@CoT
Maybe they are not pinheads
Maybe they don't want to maybe do a playfield swap
Maybe the think that after spending over $10,000, something should last a few years before looking worn out
Customers, who know what crazy things gothrough their minds
Maybe like 99.99 percent of Stern buyers they would have been totally happy with the product.
Maybe they were steered away from BNIB & were encouraged to spend $ on their old machines.
You are living in a bubble.
You also need to read ;
1) My TWD LE Review
2) My KISS LE Review
3) My KISS LE Unboxing thread
4) This thread from the first page
Then re read you second comment.
To save you the hassle - My personal NIB KISS LE was left here, at my place of work, for around 2 weeks, so that KISS fans and Pinball fans could compare the Pro and LE models and HOPEFULLY order a Premium. Any logical and intelligent person would arrive at the conclusion that I was trying to encourage sales. To assume i did that to encourage more restoration work is completely illogical and laughable.
I have many friends in Qld & other states who I see often who have many BNIB Stern purchases under their belts & I see their machines often & they don't have any of these problems. They have new Kiss, Mustang, TWDead & so on.
I looked at their games hard & not an issue.
Maybe we should actually ask people who have actually purchased a BNIB Stern if they have had a issue with the playfield & get some real data from the masses instead of a few isolated incidences.
That would be an objective way for this thread to get some fresh data instead of it just being about a few machines ?
Again, read the thread from the start. "real data" - So I'm just making this up ? We have had EXPERTS in this area (Tim and Stu from HRP) and my clearcoat expert that does older games all arrive at exactly the same conclusion. Stern Australia and Stern USA both agree it was a "factory defect". They are the real Stern experts.
We have had the figurehead at Stern - and I quote - "If your machine does not have dimples then you need to start playing it". EVERYONE accepts dimples to be part of a played pinball machine. Facts are facts. We are not trying to re write history. Stern have admitted they use the same clearcoat as they did 15 years ago. THIS IS THE PROBLEM. The focus is clearly on remedying the problem, not making up far fetched assumptions.
@CoT
Maybe they are not pinheads
Maybe they don't want to maybe do a playfield swap
Maybe the think that after spending over $10,000, something should last a few years before looking worn out
Customers, who know what crazy things gothrough their minds
Maybe like 99.99 percent of Stern buyers they would have been totally happy with the product.
Maybe they were steered away from BNIB & were encouraged to spend $ on their old machines.
Excuse me,
Are you saying this is all a beat up by Nino so he can sell more restored games?
The guy has a four year waiting list, he does not need to attack Stern to get extra salrs
Correct. If I wanted more resto work, why would I have left my LE at work for 2 weeks so friends, forum members and customers could play it with the intention of creating sales.
Nino, I honestly didn't mean to offend you with my original comments and respect your decision to end up with a new playfield to clearcoat and install down the road. Faced with the same situation, I would have chosen the same outcome. We have the ability to do this kind of work and do it properly. But what about those that don't?! Those that are left in the hands of Stern support??
My original comments were aimed at a higher level of overall customer satisfaction and delivering a quality product. If Stern had a real incentive, that being to avoid either further cost/time consuming penalty, such as supplying a new completely wired playfield where this type of thing has occurred, then I bet their quality control would improve and the cost cutting focus would change. They were especially bad for this during the time where they were the only manufacturer.
There is a thread on Pinside, where a bloke bought a NIB Metallica and the playfield was warped. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/met-playfield-twisted The playfield wouldn't sit on the lock down assembly straight and level, which effected game play as well. It literally took months for Stern to rectify the problem, around 6 months! That sort of customer service is pathetic. They eventually built and sent him a new playfield, only after they had his playfield for months, so in effect he had no game, just and empty cabinet for months on end. The real killer was when he installed the new playfield, it had multiple faults, wiring errors etc. The playfield obviously wasn't thoroughly tested prior to being sent out. So this customer gets hit twice! Luckily enough he had a friend and Stern Tech support help him rectify the problems over a few days. It's absolutely pathetic the way he was treated and my fear is this will continue whilst Stern is allowed the freedom to treat its customers how they choose. It may have been another time, but you wouldn't have seen Dave Gottlieb treat a customer in such a fashion.
I can't find an offending word in your original post - I highlighted a sentence with a reply so readers don't assume that Stern will send out a playfield for everyone complaining about issues.
There's no point in complaining about something without providing a solution. A populated playfield would not work for me. The blank playfield was perfect in my situation. Stern would replace the defective playfield with a populated playfield (as was indicated was the likely outcome for me, until I requested a blank) for a HUO owner with a similar issue. I know the members that contacted me to keep them in the loop were told the same thing.
I'd like to make one point crystal clear - Stern were thorough in their decision to assist with TWD LE playfield problem. It was not a case of sending out a playfield without the photos passing through several people at Stern / AMD / KJWHF. Every single employee of Stern, or business' associated were all in agreement regarding the playfield. It was never a case of simply sending me a playfield because I whinged hard enough. There has to be compelling evidence to justify a warranty claim such as this. Stern / AMD / KJWHF were brilliant in working with me to rectify the issue.
I'm updating this thread because I want Stern to seriously look at recent technologies ( HRP Clearcoating process and products), instead of the 15 year old technology that clearly is "hit and miss". I will try again in the New Year.
