(Topic ID: 158360)

Bad experience with Ministry of Pinball

By Justpin

7 years ago


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  • 32 posts
  • 23 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by Wmsfan-GAP
  • Topic is favorited by 5 Pinsiders

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    #1 7 years ago

    Last years I ordered multiple times from Ministry of Pinball, one of many shops here in Europe. I never have issues when I place an order at the bigger pinballshops in Germany and UK, but Ministry of pinball is different. This shop sometimes ship after 1-2 days and sometimes takes more then a week to process a order, when this happens, then is done without any notice (which to my opinion is not really customer friendly). If you enquire for the status or tracking number they simply do not respond to your mail.
    Till now they always delivered.

    Last month I ordered again and some parts that I ordered (12 pieces) were missing from the package. I send a mail to them and waited 3 weeks not a single reply.
    Luckily I paid through Paypal and I was able to dispute the transaction and then a miracle happened. I immediately I got a response telling that I was right and they were going to send me the missing parts BUT they wanted me to remove the claim.
    I responded that I was happy that they responded but I emailed them before and got no response and that I was planning to remove the claim after I have received the missing parts (which is something Paypal advises “Close the transaction if you 100% satisfied”).

    The response Ministry of Pinball gave was as follow (My translation, the original is can be found in the bottom of this post in Dutch):
    “Because we are the biggest store from Europe and it’s possible that we miss a mail now and then. You could also put a claim on the missing 3 parts, we will send the missing parts to you but we will Close your account at Ministry of Pinball because we think you have crossed the line by handling it this way”
    Uhm, dear Ministry of Pinball, you have made multiple mistakes in this transaction:
    No 1: Did not send the right quantity
    No 2: Did not respond to my mail
    You ask me to close the dispute before it is settled and now you think my reaction is “Crossing the line” Really?

    So Pinsiders be aware that this is the way Ministry of Pinball treats there customers who complain. Draw your own conclusions.

    Translog in Dutch from Paypal <names are removed from log>
    Van Koper 16-04-2016 05:16 PDT
    Beste,
    Ik heb de bestelling ontvangen, echter heb ik maar 4 rubber voeten ontvangen, terwijl ik 4 sets heb besteld. Dus ik verwachtte 16 stuks niet 4.

    Van Verkoper - Ministry of Pinball 18-04-2016 06:20 PDT
    Hallo, daar heb je idd recht op, deze zullen we je even nasturen. Graag de claim van €173,59 verwijderen.

    Van Koper 18-04-2016 06:38 PDT
    Ik heb 3 weken geleden een email gestuurd, en geen reactie van jullie ontvangen.Het is goed dat jullie he erkennen en nu wel iig iets laten horen. Ik haal de claim eraf als ik de ontbrekende producten ontvangen heb.

    Van Verkoper - Ministry of Pinball 18-04-2016 09:14 PDT
    Beste, als grootste online Pinball Store van Europa is het missen van een mail zowaar een keer mogelijk. Je had ook gewoon een claim kunnen leggen op de 3 ontbrekende rubbers. We zullen de rubber voetjes je morgen doen toekomen. Ook zullen we je account bij ons stopzetten want wij vinden het je manier van reageren namelijk buiten proporties.
    Van Verkoper - Ministry of Pinball

    25-04-2016 23:59 PDT
    Svp je claim verwijderen.

    #2 7 years ago

    Pretty shady if that's how it went down...

    #3 7 years ago

    As I read it (the dutch part) it seems his issue is that you put a claim for the total amount (173) while you were only missing 12 rubber feet (12 euro worth ? maybe 20 in his shop ?)..

    I guess he's afraid Paypal will still pay you back the total amount whilst you had received for 150 worth of goods and the issue is about a much smaller amount.

    I hope you get them all as in his last reaction he's talking about 3 pieces and not 3 sets of 4

    #4 7 years ago

    I would shop elsewhere.

    #5 7 years ago

    I'd speak to his bishop.

    #6 7 years ago

    Hmmm seems like a bit over reacted from OP which causes an overreaction from MoP. He sends one email and doesn't get a response which is indeed unfortunate but people can make mistakes

    In stead of phoning MoP or resent email he decides apparently to block the total payment, so also for goods he did get. How would you feel if your boss takes away your whole month salary because your lunch break took 5 minutes longer? There has to be a balance between act and reaction

    Have dealt with MoP numerous amount of times without an issue but do understand a shop is run by people who can make mistakes. Give people a break, makes live much easier pinball is for fun, not stress

    Sofar my 2 cents on this topic

    #7 7 years ago

    I don't think MoP are in any way dishonest. But they are very disorganised, and it's a one man band running a large parts operation from a small space.

