The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Technical Matters => Pinball Repairs / Problems & Assistance => Topic started by: studley67 on May 03, 2012, 09:47:05 PM
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stern only made 300 of these.do you think they should have tested them?
thats nearly 3 million dollars aussie.wtf. ^.^
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Don't tell me another did back in black?
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dan,more like dead on arival,DOA.2 balls then smoke. ^.^
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Is this a shit hang on stern or the theme of AC/DC?
Peter
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no pete,my bib le is a doa.
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no pete,my bib le is a doa.
Oh shit I didn't relise what it just died ??
Peter
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smoke from coils,yes,yes ^&^
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Shit mate that's shithouse. My premium is faultless apart from the tiny issue with the cable clamp not a mark on the cabinet or anything. But the LE my mate bought was very very average dust under the decal dull playfield scratched headbox chrome and no inserts working on arrival. I would have thought for a limited edition they would ethe pride of the fleet but I think I was wrong
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smoke from coils,yes,yes ^&^
That is shithouse what happened with the LE's they haven't had a very good strike rate so far, hope all is fixed pronto :)
Peter
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Lets see how good there warranty service is.hummmmm?
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P.S. the cabs are decalled NOT painted.wtf.
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decalled is sooo much better, in 12 months or 12 years u can easily purchase decals, where as painted is no good for anyone.
I am thinking someone from WOZ is working (or not working) at the Stern Factory.
I think Studley u must be having us on about the LE. ? are u serious ? is it really a issue. I just cant believe it !
Why are the PRO and PREMIUM models so perfect ? same production line as the LE. It dont make sense !@#
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i'm not having you on brett,i have 33 year old pinballs with good paint.i paid for screen printed cab,not plastic decals.
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i am not as polite as dave,silverball,as he has a business interest to uphold.but he received 2 doa,s.i am shure he can shed some light on this topic in the future.but not now.me being in adelaide outer,i am stranded with a big heavy boat anchor.all parties concerned should pull their finger out.
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That is really poor, you would have to think that quality control is so important for this type of product - I mean it is half the price of a new small car after all, and there is no way you expect that to have any issues as you drive away.
This is the sort of thing that potentially has big negative impact on a business and if I were them I would be doing everything in my power to get any issues fixed ASAP.
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That is really poor, you would have to think that quality control is so important for this type of product - I mean it is half the price of a new small car after all, and there is no way you expect that to have any issues as you drive away.
This is the sort of thing that potentially has big negative impact on a business and if I were them I would be doing everything in my power to get any issues fixed ASAP.
agreed 100%.and thanks nick.
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Ok. I thought u were pulling my leg. Which dealer did u buy it from. !@#
Were u offered the precheck Damo ? Was the machine taken out of the box and was the machine checked over by the seller for you ?
Hope its sorted quickly etc. ^^^
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Damien - That's disappointing to hear. I'd suggest calling the Stern Dealer you bought it from and reporting it DOA.
Unfortunately this is proof the games were rushed out of the factory before being properly tested. I don't think anyone bothers with the "Supplier Pre Check" for three reasons ;
1 - They have paid for the NIB "experience"
2 - Game might be damaged at Dealers (accidental)
3 - The owners reporting issues are home users. Pre Check or "burn in" was done before operators sited them.
Each owner with a problem should politely contact the dealer they bought it from as this data is collated to Stern and they then release bulletins if the fault was a issue on the production line or a part is fatigued too early in it lifetime. Stern can't simulate 100 games on each NIB game, but they need to know if there is a trend with faults occurring. What we should also remember is THIS title was always going to be a big seller into the home market. These faults would have been picked up by operators and reported. So they would be losing income with the machines off site. Reporting the issues immediately is the best course of action.
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heres the thing the dealer who sold you it is obligated to replace the machine or warrent it. now buyer precheck is bs, they cant use that as a way to get out of warrenty. it is against the law. and if they dont comply report them to consumer trading.
at the end of the day if you arent happy with a product you got from Jbhifi then you put that product back in the box and you go back to jbhifi and you tell them this product is garbage and you want a new one, you dont ring the company that makes the product, no you send it back to the guy you bought it from and they deal with it.
this isnt a secondhand item that you have taken a gamble on and expected it to be perfect, its a brand new item, the only way stern will learn is by sending it back to the dealer, and letting him get pissed off at stern because he has 10 machine that have been returned because they are shit.
