STERN WARRANTY ISSUES - AC/DC BUYERS

[Olivia_jason]

If people are paying $9 grand for a game it would want to be perfect imo. thats a shit load of money, and as stern target the home industry not siting pins, which is more than likely the reason for the price tag, then the pin should be perfect and their warrenty should be 100%.

also to the member who had stern send you a playfield for their mistake and poor quality??? thats pretty piss poor mate on their behalf.
its like you tv breaking and they just send you the replacement part and not having the dealer not fix it and leaving it upto you.
thats not even f**ken legal
the supplier for stern has a responsibility for what they sell, no matter where this product comes from they sell it they need to sort out warrenty.

[necroscope]

If people are paying $9 grand for a game it would want to be perfect imo. thats a shit load of money, and as stern target the home industry not siting pins, which is more than likely the reason for the price tag, then the pin should be perfect and their warrenty should be 100%.

also to the member who had stern send you a playfield for their mistake and poor quality??? thats pretty piss poor mate on their behalf.
its like you tv breaking and they just send you the replacement part and not having the dealer not fix it and leaving it upto you.
thats not even f**ken legal
the supplier for stern has a responsibility for what they sell, no matter where this product comes from they sell it they need to sort out warrenty.

I contacted stern directly and never bothered the dealer as it was a cosmetic issue and nothing the dealer could have fixed,and i am happy with sterns products and service and will buy another NIB down the track i was thinking about acdc but i dont listen too music anymore and i grew up with those songs and have heard them a million times,so i am planning on getting a marvel pin in the future if they make another.

[GORGAR 1]

How long should it take for a dealer to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem?

Peter

[Olivia_jason]

How long should it take for a dealer to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem?

Peter

this isnt a secondhand item, or did you willingly buy a scratch and dent version at a discount???

how long do you expect jbhifi to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem on a product from them? how long would you expect a car dealer to get back to you bought a brand new car and it was beat up?? straight away, its their obligation and its no different.

and if they dont let every person you know that they dont warrent the product they sell, and at the same time report them to fair trade.

[necroscope]

I had a problem with a playfield on a New stern,got in touch with patrick powers @ stern sent him a heap of pictures and within a few months i had a new playfield waiting for me at the dealers,then the dealer wants to charge me freight on the playfield  So i ask patrick about this and he said that wasnt right and he would sort it out which he did.,Stern are only too happy to sort it out if you have a problem with a machine.

hi Ben

as the dealer here , we only asked for the funds we had been charged for the shipping by stern as we never thought it was fair that we should have been charged at all for warranty parts ( mind you we never even got told the playfield was coming by stern ) stern should send these out for free and also cover the postage costs , which in the end they did and all worked out for everyone  , the freight was explained from stern and there was no charge to you or us 


as for the recent AC/DC  , we have already replaced one motor  , fixed 2 bells and still have some that haven't been unpacked

thanks

mark

Hey mark thanks for the explanation,glad it worked out ok,if you guys had to pay for the freight there would have been no profit in selling the machine,i never contacted you guys over it because there was not much you could of done about it as it was a cosmetic issue so i took it up with stern.

[GORGAR 1]

How long should it take for a dealer to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem?

Peter

this isnt a secondhand item, or did you willingly buy a scratch and dent version at a discount???

how long do you expect jbhifi to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem on a product from them? how long would you expect a car dealer to get back to you bought a brand new car and it was beat up?? straight away, its their obligation and its no different.

and if they dont let every person you know that they dont warrent the product they sell, and at the same time report them to fair trade.

So with a scratched backglass do you approach the dealer or Stern? It's only very small but was done when screen printed as the white light reflective stuff has been applied over the mark, I haven't mentioned it on the forum as didn't want to make a big deal but an getting a little frustrated, my dealer has been great and has approached Stern and is waiting on a reply but how long do you wait..I suppose stern are busy with bigger issues so I'll be patient as my game plays great and there's others with far bigger problems than me.

Peter

[Olivia_jason]

How long should it take for a dealer to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem?

Peter

this isnt a secondhand item, or did you willingly buy a scratch and dent version at a discount???

how long do you expect jbhifi to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem on a product from them? how long would you expect a car dealer to get back to you bought a brand new car and it was beat up?? straight away, its their obligation and its no different.

and if they dont let every person you know that they dont warrent the product they sell, and at the same time report them to fair trade.

So with a scratched backglass do you approach the dealer or stern? Its only very small but was done when screen printed as the white light reflective stuff has been applied over the mark, I haven't mentioned it on the forum as didn't want to make a big deal but an getting a little frustrated but my dealer has approached Stern and is waiting on a reply but how long do you wait..

Peter

altimately i would tel lthe dealer, keep in contact with them and they hassle them to deal with stern. its their job not yours, they sell stern products and its in their best interest to be a good stern dealer. if they fail its not worth buying from them, plus if stern is at fault stern might pick up their game if all these dealers that make them good money are getting pissed off with their service and product. your dealer should have more leverage than you would when talking to stern, esp if that dealer sells allot of machines.