    Communication, lead times and correctness of orders aren't always great, and this goes for 2 others that I've spoken to who order from them (one in NL, one in Germany).

    But like I say, I absolutely don't think MoP / the guy that runs it is dishonest. Just a bit frustrating to deal with, and in dire need of either taking on staff or moving to somewhere larger and better organised.

    My past issues have been dealt with (and I have another outstanding now), it just takes him time to acknowledge / sort out the issues.

    #8 7 years ago

    If you open a dispute in Paypal, you cannot select another lower amount.
    If you read my post carefully you could read that this is not the first time that MOP did not respond, that’s why I dispute the transaction, which is a completely normal process.
    Maybe it’s me that is that is getting a bit frustrated with people respond to questions immediately if you want to buy something but if you have a “complain”, then coincidently your mail was the one that slipped through the cracks.

    Reacting with “I’m going to block your account “ is utterly unprofessional, no question about that.

    #9 7 years ago

    Yea to be honest, if a customer disputed the entire amount of $173, I also would close the customers account and not take any more orders from him.

    #10 7 years ago

    Email MoP and explain that you attempted to correct the problem multiple times via email without a responses in a reasonable time .

    But, like I said I previously said, maybe think of shopping elsewhere. I'm sure MoP is a nice place with a good selection, but there are other choices available with proven track records and more responsive customer service.

    #11 7 years ago

    Accidents like forgeting a part do happen.......
    Ignoring Emails from customers is not an accident.

    #12 7 years ago

    Email is not a reliable method of communication. In this case it appears MoP managed to get the notice of PayPal dispute immediately, yet never saw anything before that from the customer? Rather unlikely.

    I'd shop somewhere else.

    11
    #13 7 years ago

    Dear Justpin and others,

    We are very sorry we forgot some rubber parts in your order and that we forgot to answer to your email. We checked the amount of emails from you in the last 4 years and we only could find one. We could not find any request from you about any tracking information in previous emails just the one you sent us about the missing parts.

    Thank god we are only human too and do make mistakes but luckily we have always the chance to make things right. And so we did already last week. We did sent you the rubber parts and tracking showed you received them on April 21.

    Do we really want to jeopardize our reputation and risk the fact that we are being put in a bad light on Pinside just so we can keep the money of 3 sets of rubber parts worth € 15,00? No by any means not!

    We asked you on April 25 to remove the claim from PayPal. We don't find that wrong as like I mentioned before, we already did send you the missing parts. I would like to explain to you why we reminded you to close the claim. What will happen when you would forget to remove the claim, is that PayPal will always decide in favor of the customer, even if we can proof that the post office has delivered the goods, and refund you your money.

    Again we're sorry about the fact we missed your email but trust me when I say that we are just not the type of guys that ignore customers emails. We always try to solve any problem.

    @Toucanf16....there is nothing wrong with our track record and our customer service but when you hear just one side of the story you may think that this is the case.

    #14 7 years ago

    Hi Brt,

    To come back on the emails, I have sent 3 emails (and not 1 like you claimed) on:

    - Mon 8/3/2015 at 5:34 PM asking for a tracking number because I did not receive anything, not a single response from MOP

    - Tue 7/28/2015 at 8:18 PM about a incorrect price on an item that I received (and this is still not corrected) I received an answer where you explained that the price you display/advertise is for multiple items, (a bit misleading in my eyes but what the heck, lets don’t go into that debate).

    - Fri 3/25/2016 at 8:18 PM asked to solve the issue of the incomplete package .... not a single response from MOP

    Maybe something is wrong with your mail server/provider because the mails are really sent to the same address.

    Claim PayPal claim was removed on Sunday 25 April (after I received the goods on Saturday April 24) not sure what you point you are trying to make here?

    The issue I’m addressing is that you came with a really customer friendly remark that you "are going to block my account" while I did wat Paypal advises me to do, and that is open a dispute (not even an escalation) and again, you cannot select a lower amount when you open a dispute so Its the full amount, or no dispute at all.

    What did you expect me to do, keep on chasing you with more emails and phonecalls? Sorry that I chose the easy way from a customer view.