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If the machine is less that a week old the dealer must replace the machine - no questions asked.
That is how the law has been for the last 20 years and applies to every electical appliance bought in Australia.
Of course if you agree they can repair it, but who would do that if you had the option of them just bringing out a new one.
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The warranty is offered for a reason. Just get it fixed quickly Damo under the warranty. It might be a five minute fix.
Everyone buys these products knowing they come with a warranty. You just cant dump it back at the dealer and demand your money, it doesnt work this way. You have to give the dealer every fair and reasonable opportunity to provide factory warranty and fix the item.
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The warranty is offered for a reason. Just get it fixed quickly Damo under the warranty. It might be a five minute fix.
Everyone buys these products knowing they come with a warranty. You just cant dump it back at the dealer and demand your money, it doesnt work this way. You have to give the dealer every fair and reasonable opportunity to provide factory warranty and fix the item.
thats fair enough, but you cant say to stern the playfield is shit and their response after allot of hassle being they send a new playfield and thats not fitted??? seems a failure from the dealer there, they havent lived up to the obligation of warranty with that machine esp not fitting it and asking the buyer to pay for postage? recon that sounds like good warenty? at the end of the day being a distributor means you have to warranty the items you sell, even if its shit product that keeps coming back to you and costing you money to fix, the dealer still sold this item. it seems lucky for the dealer in that case of the playfield the person was happy to just get a playfield in the post.
the dealer should be talking to stern very strongly and telling them to lift their game.
How many of these machines did stern send to Aus?? id say a large amount of these machines came here, it would be in their best interest to work with dealers and have a proper warranty structure wouldn't it???
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I think some people just ask for a spare playfield versus having it fitted. Hence the dealer was fine for that warranty claim probably.
I reckon less than 160 to 200 games in total have come to Australia. (all acdc models)
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I reckon less than 160 to 200 games in total have come to Australia. (all acdc models)
That terrible - look how high a percentage we are seeing with problems just on this forum, and I bet only a tiny percentage of the buyers are on here. That is an amazingly poor level of quality control. I am really quite staggered.
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If its half a dozen machines (apx that number require warranty) out of say 200 so far. That is apx 2 percent. Wouldnt around 2 to 5 percent fall within any industry's warranty/fail guidelines ?
By the time the rest of the 200 machines are unpacked (half have been done so far) its still probably going to be less than 5 percent. Isnt that normal ?
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The warranty is offered for a reason. Just get it fixed quickly Damo under the warranty. It might be a five minute fix.
Everyone buys these products knowing they come with a warranty. You just cant dump it back at the dealer and demand your money, it doesnt work this way. You have to give the dealer every fair and reasonable opportunity to provide factory warranty and fix the item.
Why would you put up with endless back and forth with fix ups only to be sick of your new purchase before you have even played it.
That is exactly why the laws are there so that the buyer is not disadvantaged.
You don't have to demand your money, you can demand a replacement with a new item, it's the buyers choice.
Who here has bought something, had it fixed under warranty and got stuck with a "lemon", that you sell off just to get rid of it.
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If its half a dozen machines (apx that number require warranty) out of say 200 so far. That is apx 2 percent. Wouldnt around 2 to 5 percent fall within any industry's warranty/fail guidelines ?
By the time the rest of the 200 machines are unpacked (half have been done so far) its still probably going to be less than 5 percent. Isnt that normal ?
Mate, if I worked to a 5% fail rate I'd be sued out of existence in a week, I'm sure you don't have a 5% failure with the electronic equipment you install?
I appreciate your enthusiasm for Stern but you've got to face the facts on this one, they have done a poor job of it. In the end if they come good under warranty, that will be good but they have sullied their rep in the process.
I feel for the local distributors who are genuine middle men in this and getting stuck with a lot off bad press.
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The warranty is offered for a reason. Just get it fixed quickly Damo under the warranty. It might be a five minute fix.
