals on Craigslist are as-is. Unless you stated it had a warranty/guarantee, you are not obligated to fix this or refund it. If you want to be a nice guy, you could offer to take a look. I think the guy who bought this needs a reality check...Running a 30 year old game on location?? It's only a matter of time before something fails....unfortunately this was sooner than later for him.
-Mark
 
You have done your part and it's up to the buyer to find and repair the damage. Seriously, ran the game on location for 70 hours and didnt expect any type of issue? I would kindly mention what others have said and walk away.

1. game was looked over by a tech and deemed in working shape.
2. game was ran for 70 hours straight without being monitored (thats just stupid).
3. you're not a retail company and gave him a below retail price.

As long as you didnt mention any warranty I see no cause for concern.
 
RAM errors are one of the most common problems on Williams games....and generally a easy fix. Why doesn't he have is respected repair tech/friend spend 20 minutes with it and fix it!?

Edward
 
RAM errors are one of the most common problems on Williams games....and generally a easy fix. Why doesn't he have is respected repair tech/friend spend 20 minutes with it and fix it!?

Edward

This. He's got a tech, tell him to use him. If he makes more of a stink and you want to do something, offer to split the repair bill.
 
Problem is his friend is a really nice guy and about the only em tech around. Its Russell for the locals I don't care much about the guy I don't want the tech to think I f'd his buddy due to a working relationship I have with him also. Where not buddy's or anything I pay him to repair em's nothing more.
Thanks for all the responses.
 
This guy did the equivalent of buying a beater car on Cragislist and deciding to drive it cross-country. Unless you knew of his intent to put it on location, it's not your problem. You implied no warranty that I can see.
 
Problem is his friend is a really nice guy and about the only em tech around. Its Russell for the locals I don't care much about the guy I don't want the tech to think I f'd his buddy due to a working relationship I have with him also. Where not buddy's or anything I pay him to repair em's nothing more.
Thanks for all the responses.

Russel's been in this business for 20 plus years. He's very aware of how this business works. He also knows the difference between business and personal. I don't think you have to worry about Russel. From your first post.....Russel is friends with the guy who bought the machine? Right? And again (I've known Russel for years)...why doesn't that guy have Russel spend 20 minutes and fix it (assuming they're friends)?

Edward
 
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