    I'm deeply sorry that disrespected you and I fully endorse the MOP policy of:
    "Customers cannot complain"
    "Customers cannot raise disputes"
    "Customers should expect delays without notifications"
    "Customers should not expect answers to emails"

    You can safely remove me from your trusty customer database now I have violated your policy.

    Again my apologies,

    #15 7 years ago

    All I will comment on is perhaps the OP might look at what email service they are using? Often "free" email services can be flaky.

    As an example, emails sent to me via services such as Hotmail/Gmail etc make it through "most of the time" but certainly not all. Sure, sometimes they are blocked by the Chinese govt stupidity but other times there is no explanation.

    Messages from the OP to the vendor may have been blocked or delayed but messages from PayPal are much more likely to make it as they are from a known source and not some random email.

    You cannot trust that emails will get through all the time, it is just the nature of what it is. All sorts of filters and things prevent messages making it to the recipient.

    With all of that said, PayPal is the biggest scourge on the earth that has ever been invented. They have successfully brainwashed many people into believing they are "the safest payment system in the world" - this is simply not true - but let's leave people to do their own investigations into that should they wish to.

    That's my daily email experience anyway.

    #16 7 years ago

    Hi Homepin,

    I 'm using the same provider since 1998 and never encountered a "email not received" problem before..so lets exclude that
    As a buyer I like Paypal, I can imagine that sellers dont like it, but you can choose not to provide the Paypal service from your website..true?

    #17 7 years ago

    Apparently I’m not the only one complaining about the bad communication with MOP.
    Another recent example of last week:

    http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/ministry-of-pinball-shockingly-bad-taf-overlays.33272/

    #18 7 years ago
    Quoted from Justpin:

    Hi Homepin,
    I 'm using the same provider since 1998 and never encountered a "email not received" problem before..so lets exclude that

    Based on the above statement, MOP did not receive your emails. Perhaps you sent to the wrong address, didn't actually send them, or they were not delivered. You can't just rule this out since you've had the same email address since 1998. That's irrelevant.

    #19 7 years ago

    Did anybody on either side pick up a phone and have an old fashioned conversation?

    #20 7 years ago

    To me; it seems that there are issues on both sides - however, what did it for me was to see how the customer was treated after contact was made.

    Am I perfect; no... but at least I try not to piss my customers off.
    I make it a point of shipping the next business day... if not; I email the customer to let the know. AFAIK; this has only happened once when Paypal didn't notify me of a "payment received".

    Do I believe Paypal only lets the customer dispute the full amount? yes.
    The fact that the seller didn't know that; is forgiven... BUT he then comes here in this thread and makes the situation worse by insisting the customer is at fault? Wow.

    -1
    #21 7 years ago

    Could MoP and MAD Amusements be in the process of combining businesses and trying some dry runs while they work things out and follow their respective NDA's?

    1 year later
    #22 6 years ago

    This is an old thread but need to bring this back up again. Horrible communications, I had sent 3 emails, 1 message via their "Contact Us" on their website, Facebook message them on their page and nothing. So I opened a claim via PayPal and magically they responded saying they refunded me which is not what I asked for, I asked if my item that was ordered 4 weeks ago was shipped. And I followed up asking if it was shipped and they said yes but no tracking.

    When I asked about the poor communications this is what I received.... "When time is a rare thing and orders are building up, we rather like to focus on sending out orders then answering to each email. Being perfect in the pinball world is impossible. Again...just keep the item if it arrives."

    I have been restoring pins for 25+ years, nothing is perfect but communicating with your customers is key. Especially since I was not complaining about an item, or my order, I was asking what the status was as far as shipping, it should have been a simple response, It was shipped or not shipped....

    Will never buy from them again, not worth it to me

    #23 6 years ago

    I ran a side business selling collectible card games for twelve years, answering emails and filling orders 6-7 days a week. On rare occasion I would make a mistake and send the wrong edition of a card or forget to mail one of the ordered cards. When the seller would contact me I would fix the error and apologize for the inconvenience, sometimes offering a discount on a future purchase. We’re all human and make mistakes, but I never ignored emails. The seller Brt probably did receive the sellers complaint email but forgot to follow up. The best way for the seller to respond to the PayPal claim would have been to apologize for the mistake, that the missing items were going out in the mail tomorrow, and here is the tracking number. Clearly the seller over reacted by banning the buyer from doing business with him again for his mistake.