Everyone buys these products knowing they come with a warranty. You just cant dump it back at the dealer and demand your money, it doesnt work this way. You have to give the dealer every fair and reasonable opportunity to provide factory warranty and fix the item.
Why would you put up with endless back and forth with fix ups only to be sick of your new purchase before you have even played it.
That is exactly why the laws are there so that the buyer is not disadvantaged.
You don't have to demand your money, you can demand a replacement with a new item, it's the buyers choice.
Who here has bought something, had it fixed under warranty and got stuck with a "lemon", that you sell off just to get rid of it.
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The warranty is offered for a reason. Just get it fixed quickly Damo under the warranty. It might be a five minute fix.
Everyone buys these products knowing they come with a warranty. You just cant dump it back at the dealer and demand your money, it doesnt work this way. You have to give the dealer every fair and reasonable opportunity to provide factory warranty and fix the item.
What happens when its a numbered edition?
Why would you put up with endless back and forth with fix ups only to be sick of your new purchase before you have even played it.
That is exactly why the laws are there so that the buyer is not disadvantaged.
You don't have to demand your money, you can demand a replacement with a new item, it's the buyers choice.
Who here has bought something, had it fixed under warranty and got stuck with a "lemon", that you sell off just to get rid of it.
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The fail rate for Bosch (the stuff I install/sell) is listed as being around 1 to 2 percent maximum. Any electronic manufacturing industry usually operates around 3 percent if its a quality product.
I think the prechecks would have saved alot of this if they were done. If they were offered etc.
I know its easy for people to want to execute Stern for warranty hassles etc, but its just as easy to be realistic and understand all this is normal for any industry if we are honest. Cars, motorbikes, whitegoods, anything and everything, even brand new Jumbo Jet aircraft have warranty and fail rates.
Can Stern do better, ofcourse, and i am sure they are working towards it.
None of us like it, but welcome to technology (or lack thereof) and to having humans help stuff it all up.
Things can only get better, but the perfect pinball machine will never happen, until Terminator 3 robots take over the planet.lol %.%
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I don't understand why you are sticking up for Stern so much Brett .
As Nick said , there would be a lot of buyers who aren't forum members so it seems the incident rate of problems/faults is way too high .
Personally I am glad I haven't got $$ tied up in this mess
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To answer your question I have tried to put things into perspective. It would be very easy for me to bag the living shit out of Stern for everything and anything but I see the positive in things, not the negative the majority of the time.
When u run your own business like I have for 15 years, and u are on commission/performance pay only, u wake up every day and look for reasons to make things happen and stay positive, not reasons to not make things not happen and see the bad in everything. So when i see a few hundred people get pinball machines new, I look at the 97 percent of machines that are fine, not look only at the 3 percent that are not fine.
To judge Stern on the 3 percent that are not fine would be narrow minded to me, and not take in the big picture. If I had a machine that wasnt perfect I would get on with the job of having it fixed, I certainly wouldnt dwell for very long on the issues. Life is far too short to complain about everything and everyone. Bagging people is easy, giving people a big pat on the back for the great things they do is alot harder.
Stern should be very proud of the games they produce, and at the same time continue to do more for quality control ofcourse, but Stern already know this.
Some people bag Stern so much it makes me think that some people honestly think Stern does this on purpose. We all know its not the case.
I just try n focus on the 97 percent good that Stern does. Easier for me to be thankful for the 97 percent good then to focus on the 3 percent mistakes.
Look for the gold, not the dirt. lol
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3%, 5% seems to be a moving target, but I'm not going to apologise for thinking that aiming for 100% should be the goal, not relying on people putting up with "near enough is good enough".
Really pity the dealers here, they are right in the firing line unfortunately.
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Aiming for 100 percent is probably their goal already. That is correct.
I think all Stern dealers realise realistically that there will be a 3 to 5 percent warranty rate. For the several hundred dollars they make per machine it is simply part of another day at the office. Anyone who works in electronics accepts that.
Its water off a ducks back for the dealers. They understand people are very fussy and want everything to be right with home market buyers. Nothing new to anyone in the Stern team in Australia. They have been doing this for years.
