Dude, their main customer service rep just died. It will take them some time to regroup.

Chas was awesome, but I think the OP is looking to discuss a larger problem with Stern. They are very difficult to deal with. They still owe me a Batman 66 playfield that they promised me about a year ago. For the amount of money that we pay for these machines and how Stern has positioned themselves - service and response times should match. They can do better IMO.

Their normally great pre Covid. I think their running slow with the virus I’ve experienced the same problem

They have no incentive to invest in better customer service when games still sell out

i've had nothing but positive experiences with Stern customer service. I can say the same thing about Spooky and American too. If you're having an issue you should go through your distributor first.

About a year ago I sent them a detailed list of all the errors in the Whoa Nellie manual --- TWICE. I was promptly ignored.

Well, at least they are prompt...

I think it can be hit-or-miss depending on the situation. I contacted Stern in December of 2019 about my EHOH; it needed the fix for the skill shot, and one of the insert LEDs was not working. I received the skillshot kit pretty promptly -but I'm still waiting for the replacement board. I've contacted them a few times since to follow up, but now that it's Covid season, forget about it.

When times are tough your customer service better get a whole
Lot better. Not the reverse

They really do need to invest $$ into doing a much better job on service.

Chas was great! Sad to hear about his passing.

tech support for whoa nellie, can crusher and primus was promptly abandoned following the games leaving the building. their overall attitude about them was and is, there's not really much to them so you're on your own. out of curiosity and for my own knowledge (since i've owned all 3) what about the manual is incorrect?

First problem is likeable and well known tech support guys don't grow on trees.

Stern likely has their hands full with the COVID and everything else effecting their company. Now they need to find a man with Chas' skill and personality. And probably in the Chicago area or willing to relocate.

Won't happen over night. I wish them well on their hunt.

Anybody feeling ignored. Please keep trying. Give them a chance to regroup.

LTG : )

I honestly felt this way about JJP. I bought a brand new Wonka CE with scratches etc, and it took me several emails to get updates, and help with replacement parts. I hate buying new pins that come with factory defects.

Stern on the otherhand has been good to me.

Here is the thread where I detailed all of the errors/omissions/suggestions in the Whoa Nellie manual:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-whoa-nellie-manual-errors-omissions-suggestions

The existing manual Stern has posted is dated 4/22/2015.

They could easily combine Whoa Nellie, Can Crusher, and Primus into one manual covering all three machines. Basic wiring is the same, just with differences in machine specific artwork.

My experience is good.

I stopped buying Stern games 4 years ago because of quality and poor customer service... Owned about 40 stern games at that time and would have bought 40 more by now. That might change if Led Zeppelin comes out though, that will be extremely tough to resist.

A good distributor is key here also.

Thinking the problems start with quality control!
If everything is right when building the game and tested at length before shipping should be fine . There always will be some issues, however if you knowingly ship with defects and ignore the calls then it's on the company!
Best example if you install a defective playfield and ship the game QC knows they are going to get called outon the defect.
However after reading several posts seems the manufacturer really doesn't care anyway so mute point

Yeah...it's a systemic problem with Stern. I had a few issues months ago that I emailed twice about and called but got no response. And this was well before COVID. Chas was great...IF you could get him on the phone. But getting someone to talk to you was the problem. It really makes you feel like they don't care about you once they have your money...and that's never good business practice for the long haul.

Have you reached out to your distro for help? You can also post and start a thread on Pinside for some help too. There is always plenty of help to be found on Pinside.

I think Stern will struggle to find another Tech like Chas. The guy was a legend and I am sure that everyone is struggling with his loss.

Here's the thing. Ur always gonna have good and bad experiences with any customer service. Jesus grow a pair and deal with it.

I've always had a pair...Big enough to tell Stern and player one to hoop it! yepp, I dealt with it.. I don't buy the product! Haha.

I’ve had good response via email. I do wish they would do a better job of confirming when warranty items have shipped so we can be on the look out. Stuff just randomly shows up.

That's just cuz you po'.

What r u going to do if they release some great pin with a theme in ur "dream theme" category? Ur pair is shrinking already isn't it. Ball are a fickle thing my friend, believe me I know balls.

We Bought two NIB sterns DP and IM
And needed some parts and help with a light problem.
Sent a email and within a day Pablo P. sent the parts i needed and fixed my lighting problem.
Nothing but A+ service from them.

Remember they are only human and have to deal with A LOT of us crazy Pinheads!
Patience people

Haha! no doubt... I'll get my wife to buy Zeppelin, I'm not caving in on my principals then. ;P

Agree. If great folks like Chas and LTG are primarily the only ones with the responsiveness and skill keeping these ships afloat we have trouble ahead captain..
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Chas was great. He will be missed. He was in the process of following up on two playfields for me. I did receive a email for Stern to fill them in on what was going on a couple weeks ago and now silence. Lol. I won’t buy anymore games from them until they make it right. I have passed on the past 3 games. I have a local arcade here will all the new machines to play. Saves me money and headaches in the long run anyway!

This. I would suggest you reach out to your distributor first. Then see what they say, or if they can help, then submit the question to Stern. I had quick responses from Stern during covid, but it was more like service bulletin work and Pablo was super fast to respond to me.

Gonna take more than that to sink LTGeezy

I bought a shaker motors off a someone from eBay. 2 days later the board died, causing the shaker to not turn off. Contacted Stern. Within 2 days I had a new board being shipped, for free. They didn't have to do a warranty return being that I was the second owner, but they did. I have nothing bad I can say about dealing with them, they went above and beyond in my book. Even answered some questions I had about some stickers on my Playboy machine.

The best is when Stern accidentally sent me an additional Black Knight topper. I even did the right thing and contacted them to send it back to them. Crickets. So I sold it.

Cha-ching.

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Sorry to hear you are having trouble. I have had top notch service and responsiveness from Stern. Have you tried contacting your distributor and going through them? Maybe their relationship with Stern would help you.

I would love to have customer service problems like this! And who says there is no such thing as free money...

I thought it was a test, return it and get a free pinball machine! But they didnt even reply.. so i was like ugh, no free pinball machine

Pablo seems to be great! Very responsive. I have only had a couple of interactions with Stern tech support, but they have always been handled by Pablo within a couple of business days turn-around. No complaints.

Pablo is a great addition to the company. We're a tough bunch of nuts, and it takes a very unique level and type of patience to deal with us. He seems to have that.

I suspect that he has the personal mindset that any EXISTING customer can also be a REPEAT customer, and he intrinsiclly 'feels' that the quality of HIS customer service can influence that. I suspect it's the way he thinks, not something they told him to do.

Touche' Pablo...

Pablo is great, very efficient in getting back to you, but seriously. Stern are really poor. I had an issue where my JP2 plastics have gone missing from the postal service in the UK. Can I get replacement plastics just for the lane guides, nope. Do I have to order an ENTIRE SET. Yep. Do I have to go through my distributor, which means finding the part number, getting them to enquire, get a price, have it shipped to them, have it shipped to me.

Waiting on a new scoop for Deadpool, new post kit for JP2 and just had to replace a flipper mech plate on a JP2 too. Rediculous.

So I realize with everything going on delays are to be expected, and I'm pretty patient, but I've emailed stern about issues on two of my machines, first mail 3 weeks ago, another 2 weeks ago and no response.

Seems pretty sub-par to not at least get a quick message back that they will get back to me with a rough eta, even if they were unable to actually go into depth on the issues at that time.

Any suggestions? Thanks

Email everyday until you get a response. Copy multiple stern employees on the email too.