    All of that said, the buyer Justpin was unhappy with the seller with three of his previous purchases so he should not have been placing a fourth order with the seller.

    #24 6 years ago
    Quoted from rvalkenburg:

    This is an old thread but need to bring this back up again. Horrible communications, I had sent 3 emails, 1 message via their "Contact Us" on their website, Facebook message them on their page and nothing. So I opened a claim via PayPal and magically they responded saying they refunded me which is not what I asked for, I asked if my item that was ordered 4 weeks ago was shipped. And I followed up asking if it was shipped and they said yes but no tracking.
    When I asked about the poor communications this is what I received.... "When time is a rare thing and orders are building up, we rather like to focus on sending out orders then answering to each email. Being perfect in the pinball world is impossible. Again...just keep the item if it arrives."
    I have been restoring pins for 25+ years, nothing is perfect but communicating with your customers is key. Especially since I was not complaining about an item, or my order, I was asking what the status was as far as shipping, it should have been a simple response, It was shipped or not shipped....
    Will never buy from them again, not worth it to me

    There are very few real businesses in this hobby. Most of these "companies" are just someone's part time endeavor.

    I only purchase from two or three companies and never have an issue.

    1 week later
    #25 6 years ago
    Quoted from rvalkenburg:

    This is an old thread but need to bring this back up again. Horrible communications, I had sent 3 emails, 1 message via their "Contact Us" on their website, Facebook message them on their page and nothing. So I opened a claim via PayPal and magically they responded saying they refunded me which is not what I asked for, I asked if my item that was ordered 4 weeks ago was shipped. And I followed up asking if it was shipped and they said yes but no tracking.
    When I asked about the poor communications this is what I received.... "When time is a rare thing and orders are building up, we rather like to focus on sending out orders then answering to each email. Being perfect in the pinball world is impossible. Again...just keep the item if it arrives."
    I have been restoring pins for 25+ years, nothing is perfect but communicating with your customers is key. Especially since I was not complaining about an item, or my order, I was asking what the status was as far as shipping, it should have been a simple response, It was shipped or not shipped....
    Will never buy from them again, not worth it to me

    I have few months old experience with their communication when I ordered "original" set of STTNG inserts. First time there were missing few inserts so I wrote some emails without any answer so I called them and they send the rest but it was not complete again so I called them and they finally send the rest but there was a problem with wrong dimensions, different colour and different letter / number fonts so I called them and the man told me that they sell original parts only so I send him the photos and he still wrote me that these parts are original. I had big problem with my customer because we had to wait for the claim so after one week of trolling from my side the man wrote me that he will refund it so I should buy it from other company and for the last time: they sell original parts only. I don´t like this kind of bahaviour and service. I don´t understand how is possible that they are still selling parts..

    #26 6 years ago

    Its good to hear that there are multiple people having the same issues with this guy.

    Its simple, Ministry of Pinball is not a good company to deal with.. This oneman show is completely unprofessional.

    There are multiple better companies located in Germany/Australia and US. Buy from them

    #27 6 years ago
    Quoted from Justpin:

    Its good to hear that there are multiple people having the same issues with this guy.
    Its simple, Ministry of Pinball is not a good company to deal with.. This oneman show is completely unprofessional.
    There are multiple better companies located in Germany/Australia and US. Buy from them

    Yes, it is incredibly shocking that a one man show out of his garage is completely unprofessional.

    1 year later
    #28 5 years ago

    Some strange things happened to me after several years without ptoblmes,but now...
    One package arrived after month and one week.The second never arrived,and again they didn't responed.Tried to call them by phone and nothing.PayPal refund me the money,but some info will be helpful.Is this company still exist.They have parts that noone have from Europe and their quality is very good.Somone who order parts soon and they arrived?
    I can try the last order one more time if have some info for them.

    #29 5 years ago
    Quoted from arakissun:

    Somone who order parts soon and they arrived?

    Ordered a bunch of parts from them last week, arrived without issues.

    #30 5 years ago

    This is strange.Their communication is awful.They never answered my be e-mail or PayPal.
    Today I tried to contact trough FB.But there is hard like the others methods.Waiting for answer from the morning.

    #31 5 years ago

    Pinball Parts is hard

    2 months later
    #32 5 years ago

    What is the verdict with this company? They have a part I need that I can't find stateside. I don't normally like to international pinball parts business because of, well. look at this thread....

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