When you listen to Steve Ritchie or Gary Stern talk, I have never heard them say anything less than 100 percent is acceptable. Gary always says our customers deserve the best. Cant knock a man for trying.
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Lets see how good there warranty service is.hummmmm?
Any progress studley?
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But its not 3- 5% is it?
200 games sold to australia maximum... then at 5% we expect 10 machines with faults.
So far on this forum we have 3 machines that are complete duds... not small faults but completely not working.
There are only about 10 machines sold to forum members so that makes a staggering 30% complete shite and another 60% or so with issues that should have been sorted at factory.
From memory you are the only person that hasnt had some issue, be it minor or major.
I honestly feel for any ACDC owner that has had problems... FFS.. Stern are relying on the fact that us pinnie owners can fix such minor issues... people are sorting it out for themselves.
This title should have been so much and Stern have failed to deliver to the hype... its bloody simple facts. I look for the positives too, but at the end of the day facts are facts and confidence in Stern is sliding in one direction right now, and it aint sliding upwards.
The ACDC thread is huge.. but the people who actually have this title is very small... there was so much riding on this game.
We knew that this title could really MAKE Stern... could also break them at the same time... great anticipated title... great designer... great game play.... should have been an iconic machine for a long time.
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Put it this way...
I make lights.. thats what i was trained to do 27 years ago. I buy raw glass tubing... bend and blow it to a design... process it and then sell it. I make my product, not buy it. In the 6 years i have been out on my own i have had a ZERO failure rate. Every now and again i may get a faulty electrode.. it is removed and the product is reprocessed. It does NOT leave my shop until i know that it will last 10+ years of continous use 24/7.
I buy transformers... electronic ones i can expect 2% failure rate due to variations in resistor values etc.. its a fact of life which i warranty against. I cant control this. If i get more than this rate i drop the product and source another.. simple.
My customers need to know that i sell the best quality there is and i pride myself on this fact.
Im sorry, but the product leaving Stern does not have the quality control it should... buying NIB should never be a gamble, its should be its own guarantee
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I think if the prechecks were done by the Stern dealers here in OZ and people said yes to them, the percentages would be very low cause they would have headed off these issues at the pass. (probably). Only AMD will know the real percentages, but it may be higher than i have suggested ofcourse ?
Stern should be looking hard at the guy who signed the LE DOA machines off for sure. @.@
But we still get back to the prechecks and this is why they are performed and whilst it is so important to let the OZ Stern agents do them.
I certainly will not be saying NO to the free precheck next new Stern i buy, no way, I have learnt something from this.
* I think you will find the Stern guys in OZ might make them mandatory next time round. !@#
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I think if the prechecks were done by the Stern dealers here in OZ and people said yes to them, the percentages would be very low cause they would have headed off these issues at the pass. (probably). Only AMD will know the real percentages, but it may be higher than i have suggested ofcourse ?
Stern should be looking hard at the guy who signed the LE DOA machines off for sure. @.@
But we still get back to the prechecks and this is why they are performed and whilst it is so important to let the OZ Stern agents do them.
I certainly will not be saying NO to the free precheck next new Stern i buy, no way, I have learnt something from this.
* I think you will find the Stern guys in OZ might make them mandatory next time round. !@#
that is a fair point.
I dont think its fair to give some one the option of precheck and not allow normal warrenty, but mandatory and repacked would cover their arses. im sure they can be repacked to look like they coame out of stern after all they are still new just checked over.
i think thats fair if a seller does mandatory prechecks, to see they came out of the cantainer in good working new condition and repacked.
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Obviously Stern and its dealers in Australia give a 6 month warranty no matter what. Prechecked or not prechecked u still get the same warranty.
You would probaly not even know if the game was even pulled out by the Stern agent for a check over preceeding its delivery.
Hey Damo(Studley) have u got a response back yet ?
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Sorry to hear Studley,
I have read that a Euro AC/DC le got shipped with a USA cpu, of course it won't work as wrong voltage/hertz, unfortunately I think the pin's need to be checked a the dealer before final delivery,
I was gutted when my TSSP was checked over (as I wanted the box opening party + 1st game) but the pin came home with no fault's,
Family Guy NIB ........ no problems
My LOTR le came NIB, 2 games in ...... switch problems,ring magnet fuse.........
