Stern Pinball - Parallel Imported Games

[Brunswick Brawler]

An interesting email from AMD, on 5 Dec 2016:

Attention Pinball Customers,
We have verified that a small quantity of new parallel imported Stern pinballs have arrived here and are being offered for sale approx $200 cheaper than our current market prices, with delayed delivery times.

As you know AMD is the OFFICIAL EXCLUSIVE AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR for all Stern product, including parts supply, service and warranty back up from our Alexandria,Sydney office.
Any new pinball purchased from AMD arrives in Australia, pre-set for our power and operating conditions by the Stern factory, and comes with 6 x months factory warranty on all p.c.b’s and displays using our “Advance Replacement” system.

We determine the faulty component, we send a replacement, you send us the replaced component – so that your machine is kept in working order.
We will not be assisting with any needs for these ‘parallel’ Stern games.
We have qualified experienced staff to handle any pinball enquiries, service needs, parts supply and warranty back up and we are very proud of our business reputation built on 30 years of Stern pinball distribution, and doing our business properly.
 
DOES A $200 SAVING JUSTIFY THE PURCHASE OF A NEW STERN FROM A BACKYARD OPERATOR WHO CONVERTS THE MACHINES TO AUSTRALIAN POWER AND HOPES THAT THEY WORK, WITHOUT A NATIONAL WARRANTY SUPPORT NETWORK ??
 
Best regards,
 
BRUCE COLBOURNE
MANAGING DIRECTOR


I must agree, you'd be nuts to spend so much money without knowing you have a proper warranty, all for a $200 saving.

Anyone know who the importer is?  Now if it's a $2,000 saving...  .

I'm joking, ethically I dislike such practices.  It's one thing buying directly yourself from overseas, but another to do it as an illegal business.

[Retropin]

Mmmm - yeh and no.
If AMD customers are fully happy then all is good. But the days of a single distributor for anything are sliding away fast.
Years ago in Australia you had no choice but to use a single distributor, but anyone can contact companies these days and should be able to buy direct with an MOQ. Ive got suppliers in my industry who just refuse to bring in what the end customer wants simply because they don't want to.. doesn't mean there isn't demand though.
Ive started to bring in my own supplies and because of the MOQ it forces me to distribute also.. all a bit stupid really.
 Whats with the AMD 6 month warranty?.. by Australian law, 12 months is mandatory. 12 months is bugger all.. 6 months is half of bugger all and not legal.
 Doesn't bother me.. im not a buyer of NIB but I can see why people go it alone given the costs and " lack of" mandatory warranty

[Brunswick Brawler]

Um.  I think I misunderstood the AMD email.  It does seem to refer to lone importers.  I first thought it was about an operator doing this on a semi large scale for resale purposes.

[pinball god]

No gotta agree, AMD arranged the distributorship and need some kind of protection. I view it a little like buying a business and then the seller sets up a new shop next door. I think they're just trying to protect their interest and rightly so.

[Cow Corner]

I bought a Stern parallel or whatever they are called game NIB yrs ago and never had a problem with, it was one of the most reliable machines I have ever purchased.
Mind you this was way before the days of node boards failing, ghosting inserts and pf chipping, so it would make sense to stick with AMD right now given Sterns major quality control issues.
At the end of the day though I am in the same boat as retropin, it doesn't bother me as I no longer buy Stern NIB, way too expensive in this country for what they are.

[Toads]

Does the spike system have the 50/60 hrz lockout like the Sam system has?

[Strangeways]

I honestly can't work out how people can be that stupid to save $200 and risk "no warranty" on their game.

Greg and I have purchased from Joe in WA, and there were 2 or 3 issues that were sorted out IMMEDIATELY with parts sent overnight. There was also the follow up call from Joe to make sure everything was perfect. Support Stern and it's network of AUTHORIZED Distributors. If anyone knows about these backyarders, feel free to post links here so no one gets ripped off.

[iplay]

I wish we had the amount of distributors that the US obviously have (and yes I know why we don't). All those guys seem to be able to shop around and get better pricing on NIB but when it come to us....nope, no discount 

Really wish the suppliers could offer something to us!

[GORGAR 1]

I honestly can't work out how people can be that stupid to save $200 and risk "no warranty" on their game.

Greg and I have purchased from Joe in WA, and there were 2 or 3 issues that were sorted out IMMEDIATELY with parts sent overnight. There was also the follow up call from Joe to make sure everything was perfect. Support Stern and it's network of AUTHORIZED Distributors. If anyone knows about these backyarders, feel free to post links here so no one gets ripped off.

Here Nino




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Retropin]

aah yes - Mark Schneider. He is advertising on facebook and im pretty sure he claimed to be Sterns distributor for QLD. Game links take you direct to Stern's website.
Not sure if it's official or not.. could it be that AMD have lost exclusivity?
Mark has been in the business for decades and knows his stuff. I used to live not far from him and went there one day to try and buy a 5101 RAM. The young fella rang to the house to see if he could sell me one and I heard on the phone " Tell the C**nt to F**k off". The young fella hung up the phone and politely said " he doesn't have any - sorry"
Haven't done business with him since.. pretty obnoxious twat.

[pinball god]

aah yes - Mark Schneider. He is advertising on facebook and im pretty sure he claimed to be Sterns distributor for QLD. Game links take you direct to Stern's website.
Not sure if it's official or not.. could it be that AMD have lost exclusivity?
Mark has been in the business for decades and knows his stuff. I used to live not far from him and went there one day to try and buy a 5101 RAM. The young fella rang to the house to see if he could sell me one and I heard on the phone " Tell the C**nt to F**k off". The young fella hung up the phone and politely said " he doesn't have any - sorry"
Haven't done business with him since.. pretty obnoxious twat.

hmmmmm...now that really makes me think the $200 saving is REALLY worth it......not

Oh and I wonder if they'll automatically ship out any fixes like the captive ball wire form strengthener to their clients when they become available????   

[Strangeways]

aah yes - Mark Schneider. He is advertising on facebook and im pretty sure he claimed to be Sterns distributor for QLD. Game links take you direct to Stern's website.
Not sure if it's official or not.. could it be that AMD have lost exclusivity?
Mark has been in the business for decades and knows his stuff. I used to live not far from him and went there one day to try and buy a 5101 RAM. The young fella rang to the house to see if he could sell me one and I heard on the phone " Tell the C**nt to F**k off". The young fella hung up the phone and politely said " he doesn't have any - sorry"
Haven't done business with him since.. pretty obnoxious twat.

The sole Authorized distributors are Zaxs and KJWHF. No QLD distributor. Sounds like they should be approaching Tony at Pinball Shed ?

I honestly can't work out how people can be that stupid to save $200 and risk "no warranty" on their game.

Greg and I have purchased from Joe in WA, and there were 2 or 3 issues that were sorted out IMMEDIATELY with parts sent overnight. There was also the follow up call from Joe to make sure everything was perfect. Support Stern and it's network of AUTHORIZED Distributors. If anyone knows about these backyarders, feel free to post links here so no one gets ripped off.

Here Nino




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hope those boxes are waterproof