I'm also waiting on MET PRO, but I sure as hell didn't prepay the whole thing, just a very small deposit.

Now my GBLE deposit was larger and I keep feeling like that will get here before my new MET PRO LOL

In all fairness, this is the first time we've seen delays like this from Stern. It's not like the OP pre-ordered a game from a new boutique manufacturer. Even the distributors were caught off guard by this situation. Cut the guy some slack.

Now don't go thinking there's no benefit to paying in full with a reputable distributor

I asked my distributor January 11th if he was getting Met Pro's that month? His reply was " Yes we are. I would send a check soon if you want one." I sent a check on the 12th of January, still no game. I've emailed him every week. I don't believe its his fault. I think he was told by Stern that they would be running some more soon and he thought it would be sooner than three months from when I paid him. I know I'll get my game eventually, but it is what it is.

I'm still waiting on Fiesta.

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What benefit are you getting for providing an interest-free loan to your distributor?

I'll pay the $6.92 to be first in line

Williams said they have it ready but cant ship, just drive over to the factory and grab it.

I'm in the same boat. I paid my distributor in full for a MET pro a couple months ago. At the time, I was told the game would be shipping soon, and I had no reason to doubt that. I've bought several NIB Sterns, and I always received them when my distributor said I would. Like I said before, this was an unprecedented situation for Stern. Unforeseen supply issues created a huge backlog of orders. They are slowly trying to dig their way out of this mess, but it's going to take time.

Put all my money in BlueStar until my Metallica comes in.........

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Can I pick it up directly at PPS? Those guys seem pretty cool.

Oh man, you will be getting a long winded PM from someone telling you how he really is cool.

You're absolutely right. And when my order wasn't filled I would get a refund and buy when they were available. You and others who have bought other pins have not done that. Why not? You must feel there is a benefit you're getting or a penalty you're avoiding by letting the distributor hold your money. I'm trying to understand the thinking process.

I figured he'd just say send me your money and you will have your game soon.

Because most of us don't want to fuck over our distributor, you know, make an agreement to buy and stick to it.......................................... then say nah, I'm out. <---Bushleague

Although, I did back out of Hobbit but Im giving myself a pass on that one.

Titling the thread "attention stern attention someone from stern please respond" doesn't sound like just blowing off steam.

Unless the idea was "I'm frustrated, let's see how much of other people's time I can make them waste saying the same thing over and over."

None. I was under the impression that I would be getting my game soon. I could've asked for a refund and tried another distributer. To what avail? There are many used Met Pro's for sale, but I want a new one and I'll wait for it. It's not that big of a deal. Heck, I don't even have ANY pins right now to play. My distributors not jacking me around. He'll ship it when there available. And I doubt he's sitting on payments from alot of Met Pro's from people like me getting rich.

Why do Stern need distributors anyway ? serious question here. Stern keeps complaining about some dealers giving price Under the value they allow to certain customers. Yet after that, word gets out.....some people are unhappy because their distributor did not give them the same price. after that there is people inventing street prices just to upset some people more.

Question is.....Stern seems to be more than capable to manage their sales on their own. Standard prices, same info and way more reliable to everyone. They know what is happening and have direct answers to have a better Customer experience. Would seem like a good bang for the buck too.

So why ?

I think you are underestimating how many games are hand delivered/set up/maintained by distributors in whatever state. Stern would never want to deal with this aspect.

Distributors keep the coinop world alive.

Ops walk into their distributor and hand over cash for new games.

If Ops bought directly from Stern, that would create a paper-trail, and Ops don't want that.

Right, I forgot about the white gloves treatment. Would be cool also to have exact numbers on pin sold for new pins. You can track old pins production numbers but I would like to see how many AC/DC, MET or TRON (that last one is for you Flank) Stern produced and sold.

That's an aspect of this world I know nothing about. So few locations for us to play up here. We do have lots of arcades but most of them have driving games, vids and no pinball. No chance for me to come in contact and learn about OP's and location aspects.