Any item with moving parts needs to be re-checked when shipped IMO,
Hope it all get's sorted (quickly) for you ^^^
How's the lexen window? Foggy or clear? There have been clear coat issue's also
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I now have little or no confidence in Stern to bring a Avengers pin to full fruition and not be riddled with issues. I doubt they could even get the full and decent game together that it deserves let alone all the Quality control issuses that are going on.
Avengers would be a much bigger title than ACDC and I can't afford to have them to stuff it up, so I won't be buying one new if they announce it.
Stern will just rush it out, like they did with this title and leave buyers pissed off and disapointed.
I bet if it was JJP doing a super-hero theme it would be pretty amazing and not some rush job to cash in.
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I now have little or no confidence in Stern to bring a Avengers pin to full fruition and not be riddled with issues. I doubt they could even get the full and decent game together that it deserves let alone all the Quality control issuses that are going on.
Avengers would be a much bigger title than ACDC and I can't afford to have them to stuff it up, so I won't be buying one new if they announce it.
Stern will just rush it out, like they did with this title and leave buyers pissed off and disapointed.
I bet if it was JJP doing a super-hero theme it would be pretty amazing and not some rush job to cash in.
Seems to me that the problem is NIB and Sterns inability to send out 100% games. No reason why you can buy AVENGERS or any other title, but i wouldnt be going for the NIB experience, it would make sense to buy one relatively new or prechecked... having the pleasure of being the first to play your game is fraught with issues
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I now have little or no confidence in Stern to bring a Avengers pin to full fruition and not be riddled with issues. I doubt they could even get the full and decent game together that it deserves let alone all the Quality control issuses that are going on.
Avengers would be a much bigger title than ACDC and I can't afford to have them to stuff it up, so I won't be buying one new if they announce it.
Stern will just rush it out, like they did with this title and leave buyers pissed off and disapointed.
I bet if it was JJP doing a super-hero theme it would be pretty amazing and not some rush job to cash in.
Seems to me that the problem is NIB and Sterns inability to send out 100% games. No reason why you can buy AVENGERS or any other title, but i wouldnt be going for the NIB experience, it would make sense to buy one relatively new or prechecked... having the pleasure of being the first to play your game is fraught with issues
It has me a little scared Gav, I am super keen on a Avengers pin and would love one NIB but if I bought one and got it home and it was DOA or whatever I reckon I would go right off the deep end...yep 2nd hand or next to new would be the only way to go for me. I just can't trust them though, I sorta hope they don't do one then I won't have the worry of it.
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Just for the record there are alot of AC/DC pinballs out there that have been great with no issues and thousands of other stern titles to.
Peter
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Everyone buys these products knowing they come with a warranty. You just cant dump it back at the dealer and demand your money, it doesnt work this way. You have to give the dealer every fair and reasonable opportunity to provide factory warranty and fix the item.
Hi,
Whilst you are on the money with your second point about providing the Dealer with "reasonably opportunity" to repair the goods, your first point about warranties and refunds is not correct under current Australian law.
Since January 2010, nearly all new products sold in Australia are covered by the Australian Consumer Law (a.k.a "Lemon Law" - though the ACL strictly isn't that). The ACL provides consumer guarantees enshrined in law that override any warranties or guarantees provided by Dealers or manufacturers. http://www.consumerlaw.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=fact_sheets/FAQ.htm
In a nutshell, the ACL covers everything from toasters to new cars and provides consumers with the ability to obtain repairs AND refunds. The repairs/refunds clause has no expiry time, does not have anything to do with "express" warranties issued by dealers/manufacturers and is subject to a "reasonableness" test.
Simple example would be that if you bought a TV for $3k that had a two year warranty from the manufacturer and the TV died unrepairably after 2 1/2 years (6 months outside of "warranty"), the ACL would consider such an early major failure on an expensive item to be "unreasonable". You would then be able to request a repair, replacement or a refund and take action under the ACL.
