It's an all too common pattern that you see with these wannabe startups.

Homepin and the local Aussie lapdogs that used to lurk around on pinside is another example. 95% of them have skulked back to the local AA forum hive safezone now that it has inevitably gone pear shaped and the official TBAG thread on here is a vacuum.

Devotee fanboy plebs in general are simply too stupidly servile to realise they are doing more harm than good with their slavish behaviour.

No, there is another but he has his own agenda for now.

The distributor is a current paid up commercial sponsor on that forum.

He got reinstated through the Homepin loophole after being banned for life except that Homepin has subsequently been deemed persona non grata there so how to conduct commercial sales on a commercially biased forum without drawing the arbitrary ire of the Admin?

Machines are being sold locally in Australia (approaching 40 by last count) but to new money - those who are outside of the local pinball forum clique and either don't know the backstory or the risk of being able to obtain replacement parts in the future.

It also raises a concern about the Aussie distributor who effectively queue jumped and do have stock and are now openly selling units to the general public under the guise that there will be long term parts and technical support for the product.

At least those consumers will have the Australian Fair Trading Act to fall back on.

Meanwhile in Australia.

road to nowhere (resized).jpg

I wouldn't know as that isn't my current employment and never has been.

Most people by now can see through the blatant self promotion and huckstering in this thread from those looking to try and make a quick buck on a product that is now given the circumstances is in all likelihood going to turn into a $14,000 doorstop in the next 12 months if not sooner.

If the US market has all but collapsed and it appears based on recent posts to be true then there is no future for this company and more importantly long term tech/parts support. A handful of units spead across Europe is not going to allow a company to retain long term solvency. Cointaker to their credit refusing to take money on new orders until there is visible evidence of game support for current owners at the manufacturer level is to be commended and is prima facie evidence of at least one distributor who has integrity.

I truly feel for those who put down deposit money in good faith all those years ago whilst queue jumpers effectively hijacked it at the eleventh hour just to make some easy cash from the unwary.

As reiterated earlier, locally at least the Australian Consumer law (goods not fit for purpose/to be free from reasonable defects/of merchantable quality et al) will be able to provide restitution from those limited number of people who will be affected down here.

No. This is how proper forums with a truly global membership operate. The dissemination of pertinent information for the greater good of the community without fear, favour or pandering to commercial interests through biased moderation techniques.

Living on the other side of the world like yourself I am relying on those who are close to the ground to get that information out there so that I can assess the information given and form a reasonable conclusion and I would like to feel that on pinside that can be reciprocated relating to any of our local wannabe startups without being censured by white knighters or moderated into silence.

Most people on pinside are intelligent enough to distinguish between Ben's concerns and the main theme even if the issues are raised in the same thread.

Remember this isn't the geographically parochial Aussie Arcade where the 15 active members there are inherently servile and the purple circle leadership are mentally defective bogans.

Except there are requirements under our Australian consumer law for a commercial seller in cases when a manufacturer enters insolvency/bankruptcy and liquidation.

Seller must have adequate supply of spare parts and authorised replacement stock to guarantee and repair/replace at their cost any subsequent defects or parts breakages in sold product for a period of a minimum of 12 months FROM THE TIME OF SALE.

Or

Seller must disclose to the purchaser at the time of sale and prior to sales contract completion that parts supply is no longer available due to the manufacturer dissolving previously. Failure to do so can allow the contract to be rescinded by the purchaser due to fraudulent omission.

Similar legislation down here.

Australian consumer law for a commercial reseller is 12 months from the time of sale regardless of manufacturer bankruptcy unless it is disclosed to the buyer at the time of sale as to the inability to supply future replacement parts.

1. Replace.
2. Return.
3. Refund.

Of course an international sale would virtually invalidate that requirement.

Now you know why so many are landing in the US from the antipode over recent weeks.

Pump and dump.