ATTENRION PEOPLE!!!

This thread reminds of a yelp review a customer left for me once.

ATTENRION PEOPLE: This place is run by a RACIST redneck , rude , smart ass , high attitude who is full of shit thinks he is a master of cars trying to teach me about cars that i have been in car industry for few years. Beside wasting my time for 30 minutes in his shop doing nothing on the car yet he throws me my receipt at me on the floor because I told him what's hold get the job done. There was absolutely no one in the store beside me. In addition this guy miss use the car they way he drove it inside and out and slam my hood so hard I had to tell him this is $100k car not a normal car you can't do that. I will make a phone call for this store to make sure they take their stars a way and if I was the owner I would immediately let go this employee,

WTF

So, the BUYER needs to "stick to" their agreement to pay, but
The Distro can weasel out of their commitment to ship in a timely manner?

PT Barnum approves of this thread.

Fahred was having a bad day. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

David Hannum.

LTG : )

I share your sentiment and expect my business associates to do the same. When they can't/don't/won't fulfill my order in my expected timeframe they return my money.

Making that clear in writing when you buy something avoids a lot of misunderstandings.

Get your money back and buy a used one for 800 less.

Lol

Yeah, I don't believe anyone is thinking the distributor is sitting on the product. It's just not in stock due to the factory not having made it.

Edit-I've never bought a pin (that hadn't been made) that I needed a concrete delivery date, stern received some slack from me since they have a proven track record while my Hobbit get cancelled due to a lack of faith in their ability to produce

Man, this ST Pro that just arrived unexpectedly freaking rocks!!

What'd you pay, delivered for the ST Pro? The ONLY reason I can think of to not get a refund and send your money to a distributor with stock already that can ship immediately is if you got a smoking hot price on the one you prepaid for. But, given how this has gone for you so far, I doubt that's the case. And why bother building a relationship with a distributor that has problems getting allocations of hot machines?

Maybe the OP was just delivered a random MMr.

A relationship works both ways
if your distributor cannot phone Stern today and get you an answer today , then they are not doing their job and not worthy of your business

but, if you want to be walked over.....

You show me a Met Pro for $800 less than I paid and I'll cancel my order right now.

He purchased a st pro and there is one for sale right now for 4100 and I just sold one for 4000. Not sure how met pro came into play here. Go back to very post in this thread.

Too bad for ops there already is a paper trail even if they buy cash lol

Clearly Im jaded on this subject.

I won't even buy stuff thats NOT Amazon Prime eligible. And now I get same day service, waiting TWO WHOLE days for stuff is my maximum. I can't imagine waiting months for anything (a car, a piece of electronics or a pinball machine).

I'm definitely a "buy from dealer stock" consumer!

Oh my God. You have to WAIT for your expensive toy!?!?!? This site is always good for a laugh. #firstworldproblems

Enjoy it while you can.

I've "bought" machines for the op I worked for. It was in cash that they just happened to give me . "My name" Amusement COmpaNy was written on the receipt & Bill of lading.

No kidding. I used "Prime Now" a couple Saturdays ago to order an external usb blu-ray drive. 18 minutes from when I ordered, until on my porch - no joke. I can't even drive to the local Fry's and back in that amount of time.

You are sort of missing something here. You have no business with stern. You didn't pay stern a dime. Stern owes you nothing. Notta.

Instead you should be working with your distributor solely. You paid money to your distributor. If that's not getting you anywhere then you should get a refund and work with a distributor that can do something for you. Game exchange for example.

By using distributors, Stern basically outsources most of their sales & customer service.

One of the things one should think about, you had an order from months ago for a NIB for say a MET pro for 4800 shipped or whatever the deal was, you cancel and buy an in stock Met pro now, you might be paying 5K according to new Stern policy......just ride out the wait.

Waiting months more vs getting one immediately after spending $200 more might be worth it to some people.