My area of experitse with the ACL is with automotive and more and more frequently new car owners are pursuing their consumer rights under the ACL to request full refunds or replacements of new vehicles that have had "major" faults.
There are no time limits on how long the ACL stays in effect - simply that the product was sold to a consumer after 1st Jan 2011. The trick is that it is all subject to the "reasonable" test, and what is reasonable for someone may not be for someone else.
To bring it back on topic somewhat, if Stern's "warranty" on ACDC is 6 months and a NIB owner had a major fault at 8 months that required extensive/expensive repair, then the NIB owner could argue that a $10k product failing within a year was not reasonable and request repair, replacement or full refund of the purchase price. Whilst in theory you could go straight for a refund, you must allow Dealers/manufacturers a "reasonable" opportunity to recitify the problems first, which would mean that repair would be the likely outcome.
Consumers have much more power these days - make sure you are aware of your rights!
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I now have little or no confidence in Stern to bring a Avengers pin to full fruition and not be riddled with issues. I doubt they could even get the full and decent game together that it deserves let alone all the Quality control issuses that are going on.
Avengers would be a much bigger title than ACDC and I can't afford to have them to stuff it up, so I won't be buying one new if they announce it.
Stern will just rush it out, like they did with this title and leave buyers pissed off and disapointed.
I bet if it was JJP doing a super-hero theme it would be pretty amazing and not some rush job to cash in.
Seems to me that the problem is NIB and Sterns inability to send out 100% games. No reason why you can buy AVENGERS or any other title, but i wouldnt be going for the NIB experience, it would make sense to buy one relatively new or prechecked... having the pleasure of being the first to play your game is fraught with issues
It has me a little scared Gav, I am super keen on a Avengers pin and would love one NIB but if I bought one and got it home and it was DOA or whatever I reckon I would go right off the deep end...yep 2nd hand or next to new would be the only way to go for me. I just can't trust them though, I sorta hope they don't do one then I won't have the worry of it.
I hear ya Daz and all this has raised some serious concerns regarding Stern products.
There are 2 ways to look at this though. ACDC is the first pin that predominantly sold to the home market... many faults have been hilighted.
Now this may have always been the case with Stern or any other pinball manufacturer, but the dealers have in the past acted as a buffer zone to the general public... i doubt we will ever find this out as any dealer has to create confidence in their product, so they keep quiet about the percentage of faulty ones.
Other way to look at this is that Stern have dropped the silver ball on this one... we dont know and i doubt we ever will.
What you yourself do know as one very happy owner of Iron Man is that once the machine is 100% it is by and large reliable.. same as many other Stern titles that eventually go to home use... theyve been tried and tested and seem reliable.
Moral is i guess.... use the dealer as your quality control and dont get too caught up in being the first to open a box....
.... Maybe Silverball could tell us if the level of faults is primarily related to ACDC or wether its quite normal for a Stern product. An answer to either of these points would replace a lot of lost confidence... its a 1 off... or its normal but you never knew till now.
My main concern with any future Stern product is the use of surface mount EVERYTHING. On WPT they had surface mount, but transistors etc were still through hole allowing simple repairs.
It was only the advent of SS games that a locked on coil became an issue... didnt matter with EM as those brass switches can handle plenty of current.... discrete components cannot.
IF we are to have surface mount technology as the norm for a Stern pinball then they need to move away from the use of coils to rebound a ball... its could all be done with attract and repel magnetic fields.. the concept of the MagLev train has been around for decades.. it works TOO well and they cant stop the bloody thing.
Nearly 40 years of SS pinball technology and in all that time its Achilles heel has been the coil and its current backwash... now Stern make a board that has surface mount diode and transistor??
Its just plain stupidity
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The Stern website has information about Stern introducing a completely new boardset at the end of 2012. The current ones seem to work fine, so it might mean Stern are upgrading the boards for newer technologies (LCD screens or ??).
* MAYBE THE MODS, as a courtesy to Studley want to clean up this thread and send half/most of the warranty related stuff over to the STERN WARRANTY AC/DC THREAD ETC ? !@#
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My distributor has been terrific in sorting the situation but this product has been rushed through the door.