[necroscope]

How long should it take for a dealer to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem?

Peter

this isnt a secondhand item, or did you willingly buy a scratch and dent version at a discount???

how long do you expect jbhifi to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem on a product from them? how long would you expect a car dealer to get back to you bought a brand new car and it was beat up?? straight away, its their obligation and its no different.

and if they dont let every person you know that they dont warrent the product they sell, and at the same time report them to fair trade.

So with a scratched backglass do you approach the dealer or stern? Its only very small but was done when screen printed as the white light reflective stuff has been applied over the mark, I haven't mentioned it on the forum as didn't want to make a big deal but an getting a little frustrated but my dealer has approached Stern and is waiting on a reply but how long do you wait..

Peter

It took 3 weeks for patrick to get the playfield replacement approved and that was in a quiet period.

[Olivia_jason]

How long should it take for a dealer to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem?

Peter

this isnt a secondhand item, or did you willingly buy a scratch and dent version at a discount???

how long do you expect jbhifi to get back to you if you have a cosmetic problem on a product from them? how long would you expect a car dealer to get back to you bought a brand new car and it was beat up?? straight away, its their obligation and its no different.

and if they dont let every person you know that they dont warrent the product they sell, and at the same time report them to fair trade.

So with a scratched backglass do you approach the dealer or stern? Its only very small but was done when screen printed as the white light reflective stuff has been applied over the mark, I haven't mentioned it on the forum as didn't want to make a big deal but an getting a little frustrated but my dealer has approached Stern and is waiting on a reply but how long do you wait..

Peter

It took 3 weeks for patrick to get the playfield replacement approved and that was in a quiet period.

i wont be buying a stern game anytime soon, it seems to me its safer buying a secondhand machine from some one who has already gone through this crap and got it upto standard lol.

[Prince]

Any progress with your issues Dave & Steve?

So guys, in a few years time, there's going to be Stern pinnies thrown out for hard rubbish collection on the nature strip.....i'll make sure NOT to collect them LOL

[silverball]

Anyone buying a NIB wants to be the first to open. There are the risks that the person unpacking will damage/scratch the machine at setup as its NOT their own. I unbox new pins as part of my job and I can tell you that a lot have faults and not all due to transport. My 2 were a good example of this. I cant blame the distributors for this.

[silverball]

Any progress with your issues Dave & Steve?

So guys, in a few years time, there's going to be Stern pinnies thrown out for hard rubbish collection on the nature strip.....i'll make sure NOT to collect them LOL

Will let you know soon,had more issues pop up.
Not many people are able or have the equipment to repair surface mount boards. Looks like in most cases that replacement will be the only or cheapest way to repair, we can only hope that these board sets will be around for a long time. Might be better off  buying EM's.

[necroscope]

Anyone buying a NIB wants to be the first to open. There are the risks that the person unpacking will damage/scratch the machine at setup as its NOT their own. I unbox new pins as part of my job and I can tell you that a lot have faults and not all due to transport. My 2 were a good example of this. I cant blame the distributors for this.

My NIB lotr-le had a fault when it was first opened,took the psp guys a while to figure it out on the phone but it turned out to be a bent pin on the main connector which stopped it from starting a game been going strong ever since,would i buy another NIB hell yeah.

[Retropin]

Can someone post a pic of the boards to the forum? Id like to think that at least the transistors would still be through hole, plus any switching diodes etc. It would make sense to have the most common failed components as home fixer friendly

[Caveoftreasures]

Its good to see all the different attitudes and experiences people have had, it all helps others in the future.

One point I wanted to make, is that I can take a brand new machine out of a box n set it up without damaging it, and I am not experienced at this, so I cant see honestly how a experienced Stern dealer who has done this a hundred times cant unbox a machine and rebox it without any problems at all. They are not only experienced but also have a vested interest to make sure the machine is damage free during their work. Hence the precheck is still the best way to detect and fix faults.
Its difficult for me to believe that the precheck would not have fixed 90 percent of these issues had the dealer been given the opportunity, if it was offered. Machines do suffer faults in transport ofcourse and it pays to check every connector because transport does cause these things to come loose.

The question of Sterns computer boards have been raised. I cant predict the future about how long the modern day Stern board will last, but being a 2012 model with the latest technology, I would have to assume they have provided a product that will last a long time which also protects their name.
Not being solder through doesnt mean it isnt quality I am told. Time will tell ofcourse, but I have seen little evidence of people having board issues with Sterns in the past. Again, time will tell.

i am positive that in a few months these teething issues will be all fixed and everyone will be enjoying their machines. No pinball machine will ever be perfect no matter who builds it, but at least these issues are the minority and not the majority. Its all a steep learning curve.