So far a LED control board and full motor/gearbox has been changed. A connector which appears to have black contacts on the cpu still may present a problem. Games appear to be working now although and LED tri colour has just shit itself. Other switch/wiring/adjustment problems were sorted out by myself with the distributors acknowledgement.
Owners take note....check the ball at the base of the bell as mine was loose and unscrewed itself before digging a trench in the playfield.
Nearly broke my backglass when lowering the backbox as the key can be removed from the lock in the open or closed position.
Using a USB to update the software that the machine doesnt like will erase all your memory and the game wont boot - this happened to me.
I would rather not comment on the other problems I have found in unboxing new machines. I like Sterns and have several models in my collection so understand that I am not being biased against.
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My distributor has been terrific in sorting the situation but this product has been rushed through the door.
So far a LED control board and full motor/gearbox has been changed. A connector which appears to have black contacts on the cpu still may present a problem. Games appear to be working now although and LED tri colour has just shit itself. Other switch/wiring/adjustment problems were sorted out by myself with the distributors acknowledgement.
Owners take note....check the ball at the base of the bell as mine was loose and unscrewed itself before digging a trench in the playfield.
Nearly broke my backglass when lowering the backbox as the key can be removed from the lock in the open or closed position.
Using a USB to update the software that the machine doesnt like will erase all your memory and the game wont boot - this happened to me.
I would rather not comment on the other problems I have found in unboxing new machines. I like Sterns and have several models in my collection so understand that I am not being biased against.
Glad its working out Dave I also checked my bell and the ball is tight but will keep and eye on it..
Peter
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I think some people just ask for a spare playfield versus having it fitted. Hence the dealer was fine for that warranty claim probably.
I reckon less than 160 to 200 games in total have come to Australia. (all acdc models)
I was told that each dealer(3) had sold around 100 machines each snapperjoe has sold around that number. There has been one that smoked. did not take out the fuse and cooked aux power board. and some problems with ball traps around the cannon. Also some issues with wet plastics(print not cured)and sticking to the protective washers, Stern should have better QC . But still a great game when bugs are sorted. Oops 300 of all ACDC models
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Hi,
Whilst you are on the money with your second point about providing the Dealer with "reasonably opportunity" to repair the goods, your first point about warranties and refunds is not correct under current Australian law.
Since January 2010, nearly all new products sold in Australia are covered by the Australian Consumer Law (a.k.a "Lemon Law" - though the ACL strictly isn't that). The ACL provides consumer guarantees enshrined in law that override any warranties or guarantees provided by Dealers or manufacturers. http://www.consumerlaw.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=fact_sheets/FAQ.htm
In a nutshell, the ACL covers everything from toasters to new cars and provides consumers with the ability to obtain repairs AND refunds. The repairs/refunds clause has no expiry time, does not have anything to do with "express" warranties issued by dealers/manufacturers and is subject to a "reasonableness" test.
Simple example would be that if you bought a TV for $3k that had a two year warranty from the manufacturer and the TV died unrepairably after 2 1/2 years (6 months outside of "warranty"), the ACL would consider such an early major failure on an expensive item to be "unreasonable". You would then be able to request a repair, replacement or a refund and take action under the ACL.
My area of experitse with the ACL is with automotive and more and more frequently new car owners are pursuing their consumer rights under the ACL to request full refunds or replacements of new vehicles that have had "major" faults.
There are no time limits on how long the ACL stays in effect - simply that the product was sold to a consumer after 1st Jan 2011. The trick is that it is all subject to the "reasonable" test, and what is reasonable for someone may not be for someone else.
To bring it back on topic somewhat, if Stern's "warranty" on ACDC is 6 months and a NIB owner had a major fault at 8 months that required extensive/expensive repair, then the NIB owner could argue that a $10k product failing within a year was not reasonable and request repair, replacement or full refund of the purchase price. Whilst in theory you could go straight for a refund, you must allow Dealers/manufacturers a "reasonable" opportunity to recitify the problems first, which would mean that repair would be the likely outcome.
Consumers have much more power these days - make sure you are aware of your rights!
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return the machine and get your money back, easy done